Community, equity, and cultural change in open research: A response to open peer commentaries

We thank our esteemed colleagues who provided insightful commentaries on our feature article “(Why) are open research practices the future for the study of Language Learning?” (Marsden & Morgan-Short). Their responses very usefully illustrated and amplified points in our review, provided nuance and extension to some of our ideas, and pushed us to make stronger statements and deeper considerations of some of the facets and consequences of open research practices. Three common and prominent themes seemed to emerge from the responses, which we identify as: Community; Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion; and Changing Culture, and we organize our own response around these themes. We note that some of the issues raised by our generous commentators were addressed in arguments that had originally been included in our submitted manuscript (Marsden & Morgan-Short) but, due to length considerations, had to be moved to its Appendix. That Appendix can be found in the online Supporting Information for the Marsden & Morgan-Short article and is also held on the Open Science Framework (OSF) at https://osf.io/ru5n4. We refer to some of those arguments in our response here

Replication in second language research : Narrative and systematic reviews, and recommendations for the field.

Despite its critical role for the development of the field, little is known about replication in second language (L2) research. To better understand replication practice, we first provide a narrative review of challenges related to replication, drawing on recent developments in psychology. This discussion frames and motivates a systematic review, building on syntheses of replication in psychology, education, and L2 research. We coded 67 self-labeled L2 replication studies found across 26 journals for 136 characteristics. We estimated a mean rate of 1 published replication study for every 400 articles, with a mean of 6.64 years between initial and replication studies and a mean of 117 citations of the initial study before a replication was published. Replication studies had an annual mean of 7.3 citations, much higher than averages in linguistics and education. Overlap in authorship between initial and replication studies and the availability of the initial materials both increased the likelihood of a replication supporting the initial findings. Our sample contained no direct (exact) replication attempts, and changes made to initial studies were numerous and wide ranging, which likely obscured, if not undermined, the interpretability of replication studies. To improve the amount and quality of L2 replication research, we propose 16 recommendations relating to rationale, nomenclature, design, infrastructure, and incentivization for collaboration and publication

Introducing Registered Reports at Language Learning: Promoting Transparency, Replication, and a Synthetic Ethic in the Language Sciences

The past few years have seen growing interest in open science practices, which include initiatives to increase transparency in research methods, data collection, and analysis, to enhance accessibility to data and materials, and to improve the dissemination of findings to broader audiences. Language Learning is enhancing its participation in the open science movement by launching Registered Reports as an article category as of 1 January 2018. Registered Reports allow authors to submit the conceptual justifications and the full method and analysis protocol of their study to peer review prior to data collection. High quality submissions then receive provisional, in-principle acceptance. Provided that data collection, analyses, and reporting follow the proposed and accepted methodology and analysis protocols, the paper is subsequently publishable whatever the findings. We outline key concerns leading to the development of Registered Reports, describe its core features, and discuss some of its benefits and weaknesses

Squib: processamento em L2 apresenta ativação neural semelhante à da L1 após meses de ausência de exposição à língua

Este estudo de ERP com uma língua artificial examinou as consequências neurais e comportamentais de um período substancial de ausência de exposição a uma L2, um cenário comum na aprendizagem de L2. O objetivo foi examinar a neurocognição da gramática de uma segunda língua (L2) na idade adulta após um período de vários meses de ausência de exposição à língua-alvo. Em particular, buscou-se verificar em que medida essa ausência acarretaria perdas na proficiência e/ou neurocognição de forma diferente que acarretam em L1. Os resultados mostram que, após a obtenção de níveis relativamente altos de proficiência na L2, vários meses de ausência de exposição à língua não necessariamente levam a uma diminuição nos níveis de desempenho. Ao invés disso, a proficiência pode não somente ser mantida como até mesmo pode ocorrer um aumento no processamento neural da sintaxe semelhante ao que ocorre na língua materna

Introduction of Methods Showcase Articles in Language Learning

Building on initiatives to promote high quality methodologies and Open Science practices in the language sciences, Language Learning will introduce, as of March 2020, a new manuscript type entitled Methods Showcase Articles (MSAs). The purpose of MSAs is to introduce new or emerging qualitative and quantitative methods, techniques, or instrumentation for language data collection, cleaning, sampling, coding, scoring, and analysis. MSAs are intended to describe methods and provide detailed examples of their application such that language researchers can easily adopt or adapt them in future studies. In this editorial, we outline the goals, format, and benefits of MSAs, discuss how they can advance language sciences, and discuss potential concerns

Contributions of declarative and procedural memory to second language accuracy and automatization

