CLER Conversation: Cognitive Processes of Language Learning

Professor Andrea Révész 

Neurocognitive correlates of task-based written and spoken production

The study of neurocognitive processes underlying second language (L2) spoken and written production has received much attention in recent years, with pausing behaviours receiving particular attention. A key issue that has intrigued researchers is whether speech and written production processes underlying pauses may differ depending on pause location, such as mid- versus end-clause pauses in speaking or within- versus between-word pauses in writing. While a growing number of studies have investigated these potential links, previous research has solely used cognitive-behavioural tools to examine pausing behaviours. To date, no direct evidence is available about the neural processes underlying pauses in first and second language production. In this talk, I will report on two projects aimed at addressing this gap through combining behavioural and neural measures to investigate the neurocognitive processes underlying pauses in L2 task-based speaking and writing. Our results demonstrate that behavioural and neural data sources offer complimentary insights, together providing a fuller and more valid account of L2 production processes. I will end the presentation with a discussion of the implications for models of task-based learning and L2 production.

Bio

Andrea Révész is a Professor of Second Language Acquisition at the IOE, University College London. Her research interests lie in second language acquisition, instruction, and assessment, with a particular focus on tasks, input, individual differences, and the neurocognitive processes underlying second language speaking and writing. She is a winner of the 2017 TBLT Best Research Article Award and a recipient of the 2018 TESOL Award for Distinguished Research. She serves as editor of the Annual Review of Applied Linguistics and co-editor of the John Benjamins Task-based Language Teaching series. She is past president of the International Association for Task-based Language Teaching.

Dr Ana Pellicer-Sánchez

Exploring the optimum conditions for incidental vocabulary learning from reading: The roles of context and time distribution

There is plenty of evidence suggesting that multiple exposures to unknown vocabulary items in reading are needed in order to learn them. The need to provide multiple encounters with unknown vocabulary in reading has led to interesting questions about the optimum conditions for learning: 1) when to provide those encounters (time distribution); 2) and where to embed those encounters (same contexts or different contexts). While many studies have been conducted to explore the role of time distribution (Nakata, 2015; Nakata & Webb, 2026), most of them have been conducted in the context of intentional learning. In addition, despite the generally agreed importance of context for vocabulary learning (Liu & Todd, 2016; Webb, 2008), very few studies have been conducted in this area. Interesting evidence from the first language context suggests that, when combining contextual diversity and time distribution, more effortful processing in spaced and different conditions leads to better performance in the testing phase (Pagan & Nation, 2019). Similar evidence in the second language is yet to be provided. This presentation reports results of recent studies that have examined the role of context and time distribution on the incidental learning of vocabulary. Participants in these studies learned a set of words under different practice conditions, varying in contextual diversity (exposure to target vocabulary in same vs. different contexts) and in time distribution (exposure to vocabulary items in one session vs. several sessions). Results are discussed in relation to the Desirable Difficulties framework.

Bio:

Ana Pellicer-Sánchez is Associate Professor of Applied Linguistics and TESOL at the IOE, University College London (UCL). Her research centres around the teaching and learning of vocabulary in a second or foreign language, including both the learning of single words and formulaic sequences. Her recent research has made use of eye-tracking to explore the cognitive processes involved in vocabulary learning from a range of learning conditions. She is the co-author of Eye-tracking: A guide for Applied Linguistics Research (2018, CUP) and co-editor of Understanding Formulaic Language: A Second Language Acquisition Perspective (2019, Routledge). She has recently co-edited a special issue on Eye-tracking in Vocabulary Research in Research Methods in Applied Linguistics journal (2024).