AAAL 2027: Invited Colloquium
Convened by Kara Morgan & Janet Hell
Intersections between second/additional language learning and cognitive neuroscience: Applied implications for research and learning
Conveners:
Kara Morgan Short
Janet van Hell
Colloquium Abstract
Advances in our understanding of adult second and additional language learning (L2/A) are progressing with robust empirical work appearing through applied linguistics and cognitive neuroscience conferences and journals. Although this research has significantly contributed to our theoretical understanding of L2/A, it has not yet been fully leveraged for its applied implications for learning and teaching. Often this research is not fully informed by relevant interdisciplinary theoretical perspectives, methodological designs, and empirical findings, due in part to the specialized background and training in each field. Arguably, interdisciplinary research is most likely to have the greatest impact for both theory and application. This colloquium brings together research that highlights the intersection of applied linguistics and cognitive neuroscience. In doing so, it considers the approaches, benefits, and challenges of working at this intersection and how results from such efforts potentially advance L2/A learning practice and pedagogy.
The colloquium will open with a brief introduction by the conveners, followed by four fifteenminute research presentations that are informed by both applied linguistics and cognitive neuroscience. The presentations will represent various brain-based methods including neural stimulation, electrophysiology, and functional magnetic resonance imaging methods.They will also represent broad L2/A areas and topics including morphosyntactic learning, word learning and consolidation, feedback during morphosyntactic learning, and writing assessment. Each contribution will present empirical results and will also reflect on guiding questions about the implications of their study. A discussant will further consider the potential applications of the research, and the colloquium will end with an open discussion between the audience and presenters.
From feedback to learning: Neurocognitive insights into explicit and implicit corrective feedback
Ana Rodríguez Gallego
Kara Morgan-Short
Corrective feedback (CF) plays an essential role in second/additional language (L2/A) learning (e.g., Loewen & Sato, 2018), and behavioral research shows that both explicit and implicit CF facilitate L2/A development (e.g., Li, 2010). Yet the neurocognitive processes underlying these CF types remain poorly understood. For explicit L2/A feedback, research shows evidence of two event-related potential processing components: the feedback-related negativity (FRN)—elicited in response to external feedback—and the error-related negativity (ERN)—associated with internal error detection (Bultena et al., 2017). No study to date, however, has examined the neurocognitive mechanisms associated with implicit CF. The present study addresses this gap by investigating the neurocognitive processes underlying both explicit and implicit CF.
Twenty-four beginner-level L2/A learners of Spanish completed a training task targeting direct object pronouns and received either explicit or implicit CF (Issa and Morgan-Short, 2019). Electrophysiological data were recorded during response production and feedback presentation. Learning outcomes were assessed via pre-, post-, and delayed tests. ERN and FRN effects were computed using standard time windows (0–150ms post-response for ERN; 200–350ms post-feedback onset for FRN). Linear mixed-effects models were conducted to examine the presence of these components, their development over time, and their interaction with CF type.
Preliminary results indicate statistically significant learning gains only for explicit CF. Regarding error monitoring, ERN effects emerged over training for explicit CF. Regarding feedback processing, emerging FRN effects increased over training for implicit CF. These findings suggest that explicit CF may facilitate the development of internal error-monitoring mechanisms, indexed by the ERN, whereas implicit CF appears to rely more heavily on external feedback processing, reflected by increasing FRN amplitudes. Together, these preliminary results suggest that explicit and implicit CF may engage in distinct neurocognitive mechanisms. We discuss how these findings inform our understanding of CF in L2/A learning and consider whether the results have implications for instructional approaches.
Cortical excitability enhancement via transcranial direct current stimulation: Its effects on L2 morphosyntactic processing
Ezequiel Durant Lopez
Working memory (WM) supports morphosyntactic processing, as learners allocate cognitive resources to integrate non-salient and redundant inflectional cues. Learners with higher verbal WM are sensitive to gender agreement violations in real time, while those with lower spans rely on lexical and semantic information (Sagarra, 2022). WM training studies further suggest that improving verbal WM yields gains in L2 structural processing (Colflesh et al., 2016; Durand- López, 2023). Another, more direct and less effortful route may be to stimulate the left dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (lDLPFC), a region associated with verbal WM, via anodal transcranial direct-current stimulation (tDCS), as recent albeit scarce tDCS studies suggest that anodal tDCS may improve L2 comprehension (Cameron & Durand-López, 2026).
The present study examines whether anodal tDCS over the lDLPFC facilitates morphosyntactic processing in intermediate English L2 learners of Spanish. Forty right-handed intermediate-mid learners (proficiency assessed via OPI) were randomly assigned to a treatment (n = 20) or sham (n = 20) group. In a pre-test/post-test design separated by seven days, participants completed a self-paced reading task containing noun-adjective gender agreement and violation sentences and a running memory task measuring verbal WM. Between sessions, the treatment group received two 20-minute sessions of 2.0 mA anodal tDCS over the F3 electrode site, while the sham group received brief stimulation to mimic the sensory experience.
