Stephen Skalicky
Biographic Data
| ID | 1077657 |
|---|---|
| NAME | Stephen Skalicky |
| GIVEN NAMES | Stephen |
| FAMILY NAME | Skalicky |
| SIGNATURE | SKALICKY S |
| AFFILIATIONS | Victoria University of Wellington |
| ORCID | 0000-0001-8329-4531 |
| VERIFIED | Yes |
| TOTAL WORKS | 30 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 51 |
| AUTHOR COUNT | 30 |
| EDITOR COUNT | 0 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2013 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2026 |
| H-INDEX | 4 |
From dialogue to text: Linking peer interaction to real-time revisions during L2 collaborative writing
First and second language speaker understanding of implausible English passives in discourse contexts
We examined how first (L1) and second language (L2) English speakers interpret thematic roles when semantic cues conflict with syntactic cues in discourse contexts. We tested three groups: monolingual English speakers, Taiwanese Mandarin-speaking and Japanese-speaking L2 learners of English. Participants read written vignettes containing target sentences with by -phrases (e.g., Jerry was robbed by the thief). In these sentences, the embedded by -…
Comparing the effectiveness of Duolingo, Classroom instruction, and Classroom + Duolingo instruction conditions on beginner-level French language development
Over the past decade, there has been growing use of mobile-assisted language learning (MALL) applications such as Duolingo. The effectiveness of MALL applications is thus of great interest among language acquisition researchers and practitioners. This study compared French language development among beginners in three learning conditions: Classroom-Only ( n = 58), Duolingo-Only ( n = 65), and Classroom + Duolingo ( n = 60). The Classroom-Only gro…
Predicting semantic transparency of Chinese QIEs using distributional semantics and lexical frequency
Semantic transparency refers to the relationship between the meanings of whole-words and their constituent morphemes. Mandarin Chinese Quadrisyllabic Idiomatic Expressions (QIEs, also known as Cheng-Yu) have a similar property, in which the whole meaning is often more than the summed meanings of the component words. Using data from Wu (2016) , we analyze the semantic transparency of QIEs as a function computational semantic similarity, word frequ…
Reading versus listening: Which one is more effective for incidental vocabulary learning
The article examines incidental vocabulary acquisition, focusing on the differential impacts of input modalities—reading versus listening—on learning of single words and multi‐word expressions. Eighty‐eight university students of L2 Italian were assigned to one of the three groups: (a) reading half of an authentic Italian novel, (b) listening to an audiobook of the same segment of the novel and (c) control group. Participants were assessed on thr…
How engagement dynamics shape collaborative writing processes: Perspectives from EAL learners
Corpus Software for Applied Linguistics
Understanding how to select and use corpus software for appropriate purposes is an important skill for researchers and practitioners in applied linguistics. However, the expanding number of corpus resources and software programs can make selecting the right tools and data sets daunting. In this entry, we review the ways different corpus software programs can provide insight into the linguistic properties of text data. We discuss software designed…
Manner and Quality of Negotiation During L2 Collaborative Writing
Although peer interaction has received attention in second language (L2) collaborative writing (CW) research, the manner and quality of peer interaction have been less investigated. Previous studies usually examined peer interaction by looking at language-related episodes, overlooking the ways students negotiate for different types of knowledge for successful writing, such as content, organisation, and discourse. Moreover, the association between…
Learning honorific request-making expressions in Korean during mobile text-chat tasks: Comparing provision of primes and recast prime
Linguistic alignment that occurs during interaction has been found to be a useful language learning mechanism. Recent second language (L2) research on alignment has primarily focused on syntactic alignment in face-to-face oral interactions (Kim & Michel, 2023). This study expands the scope of L2 alignment research by examining pragmatic alignment in group mobile text-chat tasks conducted in Korean. Furthermore, it investigates how the source of a…
Free speech as a unifying punchline for The Onion and The Babylon Bee
Measuring satirical uptake using word sentiment
Satire is a discursive strategy used to convey criticism, yet such criticism is indirect and subject to individual interpretation. There is thus a great deal of variability in the comprehension of satirical meaning, which raises unique methodological challenges for researchers studying the cognitive processing and comprehension of satirical discourse. Because existing behavioral research suggests research participants are reluctant or unable to r…
Satire, honey and tears: How The Onion and The Babylon Bee do satire
Although American news satire trends towards the left side of the political spectrum, satire is not unique to liberal viewpoints. Conservative news satire, published by outlets such as The Babylon Bee , lend evidence to the ability for right-wing views to be advanced using satirical methods. Despite political differences, existing comparisons of left- and right-wing news satire suggest a high degree of structural similarity. In contrast, qualitat…
An examination of the utility of the Aozora Repository to support reading comprehension development, reading fluency, and extensive reading for L2 learners of Japanese
