Project description
Refining adult language acquisition theories
Research into adult second/additional language acquisition often highlights the impact of input and instruction, which does not fully explain why some adult learners succeed more than others when learning under similar conditions. Such language models fail to adequately link environmental factors, such as input variability and usage opportunity, with internal learner traits, including cognitive/perceptual abilities and prior experience. Supported by the Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions programme, the VISTA project will address this research gap by exploring how adults acquire Portuguese, focusing on the interplay between sound systems (phonology), vocabulary (lexis), and sentence structure (morphosyntax). This holistic approach will advance implicit language learning theories while providing research-backed guidance to support digital innovation, lifelong learning and inclusive education.
Objective
Languages are fundamental to education, culture, and social inclusion, yet a central puzzle remains: why do some adults acquire new languages more successfully than others, even when they learn under similar conditions? Decades of research in second and additional language (Ln) acquisition have illuminated how input and instruction affect learning, but they have not resolved this foundational question. Current accounts struggle to explain the complex interplay between external factors (e.g. variability and ambiguity in the input, opportunities for use) and learner-internal characteristics such as cognitive and perceptual abilities or prior language experience. These challenges are especially pronounced in immersion and other naturalistic settings, where explicit guidance is limited and learners must detect regularities, extract meaning from ambiguity, and build new representations under conditions of uncertainty.
VISTA (Variables in Immersive Statistical language learning: Trajectories and Aptitudes) addresses this gap by investigating how adults acquire linguistic patterns in a novel natural language (Portuguese) across three interdependent domains: phonology, lexis, and morphosyntax. This multidimensional design enhances ecological validity and responds to calls for more realistic approaches in statistical learning research. VISTA also develops a novel individual-differences framework, modelling how cognitive abilities, perceptual skills, and prior multilingual experience jointly shape learning trajectories.
By integrating behavioural and neuroscientific measures, VISTA will capture how adults learn new linguistic patterns in real time and across multiple domains. This comprehensive approach will advance theories of implicit language learning and generate evidence-based recommendations to support inclusive education, lifelong learning, and digital innovation – contributing directly to European Union priorities on multilingualism and social cohesion.
Fields of science (EuroSciVoc)
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CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques. See: The European Science Vocabulary.
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Project’s keywords as indicated by the project coordinator. Not to be confused with the EuroSciVoc taxonomy (Fields of science)
Project’s keywords as indicated by the project coordinator. Not to be confused with the EuroSciVoc taxonomy (Fields of science)
Programme(s)
Multi-annual funding programmes that define the EU’s priorities for research and innovation.
Multi-annual funding programmes that define the EU’s priorities for research and innovation.
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HORIZON.1.2 - Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions (MSCA)
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Calls for proposals are divided into topics. A topic defines a specific subject or area for which applicants can submit proposals. The description of a topic comprises its specific scope and the expected impact of the funded project.
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Funding scheme (or “Type of Action”) inside a programme with common features. It specifies: the scope of what is funded; the reimbursement rate; specific evaluation criteria to qualify for funding; and the use of simplified forms of costs like lump sums.
HORIZON-TMA-MSCA-PF-EF - HORIZON TMA MSCA Postdoctoral Fellowships - European Fellowships
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Call for proposal
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(opens in new window) HORIZON-MSCA-2025-PF
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LA1 4YW LANCASTER
United Kingdom
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