Zingaretti, Mattia ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5565-2538, Spelorzi, Roberta, Sohanpaul, Taranjit K. and Sorace, Antonella (2026) The Linguistic and Cognitive Effects of a One-Week Online Italian Language Course: A Pilot Study. Journal of the European Second Language Association, 10 (1). pp. 32-47.

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Abstract

This pilot study examined whether one week of intensive online Italian instruction could yield significant changes in bilinguals’ verbal fluency skills in their L2 (Italian) and L1 (English), as well as in attentional skills (selective attention/inhibition and switching). Eighteen undergraduate Italian language students completed verbal fluency tasks in both English and Italian, and subtests of the Test of Everyday Attention, across three timepoints (pre-course, post-course and follow-up). Participants showed a significant increase in L2 verbal fluency following the course, particularly in semantic (category) fluency, with higher L2 proficiency predicting better performance. In contrast, L1 verbal fluency remained stable, and L2 and L1 fluency were positively correlated at post-course and follow-up. Selective attention improved significantly and was maintained at follow-up, while no changes were observed in sustained attention or switching, although the latter was predicted by L2 proficiency and age. Altogether, this pilot study provides preliminary evidence to suggest that even short-term, online L2 learning can yield lasting benefits to both L2 verbal fluency and attentional inhibition.

Item Type:	Article
Status:	Published
DOI:	10.22599/jesla.152
Subjects:	P Language and Literature > P Philology. Linguistics P Language and Literature > P Philology. Linguistics > P 115 Bilingualism P Language and Literature > PB Modern European Languages P Language and Literature > PC Romance languages P Language and Literature > PD Germanic languages P Language and Literature > PE English
School/Department:	School of Education, Language and Psychology
URI:	https://ray.yorksj.ac.uk/id/eprint/13988

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