Most deaf children have hearing parents who do not know a sign language at birth and are at risk of limited language input during early childhood. Studying these children as they learn a sign language has revealed that timing of first-language exposure critically shapes language outcomes. But the input deaf children receive in their first language…

There are calls for developing ways to teach language that can inspire and motivate students to study additional languages. While previous research has pointed toward benefits of arts-based activities in language learning, combining language and dance has mainly been studied with younger language learners. Contextualized within the course…

The present study investigates bilinguals' capacity to rapidly establish memory traces for novel word forms in a second language (L2), as a function of L2 linguistic proficiency. A group of Chinese-English bilinguals with various English proficiency levels were presented with a reading-aloud task, consisting of 16 pseudowords and 16 English words…

The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of Augmented Reality (AR) technology on vocabulary development and attitudes toward AR in pre-school English instruction. The study, which was grounded on a pretest-posttest control group quasi-experimental design, included 36 pre-school children aged from 4 to 5. While the participants in…

A growing body of research suggests that fine motor skills (FMS) are associated with language development. In this study, we examined 76 children aged 3-6 years assessing the link between language and FMS. Specific measures included receptive and expressive vocabulary, oral narrative skills, and various fine motor tasks. Hierarchical linear…

Income-based childcare programs provide children access to developmentally appropriate and vocabulary-rich literacy experiences. For this study, participating U.S. Head Start Centers requested families complete a weekly home literacy log to encourage vocabulary-rich shared book reading activities in the home. Using participant characteristics,…

This article presents an exploratory genre-based writing lesson conducted in a third-year collegiate German language course. While genre-based approaches to writing have gained recognition in second language (L2) contexts, little attention has been given to learner perceptions of genre-based writing activities. Additionally, there is a lack of…

The perspective of emergent literacy was applied to investigate the name-writing skills of 4-year-old, low-income Mandarin Chinese-speaking children in Taiwan. One hundred and eleven children in Taiwan were recruited from 12 public preschools. Children were individually assessed with a name-writing task, the Peabody Picture Vocabulary…

Vocabulary plays an important role in learning English. However, due to the difference between English and their mother tongue, many students find it difficult to remember the English vocabulary. This research aims at investigating whether Spelling Bee Game has any significant effects on EFL young students' vocabulary learning. The research…

What is vision's role in driving early word production? To answer this, we assessed parent-report vocabulary questionnaires administered to congenitally blind children (N = 40, Mean age = 24 months [R: 7-57 months]) and compared the size and contents of their productive vocabulary to those of a large normative sample of sighted children (N =…

Technology has become an integral part of our daily lives, permeating every aspect. One area where technology has shown potential to enhance English as a Foreign Language (EFL) learning is through the use of animated movies. Despite the growing significance of technology in education, research is scarce in this specific area. Therefore, the aim of…

Sometime before their second birthday, many children have a period of rapid expressive vocabulary growth called the vocabulary spurt. Theories of the underlying mechanisms differ: Accumulator models emphasize the accumulation of experience with words over time to yield a spurtlike pattern, while cognitive models attribute the spurt to cognitive…

Incidental learning is a well-known process of acquiring new knowledge, vocabulary, or information without intention. Traditional or intentional learning is widely practiced in classroom environments, while incidental one receives less attention from educators, schools, and scholars. English Language Learners encounter various problems when they…

A long-standing question in developmental science is how the neurodevelopment of the brain influences cognitive functions. Here, we examined the developmental change of resting EEG power and its links to vocabulary acquisition in school-age children. We further explored what mechanisms may mediate the relation between brain rhythm maturation and…

In this theoretical review, evidence for the link between spoken and written word knowledge is summarised, highlighting the specific hypotheses posed in this field and the extent to which they are informative regarding causation. A brief overview of major theories of orthographic learning draws attention to how each characterises the role of oral…