Wander Lowie

University of Groningen | RUG · Center for Language and Cognition Groningen (CLCG)

This paper investigates the nature of the substitutions used for the dental fricatives (/θ/ and /ð/) by Dutch learners of English as a second language. By means of an OT analysis, the underlying reasons for the difficulties encountered with these sounds are brought to light. The present data reveal that phonetics (or acoustics) rather than phonolog...

In this article it is argued that language can be seen as a dynamic system, i.e. a set of variables that interact over time, and that language development can be seen as a dynamic process. Language development shows some of the core characteristics of dynamic systems: sensitive dependence on initial conditions, complete interconnectedness of subsys...

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 interacti...

The traditional morpheme order studies in second language acquisition have tried to demonstrate the existence of a fixed order of acquisition of English morphemes, regardless of the second language learner's background. Such orders have been taken as evidence of the preprogrammed nature of language acquisition. This article argues for a process-bas...

Traditional research into individual differences (ID) in second language (L2) learning is based on group studies with the implicit assumption that findings can be generalized to the individual. In this article, we challenge this view. We argue that L2 learners do not form ergodic ensembles and that language learning data lack stability. The data fr...

In the past decades, complex dynamic systems theory (CDST) has been used as an important framework for studying second language development. CDST is a metatheory of change and focuses on processes. Even though it has been broadly accepted as an inspiring dimension of research in psychology, sociology and second language development, some scholars h...

Both the Menzerath-Altmann law and the Zipf-Mandelbrot law note that language is a fractal structure and, like any other fractals, follows power laws. Studies on fractal linguistics demonstrated that the relation between the scaling measures and the number of constituents in language indeed follow the power law probability distribution. However, mo...

This study investigates whether a presumed difference in the perceptibility of cues to lexical stress in spectro-temporally degraded simulated cochlear implant (CI) speech affects how listeners weight these cues during a lexical stress identification task, specifically in their non-native language. Previous research suggests that in English, listen...

Purpose: This study assesses how spectrotemporal degradations that can occur in the sound transmission of a cochlear implant (CI) may influence the ability of non-native listeners to recognize the intended meaning of utterances based on the position of the prosodically focused word. Previous research suggests that perceptual accuracy and listening...

Late-life language learning has gained considerable attention in recent years. Strikingly, additional language (AL) proficiency development is underinvestigated, despite it potentially being one of the main drivers for older adults to learn an AL. Our study investigates whether Dutch older adults learning English for three months significantly impr...

The perception of speech prosody in a second language (L2) remains challenging for proficient L2 users. Previous eye-tracking evidence indicates that Dutch listeners show difficulty in the processing of pitch accents signalling contrastive focus in English, whereas native English listeners use this cue in perception to anticipate upcoming informati...

Objectives This study explores to what degree adolescent cochlear implant (CI) users can learn a foreign language in a school setting similar to their normal-hearing (NH) peers despite the degraded auditory input. Design A group of native Dutch adolescent CI users (age range 13 to 17 years) learning English as a foreign language at secondary schoo...

Pedagogical translanguaging, the planned, deliberate, and flexible use of two or more languages in the same lesson, is a highly recommended practice in the foreign language (L2) classroom, but thus far there are no quantitative empirical studies supporting translanguaging behavior. To analyze the use of translanguaging, the present study analyzed L...

Insight in the way verbal teacher-student classroom interaction unfolds during the language lesson is of crucial importance for effective teaching. Although classroom observational research is indispensable, it is unable to uncover underlying intentions or motivations for the observed behavior. Teacher cognition research seeks to address the relati...

It has been twenty-five years since second language acquisition/development researchers and practitioners were introduced to chaos/complexity theory and its systems (variously referred to in our field as “complex systems,” complex adaptive systems,” and “complex dynamic systems”) (Larsen-Freeman, 1997). Unsurprisingly, the uptake of the new ideas w...

The perception of speech prosody in a second language (L2) remains challenging even for proficient L2 users. Eye-tracking evidence indicates that Dutch listeners show difficulty in the processing of pitch accents that signal a contrast (i.e., contrastive focus) in English, whereas native English listeners use this cue in perception to anticipate up...

WATCH THE VIDEO: https://youtu.be/f6YG1kNuDbA?si=51cMZqNq0aGgcOom - In contemporary methodological thinking, replication holds a central place. However, relatively little attention has been paid to replication in the context of complex dynamic systems theory (CDST), perhaps due to uncertainty regarding the epistemology-methodology match between the...

In contemporary methodological thinking, replication holds a central place. However, relatively little attention has been paid to replication in the context of complex dynamic systems theory (CDST), perhaps due to uncertainty regarding the epistemology–methodology match between these domains. In this paper, we explore the place of replication in re...

Single task writing assessments used in longitudinal studies have raised concerns regarding their reliability. By means of Generalizability Theory (GT), this study investigated the reliability of L2 writing assessments scored on different CAF measures, focusing on a) the reliability of single task writing assessments and on the effects of b) task t...

