A research article led by Victoria-Anne Flood, a doctoral student in Professor Jeong’s laboratory in the Applied Linguistics Research Division, has been published in the international journal Annual Review of Applied Linguistics. 

The study investigated how second language (L2) learners understand speakers’ intentions and attitudes through prosody, and how this ability develops, using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI). In particular, the study focused on informal exposure to English outside the classroom, such as listening to English music and media or engaging in natural conversations with friends, and examined the relationship between everyday language experiences and neural activity. 

The findings suggest that learners with greater informal exposure showed distinctive neural activity related to the processing of socially and emotionally meaningful prosodic information. The study provides important insights into the neural basis of pragmatic comprehension in a second language and highlights the potential importance of naturalistic language exposure in L2 learning. 

For more details, please visit:
https://doi.org/10.1017/S0267190526100257