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Open research questions in Second Language Acquisition and Learning

836 gap statements mined from Second Language Acquisition and Learning papers in our 7.9M-paper local library, which holds 6,789 papers on the topic — drawn mostly from each paper's own stated research gap, future-work, challenge and limitation notes, and its abstract. The ones listed below are a selection still marked open; each names the study that raised it, with a DOI link where the paper has one.

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What the literature leaves open

  • Further research is needed to investigate the relationship between CEFR levels and aural/written vocabulary mastery levels. Research on the impact of English language materials on EFL learners' vocabulary learning is needed. Studies on the differences in aural/written vocabulary mastery levels among students with different CEFR levels could be conducted.

    Mastery of Listening and Reading Vocabulary Levels in Relation to CEFR: Insights into Student Admissions and English as a Medium of Instruction · 2024 · DOI

  • Aural/written vocabulary level mastery has yet to be clearly benchmarked to CEFR levels. There is a need to investigate the correlations between students' CEFR levels and their mastery of listening and reading vocabulary levels.

    Mastery of Listening and Reading Vocabulary Levels in Relation to CEFR: Insights into Student Admissions and English as a Medium of Instruction · 2024 · DOI

  • The lack of consistency in the methods used for training and assessments across the studies. The limited number of studies that have investigated the impact of MAPT on perception.

    A Systematic Review of Empirical Mobile-Assisted Pronunciation Studies through a Perception–Production Lens · 2024 · DOI

  • There is a lack of systematic reviews focusing specifically on MAPT's impact on pronunciation. The existing reviews of mobile-assisted language learning (MALL) studies have not concentrated on pronunciation. There is a need to understand the impact of MAPT on L2 learners' perception and production of targeted pronunciation features.

    A Systematic Review of Empirical Mobile-Assisted Pronunciation Studies through a Perception–Production Lens · 2024 · DOI

  • One challenge is that adult L2 learning is characterized by a variability in ultimate attainment that is strikingly distinct from language learned in typically developing children. Another challenge is that mastering foreign sounds is notoriously problematic for those learning languages outside of childhood.

    Cross-Scriptal Orthographic Influence on Second Language Phonology · 2024 · DOI

  • The study notes the difficulty of observing covert cognition processes, and the need for methods that can provide insights into these processes. The paper acknowledges the potential for additional effects to be at work in explaining the results obtained.

    The Processing of Multiword Units by Learners of English: Evidence from Pause Placement in Writing Process Data · 2024 · DOI

  • The paper identifies the challenge of making vocabulary stick in memory, and the need for a framework that can be applied to a wide range of learning focuses. The paper also highlights the challenge of developing autonomy in learning, and the need for learners to take control of their own learning.

    Re-Thinking the Principles of (Vocabulary) Learning and Their Applications · 2024 · DOI

  • The study had to address the issue of limited academic vocabulary exposure in the TED Talks and textbook. The study encountered the challenge of comparing the lexical coverage of the academic words in the TED Talks and textbook.

    TED Talks and the Textbook: An In-Depth Lexical Analysis · 2024 · DOI

  • The paper identifies the challenge of inconsistency in statistical power and how the level of surprisal is measured. It also identifies the challenge of the limited scope of current results. Another challenge is the difficulty of targeting linguistic predictions experimentally.

    Prime Surprisal as a Tool for Assessing Error-Based Learning Theories: A Systematic Review · 2024 · DOI

  • The current study identifies the need to understand the role of individual differences in self-evaluation accuracy. The study highlights the importance of considering cognitive and experiential profiles in L2 learning.

    Delving into L2 Learners’ Perspective: Exploring the Role of Individual Differences in Self-Evaluation of L2 Speech Learning · 2024 · DOI

  • The lack of large-scale studies with healthy control groups is a challenge for testing the psychometric quality of figurative language comprehension tests. The complexity of the CHC model and the need to allocate figurative language comprehension within it pose a challenge for the study.

    Adding a Piece to the Puzzle? The Allocation of Figurative Language Comprehension into the CHC Model of Cognitive Abilities · 2024 · DOI

  • There is a lack of sound measures to explore the possibility of allocating figurative language comprehension into the CHC model. Prior tests often include only one category of figurative language and are conducted predominantly on clinical samples. The samples used are often small and contain only clinical subjects and/or no healthy control group.

    Adding a Piece to the Puzzle? The Allocation of Figurative Language Comprehension into the CHC Model of Cognitive Abilities · 2024 · DOI

  • Less is known about the relationship between language proficiency and activities earlier in life, which could have contributed to L2 acquisition. The study aims to fill this gap by exploring the relationship between early extramural English exposure and vocabulary size.

    Exploring the Effects of Early Extramural English Exposure on the Vocabulary Size of University Students · 2024 · DOI

  • It notes that prior research has focused on the role of context in vocabulary learning, but has not fully explored the cognitive mechanisms involved.

