Due to the lack of explicit word boundary markers, L2-Chinese learners have shown some difficulties in Chinese word segmentation. This study aimed to tackle the possible reasons of L2-Chinese learners’ difficulties in word segmentation: L1-biased processing strategy or developing mental representations of Chinese compound words, or both. In an eye-tracking experiment, high-frequency two-character Chinese compound words were used as targets. These compound words were embedded in sentences where their first component characters with prior verbs were manipulated to be either plausible or implausible, while the whole compound words were always plausible. Sentences were presented in character-spaced or word-spaced style. High-proficiency L2-Chinese learners and native Chinese speakers participated. Results revealed non-native-like patterns of L2-Chinese learners: they holistically processed compound words only in the word-spaced condition, while native speakers did so regardless how sentences were presented. The findings indicated that high-proficiency L2-Chinese learners’ difficulty in word segmentation is predominantly caused by their L1-biased processing strategy.

This retrospective cohort study examined the relationship between a continuous measurement of bilingual engagement (operationalized as language entropy) and cognitive aging in regional minority language speakers. We drew Frisian–Dutch bilinguals (n = 7,448) and Low Saxon–Dutch bilinguals (n = 10,114) from the Lifelines Cohort Study and included participants aged 20–80, enabling an adult lifespan perspective. Cognitive functioning was measured using the Cogstate Brief Battery, which assesses processing speed, attention, working memory and recognition memory. We did not observe a robust relationship between bilingual engagement and cognitive functioning. Our results suggest that bilingual engagement does not play a key role in processing speed, attention, working memory and recognition memory performance in Frisian–Dutch and Low Saxon–Dutch bilinguals. Implications for the bilingual engagement measurement and potential investigations into regional minority language bilingualism and cognition are discussed.

This paper analyses linguistic information regarding signage developed by Ugandan English speakers at the grassroots level, as a category of non-elite users of English. It specifically examines linguistic signs displayed at small‑scale informal businesses, focusing on the source of the signs and the language(s) used in terms of features and the justifications for the choice of the language(s). The results show three types of signs: those written in English (which are predominant), those that blend English and Acholi, and those written in Acholi. Where English is involved, the findings reveal that the choice was mainly based on attracting a wider readership and thus clientele, as well as the fact that English is the functional official language in Uganda. It was also observed that both standard and nonstandard English were used. The source of the signs was reported to be grassroots users of English but sometimes artists and/or acrolectal users of English were involved in writing/drawing the signs.

We explored the relationships between L2 utterance fluency and cognitive fluency in monologic and dialogic tasks. The study involved 136 Chinese university-level English learners. Utterance fluency was measured through speed, breakdown, and repair fluency aspects. Cognitive fluency was indicated by L2 lexical and syntactic processing efficiency measures. Stepwise regression models, including metrics of L2-specific cognitive fluency, L2 knowledge, and L1 utterance fluency as predictors, targeted L2 utterance fluency as the dependent variable. We found that L2 cognitive fluency predicted limited variance in utterance fluency, with its influence more evident in monologues. L2 lexical processing efficiency paralleled syntactic processing efficiency’s importance in the monologic task but surpassed it in dialogues. Moreover, L2 processing speed had a more significant impact on utterance fluency than processing stability across both contexts. We suggest that cognitive fluency is not the sole determinant of utterance fluency; L2 knowledge and L1 utterance fluency play non-negligible roles.

Despite comments in the ELT literature on the importance of word-stress for comprehensibility in English, there are many places where native speakers of English appear to pay it little attention, showing systematic variation as well as errors. At the very least, there is a paradox here, in that learners are told to get a feature right that native speakers feel free to ignore. More detailed consideration, though, shows that matters are not as simple as this implies. In this paper, several types of stress variation in English are exemplified, and it is also shown that in everyday usage native English speakers are flexible in what they will accept where stress is concerned. This raises questions about the best model for teaching stress in English as a second or foreign language. A simple right/wrong dichotomy is unlikely to reflect native usage.

To better understand language teacher turnover, this study closely replicates and extends McInerney et al.’s (2015) research, which found that teacher commitment predicted turnover intentions to schools (44.2%) and the profession (45.2%) among Hong Kong schoolteachers (N = 1,060). Given the relatively stable employment conditions in that context, the generalizability of these findings to more mobile populations, such as expatriate native English-speaking teachers (NESTs), remains uncertain. In this replication, (1) the population was changed to NESTs in East Asia, and (2) subgroup comparisons were extended to reflect distinctions relevant to the replication sample. Additionally, results were directly compared to the original. A total of 215 NESTs participated. Results showed similar directional patterns but stronger effects: commitment explained 51.8% of variance in turnover intentions to schools and 59.7% to the profession. Affective commitment was the strongest predictor, though NESTs reported lower commitment and higher turnover intentions than in the original study.

This study examines how English is semiotically represented in video games, an under–explored but promising virtualscape. Drawing on the concept of semiotic landscape, this study critically explores how English and other semiotic resources work together to create social meanings and what are the ideological forces governing the process of semiotic appropriation. Data were collected from the in–game English representation and other semiotic resources from two female–oriented Chinese video games. It is found that English embodies cosmopolitan and poetic dispositions in the romanticized virtual space. Such dispositions are made relevant to the globally consuming elite class who are assumed not only to have access to the world consumption opportunities but also to show literary appreciation with a sense of distinction. The paper highlights the implications of these findings for understanding romance–mediated English as classed and gendered ideologies in the context of the increasing popularity of female–oriented game sphere.