Despite a recent boom in the development of graded reading materials for L2 Japanese learners which can be used for extensive reading (ER), the total amount of material remains low, and the highest stated vocabulary level of these texts is only 4500 words. However, achieving a 95% coverage rate of tokens in Japanese texts requires knowledge of 9500 word s (Matsushita, 2014) – a substantial gap between these graded texts and what is needed for ind…
Do Struggling Adult Readers Monitor Their Reading? Understanding the Role of Online and Offline Comprehension Monitoring Processes During Reading
Comprehension monitoring is a meta-cognitive skill that is defined as the ability to self-evaluate one’s comprehension of text. Although it is known that struggling adult readers are poor at monitoring their comprehension, additional research is needed to understand the mechanisms underlying comprehension monitoring and their role in reading comprehension in this population. This study used a comprehension monitoring task with struggling adult re…
Satire from a far-away land: Psychological distance and satirical news
Satirical news and its effects on outcomes such as appreciation and persuasion have gained considerable currency as a topic of research in mass communication studies. Through the framework of construal level theory, we investigated whether different levels of spatial distance influence these effects. In a between-subjects experiment, participants in the United Kingdom (UK; n = 282) and New Zealand (NZ; n = 370) read a satirical or non-satirical n…
Peer interaction, writing proficiency, and the quality of collaborative digital multimodal composing task: Comparing guided and unguided planning
Forward and backward transfer of sentence processing cues in English and Mandarin Chinese: A call for approximate replication of Liu, Bates, and Li (1992) and Su (2001)
The Competition Model has served as a functional explanation of cross-linguistic influence and transfer for more than 30 years. A large number of studies have used the Competition Model to frame investigations of sentence processing strategies in different types of bilingual and multilingual speakers. Among the different bilingual speakers investigated, Mandarin Chinese and English bilinguals represent a clear testing ground for the claims of the…
Modeling Satirical Uptake Using Discourse Processing Methods
Informed by a theoretical model of satirical uptake, this study investigated processing behavior and comprehension of satirical news articles. Reading times for segments of minimally different satirical and non-satirical texts were collected using within-subjects (Experiment 1) and between-subjects (Experiment 2) designs. Segment reading times and participant familiarity with news genres were used to predict ratings of sincerity, humor, and agree…
Exploring Perceptions of Novelty and Mirth in Elicited Figurative Language Production
Most research of figurative language production examines naturalistic discourse. However, laboratory studies of elicited figurative language production are useful because they provide insight into whether specific individual differences are associated with differences in figurative language production ability. In this sense, elicited figurative language production studies mirror the approach many studies of figurative language processing and comp…
The Role of Linguistic Alignment on Question Development in Face-to-Face and Synchronous Computer-Mediated Communication Contexts: A Conceptual Replication Study
To date, linguistic alignment studies in second language acquisition have mainly been conducted during face-to-face (FTF) interactions. In the current study, we examined and compared the effect of structural alignment on the development of English direct and indirect questions in FTF and synchronous computer-mediated communication (SCMC) contexts. Additionally, we assessed participants' working memory capacity and previous knowledge of the target…
Making sense of polysemy relations in first and second language speakers of English
The aim of this study is to compare priming effects for polysemous word senses among English first language (L1) and advanced second language (L2) speakers in order to better understand the development of the mental lexicon. Using polysemy values from WordNet, a lexical decision task was designed with three different target word conditions: dominant polysemy (i.e., closely related senses), subordinate polysemy (i.e., distantly related senses), an…
Examining lexical development in second language learners: An approximate replication of Salsbury, Crossley & McNamara (2011)
This paper reports on an approximate or partial replication of a study by Salsbury, Crossley & McNamara (2011) that examined the longitudinal developmental of a number of core lexical features related to word imageability, concreteness, familiarity, and meaningfulness in a spoken corpus of English second language (L2) learners. Salsbury et al. found no developmental growth patterns for word familiarity but strong growth patterns for word concrete…
Examining the Online Processing of Satirical Newspaper Headlines
Previous investigations of satire posit that satire comprehension is influenced by prior knowledge, satirical strategies, and other demographic features, such as age. However, these claims have not yet been tested using online processing techniques. In this study we investigate satire processing using newspaper headlines from the satirical American newspaper The Onion and nonsatirical headlines from The New York Times. Reading times and humor rat…
Lexical priming in humorous satirical newspaper headlines
