Tracing Causal Relationships in L2 Learning via Granger Causality.

Vanessa De Wilde, Simone E Pfenninger, Freek Van de Velde

Abstract read

In one paragraph

Article in Journal of psycholinguistic research, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.

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0cells of the map it votes in

0citing papers in PubMed

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1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

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2 · The registry

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3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

0 citing papers in PubMed.

No citing paper in PubMed yet.

4 · The record

Corrections and comments

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5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

3 authors.

Vanessa De WildeDepartment of Translation, Interpreting and Communication, Ghent University, Groot-Brittanniëlaan 45, 9000, Ghent, Belgium. vanessa.dewilde@ugent.be.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0003-3005-9620

Simone E PfenningerEnglish Department, University of Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0002-0433-4812

Freek Van de VeldeDepartment of Linguistics, KU Leuven, Louvain, Belgium.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0003-3050-2207

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

In this article we explore the use of Granger Causality as a method to shed light on causal relationships in studies on (second) language acquisition. Understanding such relationships remains a central challenge in longitudinal SLA research, where both learner variables and measures of linguistic development interact and evolve dynamically over time. We first explain the concept of Granger Causality and show how the method works, before providing an illustration using weekly measures of L2 development (C-Test performance and speech fluency) and individual difference variables (operation span, motivation and wellbeing) to explore their possible causal relationships in a longitudinal study with later-life language learners. The results reveal several asymmetric patterns. The findings are discussed in relation to the existing literature on later-life language learning and demonstrate that Granger causality is a valuable method for examining the directionality of relationships between variables in longitudinal data.

Indexed as

Language DevelopmentLearningMultilingualismHumansIndividualityLongitudinal StudiesGranger causalityIndividual differencesL2 developmentLongitudinal studyQuantitative methods

Identifiers

PMID42541615

DOI10.1016/j.tics.2019.05.003

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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.