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Real-time verbal interactions between foreign language teachers and their students are of vital importance for language development, but classroom interactions are also multi-faceted and complex. The way a teacher understands and responds to learner utterances can be a powerful pedagogical strategy to scaffold learner language development. In this paper we present the Questions and Answers in English Language Teaching coding scheme which can be used to observe and describe the dynamics of teacher questions and student responses in language classrooms. We piloted the instrument in English as a foreign language lessons of four experienced teachers teaching 16 lessons in total. State Space Grids were used to visualize classroom dynamics and quantify intra-individual variability of each lesson. The results show that interactions between teachers and students have the tendency to self-organize and stabilize in one specific area of the grid. Lessons taught by three of the teachers revealed a dominant pattern formed by closed questions and short student responses. One teacher taught lessons in which more complex question and answer sequences were prevalent. These patterns of variability and stability show that teacher-student interactions have the properties of a shallow attractor state. The analysis of moment-to-moment turns in classroom interaction indicate that students in this study generally adapt their response to the level of teacher questions, but that teachers do not seem to adapt their questions to the level of the previous student answer. This suggests that, even for experienced teachers, scaffolding and adaptive teaching might be easier said than done.

This paper investigates measures of change to help demonstrate the necessity of variability as a developmental mechanism for advancing different features of L2 learning (related here primarily to writing, but also to reading) with a particular focus on learners at different stages of development. To do so, the work draws on three studies to build a case for using variability as a meaningful marker of change. Lowie, Wander M. & Marjolijn Verspoor. 2019. Individual differences and the ergodicity problem. Language Learning 69. 184–206 found in a group of 22 Dutch learners of English that the Coefficient of Variation (CoV), rather than individual factors such as motivation and aptitude, showed a significant correlation with writing proficiency gains. A replication study by Huang, Ting, Rasmus Steinkrauss & Marjolijn Verspoor. 2020b. Variability as predictors for L2 writing proficiency. Journal of Second Language Writing, with 22 Chinese learners of English revealed that the CoV rather than motivation, aptitude or working memory was a significant predictor in writing proficiency gains. A study by Gui, Min, Xiaokan Chen & Marjolijn Verspoor. Submitted. The dynamics of reading development in English for Academic Purposes, on reading for academic purposes with 27 Chinese Chemistry majors showed that the Standard Deviation of differences (SDd) rather than proficiency in English or knowledge of Chemistry correlated with reading gains. Two further studies present tentative evidence that these changes take place especially at transitional phases while learning a new skill.

Regional variation in African-American English (AAE) is especially salient to its speakers involved with hip-hop culture, as hip-hop assigns great importance to regional identity and regional accents are a key means of expressing regional identity. However, little is known about AAE regional variation regarding prosodic rhythm and melody. In hip-hop music, regional variation can also be observed, with different regions’ rap performances being characterized by distinct “flows” (i.e., rhythmic and melodic delivery), an observation which has not been quantitatively investigated yet. This study concerns regional variation in AAE speech and rap, specifically regarding the United States’ East and West Coasts. It investigates how East Coast and West Coast AAE prosody are distinct, how East Coast and West Coast rap flows differ, and whether the two domains follow a similar pattern: more rhythmic and melodic variation on the West Coast compared to the East Coast for both speech and rap. To this end, free speech and rap recordings of 16 prominent African-American members of the East Coast and West Coast hip-hop communities were phonetically analyzed regarding rhythm (e.g., syllable isochrony and musical timing) and melody (i.e., pitch fluctuation) using a combination of existing and novel methodological approaches. The results mostly confirm the hypotheses that East Coast AAE speech and rap are less rhythmically diverse and more monotone than West Coast AAE speech and rap, respectively. They also show that regional variation in AAE prosody and rap flows pattern in similar ways, suggesting a connection between rhythm and melody in language and music.