With the field of late-life language learning (LLLL) expanding fast, ample attention has been paid to cognitive benefits ensuing from LLLL. However, these studies have yielded mixed results, which may be partly explained by seniors’ language learning needs not being taken into account, and theoretical insights on effective language teaching have no...

People with Parkinson's disease often experience communication problems. The current cross-linguistic study investigates how listeners' perceptual judgements of speech healthiness are related to the acoustic changes appearing in the speech of people with Parkinson's disease. Accordingly, we report on an online experiment targeting perceived healthi...

The present study adopted a novel parallel-process growth mixture modeling (GMM) technique to research the adaptive interaction between foreign language learners’ learning motivation and emotions, with a view to advancing our understanding of how language learning motivation and emotions (enjoyment and anxiety) adaptively interact with each other o...

Based on the theoretical framework of the L2 Motivational Self System (L2MSS), the present study aims to make a methodological contribution to L2 motivation research. With the application of a novel growth mixture modeling (GMM) technique, the study depicted developmental trajectories of three motivational variables (ideal L2 self, ought-to L2 self...

In contemporary methodological thinking, replication is increasingly holding an important place in various disciplines, including applied linguistics. At the same time, relatively little attention has been paid to replication in the context of complex dynamic systems theory (CDST), perhaps due to uncertainty regarding the epistemology–methodology m...

Learners' self-initiated language learning with mobile technology occurring outside the classroom is often contextualized, heterogeneous, and idiosyncratic. In this study, we propose a time-series clustering methodology for researching informal mobile language learners' learning and development of another language , with a view to unravelling the e...

When we speak, we can vary how we use our voices. Our speech can be high or low (pitch), loud or soft (loudness), and fast or slow (duration). This variation in pitch, loudness, and duration is called speech prosody. It is a bit like making music. Varying our voices when we speak can express sarcasm or emotion and can even change the meaning of wha...

Parkinson’s disease (PD) is a progressive neurological disorder characterized by several motor and non-motor manifestations. PD frequently leads to hypokinetic dysarthria, which affects speech production and often has a detrimental impact on everyday communication. Among the typical manifestations of hypokinetic dysarthria, speech and language ther...

The Netherlands have had a long tradition of modern foreign language (MFL) education: French, German and English have been standard subjects at secondary school since the 19th century. After the introduction of the Mammoetwet in 1968, several major educational reforms have shaped the current practice of Dutch MFL teaching. On the one hand, a greate...

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 lo...

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...

In this research note we argue that reading lessons for the subject of English in Dutch pre-university education require adjustments. Currently, these lessons do not prepare students well for university reading. Too often, lessons emphasize searching for information, the dominant skill to pass the school exit exam. Instead, students would benefit m...

Mobile technologies provide opportunities for L2 learners to engage in complex interactions involving a multitude of cognitive, meta-cognitive, and affective factors. Understanding the process of learners’ mobile language learning thus needs holistic approaches that integratively consider learner attributes and their interaction with mobile technol...

The field of Applied Linguistics was first introduced to Complex Dynamic Systems Theory by Larsen Freeman (1997), later followed by De Bot (De Botet al, in Bilingualism Lang Cogn 10(1):7–21, 2007).

Advances in Learner Corpus Research (LCR) and Second Language Acquisition (SLA) have brought these two fast-moving fields significantly closer in recent years. This volume brings together contributions from internationally recognized experts in both LCR and SLA to provide an innovative, cross-collaborative examination of how both areas can provide...

This study employed a narrative review and a meta-analysis to synthesize the literature on mobile-assisted language learning (MALL). Following a systematic retrieval of literature from 2008 to 2017, 17 studies with 22 effect sizes were included based on predetermined inclusion and exclusion criteria. By categorizing the characteristics of the studi...

With the average life expectancy in especially developed countries steadily increasing, healthy ageing is prioritised on the research agenda. Various studies have looked into bilingualism as a possible anti-ageing tool to delay the onset of symptoms of degenerative diseases like Alzheimer’s, with as perhaps the most promising recent line of work in...

Speakers can use prosodic cues to direct listeners to a specific part of an utterance. The prosodically emphasised part has linguistic focus, determined by the semantic and pragmatic context (e.g., Cole, 2015). For cochlear implant (CI) users, processing prosodically marked focus can be challenging given the degradation in fine spectrotemporal deta...

This study investigates the effect of listeners’ first language and expertise on their perception of speech produced by people with Parkinson’s Disease (PD). We compared assessment scores and identification accuracy of expert and non-expert Czech and Dutch listeners on two tasks: perception of speech healthiness and recognition of sentence type int...

Objectives: This study quantitatively assesses how cochlear implants (CIs) and vocoder simulations of CIs influence the identification of linguistic and emotional prosody in nontonal languages. By means of meta-analysis, it was explored how accurately CI users and normal-hearing (NH) listeners of vocoder simulations (henceforth: simulation listene...

A first introduction to statistics using R and JASP

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-ho...

Despite the growing research interest in the acquisition of L3 phonology (Cabrelli & Wrembel 2016), the focus has mainly been on the outcome of L3 acquisition rather than on the developmental process per se. Adopting a Complex Dynamic Systems Theory approach to multilingual development (de Bot 2012, 2017), the present paper reports on a longitudina...

