Purpose: Pupillary responses captured via pupillometry (measurement of pupillary dilation and constriction during the performance of a cognitive task) are psychophysiological indicators of cognitive effort, attention, arousal, and resource engagement. Pupillometry may be a promising tool for enhancing our understanding of the relationship between…

Recent debates over adults' theory of mind use have been fueled by surprising failures of perspective-taking in communication, suggesting that perspective-taking may be relatively effortful. Yet adults routinely engage in effortful processes when needed. How, then, should speakers and listeners allocate their resources to achieve successful…

Many individuals with poor reading comprehension have levels of reading comprehension that are consistent with deficits in their ability to decode the words on the page. However, there are individuals who are poor at reading comprehension despite being adequate at decoding. This phenomenon is referred to as specific reading comprehension deficit…

This research revealed that the frequency of reported parent-infant singing interactions predicted 6-month-old infants' performance in laboratory music experiments and mediated their language development in the second year. At 6 months, infants (n = 36) were tested using a preferential listening procedure assessing their sustained attention to…

Although group work is considered beneficial for problem solving, the listening that is needed for jointly solving mathematical problems is under-researched. In this article, the usefulness of two communication frameworks for understanding students' listening is examined, using data from an educational design research study in an upper secondary…

The aims of this study were to identify children's reactions towards speech sound disorders (SSD) in other children and whether these reactions can be related to specific speech characteristics. Six audio samples, each containing minute-long resumes of short animated film by five children with SSDs and one child with typical speech (TS), aged 5-9…

The simple view of reading (SVR) framework has been used for decades to explain two general component skills considered to contribute to reading comprehension: decoding and linguistic comprehension. In the past, researchers have assessed the linguistic comprehension component using a wide range of language and/or listening comprehension measures…

The role of the right hemisphere in phonetic processing is thought to be relatively minimal, at least in comparison to the role of the left hemisphere. However, the right hemisphere is known to play a critical role in vocal identity processing, a fact that is striking given that the acoustic-phonetic details of the speech signal can differ…

What does it mean to listen--and how can works of literature teach us about listening? Of the four modes of language--reading, writing, speaking, and listening--that together constitute the "language arts" as a curriculum area in secondary English education, "listening" is relatively undertheorized--and conspicuously so, given…

Pitch discrimination, or the ability to differentiate stimuli using auditory frequency, may be an important correlate of language acquisition. Research consistently finds that children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) have differences in auditory discrimination abilities. However, studies linking these abilities to delays or impairments in…

Whilst previous researchers commonly report on the effect of portfolio-based instruction on second language/English as a foreign language (L2/EFL) learners' language performance, very few studies examine its impact on their learning motivation. Drawing on expectancy-value theory, the current study examines how the implementation of a…

Actively open-minded thinking (AOT) is a crucial aspect in the education of adolescents; however, it has been insufficiently researched in the Spanish context. The purpose of this study is to analyse AOT and its relationship to critical thinking skills and personality. The participants in this research comprise 877 Spanish secondary school…

Aim: To investigate mask use and the difficulties it may pose during communication in healthcare settings. Methods: A survey utilizing a series of Likert scales was administered. Mask use challenges between clinicians and their patients were examined in the domains of communication, listening effort, cognition, and rehabilitation. Results: Across…

The present study investigated the extent to which four pre-listening activities, "pre-teaching vocabulary", "content discussion", "pre-reading questions" and "topic discussion," assisted EFL learners with their performance on listening comprehension tests across two different proficiency groups (elementary…

In the current globalized world, English is an international language that makes it possible for people from different language backgrounds to communicate with each other. In this situation, English users in EIL (English as an international language) should be able to comprehend various accents spoken by English speakers from all over the world.…