Search Results (42)

Background/Objectives: Vertebral degenerative features are promising but often subjectively scored indicators for adult age estimation. We evaluated an objective surface roughness metric, the “average distance to the fitted ellipse” score (DS), calculated automatically for every vertebra from C7 to S1 on routine CT images. Methods: CT scans of 176 adults (94 males, 82 females; 21–94 years) were retrospectively analyzed. For each vertebra, the mean orthogonal deviation of the anterior superior endplate from an ideal ellipse was extracted. Sex-specific multiple linear regression served as a baseline; support vector regression (SVR), random forest (RF), k-nearest neighbors (k-NN), and Gaussian naïve-Bayes pseudo-regressor (GNB-R) were tuned with 10-fold cross-validation and evaluated on a 20% hold-out set. Performance was quantified with the standard error of the estimate (SEE). Results: DS values correlated moderately to strongly with age (peak r = 0.60 at L3–L5). Linear regression explained 40% (males) and 47% (females) of age variance (SEE ≈ 11–12 years). Non-parametric learners improved precision: RF achieved an SEE of 8.49 years in males (R² = 0.47), whereas k-NN attained 10.8 years (R² = 0.45) in women. Conclusions: Automated analysis of vertebral cortical roughness provides a transparent, observer-independent means of estimating adult age with accuracy approaching that of more complex deep learning pipelines. Streamlining image preparation and validating the approach across diverse populations are the next steps toward forensic adoption. Full article

Introduction: Chronic pain affects approximately 20% of U.S. adults, imposing significant burdens on individuals and healthcare systems. Medical cannabis has emerged as a potential therapy, yet its impact on healthcare utilization remains unclear. Methods: This retrospective cohort study analyzed administrative data from a telehealth platform providing medical cannabis certifications across 36 U.S. states. Patients were classified as cannabis-exposed if they had used cannabis in the past year, while unexposed patients had no prior cannabis use. Outcomes included self-reported urgent care visits, emergency department (ED) visits, hospitalizations, and quality of life (QoL), measured using the CDC’s Healthy Days measure. Targeted Maximum Likelihood Estimation with SuperLearner estimated causal effects, adjusting for numerous covariates. Results: Medical cannabis users exhibited significantly lower healthcare utilization. Specifically, exposure was associated with a 2.0 percentage point reduction in urgent care visits (95% CI: −0.036, −0.004), a 3.2 percentage point reduction in ED visits (95% CI: −0.051, −0.012) and fewer unhealthy days per month (−3.52 days, 95% CI: −4.28, −2.76). Hospitalization rates trended lower but were not statistically significant. Covariate balance and propensity score overlap indicated well-fitting models. Conclusions: Medical cannabis use was associated with reduced healthcare utilization and improved self-reported QoL among chronic pain patients. Full article

Background: A transfer of learning effects across speech perception and production is evident in second-language (L2)-learning research, suggesting that perception and production are closely linked in L2 speech learning. However, underlying factors, such as the phonetic cue weightings given to acoustic features, of the relationship between perception and production improvements are less explored. To address this research gap, the current study explored the effects of Mandarin tone learning on the production and perception of critical (pitch direction) and non-critical (pitch height) perceptual cues. Methods: This study tracked the Mandarin learning effects of Indonesian adult learners over a four-to-six-week learning period. Results: We found that perception and production gains in Mandarin L2 learning concurrently occurred with the critical pitch direction cue, F0 slope. The non-critical pitch height cue, F0 mean, only displayed a production gain. Conclusions: The results indicate the role of critical perceptual cues in relating tone perception and production in general, and in the transfer of learning effects across the two domains for L2 learning. These results demonstrate the transfer of the ability to perceive phonological contrasts using critical phonetic information to the production domain based on the same cue weighting, suggesting interconnected encoding and decoding processes in L2 speech learning. Full article

Previous studies have found that second language learners can acquire sociolinguistic variation. However, there is a lack of studies that examine the L2 acquisition of second-person singular forms of address (2PS) in Spanish, especially in the immersion context of study abroad. The current study examines the acquisition of Spanish 2PS by seven adults learning Spanish in Medellin, Colombia. Participants completed an oral discourse completion task and a matched guise task to measure language perceptions toward each 2PS. Learners’ results are compared to findings from 38 native Spanish speakers from Medellin. Learners produced very few instances of the local variant vos and overproduced tú, differing greatly from native speakers. Two factors were found to significantly condition 2PS usage for learners: speaker gender and interlocutor relationship. Findings show that although learners perceive vos to a somewhat native-like extent and the role that it plays in the local variety, learners do not actually use it. Full article

