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PUBLICATIONS

2025

  • Pfenninger, S. E. and M. A. Wirtz (2026). Age and Additional Language Acquisition. International Encyclopedia of Language and Linguistics, 3rd Edition. 
     

  • Wirtz, M. A., S. E. Pfenninger, A. Rossmanith & L. Zbinden. (under review). Continuity vs. cut-off points in SLA across the lifespan: From significant life events to biologically regulated thresholds. In: Clare Wright, Pauliina Peltonen, Thorsten Piske & Anja Steinlen (eds.), Context Matters. Bristol: Multilingual Matters.​

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  • De Wilde, V., S. E. Pfenninger & F. Van de Velde. (accepted). Using Granger Causality to investigate causes of change in L2 oral development. In: W. Lowie, Rosmawati and V. De Wilde (eds), New methods in Complex Dynamic Systems Theory approaches to Second Language Development.

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  • Pfenninger, S. E. & A. Becker. (accepted). ​English inside and outside of Swiss classrooms. In: E. Glaser, J. Kabatek & B. Sonnenhauser (eds.), Sprachräume der Schweiz / Espaces linguistiques suisses / Language spaces in Switzerland / Spazi linguistici della Svizzera (vol. II).
     

  • Wirtz, M. A., S. Pickl and S. E. Pfenninger (2025). Individual differences in event experiences and psychosocial factors as drivers for language change following occupational major life events. Open Linguistics. https://doi.org/10.1515/opli-2024-003
     

  • Wirtz, M. & S. E. Pfenninger (accepted pending revisions). Theoretical, Methodological, and Computational Perspectives on Immersive Virtual Reality in Variationist SLA: Insights from User Experience. In: M. Solon, M. Kanwit, & A. Gudmestad (eds.), Research at the intersection of second language acquisition and sociolinguistics: Studies in honor of Kimberly L. Geeslin. Benjamins.
    OSF: https://osf.io/sbtae/

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  • Hundt, M., S. E. Pfenninger and S. Mollin. (in press). Psycholinguistic perspectives on language change. In: M. Kytö and E. Smitterberg (eds.), New Cambridge History of the English Language. Cambridge: CUP. 

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  • Pfenninger, S. E. (in press). Envoi: Envoi: How diverse is multilingualism research? In P. Siemund, G. Stein, M. Vida-Mannl (eds.), World Englishes in their local multilingual ecologies. Benjamins.
    ISBN: 9789027219367​​
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  • Van der Ploeg, M., J. Brouwer and S. E. Pfenninger. (accepted pending revisions). Lifespan Perspectives on Additional Language Learning: Reflections on Age, Ageing, and the Earlier-is-Better Conundrum. Language Education Myths. CUP.
     

  • Johnson, T. & S. E. Pfenninger (2025). How Synonymic Taste Words Alter Perceived Taste. Languages, 10(6), 132. https://doi.org/10.3390/ languages10060132
     

  • Pfenninger, S. E. (2025). Envoi: How diverse is multilingualism research? In: P. Siemund, G. Stein and M. Vida-Mannl (eds.), World Englishes in their Local Multilingual Ecologies. Benjamins.
    doi: https://www.jbe-platform.com/content/books/9789027245007

2024

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  • Wirtz, M. & S. E. Pfenninger (2024). Capturing thresholds and continuities: Individual differences as predictors of L2 sociolinguistic repertoires in adult migrant learners in Austria. Applied Linguistics 45 (2), 249-271.
    doi: https://doi.org/10.1093/applin/amad055
    OSF: https://osf.io/xmw3f/
     

  • Wirtz, M. A., Pfenninger, S. E., Kaiser, I., & Ender, A. (2024). Sociolinguistic competence and varietal repertoires in a second language: A study on addressee-dependent varietal behavior using virtual reality. Language Learning. 
    https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/modl.12918
    OSF: https://osf.io/myhgw/

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  • Pfenninger, S. E. & M. A. Wirtz. (2024). Reconciling the divides: A dynamic integrative analysis of variability and commonality in (pre)primary school English development in Switzerland. Language Teaching Research Quarterly 39 (Special Issue: In Honour of Diane Larsen-Freeman’s Contributions to Language Teaching and Second Language Development), 145–173. https://eurokd.com/doi/10.32038/ltrq.2024.39.11
    OSF: https://osf.io/purk9/​​

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2023

  • ​Pfenninger, S. E., J. Festman and D. Singleton. (2023). Second Language Acquisition and Lifelong Learning. Second Language Acquisition Research series, eds. S. Gass & A. Mackey. London: Routledge. ISBN 9780367769130.
     