Studies on aging and migration often note a ‘language barrier’ for older migrants when communicating in a (medical) second language (L2) context. Yet how a limited L2 proficiency impacts the aging process of migrant adults has, so far, not been systematically investigated. This question is important given that having a limited L2 proficiency may pose immediate drawbacks on one's ability to maintain independence. Through a combination of qualitative interviews and quantitative language and cognitive measures, this study investigates if and under which circumstances a ‘language barrier’ may be detrimental for the aging process of a group of older female Turkish migrants in the Netherlands. Findings suggest that a limited L2 proficiency reciprocally fuels feelings of L2 insecurity, which impacts the formation of social relationships in the L2, feelings of belonging and lower wellbeing levels. A firm embedding in an L1 network positively impacts wellbeing levels, yet results in a heavy dependence on others in L2 situations. We conclude that limited L2 skills may steer the aging process in a detrimental direction for those older migrants who lack a social support network in the L1 and cannot communicate effectively in the L2.

This publication provides an overview of research on a large range of topics relating to language processing and language use from a life-span perspective. It is unique in covering and combining psycholinguistic and sociolinguistic approaches, discussing questions such as: Is it beneficial to speak more than one language when growing old? How are languages processed in multilingual persons, and how does this change over time? What happens to language and communication in multilingual aphasia or dementia? How is multilingual ageing portrayed in the media? It is a joint, cross-disciplinary venture of researchers from the Centre for Multilingualism in Society across the Lifespan at The University of Oslo and the editors of this publication.

In recent studies in second language (L2) development, notably within the focus of Complex Dynamic Systems Theory (CDST), non-systematic variation has been extensively studied as intra-individual variation, which we will refer to as variability. This paper argues that variability is functional and is needed for development. With examples of four longitudinal case studies we hope to show that variability over time provides valuable information about the process of development. Phases of increased variability in linguistic constructions are often a sign that the learner is trying out different constructions, and as such variability can be evidence for change, and change can be learning. Also, a limited degree of variability is inherent in automatic or controlled processes. Conversely, the absence of variability is likely to show that no learning is going on or the system is frozen.

Een groeiende groep migranten wordt oud in een omgeving waar de dominante taal (T2) verschilt van hun moedertaal (T1). Deze studie bekijkt in hoeverre er een taalbarriere bestaat bij het verkrijgen van informatie over en toegang tot (zorg)voorzieningen, en wanneer een beperkte T2 taalvaardigheid een belemmering vormt voor het welbevinden van een groep oudere Turkse vrouwen in Nederland. Interviews met 39 oudere Turkse vrouwen laten zien dat een beperkte T2 vaardigheid niet automatisch leidt tot een verminderd welbevinden. Wanneer men goed is ingebed in een sociaal netwerk (en zich daarmee verbonden voelen) kan een beperkte T2 vaardigheid worden opgevangen door T1 hulp in de omgeving of het faciliteren van een tolk in T2 situaties. Echter, wanneer zo’n netwerk niet beschikbaar is, kunnen T2 situaties voor angst en stress zorgen, wat zijn weerslag heeft op iemands welbevinden. Ondanks dat er geen een-op-een relatie tussen taal en welbevinden bestaat, speelt taal wel een rol in veel (sociale) processen die het welbevinden beinvloeden. Dit artikel is een ingekorte en vertaalde versie van een eerder gepubliceerd artikel in The International Journal of Bilingual Education and Bilingualism op 8 februari 2018, online beschikbaar. https://doi.org/10.1080/13670050.2018.1435627

Research towards aging of migrant populations has so far mostly focused on (bio)medical and psychological aspects. Here we explore to what extent second language ability is a factor influencing the healthy aging process of older Turkish migrants in the Netherlands. To get a first understanding of the linguistic situation of older migrants within this setting, interviews with ten healthcare consultants1 with insight into their local Turkish community were conducted, forming a ‘needs-analysis’ of this group. It emerged that older migrants rely heavily on their ethnically close-knit networks for information and care. In communicating their healthcare needs to others outside the family, the older migrants experience language barriers, directly resulting from low L2 proficiency and L2 anxiety. These barriers prevent access to health information and induce dependence. This initial exploration of the interplay between language and aging in a migrant population can be used as input into more advanced, empirical investigations.