Background: According to Vygotsky’s sociocultural theory, private speech functions both as a tool for thought regulation and as a transitional form between outer and inner speech. However, its role in adult second language (L2) learning—and the neural mechanisms supporting it—remains insufficiently understood. This study thus examined whether private speech facilitates L2 oral production and investigated its underlying neural mechanisms, including the extent to which private speech resembles inner speech in its regulatory function and the transitional nature of private speech. Methods: In Experiment 1, to identify natural users of private speech, 64 Chinese-speaking L2 English learners with varying proficiency levels were invited to complete a picture-description task. In Experiment 2, functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) was used to examine the neural mechanisms of private speech in 32 private speech users identified in Experiment 1. Results: Experiment 1 showed that private speech facilitates L2 oral production. Experiment 2 revealed that private and inner speech elicited highly similar patterns of functional connectivity. Among high-proficiency learners, private speech exhibited enhanced connectivity between the language network and the thought-regulation network, indicating involvement of higher-order cognitive processes. In contrast, among low-proficiency learners, connectivity was primarily restricted to language-related regions, suggesting that private speech supports basic linguistic processing at early stages. Furthermore, both private and outer speech showed stronger connectivity in speech-related brain regions. Conclusions: This is the first study to examine the neural mechanisms of private speech in L2 learners by using fNIRS. The findings provide novel neural evidence that private speech serves as both a regulatory scaffold and a transitional form bridging outer and inner speech. Its cognitive function appears to evolve with increasing L2 proficiency. Full article

Research into L3 phonological acquisition has grown in the past decade, yet perceptual studies remain scarce. Existing studies report complex interactions between the phonetic categories of multilinguals’ L1, L2 and L3, depending on investigated feature and stage of L3 learning. This small-scale study, grounded in Complex Dynamic Systems Theory, examines the development of coda obstruent perception in seven beginner learners of Polish as an L3 (aged 21–39), with German as their L1 and English as their L2. Over ten months of instructed L3 learning, participants were tested four times using a timed forced-choice goodness task in both L2 and L3. Additionally, three participants provided monthly data between the second and fourth testing. Analyses across the sample revealed a competitive relationship between L2 and L3 perception, with L2 accuracy declining as L3 accuracy improved. Individual data, however, indicated more varied patterns: while one learner followed the overall trend, another exhibited decreasing accuracy in both their L2 and L3, and the third maintained accurate L2 perception alongside more accurate yet increasingly variable L3 perception. These findings highlight the value of analyzing both overall trends and individual data to better understand multilingual speech perception development, and suggest that, with growing L3 experience, the newly learnt L3 may influence L2 perception of a phonological process shared in the L1 and marked in the L2. Full article

Pedagogical translanguaging (PTL) refers to the use of educational techniques that incorporate learners’ entire linguistic repertoire. Recent studies indicate that PTL is efficient in the teaching of morphological awareness to bilingual children. The question remains whether it can be successfully applied in the highly specific context of adult forced migrants’ classrooms. This study describes a new protocol developed within the framework of PTL to teach derivational morphology to L2 French and Greek adults. We used questionnaires to quantitatively and qualitatively assess the feasibility of the protocol, teachers’ and learners’ attitudes, and learners’ emotions in the PTL lesson. A total of 141 migrant learners (79 forced migrants) and 13 teachers were involved in 23 2 h lessons. Teachers and learners gave high overall evaluations of the feasibility of the PTL protocol and of their pleasure from teaching and learning using PTL tools. Learners’ ease of learning and learning benefits were positively influenced by their perception of the proximity between their L1 and L2. Learners reported higher positive emotions and lower negative emotions during the PTL lesson, while forced migrants showed more hope and shame overall than voluntary migrants, as well as gained more benefits from PTL due to enjoyment. These findings suggest that the use of pedagogical translanguaging in migrants’ classrooms is feasible and develops positive attitudes and emotions, which are more pronounced in forced migrants. Full article