  • Wirtz, M. & S. E. Pfenninger. (2023). Variability and individual differences in L2 sociolinguistic evaluations: The GROUP, the INDIVIDUAL and the HOMOGENEOUS ENSEMBLE. Studies in Second Language Acquisition. 45(5), 1186-1209. doi:10.1017/S0272263123000177
    https://osf.io/yrqn6/

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  • Pfenninger, S. E. & M. Kliesch. (2023). Variability as a functional marker of second language development in older adult learners. Studies in Second Language Acquisition. 45(4), 1004–1030. doi:10.1017/S0272263123000013
    OSF: https://osf.io/497fa/

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  • Pfenninger, S. E. (2023). Conclusion and envoi: Language acquisition at the intersection of sociolinguistics and World Englishes research. In: S. Buschfeld, M. Vida-Mannl, M. Schmalz & T. Brato (eds.) Acquisition and Variation in World Englishes: Bridging Paradigms and Rethinking Approaches. Berlin: De Gruyter, 361-378. https://doi.org/10.1515/9783110733723

2022

  • Kliesch, M., S. E. Pfenninger, M. Wieling, S. Stark and M. Meyer (2021). Cognitive trajectories of older foreign language learners – Insights from an intensive longitudinal intervention study. Applied Linguistics 43(4), 653-676. https://doi.org/10.1093/applin/amab077

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  • Pfenninger, S.E. & D. Singleton. (2022). Age. In S. Li, P. Hiver, M. Papi (eds.), The Routledge Handbook of Second Language Acquisition and Individual Differences. New York and London: Routledge, 251-266. ISBN 9781032219141

2021

  • Pfenninger, S. E. and J. Festman. (2021). Psycholinguistics. In T. Gregersen and S. Mercer (eds), The Routledge Handbook of the Psychology of Language Learning and Teaching. Routledge.
     

  • Maurer U., Jost L. B., Pfenninger S. E., Eberhard-Moscicka A. K. (2021). Effects of reading skills and bilingualism on early foreign language learning in primary school children. Reading and Writing 34(10), 2673-2689.
    doi: 10.1007/s11145-021-10166-1
     

  • Werth, A., L. Bülow, M. Schiegg and S. E. Pfenninger. (eds.) (2021) Intra-individual variation in language. DeGruyter.
     

  • Pfenninger, S. E. and D. Singleton (2021). Is there a best age for second language learning? Evidence from across the lifespan. In: R. Woore and E. Macaro (eds.), Debates in Modern Language Education. London: Routledge. ISBN: 9781003008361
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  • Kliesch, M. and S. E. Pfenninger (2021). Cognitive and socio-affective predictors of L2 micro-development in late adulthood: A longitudinal intervention study. Modern Language Journal 105(1), 237-266. 
    doi: https://doi.org/10.1111/modl.12696
    OSF: https://osf.io/m9r2q/​

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  • Pfenninger, S. E. (2021). About the INTER and the INTRA in age-related research: Evidence from a longitudinal CLIL study with dense time serial measurements. Linguistics Vanguard 7(s2), 20200028.
    doi: https://doi.org/10.1515/lingvan-2020-0028​
     

  • Zullo, D., S. E. Pfenninger and D. Schreier. (2021). A Pan-Atlantic 'Multiple Model' Belt? American Speech 96(1), 7–44. doi: https://doi.org/10.1215/00031283-8620506
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  • Bülow, L. and S. E. Pfenninger. (2021) Introduction: Reconciling approaches to intra-individual variation in psycholinguistics and variationist sociolinguistics. Special issue on "Intra-speaker variation across time and space – Sociolinguistics meets psycholinguistics". Linguistics Vanguard 7(s7). doi: https://doi.org/10.1515/lingvan-2020-0027
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  • Pfenninger, S. E. (2021). Emergent bilinguals in a digital world: A dynamic analysis of long-term L2 development in (pre)primary school children. International Review of Applied Linguistics IRAL 60(1), 41-66.
    doi: https://doi.org/10.1515/iral-2021-0025
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  • Johnson, T. and S. E. Pfenninger (2020). Tasty words: Using frame semantics to enhance consumer liking of potato chips and apples. International Journal of Applied Linguistics 31: 79– 94.
    doi: https://doi.org/10.1111/ijal.12323

