Studies on bilingual individuals indicate that both first-language (L1) and second-language (L2) processing recruit linguistic and simulation systems, with L1 processing typically showing greater activation of simulation systems (often referred to as preference systems) and L2 processing relying more heavily on linguistic systems. When bilingual speakers switch between languages, the language used initially may influence the activation of preference systems in the subsequent language. The present study examines whether L2 proficiency moderates this influence. Employing a 2 × 2 × 2 × 2 mixed design, we investigated how L2 proficiency shapes embodied effects during L1 and L2 sentence comprehension under two language-switching conditions (L1 → L2 and L2 → L1) in bilingual participants. Results revealed that low-proficiency bilinguals demonstrated embodied effects in L1 comprehension across both switching directions. In contrast, highly proficient bilinguals showed such effects only when switching from L1 to L2 but not from L2 to L1. These findings suggest that, in the L2 → L1 condition, the linguistic system activated during L2 processing in highly proficient bilinguals exerts a stronger influence on subsequent L1 processing than in low-proficiency bilinguals, highlighting the role of proficiency in modulating cross-linguistic embodied effects.

The Anthropocene concept has been widely embraced, with scholars and practitioners demonstrating its potential to challenge the most tenacious frameworks of modernity even as the Holocene remains the officially designated geological epoch. This special issue takes up the Anthropocene’s conceptual provocations as a heuristic for the study of space and semiosis, laying groundwork for new theoretical and methodological frameworks through which sociolinguistics can address planetary crisis. After locating the sociolinguistic study of space within the field of linguistic and semiotic landscapes, this introduction critically reviews the colonial origins of the Anthropocene. Three directions for the study of space and semiosis are then proposed: (i) entangled and expanded space, (ii) attunement as method and praxis, and (iii) political economy as planetary actor. Six contributing articles are summarized, followed by a discussion that charts a path forward for sociolinguistics in planetary crisis. (Linguistic/semiotic landscape, environment, nature, posthumanism, climate change, space, attunement, political economy, coloniality)

The use of metaphors, whether linguistic or visual, has been shown to enhance advertisement effectiveness, and sensory marketing research highlights the positive effects of appealing to consumers’ sensory perception. Synaesthetic metaphors, which involve metaphor and sensory experiences, are ideal for studying the effects of both metaphor and (multi)sensory cues in advertisements. We experimentally tested the hypothesis that the presence of (linguistic and/or visual) metaphor and the evocation of multiple senses will enhance advertisement appreciation and the intention to purchase the advertised product. We manipulated eight print advertisements, each of which was presented in the following conditions: (1) visual and linguistic synaesthetic metaphor; (2) linguistic but no visual synaesthetic metaphor; (3) visual but no linguistic synaesthetic metaphor; and (4) neither visual nor linguistic synaesthetic metaphor. Each advertisement was also rated for its multisensoriality, that is, its association with the five basic senses. Results partly supported the hypothesis, showing that advertisements with both visual and linguistic synaesthetic metaphors and those perceived as more multisensory were most appreciated. However, purchase intentions were not influenced by either metaphor or multisensoriality. This indicates that higher aesthetic appreciation does not necessarily translate into higher purchase intentions, suggesting the need for further research into additional influencing factors.

This study examines the future temporal reference (FTR) system among Francophones and Anglophones speaking English in Kapuskasing, Ontario. Previous studies have shown that in Laurentian French, the go future is the preferred variant, and the strongest determinant of variant choice is polarity: negatives strongly favor the inflected future. In Canadian English, the go future has no polarity effect and there is robust variation with will, highlighting a key contrast in the underlying constraints between the French and English FTR systems. The results show that while older Anglophones pattern in tandem with known studies of English, Francophones, as well as young Anglophones, exhibit the polarity contrast of the French system, even though they are speaking English. We suggest that these results may stem from social alignment between Francophones and Anglophones driven by increasing linguistic and social symmetry in the community, as well as increasing positive affect toward French in Kapuskasing.

