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Issue 41. Autumn 2026

 

Thematic section: Integrating experimental and corpus-based approaches to L2 lexical and phraseology learning

 

Thematic session editor: Irene Fioravanti (University for Foreigners of Perugia)

 

Important dates:

- Deadline for submission of articles: 30 August 2026

- Notification of review or acceptance: 15 October 2026

- Publication date: November-December 2026

*Pre-proposals with an abstract of 400 words will be accepted until 30 June 2024, writing to the guest editor Irene Fioravanti (irene.fioravanti@unistrapg.it).

 

 

Call for proposals:

The integration of corpus-based and experimental methodologies offers a unique perspective for investigating how learners acquire, process, and use lexical and phraseological combinations (e.g., collocations, binomials, compounds, idioms, and other phraseological units). Corpora provide large-scale, authentic evidence of the input learners are exposed to and the output they produce, allowing researchers to identify patterns of language use in real contexts. Experimental techniques – such as eye-tracking and reaction-time paradigms – offer fine-grained insights into the cognitive mechanisms underlying language acquisition, comprehension, and production (Durrant & Siyanova-Chanturia, 2015). While corpus linguistics observes linguistic behaviour through quantitative and qualitative analyses of corpus data, psycholinguistics investigates the cognitive and attentional mechanisms that shape language processing across modalities (reading, listening, speaking, and writing) (Durrant et al., 2022). Further, corpus data can be used to generate hypotheses about second language processing, which are subsequently tested through psycholinguistic experiments; conversely, psycholinguistic research often incorporates corpus evidence to design stimuli, to compare experimental results with usage patterns, or to interpret findings in light of real language data (Gilquin & Gries, 2009).

A domain that has particularly benefited from this integration is the lexical and phraseological level (Schilk, 2020). Lexical processing is highly sensitive to factors such as frequency, association strength, semantic transparency, and contextual predictability – all dimensions that can be precisely quantified through corpus analysis and systematically manipulated in experimental settings (Siyanova-Chanturia & van-Lancker Sidtis, D., 2019; Deshors & Gries, 2022). This makes lexical and phraseological combinations an ideal testing ground for linking distributional evidence with processing mechanisms. Eye-tracking studies, for instance, have been increasingly used to examine how learners attend to and process single words and phraseological combinations during reading or listening (Pellicer-Sánchez & Siyanova-Chanturia, 2018; Fioravanti & Siyanova-Chanturia, 2024).

This joint perspective also has important pedagogical and lexicographic implications (Gilquin, 2022). A deeper understanding of how learners internalise and process phraseological units can inform the development of teaching materials, data-driven learning practices, and learner dictionaries that reflect authentic usage and cognitive accessibility.

Despite the potential of integrating corpus-based and experimental methodologies, studies that effectively combine these two approaches remain relatively limited. This special issue therefore aims to encourage further integration between corpus linguistics and psycholinguistics and to advance the scientific debate on how their complementary perspectives can enhance research on L2 lexical and phraseological development. We particularly welcome empirical, experimental, mixed-method, and theoretical studies, as well as work that translates research findings into pedagogical or lexicographic applications. By bringing together these perspectives, the issue aims to foster a multidimensional understanding of how lexical knowledge emerges, is processed, and can be effectively supported in L2 learning.

Possible topics include, but are not limited to:

 

  • Eye-tracking and other experimental methods in the study of L2 lexical and phraseological processing integrated with corpus evidence;
  • Corpus-informed experimental designs for L2 vocabulary at both single-word and phraseological level;
  • Integration of corpus data and psycholinguistic evidence in learner dictionaries;
  • Learner corpora combined with experimental data for the analysis and annotation of phraseological errors or developmental patterns;
  • Experimental and corpus-based longitudinal studies tracing learners’ phraseological development and learning trajectories;
  • Pedagogical applications: from experimental findings to teaching materials and tasks;
  • Theoretical or methodological reflections on the integration of corpus-based and experimental evidence in L2 lexical research.

 

Against this background, the aim of this section of RNLAEL is to provide empirical evidence on a deeper integration of corpus linguistics and psycholinguistics, contributing to the ongoing scientific dialogue on how their intersecting approaches can enrich investigations into L2 lexical and phraseological acquisition. National and international papers on the status of any language, written in the various languages accepted by the Journal, are welcome. Papers should be applied and contain empirical data. National and international papers on the status of any language are encouraged.

 

 

 

References

 

Deshors, S. C., & Gries, S. Th. (2022). Using corpora in research on second language psycholinguistics. In Godfroid, A., & Hopp, H. (Eds.), The Routledge Handbook of Second Language Acquisition and Psycholinguistics (pp. 164–177). Routledge.

Durrant, P., & Siyanova-Chanturia, A. (2015). Learner corpora and psycholinguistics. In Granger, S., Gilquin, G., & Meunier, F. (Eds.), The Cambridge handbook of learner corpus research (pp. 57–77). Cambridge University Press.

Durrant, P., Siyanova-Chanturia, A., Kremmel, B., & Sonbul, S. (2022). Research Methods in Vocabulary Studies. John Benjamins Publishing Company.

 

Fioravanti, I., & Siyanova- Chanturia, A. (2024). Eye movements in the investigation of different properties of multi- word expressions: A systematic review. Research Methods in Applied Linguistics, 3(1), 100092.

Gilquin, G. (2022). Cognitive corpus linguistics and pedagogy. From rationale to applications. Pedagogical Linguistics, 3(2), 109–142.

Gilquin, G., & Gries, S. Th. (2009). Corpora and experimental methods: A state- of- the- art review. Corpus Linguistics and Linguistic Theory, 5(1), 1–26.

Pellicer-Sánchez, A., & Siyanova-Chanturia, A. (2018). Eye movements in vocabulary research. ITL - International Journal of Applied Linguistics, 169(1), 5–29.

Schilk, M. (2020). Language Processing in Advanced Learners of English: A Multi-method Approach to Collocation Based on Corpus Linguistic and Experimental Data. John Benjamins Publishing Company.

Siyanova- Chanturia, A., & van- Lancker Sidtis, D. (2019). What on-line processing tells us about formulaic language. In Siyanova- Chanturia, A., & Pellicer- Sánchez, A. (Eds.), Understanding formulaic language: A second language acquisition perspective (pp. 38–61). Routledge.