2020

  • Pfenninger, S. E. (2020). Age meets multilingualism: Influence of starting age on L3 acquisition across different learner populations. In Camilla Bardel & Laura Sánchez (eds.), Third language acquisition: Age, proficiency and multilingualism, 167–207. Berlin: Language Science Press.
    doi: 10.5281/zenodo.4138745
     

  • Pfenninger, S. E. (2020). The dynamic multicausality of age of first bilingual language exposure: Evidence from a longitudinal CLIL study with dense time serial measurement. Modern Language Journal 104(3), 662-686. 
    doi: https://doi.org/10.1111/modl.12666

2019

  • Pfenninger, S. E. and H. Neuser. (2019). Inferential statistics in data analysis. The Routledge Handbook of Research Methods in Applied Linguistics (eds. Heath Rose and Jim McKinley). Routledge. ISBN: 9781138501140.​
     

  • Pfenninger, S. E. and D. Singleton. (2019). A critical review of research relating to the learning of additional languages in the third age. Language Teaching 52(4).
    doi: https://doi.org/10.1017/S0261444819000235

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  • Pfenninger, S. E. and D. Singleton. (2019). Making the most of an early L2 starting age. Journal of Language Teaching for Young Learners 1(2), 111–138.
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  • Pfenninger, S. E. and R. Watts. (2019). English and German in Switzerland. In R. Hickey (ed.), English in the German-speaking World. Cambridge: CUP, 315–333.
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  • Book review of: Deshors, Sandra C., Sandra Götz and Samantha Laporte. (2016). Rethinking linguistic creativity in non-native Englishes. Amsterdam: John Benjamins. In: English World Wide 40(2). 
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  • Singleton, D. and S. E. Pfenninger. (2019).  Exploring a poorly understood variable: An agenda for classroom research on the age factor. Language Teaching 52(1), 111-127.
    doi: 10.1017/S0261444818000319
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  • Singleton, D. and S. E. Pfenninger. (2019).  Bilingualism in midlife. In A. De Houwer and L. Ortega (eds.), The Cambridge Handbook of Bilingualism. Cambridge: CUP, 76-100.
    doi: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781316831922
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  • Pfenninger, S. E. and D. Singleton. (2019).  Starting age overshadowed: The primacy of differential environmental and family support effects on L2 attainment in an instructional context. Language Learning 69:S1, 207-234. 
    doi: https://doi.org/10.1111/lang.1231

2018

  • Kliesch, M., N. Giroud, S. E. Pfenninger and M. Meyer. (2018). Research on second language acquisition in old adulthood: What we have and what we need. In D. Gabrys-Barker (ed.). Third age learners of foreign languages. Bristol: Multilingual Matters, 48–76.

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  • Pfenninger, S. E. and S. Polz. (2018). Foreign language learning in the third age: A pilot feasibility study on
    cognitive, socio-affective and linguistic drivers and benefits in relation to previous bilingualism of the learner. Journal of the European Second Language Association (JESLA), 2(1), 1–13.
    doi: 10.22599/jesla.36

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  • Mattuzzi, M. and S. E. Pfenninger. (2018). The language-cognition-affect interface in young college student stroke survivors with aphasia. International Journal of Applied Linguistics 28(3), 465–479.​
    doi: https://doi.org/10.1111/ijal.12222

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  • Singleton, D. & S. E. Pfenninger. (2018). L2 acquisition in childhood, adulthood and old age: Misreported
    and under-researched dimensions of the age factor. Journal of Second Language Studies 1(2), 254–275.​
    doi: https://doi.org/10.1075/jsls.00003.sin

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  • Singleton, D. and S. E. Pfenninger (2018). L2 proficiency as a function of cultural identity in interlingual couples. Theory and Practice of Second Language Acquisition (TAPSLA), 4(1), 7–22.
     

  • Pfenninger, S. E. and D. Singleton. (2018). The age debate - a critical overview. In S. Garton and F. Copland. (2019). The Routledge Handbook of Teaching English to Young Learners. Routledge.
    doi: https://doi.org/10.4324/9781315623672

2017

  • Pfenninger, S. E. and D. Singleton (2017). The ‘earlier=better’ assumption through the ages: On the origin and history of a myth in SLA and its pedagogical consequences. In A. Ubermann (ed.), The ambivalence of age: divergent age effects in different language-learning environments. Bern: Peter Lang.
     

