The Impact of Cognates on Comprehension and Memory
A special issue of Languages (ISSN 2226-471X).
Deadline for manuscript submissions: 15 August 2026 | Viewed by 277
Special Issue Editor
Interests: the bilingual lexicon; bilingual text comprehension; cross-language activation dynamics in long-term memory; reading fluency in the dominant and non-dominant language; cross-language transfer of reading skill and fluency; maintenance of literacy in a minority language
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Special Issue Information
Dear Colleagues,
The purpose of this special issue is to provide a collection of empirical and theoretical papers that reflect the state-of-the-art in terms of our scientific understanding of the ways in which cross-language activation of cognates impact comprehension and memory.
Scope
We are seeking both empirical articles as well as reviews that address either the impact of cognate status on comprehension (across all modalities) or memory or both. Empirical submissions will be prioritized however, integrative reviews that provide novel insights will also be considered. For this special issue the focus is on comprehension and/or memory beyond a single word, whether it be a clause, sentence, or discourse. We are especially interested in submissions that examine the impact of cognates status in non-Indo-European languages that are underrepresented in science and/or language pairs that represent a diversity of scripts. We also encourage submissions examining the impact of cognate status on comprehension and memory in children and older adults.
Relationship to the Literature
It has now been conclusively demonstrated that bilingual lexical access is language non-selective and that cognate representations across languages are co-activated and impact processing across a wide spectrum of tasks and contexts. We now turn our attention to the downstream impact of this coactivation on comprehension and memory for linguistic units beyond the single word.
We request that, prior to submitting a manuscript, interested authors initially submit a proposed title and an abstract of 400-600 words summarizing their intended contribution. Please send it to the guest editor (aischwartz@utep.edu) or to /Languages/ editorial office (languages@mdpi.com). Abstracts will be reviewed by the guest editors for the purposes of ensuring proper fit within the scope of the special issue. Full manuscripts will undergo double-blind peer-review.
Dr. Ana I. Schwartz
Guest Editor
Manuscript Submission Information
Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.
Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a double-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Languages is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.
Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 1400 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.
Keywords
- cognates
- bilingualism
- reading comprehension
- listening comprehension
- memory
Benefits of Publishing in a Special Issue
- Ease of navigation: Grouping papers by topic helps scholars navigate broad scope journals more efficiently.
- Greater discoverability: Special Issues support the reach and impact of scientific research. Articles in Special Issues are more discoverable and cited more frequently.
- Expansion of research network: Special Issues facilitate connections among authors, fostering scientific collaborations.
- External promotion: Articles in Special Issues are often promoted through the journal's social media, increasing their visibility.
- Reprint: MDPI Books provides the opportunity to republish successful Special Issues in book format, both online and in print.
Further information on MDPI's Special Issue policies can be found here.