Satire is a type of discourse commonly employed to mock or criticize a satirical target, typically resulting in humor. Current understandings of satire place strong emphasis on the role that background and pragmatic knowledge play during satire recognition. However, there may also be specific linguistic cues that signal a satirical intent. Researchers using corpus linguistic methods, specifically Lexical Priming, have demonstrated that other type…
Predicting Text Comprehension, Processing, and Familiarity in Adult Readers: New Approaches to Readability Formulas
Research has identified a number of linguistic features that influence the reading comprehension of young readers; yet, less is known about whether and how these findings extend to adult readers. This study examines text comprehension, processing, and familiarity judgment provided by adult readers using a number of different approaches (i.e., natural language processing, crowd-sourced ratings, and machine learning). The primary focus is on the id…
The functions of "just kidding" in American English
Peer interaction, writing proficiency, and the quality of collaborative digital multimodal composing task: Comparing guided and unguided planning
The Role of Linguistic Alignment on Question Development in Face-to-Face and Synchronous Computer-Mediated Communication Contexts: A Conceptual Replication Study
To date, linguistic alignment studies in second language acquisition have mainly been conducted during face-to-face (FTF) interactions. In the current study, we examined and compared the effect of structural alignment on the development of English direct and indirect questions in FTF and synchronous computer-mediated communication (SCMC) contexts. Additionally, we assessed participants' working memory capacity and previous knowledge of the target…
Lexical priming in humorous satirical newspaper headlines
Satire is a type of discourse commonly employed to mock or criticize a satirical target, typically resulting in humor. Current understandings of satire place strong emphasis on the role that background and pragmatic knowledge play during satire recognition. However, there may also be specific linguistic cues that signal a satirical intent. Researchers using corpus linguistic methods, specifically Lexical Priming, have demonstrated that other type…
Predicting Text Comprehension, Processing, and Familiarity in Adult Readers: New Approaches to Readability Formulas
Research has identified a number of linguistic features that influence the reading comprehension of young readers; yet, less is known about whether and how these findings extend to adult readers. This study examines text comprehension, processing, and familiarity judgment provided by adult readers using a number of different approaches (i.e., natural language processing, crowd-sourced ratings, and machine learning). The primary focus is on the id…
Was this analysis helpful? A genre analysis of the Amazon.com discourse community and its “most helpful” product reviews
Satire, honey and tears: How The Onion and The Babylon Bee do satire
Although American news satire trends towards the left side of the political spectrum, satire is not unique to liberal viewpoints. Conservative news satire, published by outlets such as The Babylon Bee , lend evidence to the ability for right-wing views to be advanced using satirical methods. Despite political differences, existing comparisons of left- and right-wing news satire suggest a high degree of structural similarity. In contrast, qualitat…
Examining lexical development in second language learners: An approximate replication of Salsbury, Crossley & McNamara (2011)
This paper reports on an approximate or partial replication of a study by Salsbury, Crossley & McNamara (2011) that examined the longitudinal developmental of a number of core lexical features related to word imageability, concreteness, familiarity, and meaningfulness in a spoken corpus of English second language (L2) learners. Salsbury et al. found no developmental growth patterns for word familiarity but strong growth patterns for word concrete…
Examining the Online Processing of Satirical Newspaper Headlines
Previous investigations of satire posit that satire comprehension is influenced by prior knowledge, satirical strategies, and other demographic features, such as age. However, these claims have not yet been tested using online processing techniques. In this study we investigate satire processing using newspaper headlines from the satirical American newspaper The Onion and nonsatirical headlines from The New York Times. Reading times and humor rat…
A statistical analysis of satirical Amazon.com product reviews
A corpus of 750 product reviews extracted from Amazon.com was analyzed for specific lexical, grammatical, and semantic features to identify differences between satirical and non-satirical Amazon.com product reviews through a statistical analysis. The corpus contained 375 reviews identified as satirical and 375 as non-satirical (750 total). Fourteen different linguistic indices were used to measure features related to lexical sophistication, gramm…
Modeling Satirical Uptake Using Discourse Processing Methods
Informed by a theoretical model of satirical uptake, this study investigated processing behavior and comprehension of satirical news articles. Reading times for segments of minimally different satirical and non-satirical texts were collected using within-subjects (Experiment 1) and between-subjects (Experiment 2) designs. Segment reading times and participant familiarity with news genres were used to predict ratings of sincerity, humor, and agree…
Multicompetence in L2 Language Play: A Longitudinal Case Study
Humor and language play have been recognized as important aspects of second language (L2) development. Qualitative studies that have documented the forms and functions of language play for adult and child L2 users have taken place largely in classroom settings. In order to gain a fuller understanding of such creative manipulations by L2 users, it is necessary to examine these phenomena across a variety of contexts. In this article, we explore the…