Being literate likely has consequences for learning a second language, but surprisingly little research has been devoted to how emergent literacy affects second-language acquisition processes. Using a word learning experiment, we aimed to tease apart two possible ways through which literacy could impact second-language acquisition: through literacy-induced restructuring and through using written input in addition to spoken input. Totally, 166 (L1 Arabic and L2 Dutch) participants of varying literacy levels (emergent readers and more experienced readers) had to acquire eight words as names of people and pet animals, of which some only varied in one phoneme. Half of the participants received only auditory input to learn these names, and the other half also received written input. Bayesian mixed-effects models indicate that experienced readers are better able to acquire words and a phonological contrast than emergent readers, pointing toward a benefit from literacy-induced restructured linguistic representations. We also obtained anecdotal evidence that, although experienced readers seemingly benefit more from written input than emergent readers, the latter group could still use written input to a small extent. Possibly, written input might be beneficial, even though it cannot be properly decoded yet—at the very least it does not harm providing such input.

As increasing numbers of students disclose mental health conditions, this study is the first to examine mental health status as a critical variable in foreign language anxiety research. Using a mixed-methods approach and drawing on data from 262 languages students at the Open University, it systematically compares foreign language speaking anxiety (FLSA) experiences between students with and without declared mental health conditions. Vocabulary retrieval emerged as the primary anxiety trigger common to all learners, however, significant distinctions emerged: students without mental health conditions expressed more academic-focused anxieties, whereas those with mental health conditions faced confidence and identity-based barriers. Students with mental health challenges are less likely to speak spontaneously and undertake spoken assessments, often opting to avoid online synchronous sessions entirely, requiring different coping strategies. The findings are analysed through a Universal Learning Design lens and reveal the need for tailored support and innovative pedagogical solutions, including AI-powered practice environments and self-compassion interventions specifically designed for online language learning contexts, to address the emotional barriers faced by students with mental health conditions. The study offers broader implications for inclusive (language) course design and learner engagement.

Avertives refer to (mainly past) situations the outcome of which is interrupted, averted, or frustrated instead of completed, as in Meinasin kaatua, mutta ihmeen kaupalla onnistuin pysymään jaloillani ‘I was about to fall, but miraculously managed to stay on my feet’. The aim of this paper is to describe and compare three verbal constructions in Finnish which are frequently used as avertives by means of collostructional analysis (Stefanowitsch & Gries 2003). We propose that these constructions, namely olla + mAisillA ‘to be V-ing’, olla + INFA ‘to be to V’, and meinata + INFA ‘to mean, intend to V’, which all correspond to ‘be about to do something’, constitute a family of related avertive constructions. We first describe them by means of collexeme analyses based on corpus data consisting of online written conversation extracted from the Suomi24 corpus. We then compare the constructions and situate them on Caudal’s (2023) continuum for characterising different kinds of avertive markers. Finally, we offer a box chart characterisation of the constructions at two distinct levels of schematicity, the schematic AUX + INFX construction and a specific usage instance of olla + INFA, following Fried & Östman (2004).

The importance of additional language learning (ALL) is on the rise, but we do not yet have a full understanding of how learners with different characteristics approach this task. Here, we discuss the potential impact of attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), a prevalent learning disability, on classroom ALL. Learners with ADHD show difficulties in the attention networks of sustained attention and executive control. It is critical, therefore, to ask how these difficulties of learners with ADHD might manifest in the demanding task of ALL, but to date there is very limited research examining this issue. The current paper sets out a theoretical framework for examining ALL in learners with ADHD, reviews the extant literature, and most importantly calls for future research to examine the way in which learners with ADHD manage the process of ALL, in an effort to highlight the involvement of sustained attention and executive control in ALL more generally.

This study investigates the production, online processing, and offline comprehension of non-canonical structures in Mandarin-speaking children with Developmental Language Disorder (DLD). We tested three Mandarin non-canonical structures, which differed in word order, the presence or absence of morphosyntactic cues, and the distance between the displaced element and its trace. Syntactic priming was adopted to elicit production, and a self-paced listening task with picture verification was used to examine online processing and offline comprehension accuracy, among 22 DLD children aged 5 to 9 and 37 age-, SES-, and nonverbal IQ-matched typically developing (TD) children. Results showed a quantitative difference between DLD and TD children across non-canonical structures in production and offline comprehension. In online processing, TD children immediately used different cues when they were available, whereas DLD children relied on the most informative cue within a given structure and context and integrated redundant cues only at a later stage. These findings point toward a complex interaction of representational weakness and domain-general processing constraints whereby DLD children show difficulties in allocating processing resources to integrate multiple linguistic cues.