Extending previous research that has examined the relationship between long-term memory and second language (L2) development with a primary focus on accuracy in L2 outcomes, the current study explores the relationship between declarative and procedural memory and accuracy and automatization during L2 practice. Adult English native speakers had learned an artificial language over two weeks (Morgan-Short, Faretta-Stutenberg, Brill-Schuetz, Carpenter & Wong, 2014), producing four sessions of practice data that had not been analyzed previously. Mixed-effects models analyses revealed that declarative memory was positively related to accuracy during comprehension practice. No other relationships were evidenced for accuracy. For automatization, measured by the coefficient of variation (Segalowitz, 2010), the model revealed a positive relationship with procedural memory that became stronger over practice for learners with higher declarative memory but weaker for learners with lower declarative memory. These results provide further insight into the role that long-term memory plays during L2 development

Second Language Processing Shows Increased Native-Like Neural Responses after Months of No Exposure

Although learning a second language (L2) as an adult is notoriously difficult, research has shown that adults can indeed attain native language-like brain processing and high proficiency levels. However, it is important to then retain what has been attained, even in the absence of continued exposure to the L2—particularly since periods of minimal or no L2 exposure are common. This event-related potential (ERP) study of an artificial language tested performance and neural processing following a substantial period of no exposure. Adults learned to speak and comprehend the artificial language to high proficiency with either explicit, classroom-like, or implicit, immersion-like training, and then underwent several months of no exposure to the language. Surprisingly, proficiency did not decrease during this delay. Instead, it remained unchanged, and there was an increase in native-like neural processing of syntax, as evidenced by several ERP changes—including earlier, more reliable, and more left-lateralized anterior negativities, and more robust P600s, in response to word-order violations. Moreover, both the explicitly and implicitly trained groups showed increased native-like ERP patterns over the delay, indicating that such changes can hold independently of L2 training type. The results demonstrate that substantial periods with no L2 exposure are not necessarily detrimental. Rather, benefits may ensue from such periods of time even when there is no L2 exposure. Interestingly, both before and after the delay the implicitly trained group showed more native-like processing than the explicitly trained group, indicating that type of training also affects the attainment of native-like processing in the brain. Overall, the findings may be largely explained by a combination of forgetting and consolidation in declarative and procedural memory, on which L2 grammar learning appears to depend. The study has a range of implications, and suggests a research program with potentially important consequences for second language acquisition and related fields

Differences in implicit vs. explicit grammar processing as revealed by drift-diffusion modeling of reaction times

Learning new languages is a complex cognitive task involving both implicit and explicit processes. Batterink, Oudiette, Reber, and Paller (2014) report that participants with vs. without conscious awareness of a hidden semi-artificial language regularity showed no significant differences in grammar learning, suggesting that implicit/explicit routes may be functionally equivalent. However, their operationalizing of learning via median reaction times might not capture underlying differences in cognitive processes. In a conceptual replication, we compared rule-aware (n=14) and rule-unaware (n=21) participants via drift-diffusion modeling, which can quantify distinct subcomponents of evidence-accumulation processes (Ratcliff & Rouder, 1998). For both groups, grammar learning was manifested in non-decision parameters, suggesting anticipation of motor responses. For rule-aware participants only, learning also affected bias in evidence accumulation during word reading. These results suggest that implicit grammar learning may be manifested through low-level mechanisms whereas explicit grammar learning may involve more direct engagement with encoded target meanings

The relationship between cognitive control and second language proficiency

In the past 20 years, the field of bilingualism has made a substantial effort to better understand the set of cognitive mechanisms that allow bilinguals to functionally manage and use their languages. Among the mechanisms that have been identified, cognitive control has been posited to be key for proficient bilingual language processing and use. However, the role of cognitive control in developing bilingualism, i.e., among adult learners learning a second language (L2), is still unclear with some studies indicating a relationship between cognitive control and adult L2 development/developing bilingualism and other studies finding the opposite pattern. This set of contradictory findings merits further investigation in order to deepen our understanding of the role that cognitive control plays during the process of becoming bilingual. In the present study, we aimed to address this open question by examining the role of cognitive control among adult L2 learners of Spanish at the intermediate level using multiple behavioral measures as a way to provide a multidimensional perspective on the role of cognitive control and developing bilingualism. Our results indicate a significant relationship between cognitive control abilities, specific to reactive control, and overall L2 proficiency. We also found a significant relationship between speed of processing and overall L2 proficiency. The results of this study contribute to the existing body of knowledge on cognitive factors related to developing bilingualism and provide critical new insight into the underlying cognitive mechanisms that may contribute to adult L2 learners becoming bilingual