Was this analysis helpful? A genre analysis of the Amazon.com discourse community and its “most helpful” product reviews
A statistical analysis of satirical Amazon.com product reviews
A corpus of 750 product reviews extracted from Amazon.com was analyzed for specific lexical, grammatical, and semantic features to identify differences between satirical and non-satirical Amazon.com product reviews through a statistical analysis. The corpus contained 375 reviews identified as satirical and 375 as non-satirical (750 total). Fourteen different linguistic indices were used to measure features related to lexical sophistication, gramm…
Multicompetence in L2 Language Play: A Longitudinal Case Study
Humor and language play have been recognized as important aspects of second language (L2) development. Qualitative studies that have documented the forms and functions of language play for adult and child L2 users have taken place largely in classroom settings. In order to gain a fuller understanding of such creative manipulations by L2 users, it is necessary to examine these phenomena across a variety of contexts. In this article, we explore the…
The functions of "just kidding" in American English
Tokowicz, Natasha. 2015. Lexical Processing and Second Language Acquisition
Preview this article: Tokowicz, Natasha. 2015. Lexical Processing and Second Language Acquisition, Page 1 of 1 /docserver/preview/fulltext/itl.167.2.06ska-1.gif
Predicting Text Comprehension, Processing, and Familiarity in Adult Readers: New Approaches to Readability Formulas
Research has identified a number of linguistic features that influence the reading comprehension of young readers; yet, less is known about whether and how these findings extend to adult readers. This study examines text comprehension, processing, and familiarity judgment provided by adult readers using a number of different approaches (i.e., natural language processing, crowd-sourced ratings, and machine learning). The primary focus is on the id…
Lexical priming in humorous satirical newspaper headlines
Satire is a type of discourse commonly employed to mock or criticize a satirical target, typically resulting in humor. Current understandings of satire place strong emphasis on the role that background and pragmatic knowledge play during satire recognition. However, there may also be specific linguistic cues that signal a satirical intent. Researchers using corpus linguistic methods, specifically Lexical Priming, have demonstrated that other type…
Making sense of polysemy relations in first and second language speakers of English
The aim of this study is to compare priming effects for polysemous word senses among English first language (L1) and advanced second language (L2) speakers in order to better understand the development of the mental lexicon. Using polysemy values from WordNet, a lexical decision task was designed with three different target word conditions: dominant polysemy (i.e., closely related senses), subordinate polysemy (i.e., distantly related senses), an…
Examining lexical development in second language learners: An approximate replication of Salsbury, Crossley & McNamara (2011)
This paper reports on an approximate or partial replication of a study by Salsbury, Crossley & McNamara (2011) that examined the longitudinal developmental of a number of core lexical features related to word imageability, concreteness, familiarity, and meaningfulness in a spoken corpus of English second language (L2) learners. Salsbury et al. found no developmental growth patterns for word familiarity but strong growth patterns for word concrete…
Examining the Online Processing of Satirical Newspaper Headlines
Previous investigations of satire posit that satire comprehension is influenced by prior knowledge, satirical strategies, and other demographic features, such as age. However, these claims have not yet been tested using online processing techniques. In this study we investigate satire processing using newspaper headlines from the satirical American newspaper The Onion and nonsatirical headlines from The New York Times. Reading times and humor rat…
Exploring Perceptions of Novelty and Mirth in Elicited Figurative Language Production
Most research of figurative language production examines naturalistic discourse. However, laboratory studies of elicited figurative language production are useful because they provide insight into whether specific individual differences are associated with differences in figurative language production ability. In this sense, elicited figurative language production studies mirror the approach many studies of figurative language processing and comp…
The Role of Linguistic Alignment on Question Development in Face-to-Face and Synchronous Computer-Mediated Communication Contexts: A Conceptual Replication Study
To date, linguistic alignment studies in second language acquisition have mainly been conducted during face-to-face (FTF) interactions. In the current study, we examined and compared the effect of structural alignment on the development of English direct and indirect questions in FTF and synchronous computer-mediated communication (SCMC) contexts. Additionally, we assessed participants' working memory capacity and previous knowledge of the target…
Peer interaction, writing proficiency, and the quality of collaborative digital multimodal composing task: Comparing guided and unguided planning
Forward and backward transfer of sentence processing cues in English and Mandarin Chinese: A call for approximate replication of Liu, Bates, and Li (1992) and Su (2001)
