Scalar implicatures involve inferring the use of a less informative term (e.g. some) to mean the negation of a more informative term (e.g. not all). A growing body of recent research on the derivation of scalar implicatures by adult second language (L2) learners shows that while they are successful in acquiring the knowledge of scalar…

In today's age of information, the use of data is very powerful in making informed decisions. Data analytics is a field that is interested in identifying and interpreting trends and patterns within big data to make data-driven decisions. We focus on informal statistical inference and data modeling as a means of developing students' data analytics…

Scope ambiguity arises when a sentence contains scope-bearing logical operators like quantifiers and negation (Fox, 2003). For instance, in English, the sentence 'Every horse didn't jump over the fence' can be interpreted as either 'None of the horses jumped over the fence' (surface scope) or 'Not all of the horses jumped over the fence' (inverse…

This study examines second language (L2) learners' perspectives regarding the affordances and challenges of using the Data-Driven Learning (DDL) to identify the properties of near-synonymous words. Employing a convergent mixed-method design, this study deciphers the perceptions of 40 undergraduate L2 learners majoring in English language teaching.…

Language is one of the hallmarks of intelligence, demanding explanation in a theory of human cognition. However, language presents unique practical challenges for quantitative empirical research, making many linguistic theories difficult to test at naturalistic scales. Artificial neural network language models (LMs) provide a new tool for studying…

In response to McLean (2021), Laufer (2021) makes three claims which are either not supported by research or are based on studies with important limitations. First is that a vocabulary size, instead of a level, can be used to match learners with lexically appropriate materials despite test creators and research not supporting this. Second is that…

The study aimed to examine the relationship between morphological knowledge and reading comprehension ability among college-level English as a foreign language (EFL) students. One hundred and twenty-one students participated in this study and they completed two morphological knowledge measures (morpheme-form knowledge and morpheme-meaning…

Middle grade students with disabilities that impact reading, including learning disabilities (LD) in reading, high functioning autism (ASD), and emotional and behavioral disorders (EBD), and students atrisk for reading failure due to the effects of poverty often struggle to make knowledge-based inferences while reading informational texts. As a…

This mixed methods study followed an explanatory sequential design to explore the formation, development, and evolution of a formal online teacher community of practice (CoP). The online CoP supported 382 teachers as they implemented the instructional conversation (IC) pedagogy, a collaborative conversation-based pedagogy for culturally and…

The current study examines the role of instruction in developing L2 learners' ability to comprehend two types of implicatures: indirect refusals and indirect opinions. According to Taguchi (2005), these implicatures differ in the degrees of conventionality involved in producing them, hence requiring different degrees of processing effort on the…

The Hertzsprung-Russell diagram (HRD) is a fundamental representation in stellar physics. It contains information about key properties of stars and allows inferences about stellar evolution. The use of the HRD is an important disciplinary activity in astrophysics. For example, it is particularly important to have a graphical understanding of the…

The present article aims to shed light on the relationship between priming and creativity throughout Chinese children's ontogenetic development. It has been suggested that priming in naturalistic interaction occurs not as an exclusively implicit phenomenon. New methodological desiderata beyond traditional acceptability judgments have been…

Theory of Mind (ToM) is a skill of social cognition recently of interest to literacy researchers. This article presents initial findings from a pilot study investigating the use of ToM to teach theme identification and theme statement formation to beginning readers who are less-skilled in comprehension. The authors designed a brief, 1:1 listening…

It is a generally held view amongst educators today that the development of students' inference skills is an important aspect in their education as 21st Century learners as it requires higher order cognitive competences. Oftentimes, students in the lower tracks are considered slower learners and may have difficulties with the development of such…

The study aimed to explore the effect of group dynamic assessment on word learning through lexical inferencing and to compare it to that of vocabulary enhancement exercises. Through purposive sampling, 45 intermediate EFL learners were selected as participants and randomly assigned to three groups. The participants read six texts over a 6-day…