Data collection is ongoing. Based on prior findings, I predict that increased cortical excitability in the lDLPFC, will produce a behavioral shift in the treatment group at post-test, reflected in increased sensitivity to gender agreement violations indexed by longer reading times in violation relative to agreement conditions, suggesting that tDCS-induced cortical excitability drives executive resource allocation toward inflectional morphology during real-time L2 processing. At a time when cognitive neuroscience and applied linguistics are increasingly converging, such findings invite reflection on how tDCS might complement or extend traditional instructional approaches, opening the door to neurophysiological tools for facilitating the processing of morphosyntactic features that remain persistently difficult for adult L2 learners.
Investigating the role of prior semantic knowledge in overnight consolidation of novel L2 words: A behavioral and EEG study of Spanish-English bilinguals
Adriana Miller
Janet van Hell
According to the Complementary Learning Systems (CLS) Theory, explicitly learned novel words are first encoded in the hippocampus via the episodic memory system, then gradually consolidated into semantic memory. In support of the CLS theory, EEG evidence finds that newly learned words exhibit word-like signatures (i.e., N400 and LPC semantic priming effects) after a period of consolidation. While the CLS account has been theorized to apply to L2 explicit word learning, the neural mechanisms underlying this process are less clear. To investigate the time-course of L2 word consolidation we trained Spanish-English bilingual participants on one set of novel L2 English words on Day 1 and another set on Day 2. After training on Day 2, we tested participants on both sets (Day 1 set had the opportunity for overnight consolidation, whereas Day 2 set did not) using behavioral and EEG measures. To investigate the impact of prior knowledge, we trained participants on two types of novel words. “Familiar” novel words were paired with existing concepts (i.e., a kumsur is a vehicle used for transferring goods which maps to the familiar concept, truck). “Unfamiliar” novel words were paired with novel, previously unfamiliar concepts (i.e., a jabary is a car with two wheels that drives underwater). We hypothesized that we would find consolidation-related effects (i.e., more word-like responses for words learned on Day 1) and a facilitatory effect of prior knowledge (i.e., word-like effects for novel words with familiar than unfamiliar concepts). Preliminary results (N=13) do not find consolidation-related changes, but instead suggest effects of prior-knowledge, such that words with unfamiliar meanings show more word-like N400 and LPC responses. Results from the full sample will be presented at the colloquium. In addition, we will investigate the potential effect of individual differences in L2 proficiency, author recognition, and semantic verbal fluency.
The effects of task type on L2 writing behaviours and associated neuro-cognitive processes
Andrea Révész
Hyeonjeong Jeong
Sathena Chan
Haining Cui
Atsushi Doi
Dominique Jiang
Se Won Kim
Van Pham
Motoaki Sugiura
While research examining task effects on L2 writing behaviours and associated cognitive processes is increasing, little is known about the impact of task factors on learners’ brain activity during writing. This project combines neuroimaging with behavioural analysis to examine pausing and eye-gaze behaviours across TOEFL iBT reading-listening-writing and readingwriting tasks. Drawing on models of writing and prior behavioural research, we hypothesised that pause locations would reflect distinct writing-related processes: within-word pauses would be associated with spelling/typing, sentence-internal pauses with language formulation, and between-sentence pauses with conceptualisation and message-level planning. We further expected greater demands on maintaining and using source information and less gazing at the writing window during the reading-listening-writing task.
The participants were 60 L2 users, who completed two reading-listening-writing and two reading-writing tasks. All participants carried out one version of each task in an fMRI scanner, and the other versions while their eye movements were tracked. Task order and test conditions (fMRI vs. eye-tracking) were counterbalanced. We captured writing behaviours using keystroke-logging software. Keystroke logs were coded for pause location, and behavioural and eyetracking measures were analysed using mixed-effects models. The fMRI data were analysed using first-level GLMs and second-level whole-brain models to examine pause-location effects within each task.
Preliminary results suggest that pause locations are associated with distinct neurocognitive processes. Across tasks, within-word pauses engaged spelling/typing-related regions (supramarginal, occipital, cerebellar areas). Sentence-internal pauses recruited languagerelated regions (left inferior frontal gyrus). Between-sentence pauses engaged regions associated with conceptualisation and message-level planning (precuneus, temporal pole). In the integrated task, hippocampal/parahippocampal involvement may reflect maintenance, retrieval, and integration of source information. This task also led to fewer gazes on the writing window, probably due to note-taking.
We will consider how these findings may inform theoretical models of writing and contribute to the cognitive validity argument for the TOEFL iBT writing test. We will also discuss the implications of our results for providing individualized formative feedback to test-takers and L2 writers in relation to their developmental progress in core writing