  • ​Pfenninger, S. E. and J. Lendl (2017). Transitional woes: On the impact of L2 input continuity from primary to secondary school. Special Issue, T. Angelovska (Ed.), “L2 Grammar Acquisition”, Studies in Second Language Learning and Teaching 7(3), 443-470.
    doi: https://doi.org/10.14746/ssllt.2017.7.3.5​

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  • Pfenninger, S. E. (2017). Not so individual after all: An ecological approach to age as an individual difference variable in a classroom. Special Issue, K. de Bot (Ed.), “Individual differences in SLA”, Studies in Second Language Learning and Teaching 7(1), 19-46. 
    doi: https://doi.org/10.14746/ssllt.2017.7.1.2
     

  • Pfenninger, S. E. and D. Singleton. (2017). Beyond Age Effects in Instructional L2 Learning: Revisiting the Age Factor. Bristol: Multilingual Matters. ISBN: 9781783097616
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  • Pfenninger, S. E. and J. Navracsics (eds.). (2017). Future Research Directions for Applied Linguistics. Bristol: Multilingual Matters. 
    ISBN: 9781783097111​

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  • Pfenninger, S. E. and J. Navracsics (2017). Introduction. In: S. E. Pfenninger and J. Navracsics (eds.). Future research directions for applied linguistics (pp. 1-14). Bristol: Multilingual Matters. 
     

  • Pfenninger, S. E. and J. Navracsics (2017). Concluding Thoughts: A Road Map for Future Research in Applied Linguistics. In: S. E. Pfenninger and J. Navracsics (eds.). Future research directions for applied linguistics (pp. 286-292). Bristol: Multilingual Matters. 
     

  • Hundt, M., S. Mollin and S. E. Pfenninger (eds.). (2017). The Changing English Language: Psycholinguistic Perspectives (Studies in English Language Series). Cambridge: CUP.
    doi: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781316091746

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  • Pfenninger, S. E. and D. Singleton. (2017). Second language acquisition and age effects: The research conundrum. In K. Cergol Kovačević, Kristina and S. L. Udier (eds). Applied Linguistic Research and Methodology: Proceedings from the CALS conference 2015. Frankfurt am Main: Peter Lang. 
     

  • Hundt, M., S. Mollin and S. E. Pfenninger. (2017). Language history meets psychology. In: The Changing English  Language: Psycholinguistic Perspectives  (pp. 1-18). Cambridge: CUP. 
     

  • Pfenninger, S. E. and D. Singleton. (2017). Recent advances in quantitative methods in age-related research.In: S. E. Pfenninger and J. Navracsics (eds.). Future research directions for applied linguistics (pp. 101-119). Bristol: Multilingual Matters. 

2016

  • Eberhard-Moscicka, A. K., L. B. Jost, L. V. Fehlbaum, S. E. Pfenninger, and U. Maurer.  (2016). Temporal dynamics of early visual word processing - early versus late N1 sensitivity in children and adults. Neuropsychologia 91, 509-518. doi: 10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2016.09.014
     

  • Book review of: Murphy, V. and M. Evangelou (2016). (eds) Early Childhood Education in English for Speakers of Other Languages. London: British Council. In: International Journal of Bilingual Education and Bilingualism. Published online on 26/8/2016. https://doi.org/10.1080/13670050.2016.1219092
     

  • Pfenninger, S. E. and D. Singleton. (2016). The age factor in the foreign language class: what do learners think? Theory and Practice of Second Language Acquisition (TAPSLA) 2(1), 7-23.
     

  • Pfenninger, S. E. and D. Singleton. (2016). Age of onset, socio-affect and cross-linguistic influence: A long-term classroom study. Vigo International Journal of Applied Linguistics (VIAL) 13, 147-179. 
     

  • Pfenninger, S. E. and D. Singleton. (2016). Affect trumps age: A person-in-context relational view of age and motivation in SLA. Second Language Research 32(3), 311–345. 
    doi: https://doi.org/10.1177/0267658315624476
     

  • Pfenninger, S. E. (2016). All good things come in threes: Early English learning, CLIL and motivation in Switzerland. Cahiers de l‘ILSL 48. Special Issue, Patricia Ronan (ed.). “Perspectives on English in Switzerland”, 119-147. 
     