Human behavior is not constant over the hours of the day, and there are considerable individual differences. Some people raise early and go to bed early and have their peek performance early in the day (“larks”) while others tend to go to bed late and get up late and have their best performance later in the day (“owls”). In this contribution we report on three projects on the role of chronotype (CT) in language processing and learning. The first study (de Bot, 2013) reports on the impact of CT on language learning aptitude and word learning. The second project was reported in Fang (2015) and looks at CT and executive functions, in particular inhibition as measured by variants of the Stroop test. The third project aimed at assessing lexical access in L1 and L2 at preferred and non-preferred times of the day. The data suggest that there are effects of CT on language learning and processing. There is a small effect of CT on language aptitude and a stronger effect of CT on lexical access in the first and second language. The lack of significance for other tasks is mainly caused by the large interindividual and intraindividual variation.

This study examined preteens' screen media use and potential differences in media use by child and family demographics among 1464 Dutch preteens. The results demonstrated that watching TV is still a very popular activity among children. However, other electronic media are also popular within this age group as 72 % of preteens had a cellphone. Children who spoke a language other than Dutch and whose parents were born abroad were heavier media users. Children with more books in the home and who read more frequently tended to be lighter media users. Boys spent more time on screen media than girls and were more likely to play videogames while girls preferred using social media. This study demonstrated that child and home characteristics play a significant role in children's engagement with screen media and literacy.

Investigations of language use in multilingual regions are traditionally done through the usage of retrospective questionnaires, either distributed on paper, or digitally. The aim of the present study was to test a new method of measuring language choice and use: by using social media to contact individuals several times a day and ask them what language(s) they are using, how, and with whom. It was investigated whether this method could provide real-time data on an individual's language use. One hundred participants living in the Netherlands were given a language background questionnaire and were asked to provide information through Facebook (R). It was found that the social media data generally reflect the questionnaire data. More importantly, the social media data include more exact information on cases of codemixing and allow to compile a typology of language contact situations. It was concluded that social media inquiries could prove useful in future language use studies. Methodological issues, in particular concerning privacy and problems related to crowd sourcing of language data through social media, are discussed.

This study assesses the impact of internal and external factors on very young EFL learners in an instructional setting. 71 child English learners in China (onset age: 2;0 - 5;6) were involved: their receptive vocabulary, productive vocabulary and receptive grammar were taken as outcome variables, and age of onset, short-term memory, nonverbal intelligence, English input quantity and quality, English use, and maternal English level were taken as predictive variables. Multiple regression analyses, verified by Bayes factor comparisons, revealed that the total amount of school input and home English media environment were significant predictors for all of three aspects of English proficiency, with each aspect having different additional significant predictors. Both internal factors (e.g., age of onset) and external factors (e.g., English input quantity) played an important role, but in contrast to similar studies (e.g., Paradis, 2011) focusing on a L2 naturalistic setting, external factors explained more variance of English proficiency measures.

This study examines the English vocabulary development of 43 very young child EFL learners (age 3;2-6;2) in China. They were tested twice for vocabulary breadth (reception and production) and semantic depth (paradigmatic and syntagmatic vocabulary knowledge). The development of the English vocabulary knowledge was predicted using a series of internal factors (e.g., phonological short-term memory) and external factors (e.g., English input quantity).An exploratory mixed-effects regression analysis revealed that English use, interacting with age of English onset, significantly predicted such growth. Older children benefitted more from practicing English to enhance their English vocabulary. The amount of English input at school was found to positively impact the development of English syntagmatic knowledge. Chinese paradigmatic knowledge significantly influenced the growth of English paradigmatic and syntagmatic knowledge. These findings indicate that at least at an early stage, external factors play an important role in child FL vocabulary development, particularly in children with a later age of English onset. Furthermore, the transfer of concepts from the L1 to the L2 might be more pronounced with respect to L2 semantic depth than L2 vocabulary breadth. This conceptual transfer is relevant to FL learners as young as three years of age.

A growing group of migrants age in an environment in which the dominant language (L2) differs from their mother tongue (L1). This study considers the occurrence of a language barrier in accessing (information on) health and healthcare provisions, and under which circumstances a limited proficiency in the L2 negatively influences well-being for a group of older Turkish women in the Netherlands. Data from interviews with 39 Turkish females reveal that a limited L2 proficiency does not automatically result in a lower level of well-being. When individuals are well-embedded in a social network (and feel belonging to it), a limited L2 proficiency can be alleviated by either L1 assistance from their environment or by facilitating an interpreter in L2 situations. However, when such a network is absent, L2 situations can cause anxiety, which may have repercussions for well-being. Even though there is no clear one-on-one relationship between language and well-being, language does play a role in many (social) processes that influence well-being.