This study investigates how the perception of L2 lexical stress is affected by an acoustic simulation of cochlear implants (CIs). We explore whether Dutch L2 learners of English are influenced by f0 differences or a vowel quality contrast when identifying lexical stress in L2 English words degraded by a CI simulation and whether listeners transfer...

The class of speech disorders known as dysarthria arise from disturbances in muscular control over the speech mechanism caused by damage of the central or peripheral nervous system. Dysarthria is typically classified into one of six classes, each corresponding to a different neurological disorder with distinct prosodic cues [3]. The assumption in t...

The present study investigated the developmental patterns of Chinese EFL(AQ) learners’ oral language in terms of complexity and accuracy and looked into the dynamic interactions between them within the framework of Complex Dynamic Systems Theory (CDST). The data were analysed using dynamic analyses (moving min–max graphs, moving correlations and Mo...

In spite of convincing empirical evidence for the implicit nature of second language acquisition, second language teaching is still largely based on explicit instruction. The discrepancy between research and teaching is caused by deeply rooted assumptions about language learning. One of the most critical assumptions is that there is a linear and ca...

Speech signals delivered via cochlear implants (CIs) lack spectro-temporal details, yet, young-implanted children can develop good native language skills (L1). This study explores three research questions: 1. Can adolescents with CIs learn a second language (L2)? 2. Is there a difference in spoken (auditory-A) vs. written (visual-V) L2 skills? 3. W...

Reaction time data have long been collected in order to gain insight into the underlying mechanisms involved in language processing. Means analyses often attempt to break down what factors relate to what portion of the total reaction time. From a dynamic systems theory perspective or an interaction dominant view of language processing, it is imposs...

A large body studies into individual differences in second language learning has shown that success in second language learning is strongly affected by a set of relevant learner characteristics ranging from the age of onset to motivation, aptitude, and personality. Most studies have concentrated on a limited number of learner characteristics and ha...

Elementary-level foreign language education is currently receiving a lot of attention in the literature on second language learning, and has emerged as an important educational policy issue. The present study aims to contribute to this discussion by focusing on the fluency benefits gained from early foreign language teaching. The participants were...

As shown by a growing body of research, language is a dynamic system and language development is a dynamic process characterized by variability (intra-individual changes) and variation (inter-individual differences). This implies that the development of linguistic complexity is an individually owned process and we should not assume a priori that ge...

This paper outlines second language development as an emergent and complex dynamic process. Language acquisition from an emergent perspective is defined as a highly individual process in which subsystems continuously interact in shaping the ever-changing system. The interacting subsystems result in a degree of intra-individual variability that is c...

In this paper we present the results of our study on whispered speech in L1 and L2. We compare production strategies used by native Dutch and English speakers to distinguish between phonated and whispered voiced/voiceless final-obstruents of English words. In English, voiced final-obstruents are distinguished from voiceless final-obstruents by both...

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 parad...

Résumé Cette étude analyse les compétences linguistiques de deux élèves débutants en anglais, à l'écrit comme à l'oral. En se basant sur les modèles théoriques de la langue, nous avons trouvé des différences ainsi que des similitudes entre l'écrit et l'oral. Nous avons étudié cent épisodes parlés et écrits de deux jumeaux sous deux aspects: la dive...

We conducted a study to investigate effects of bilingualism on nonverbal and verbal cognitive performance. Here we report on the results from the first part of our study, in which 26 middle-aged (MA 46) and 26 elderly (MA 73.2) early bilingual speakers of Dutch and Frisian performed a verbal fluency test, a task switching test and a working memory...

Many studies have shown that the transfer of receptive L2 vocabulary into production is far from linear, whether production is elicited by a task or spontaneous. The nature and causes of this gap between receptive and productive vocabulary knowledge have been widely debated. This article attempts a novel approach to this topic by investigating voca...

The CEFR is increasingly being used as the framework of choice for the assessment of language proficiency at universities across Europe. However, to attain consistent assessment, familiarization and standardization are essential. In this paper we report a case study of embedding a standardization procedure in writing assessment activities at the Un...

In this contribution it is argued that Dynamic Systems Theory (DST) can be seen as a comprehensive theory that can unify and make relevant a number of different 'middle level' theories on Second Language Acquisition (SLA) which in our view are theories that attend to different levels of granularity and different time scales, provided of course that...

If language processing and development is viewed as a dynamic process in which all subsystems interact over time, then some basic assumptions behind more traditional approaches to language analysis are problematic: new methods of analysis and modeling are needed to supplement and partly replace existing paradigms. This argument is illustrated with...

Dynamic systems theory (DST) is a theory of change. Starting in the 1960s, the theory has been used extensively in a wide variety of disciplines, from physics to biology and from meteorology to demography. Keywords: bilingualism; second language acquisition; multilingualism

Kees de Bot is Professor at the University of Groningen, the Netherlands, where he holds the chair in Applied Linguistics and is Vice Dean in the Faculty of Arts of the University of Groningen. Keywords: bilingualism; language policy; psycholinguistics; second language acquisition