Chapter 9. The role of prediction in second language vocabulary learning

While we have a good understanding of how prediction is implicated in processing utterances in a second language, the idea that prediction may also be implicated in learning a second language has so far received very little attention. I briefly review the evidence for and against prediction as a fundamental mechanism of language acquisition in childhood, focusing in particular on the links between children’s prediction skills and their vocabulary knowledge. I then illustrate how prediction, and in particular prediction errors, may drive learning of new words in adults, by supporting the encoding and consolidation of representations for these words in memory. Finally, I discuss how prediction-based mechanisms might be implicated in generating and sustaining motivation to learn a second language.