Cognitive advantages for bilinguals have inconsistently been observed in different populations, with different operationalisations of bilingualism, cognitive performance, and the process by which language control transfers to cognitive control. This calls for studies investigating which aspects of multilingualism drive a cognitive advantage, in which populations and under which conditions. This study reports on two cognitive tasks coupled with an extensive background questionnaire on health, wellbeing, personality, language knowledge and language use, administered to 387 older adults in the northern Netherlands, a small but highly multilingual area. Using linear mixed effects regression modeling, we find that when different languages are used frequently in different contexts, enhanced attentional control is observed. Subsequently, a PLS regression model targeting also other influential factors yielded a two-component solution whereby only more sensitive measures of language proficiency and language usage in different social contexts were predictive of cognitive performance above and beyond the contribution of age, gender, income and education. We discuss these findings in light of previous studies that try to uncover more about the nature of bilingualism and the cognitive processes that may drive an advantage. With an unusually large sample size our study advocates for a move away from dichotomous, knowledge-based operationalisations of multilingualism and offers new insights for future studies at the individual level.

This study investigated whether lifelong bilingualism can be associated with enhanced executive control, particularly mental flexibility, and with a modulation of an age-related decline in these functions. We compared performance of middle-aged and elderly speakers of German and bilingual speakers of Dutch and Frisian in a cued task-switching paradigm. All bilinguals were fluent in the same, closely-related language pairs. Bilinguals incurred significantly lower switching costs than monolinguals, and elderly bilinguals were less affected by an age-related increase in switching costs than monolinguals. Bilinguals did not differ from monolinguals in the size of the mixing costs. Our findings suggest that lifelong bilingualism correlates with enhanced ability to shift between mental sets, as well as increased resistance to proactive interference. The fact that we found significant group differences – while some previous studies did not – may be attributable to the choice of our task and to the cognateness of the languages involved.

In this article, we explore the naming skills of a bilingual English-Norwegian speaker diagnosed with Primary Progressive Aphasia, in each of his languages across three different speech contexts: confrontation naming, semi-spontaneous narrative (picture description), and conversation, and at two points in time: 12 and 30months post diagnosis, respectively. The results are discussed in light of two main theories of lexical retrieval in healthy, elderly speakers: the Transmission Deficit Hypothesis and the Inhibitory Deficit Theory. Our data show that, consistent with the participant's premorbid use of and proficiency in the two languages, his performance in his L2 is lower than in his L1, but this difference diminishes as the disease progresses. This is the case across the three speech contexts; however, the difference is smaller in the narrative task, where his performance is very low in both languages already at the first measurement point. Despite his word finding problems, he is able to take active part in conversation, particularly in his L1 and more so at the first measurement point. In addition to the task effect, we find effects of word class, frequency, and cognateness on his naming skills. His performance seems to support the Transmission Deficit Hypothesis. By combining different tools and methods of analysis, we get a more comprehensive picture of the impact of the dementia on the speaker's languages from an intra-individual as well as an inter-individual perspective, which may be useful in research as well as in clinical practice.

Adopting a longitudinal design, this study investigates the effects of foreign language anxiety on foreign language proficiency over time within English and Japanese learning contexts. It also explores the stability of anxiety in English and Japanese over time and the stability of anxiety across English and Japanese. Chinese university students (N=146), who were simultaneously learning Japanese and English, participated in this study. Data were collected twice over a 2-month interval, using the Foreign Language Classroom Anxiety Scale, the English Proficiency Scale, and the Japanese Proficiency Scale. Results showed that anxiety changes had a significantly negative, but weak, correlation with the development of overall proficiency and the proficiency in sub- skills such as reading or speaking, for both English and Japanese, suggesting the interference of anxiety with proficiency levels. Anxiety in Japanese tended to decrease significantly over time, but no significant change was found for English. Furthermore, no significant difference between anxiety in Japanese and English was found at either testing time. 5 1 41 63 3 Studies in Second Language Learning and Teaching