The Competition Model has served as a functional explanation of cross-linguistic influence and transfer for more than 30 years. A large number of studies have used the Competition Model to frame investigations of sentence processing strategies in different types of bilingual and multilingual speakers. Among the different bilingual speakers investigated, Mandarin Chinese and English bilinguals represent a clear testing ground for the claims of the…
Modeling Satirical Uptake Using Discourse Processing Methods
Informed by a theoretical model of satirical uptake, this study investigated processing behavior and comprehension of satirical news articles. Reading times for segments of minimally different satirical and non-satirical texts were collected using within-subjects (Experiment 1) and between-subjects (Experiment 2) designs. Segment reading times and participant familiarity with news genres were used to predict ratings of sincerity, humor, and agree…
Do Struggling Adult Readers Monitor Their Reading? Understanding the Role of Online and Offline Comprehension Monitoring Processes During Reading
Comprehension monitoring is a meta-cognitive skill that is defined as the ability to self-evaluate one’s comprehension of text. Although it is known that struggling adult readers are poor at monitoring their comprehension, additional research is needed to understand the mechanisms underlying comprehension monitoring and their role in reading comprehension in this population. This study used a comprehension monitoring task with struggling adult re…
Satire from a far-away land: Psychological distance and satirical news
Satirical news and its effects on outcomes such as appreciation and persuasion have gained considerable currency as a topic of research in mass communication studies. Through the framework of construal level theory, we investigated whether different levels of spatial distance influence these effects. In a between-subjects experiment, participants in the United Kingdom (UK; n = 282) and New Zealand (NZ; n = 370) read a satirical or non-satirical n…
An examination of the utility of the Aozora Repository to support reading comprehension development, reading fluency, and extensive reading for L2 learners of Japanese
Despite a recent boom in the development of graded reading materials for L2 Japanese learners which can be used for extensive reading (ER), the total amount of material remains low, and the highest stated vocabulary level of these texts is only 4500 words. However, achieving a 95% coverage rate of tokens in Japanese texts requires knowledge of 9500 word s (Matsushita, 2014) – a substantial gap between these graded texts and what is needed for ind…
Corpus Software for Applied Linguistics
Understanding how to select and use corpus software for appropriate purposes is an important skill for researchers and practitioners in applied linguistics. However, the expanding number of corpus resources and software programs can make selecting the right tools and data sets daunting. In this entry, we review the ways different corpus software programs can provide insight into the linguistic properties of text data. We discuss software designed…
Manner and Quality of Negotiation During L2 Collaborative Writing
Although peer interaction has received attention in second language (L2) collaborative writing (CW) research, the manner and quality of peer interaction have been less investigated. Previous studies usually examined peer interaction by looking at language-related episodes, overlooking the ways students negotiate for different types of knowledge for successful writing, such as content, organisation, and discourse. Moreover, the association between…
Learning honorific request-making expressions in Korean during mobile text-chat tasks: Comparing provision of primes and recast prime
Linguistic alignment that occurs during interaction has been found to be a useful language learning mechanism. Recent second language (L2) research on alignment has primarily focused on syntactic alignment in face-to-face oral interactions (Kim & Michel, 2023). This study expands the scope of L2 alignment research by examining pragmatic alignment in group mobile text-chat tasks conducted in Korean. Furthermore, it investigates how the source of a…
Free speech as a unifying punchline for The Onion and The Babylon Bee
Measuring satirical uptake using word sentiment
Satire is a discursive strategy used to convey criticism, yet such criticism is indirect and subject to individual interpretation. There is thus a great deal of variability in the comprehension of satirical meaning, which raises unique methodological challenges for researchers studying the cognitive processing and comprehension of satirical discourse. Because existing behavioral research suggests research participants are reluctant or unable to r…
Satire, honey and tears: How The Onion and The Babylon Bee do satire
Although American news satire trends towards the left side of the political spectrum, satire is not unique to liberal viewpoints. Conservative news satire, published by outlets such as The Babylon Bee , lend evidence to the ability for right-wing views to be advanced using satirical methods. Despite political differences, existing comparisons of left- and right-wing news satire suggest a high degree of structural similarity. In contrast, qualitat…
From dialogue to text: Linking peer interaction to real-time revisions during L2 collaborative writing
Linguistics (19 works) · Psychology (16 works) · Computer Science (13 works) · EFL/ESL Teaching and Learning (11 works) · Cognitive psychology (8 works) · Humor Studies and Applications (8 works) · Language, Metaphor, and Cognition (8 works) · Artificial Intelligence (7 works) · Discourse Analysis in Language Studies (7 works) · Sociology (7 works)