  • Singleton, D. and S. E. Pfenninger. (2016). Reporting on politically sensitive issues: The case of telling the truth about early L2 instruction. In H. Rose and J. McKinley (eds.), Doing Real Research in Applied Linguistics (pp. 214-224). London: Routledge. 
     

  • Pfenninger, S. E. and D. Singleton. (2016). Reading for remembering: On the long-term impact of starting age on retention and recall of target language input. In D. Galajda, P. Zakrajewski and M. Pawlak (eds.). Researching second language learning and teaching from a psycholinguistic perspective. Studies in honor of Danuta Gabryś-Barker. Berlin: Springer. 

2015

  • Pfenninger, S. E. (2015). MSL in the Digital Age: Effects and effectiveness of computer-mediated intervention for FL learners with dyslexia. Studies in Second Language Learning and Teaching 5(18), 109–133.
    doi: 10.14746/ssllt.2015.5.1.6
     

  • Singleton, D. and S. E. Pfenninger. (2015). Insights from a mixed methods approach with respect to age and long-term instructed language learning. In J. Navracsics and Sz. Bátyi (eds.) First and second language: Interdisciplinary approaches. Studies in Psycholinguistics 6. Budapest: Tinta Könyvkiadó, 11-21. 

2014

  • Pfenninger, S. E. et al. (eds.) (2014).  Contact, Variation and Change in the History of English  (Studies in Language Companion Series). Amsterdam & Philadelphia: John Benjamins. ​
     

  • Pfenninger, S. E. (2014). The literacy factor in the Optimal Age Debate: A 5-Year Longitudinal Study.  International Journal of Bilingual Education and Bilingualism. Prepublished November 5, 2014; doi: 10.1080/13670050.2014.972334. 
     

  • Pfenninger, S. E. (2014). The misunderstood variable: Age effects as a function of type of instruction.Special Issue, D. Singleton (Ed.), “A ge and More”,  Studies in Second Language Learning and Teaching 4(3), 529–556. doi: 10.14746/ssllt.2014.4.3.8
     

  • Pfenninger, S. E. (2014). Taking L3 learning by the horns: Benefits of computer-mediated intervention for dyslexic school children.  Innovation in Language Learning and Teaching. Prepublished September 30, 2014.
    doi: 10.1080/17501229.2014.959962
     

  • Pfenninger, S. E. et al. (2014). At the crossroads of language change, variation and contact. In: S. E. Pfenninger et al. (eds.). Contact, Variation and Change in the History of English  (Studies in Language Companion Series). Amsterdam & Philadelphia: John Benjamins, 1–8.
    doi: 10.1075/slcs.159.01pfe 

2013

  • Pfenninger, S. E. (2013). Quadrilingual advantages: Do-support in bilingual vs. multilingual learners.  International Journal of Multilingualism 11(2), 143–163.
    doi: 10.1080/14790718.2013.782032
     

  • Pfenninger, S. E. (2013). Þær wæs vs. thâr was: Old English and Old High German existential constructions with adverbs of place. Evidence from the history of English. In G. Diewald, L. Kahlas-Tarkka, & I. Wischer (eds.), Comparative Studies in Early Germanic Languages: With a Focus on Verbal Categories (Studies in Language Companion Series). Amsterdam: John Benjamins, 263–287. 
     

  • Pfenninger, S. E. (2013). On acquisition, age and articles in multilingual Switzerland. In J. Mihaljević Djigunović, & M. Medved Krajnović (eds.), UZRT 2012: Empirical Studies in English Applied Linguistics. Zagreb: FF Press, 22–35.  

2012

  • Pfenninger, S. E. (2012). On the effectiveness of early implicit classroom learning. Evidence from morphology.  ELT Research  26, 30–32. 
     

  • Pfenninger, S. E. (2012). Moving towards an earlier age of onset of L2 learning: A comparative analysis of motivation in Swiss classrooms. In D. Britain and A. Kern Stähler (eds.). English on the Move: Mobilities in Literature and Language  (Swiss Papers in English Literature and Linguistics 27). Tübingen: Narr, 15–30. 

2011

  • Pfenninger, S. E. (2011). Age effects on the acquisition of nominal and verbal inflections in an instructed setting. Studies in Second Language Learning and Teaching  1(3), 401–420.
    doi:     10.14746/ssllt.2011.1.3.5

2009

  • Pfenninger, S. E. (2009). Grammaticalization Paths of English and High German Existential Constructions. Bern: Peter Lang. 

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