Southeast Asian learners of English, including those from Vietnam, frequently omit word-final consonants in their English speech. Previous work on Vietnamese learners of English is limited, and errors are typically usually attributed to first-language transfer effects. No large-scale empirical study on Vietnamese learners has been carried out to aid the development of an evidence-based pedagogy. This study uses authentic spoken data to compare lexical and morphological word-final /s/ and /z/ in the speech of sixteen Vietnamese adult learners of English. We discuss the relative impact of frequency of use, whether the instance of a target /s/ or /z/ is in a root or bound morpheme, and whether the preceding phoneme is a consonant or vowel. An overall omission rate of 28.4% of expected instances was found. Morphological {-s} when it is preceded by a consonant has the highest error rate (50.7%). A multilevel binary logistic regression was performed to ascertain the relative effects. Morphological words containing /s/ or /z/ were significantly more likely to be pronounced with the /s/ or /z/ absent than lexical words containing a /s/ or /z/, as were those in clusters compared to those with a preceding vowel. The results indicate that phonological effects and morphological effects are stacked and not multiplicative and that the observed omission rates are not solely attributable to L1 transfer effects. Frequency of use is also highly correlated with accuracy. Full article

This study is part of a project on initial assessment of first language (L1) literacy in adult newcomers prior to the commencement of L2 studies in Swedish. Here, we explore the assessment summaries of newcomers’ L1 literacy, performed by L2-teachers, with assistance from an interpreter. According to the syllabus, instruction in Swedish for Immigrants (SFI) should be adapted to the individual´s needs and goals; however, SFI often fails to do so. L1 literacy—i.e., using texts in different domains (school, work, society, and everyday life)—serves as a foundation for L2 learning and teachers’ access to and utilization of students L1 literacy can significantly enhance instruction. From a sociocultural approach to literacy and based on Luke and Freebody’s ‘Four Resource Model’, a qualitative document analyses of L1 literacy assessment summaries (N = 50) demonstrated literacy practices form different domains of student life, beyond school literacy. Literacy practices from all four learner roles, i.e., Code-Breaker, Text Participant, Text User and Text Analyst were identified in the assessments to various degrees dependent on the students’ background, which is illustrated by a close analysis of 5 summaries. This information is both important for teachers’ planning of second language teaching and in the long term for the development of second language teacher education. Full article

The cause(s) of missing inflectional morphology in obligatory contexts by adult speakers of second language (L2) English is subject to ongoing discussion. Whatever the specific theory, however, the apparent asymmetrical production of the morpheme ‘-s’ in the marking of number on plural nouns versus that on third person singular agreement has to be accounted for. This study adopts the theoretical approach put forward by the Prosodic Transfer Hypothesis, whereby the prosodic representation of inflectional morphology in the first language (L1) can, to some extent, account for differences in the suppliance of inflectional morphology in L2 English within and across L1s. It is in this context that the production of third person singular agreement, and, for contrastive purposes, number on plural nouns, by L1 Bengali speakers of L2 English, is considered in relation to available prosodic representation in the L1, as well as against phonological processes attested in L1 acquisition. More specifically, with respect to covert contrasts. An inspection of spectrograms from instances of the apparent omission of inflection by L1 Bengali speakers of L2 English at Beginner to Intermediate proficiency levels does not, however, indicate that learners are covertly supplying agreement on the third person singular (or plural number on nouns). This finding does not necessarily rule out the occurrence of covert contrasts in L2 production of inflectional morphology; alternative techniques may detect a systematic difference between bare verbs and non-audible (to the listener) inflection. Full article

Spelling ability is a key dimension of orthographic knowledge and a crucial component literacy skill that supports automatic word recognition and fluent reading. There has been substantial research on first language (child) English speakers’ spelling ability, including the effectiveness of instruction interventions for improving spelling knowledge. However, there is relatively little research on spelling in adult learners of English as a second language, and even less examining instructional interventions for improving their spelling. The current study addressed this gap by implementing an adaptation of a phonics-based instructional intervention in a university-based intensive English reading class. Compared to two different control cohorts, the cohort receiving the intervention significantly improved their ability to accurately identify whether an English word was spelled correctly or not. Analyses also considered the influence of a variety of lexical characteristics as well as participants’ L1 writing system. The results demonstrate the efficacy of this intervention in adult L2 English learners and also highlight the importance of considering word characteristics and participants’ language background when examining spelling performance. Full article