This study aims at assessing how bilinguals select words in the appropriate language in production and recognition while minimizing interference from the non-appropriate language. Two prominent models are considered which assume that when one language is in use, the other is suppressed. The Inhibitory Control (IC) model suggests that, in both production and recognition, the amount of inhibition on the non-target language is greater for the stronger compared to the weaker language. In contrast, the Bilingual Interactive Activation (BIA) model proposes that, in language recognition, the amount of inhibition on the weaker language is stronger than otherwise. To investigate whether bilingual language production and recognition can be accounted for by a single model of bilingual processing, we tested a group of native speakers of Dutch (L1), advanced speakers of English (L2) in a bilingual recognition and production task. Specifically, language switching costs were measured while participants performed a lexical decision (recognition) and a picture naming (production) task involving language switching. Results suggest that while in language recognition the amount of inhibition applied to the non-appropriate language increases along with its dominance as predicted by the IC model, in production the amount of inhibition applied to the non-relevant language is not related to language dominance, but rather it may be modulated by speakers' unconscious strategies to foster the weaker language. This difference indicates that bilingual language recognition and production might rely on different processing mechanisms and cannot be accounted within one of the existing models of bilingual language processing.

Motivation as a variable in L2 development is no longer seen as the stable individual difference factor it was once believed to be: Influenced by process-oriented models and principles, and especially by the growing understanding of how complex dynamic systems work, researchers have been focusing increasingly on the dynamic and changeable nature of the motivation process. In this study we micro-map the motivational dynamics of 4 language learners during their language lessons over a period of 2 weeks, using a novel instrument-the Motometer-combined with classroom observations and a questionnaire on motivation and attitude. The article answers three current questions concerning L2 motivation: (a) Can we demonstrate variability in students' L2 motivation in class; (b) Is there a detectable stable level of students' in-class motivation; and (c), If both of these are demonstrated, can they be accounted for by the classroom context? The results affirm that student motivation can be successfully explored using a dynamic systems framework. Our findings demonstrate how motivation changes over time on an individual level, while also being characterised by predictable and stable phases, and how it is inseparable from the learner's individual learning context. The data also show that motivation can be meaningfully studied at different interacting time scales. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Most theories of (second) language processing are based on component-dominant models that assume linear relationships between linguistic factors affecting language production and language comprehension. In this contribution we argue that in the wake of current nonlinear approaches to cognition, language processing must be seen in terms of interaction-dominant dynamics manifested in 1/f scaling relations. Our study showed that increased experience in second language use leads to scaling relations that more and more tend toward pink noise. Moreover, our data tentatively show that intensive immersion in a second-language context leads to steeper spectral slopes in response time series of that same language. These findings demonstrate the significant contribution of nonlinear analyses to the study of real-time language processing in multilinguals.

The present paper will present an overview of the state of the art in language attrition research, attempting to provide an integrated picture of the attrition process in the light of Dynamic Systems Theory. Recent findings suggest that a fully developed L1 system is a powerful attractor state, as defined by Dynamic Systems Theory. Once this state has been attained, L2 influence or activation problems may cause small temporary shifts to the overall system, but it will generally settle back to its original state. Such a view could explain the dramatic differences observed between the L1 knowledge of pre- and post-puberty migrants. While speakers who have attained school age, but not puberty, will generally be able to use most grammatical features of their L1 in a target-like way, this knowledge may not yet have ‘settled’ into the mature attractor state, and therefore remain vulnerable to attrition.

The current study focuses on one child's (male, 3 years old) learning behaviors in an English as a Foreign Language classroom, and explores the coordination and developmental patterns of his nonverbal (gestures and body language) and verbal (verbal repetition and verbal responses) learning behaviors over time. Guided by the principles of the theory of Complex Dynamical Systems, the child's learning behaviors were analyzed over the course of four months, using (Cross) Recurrence Quantification Analysis and Monte Carlo permutation tests. The results show that the coordination between the child's nonverbal and verbal behaviors exhibited a rigid pattern at the beginning but got loosened over time, allowing the child to respond more flexibly to the teachers' instructions and to alternate more freely between his verbal and nonverbal learning behaviors. When focusing on the child's verbal learning behaviors only, we found that patterns of the verbal responses seemed to be more predictable than those of verbal repetitions, which suggests the varied influence of internal and external factors on these verbal learning behaviors.