    Cognitive Strategies of Second Language Vocabulary Inferencing: An Eye Tracking Study · 2024 · DOI

  • The varying vocabulary load and the presence of academic vocabulary and multiword units presented between the chosen resources and the textbook itself could lead to comprehension difficulties for learners. Few studies have investigated spoken multiword units. There is no lexical profiler that uses the academic spoken word list.

    TED Talks and the Textbook: An In-Depth Lexical Analysis · 2024 · DOI

  • Language research is predominantly conducted in the Global North, limiting the interpretability of the findings.

    The Influence of Multilingual Experience on Executive Function and Structure Learning: Effects in Young Adults in the UK and Singapore · 2024 · DOI

  • Relatively little research has been conducted on local versions of Gaokao's English listening tests.

    A Multidimensional Analysis of a High-Stakes English Listening Test: A Corpus-Based Approach · 2024 · DOI

  • The study identifies a gap in understanding the predictive roles of compounding awareness in idiom comprehension. The study also identifies a gap in understanding the longitudinal mediating roles of character recognition and vocabulary knowledge.

    The predictive roles of compounding awareness in Chinese children’s idiom comprehension: the longitudinal mediating roles of character recognition and vocabulary knowledge · 2026 · DOI

  • Future curriculum design and policy formulation should consider the importance of understanding learners’ perspectives on technology use in education, - Further research could explore the impact of large language models on vocabulary learning in different…

    Beyond the Books: Exploring Factors Shaping Chinese English Learners’ Engagement with Large Language Models for Vocabulary Learning · 2024 · DOI

  • More data should be analyzed to confirm the findings obtained in this study - The duration of pauses should be given more attention - The impact of the choice of threshold could be determined by comparing different thresholds - The actual duration of pauses could be taken into account in the study of holistic…

    The Processing of Multiword Units by Learners of English: Evidence from Pause Placement in Writing Process Data · 2024 · DOI

  • The extent of children's exposure to idioms is unknown - The kinds of idioms children encounter are unknown - The effect of idiom exposure on idiom vocabulary development…

    Adding a Piece to the Puzzle: Children’s Exposure to Idioms · 2024 · DOI

  • Investigate the impact of the participants' access or lack of access to their own speech on the accuracy of self-evaluations, - Expand the research to include a more diverse participant base, - Compare different self-assessment…

    Delving into L2 Learners’ Perspective: Exploring the Role of Individual Differences in Self-Evaluation of L2 Speech Learning · 2024 · DOI

  • Small sample size of 41 participants, - Limited to a specific age group of 12 to 13 years old, - Limited to Chinese speakers with English as their second…

    An Investigation into the Effects of Structured Input, Referential Activities, and Affective Activities on the Acquisition of English Causative Forms · 2024 · DOI

  • Further research could investigate the long-term effects of structured input activities, - Research could explore the effects of structured input activities on different language structures, - Studies could examine the impact of structured input activities on learners with different proficiency…

    An Investigation into the Effects of Structured Input, Referential Activities, and Affective Activities on the Acquisition of English Causative Forms · 2024 · DOI

  • Only two data points are available, - The analysis is limited to the 2020 data set, - The study does not investigate the characteristics of sub-threshold clusters…

    Thirty Years on: A Bibliometric Analysis of L2 Vocabulary Research Published in 2020 · 2024 · DOI

Most-cited papers in Second Language Acquisition and Learning

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Open questions raised by papers listed on this page include: (1) Further research is needed to investigate the relationship between CEFR levels and aural/written vocabulary mastery levels (“Mastery of Listening and Reading Vocabulary Levels in Relation to CEFR:…”, 2024); (2) The lack of consistency in the methods used for training and assessments across the studies (“A Systematic Review of Empirical Mobile-Assisted Pronunciation Studies through…”, 2024); (3) The lack of large-scale studies with healthy control groups is a challenge for testing the psychometric quality of figurative language comprehension tests (“Adding a Piece to the Puzzle? The Allocation of Figurative Language…”, 2024); (4) Less is known about the relationship between language proficiency and activities earlier in life, which could have contributed to L2 acquisition (“Exploring the Effects of Early Extramural English Exposure on the Vocabulary…”, 2024); (5) It notes that prior research has focused on the role of context in vocabulary learning, but has not fully explored the cognitive mechanisms involved (“Cognitive Strategies of Second Language Vocabulary Inferencing: An Eye Tracking…”, 2024). 836 gap statements have been mined from Second Language Acquisition and Learning papers in our 7.9M-paper local library, which holds 6,789 papers on the topic; the gaps come from whichever of those papers state one. They are mostly the research gaps the authors state and the papers' abstracts, plus future-work, limitations and challenges passages. The ones listed below are a selection still marked open; each names the study that raised it, with a DOI link where the paper has one, so you can read the original claim in context.

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