The present study explores the development of pragmatic marker (PM) use by children and adult L2 English learners in two learning contexts: study abroad (SA) and at home (AH). The study involved a group of 35 Catalan/Spanish girls (aged 11 to 13) learning English AH (n = 16) and abroad in Ireland (n = 19), and a group of 16 adult students aged 19–31 learning English in the UK and Ireland (n = 10) and at their home university in Barcelona (n = 6). To test their pragmatic development, the use of PMs was prompted through pre-test and post-test semi-structured interviews. The results indicated an effect of both age and context on PM development. Children in the SA context increased their use of some PMs, whereas their peers who remained at home did not show any development. Regarding the adults, both SA and AH participants increased their use of specific PMs. These findings shed some light on a topic that has not received scholarly attention in the field of L2 pragmatics: the development of PM use by children. Additionally, they contribute to the very small body of longitudinal studies on the development of PM use during SA. Full article

Research in Chile, regarding language teaching and learning, has focused on Spanish as a first language (L1). However, due to the growing influx and settlement of non-Spanish-speaking adult migrants, the significance of investigating language education within a second-language (L2)-context has surged. Accordingly, the objective of this study is to examine the implementation of a Spanish language teaching–learning program as an L2 from the learners’ perspectives. The ultimate objective is to contribute to the advancement of knowledge in this field within the national framework. This qualitative, descriptive/interpretive study involves 10 adult Haitian migrants who do not speak Spanish and live in a rural area. These participants possess varying educational backgrounds and are situated within a vulnerable context. In pursuit of the objective, two focus groups were convened. The outcomes underscore the pressing need for comprehensive macro-level development, at the governmental level, to address the inclusion of migrants. This entails equipping educators with linguistic proficiency and theoretical and pedagogical expertise for instructing an L2 program. Furthermore, the inclusion of linguistic mediators, a judicious use of the learners’ L1 as a pedagogical resource, and the implementation of strategies that cater to individual needs contribute to a more effective and inclusive teaching–learning experience. Full article

Little work has examined the L2 acquisition of Spanish stress, and especially the production of its acoustic correlates, and the work that has is largely limited to inexperienced learners. This study examines the production of stress by L1 English/L2 Spanish speakers who are highly experienced with their L2, having lived much of their adult lives as immigrants in Spain. Data were collected from the reading of a short story, an extended reading with a plot was provided so that participants would not be focused on their pronunciation, thus producing speech closer to spontaneous speech while still allowing for control over what they produced. Intensity, duration, pitch and deaccenting were examined and the results from the L2 learners were compared to a control group of native speakers from Spain who performed the same task. While only one L2 learner’s stress production could be classified as completely native-like, as a group, their stress production approximated native speaker norms to a greater degree than has been found for most other aspects of L2 Spanish pronunciation in previous research. Nonetheless, L2 learners seemed to transfer duration patterns from their L1 into their L2 Spanish and also deaccented stressed syllables nearly twice as often as native speakers. Full article

This paper will attempt to visualize adult refugees and migrants, as well as a specific multilingual and multicultural educational setting in Greece. This study aspires to depict/present the plurilingual profiles, language needs, and challenges of L2 Greek students through a variety of tools/methods, e.g., questionnaires, portraits, narratives, needs analysis, and assessment tools. In a complementary way, this research focuses on highlighting the value of language portraits, identity texts, and translanguaging in L2 Greek classrooms. Conditions regarding the educational process in the specific educational setting will also be discussed. This was a case study conducted in an open school for migrants in Greece. Eight volunteer teachers at the school and twenty students participated in this research through a multimethod research design. Multilingual profiles and learners’ needs and goals became visible, and the teachers managed to “hear” the multilingual voices of their students and understand their multilingual profiles. Overall, it is clear that these findings pave the way for large-scale research to investigate in depth everything presented in this research. Using language portraits and identity texts as group activities helps to conduct a productive discussion in the classroom, through which students gain access to the use of concepts such as “multilingualism”, “multiculturalism”, and “diversity”. Full article