Most cited papers in Second Language Acquisition and Learning
What are the most cited papers in Second Language Acquisition and Learning?
The most cited paper in Second Language Acquisition and Learning is "TASK-BASED LANGUAGE LEARNING AND TEACHING" (Alison Mackey, 2004), with 2,871 citations. Next come "The English Lexicon Project" (2,836) and "Mental control of the bilingual lexico-semantic system" (2,816).
Showing 50 of 99 papers. Every paper with more than 721 citations is listed.
| # | Paper | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | TASK-BASED LANGUAGE LEARNING AND TEACHING Alison Mackey · Studies in Second Language Acquisition | Sep 2004 | 2,871 |
| 2 | The English Lexicon Project David A. Balota, Melvin Ju-min Yap, Keith A. Hutchison et al. · Behavior Research Methods | Aug 2007 | 2,836 |
| 3 | Mental control of the bilingual lexico-semantic system David William Green · Bilingualism Language and Cognition | Aug 1998 | 2,816 |
| 4 | A New Academic Word List Averil Coxhead · TESOL Quarterly | 2000 | 2,790 |
| 5 | Teacher cognition in language teaching: A review of research on what language teachers think, know, believe, and do Simon Borg · Language Teaching | Apr 2003 | 2,542 |
| 6 | The Child's Learning of English Morphology Jean Berko · WORD | Aug 1958 | 2,504 |
| 7 | The MRC Psycholinguistic Database Max Coltheart · The Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology Section A | Nov 1981 | 2,489 |
| 8 | Effectiveness of L2 Instruction: A Research Synthesis and Quantitative Meta‐analysis John M. Norris, Lourdes Fernández de Ortega · Language Learning | Sep 2000 | 2,416 |
| 9 | Reading Ability: Lexical Quality to Comprehension Charles A. Perfetti · Scientific Studies of Reading | 26 Sep 2007 | 2,085 |
| 10 | Reading: A psycholinguistic guessing game Kenneth S. Goodman · Journal of the Reading Specialist | May 1967 | 1,770 |
| 11 | The Case Against Grammar Correction in L2 Writing Classes John Truscott · Language Learning | Jun 1996 | 1,748 |
| 12 | Techniques and Principles in Language Teaching Leo A. W. van Lier, Diane Larsen‐Freeman · TESOL Quarterly | Mar 1987 | 1,745 |
| 13 | Language anxiety and achievement Elaine K. Horwitz · Annual Review of Applied Linguistics | 2001 | 1,557 |
| 14 | A Framework for the Implementation of Task-based Instruction Peter Skehan · Applied Linguistics | Mar 1996 | 1,547 |
| 15 | Oral Reading Fluency as an Indicator of Reading Competence: A Theoretical, Empirical, and Historical Analysis Lynn S. Fuchs, Douglas Fuchs, Michelle K. Hosp et al. · Scientific Studies of Reading | Jul 2001 | 1,528 |
| 16 | The Subtle Effects of Language Anxiety on Cognitive Processing in the Second Language Peter D. MacIntyre, R. C. Gardner · Language Learning | Jun 1994 | 1,507 |
| 17 | Review article: Instructed second language vocabulary learning Norbert Schmitt · Language Teaching Research | 25 Jun 2008 | 1,466 |
| 18 | Teaching and Learning Vocabulary Rachel Gader, Linda K. Taylor · TESOL Quarterly | 1991 | 1,459 |
| 19 | How Large a Vocabulary is Needed For Reading and Listening? Paul Nation · Canadian Modern Language Review/ La Revue canadienne des langues vivantes | Sep 2006 | 1,446 |
| 20 | Vocabulary in Language Teaching Laura L. Meyer, Norbert Schmitt · TESOL Quarterly | 2002 | 1,446 |
| 21 | Motivation in second and foreign language learning Zoltán Dörnyei · Language Teaching | Jul 1998 | 1,393 |
| 22 | Introducing LexTALE: A quick and valid Lexical Test for Advanced Learners of English Kristin Lemhöfer, Mirjam Broersma · Behavior Research Methods | 5 Sep 2011 | 1,378 |
| 23 | Second Language Acquisition: An Introductory Course Susan M. Gass, Larry Selinker | Nov 1993 | 1,339 |
| 24 | Vocabulary Size and Use: Lexical Richness in L2 Written Production Batia Laufer, Paul Nation · Applied Linguistics | Sep 1995 | 1,315 |
| 25 | Ending the Reading Wars: Reading Acquisition From Novice to Expert Anne Castles, Kathleen Rastle, Kate Nation · Psychological Science in the Public Interest | Jun 2018 | 1,289 |
| 26 | Task complexity, task difficulty, and task production: exploring interactions in a componential framework Peter J. Robinson · Applied Linguistics | Mar 2001 | 1,272 |
| 27 | Extensive Reading in the Second Language Classroom Richard R. Day, Julian Bamford, Willy A. Renandya et al. · RELC Journal | Dec 1998 | 1,268 |
| 28 | Representativeness in Corpus Design Douglas Biber · Literary and Linguistic Computing | Oct 1993 | 1,261 |
| 29 | Developing and exploring the behaviour of two new versions of the Vocabulary Levels Test Norbert Schmitt, Diane Schmitt, Caroline Clapham · Language Testing | 2001 | 1,215 |
| 30 | Computers and language learning: an overview Mark Warschauer, Deborah J. Healey · Language Teaching | Apr 1998 | 1,164 |
| 31 | A probabilistic earley parser as a psycholinguistic model John Hale | 2001 | 1,151 |
| 32 | Modelling Second Language Performance: Integrating Complexity, Accuracy, Fluency, and Lexis Peter Skehan · Applied Linguistics | Dec 2009 | 1,150 |
| 33 | As can be seen: Lexical bundles and disciplinary variation Ken Hyland · English for Specific Purposes | 8 Aug 2007 | 1,148 |
| 34 | The Influence of Planning and Task Type on Second Language Performance Pauline Foster, Peter Skehan · Studies in Second Language Acquisition | Sep 1996 | 1,141 |
| 35 | Lexical access and naming time Kenneth I. Forster, Susan M. Chambers · Journal of Verbal Learning and Verbal Behavior | Dec 1973 | 1,138 |
| 36 | Genre pedagogy: Language, literacy and L2 writing instruction Ken Hyland · Journal of Second Language Writing | Sep 2007 | 1,122 |
| 37 | IMPLICIT AND EXPLICIT CORRECTIVE FEEDBACK AND THE ACQUISITION OF L2 GRAMMAR Rod Ellis, Shawn Loewen, Rosemary Erlam · Studies in Second Language Acquisition | 21 Apr 2006 | 1,086 |
| 38 | Automatic analysis of syntactic complexity in second language writing Xiaofei Lu · International Journal of Corpus Linguistics | 29 Oct 2010 | 1,047 |
| 39 | An ERP study on L2 syntax processing: When do learners fail? Nienke Meulman, Laurie A. Stowe, Simone Sprenger et al. · Frontiers in Psychology | 25 Sep 2014 | 1,012 |
| 40 | Current Developments in Second Language Reading Research William Grabe · TESOL Quarterly | 1991 | 1,000 |
| 41 | Variables Affecting Choice of Language Learning Strategies by University Students Rebecca L. Oxford, Martha Nyikos · Modern Language Journal | Sep 1989 | 981 |
| 42 | Current Issues in the Teaching of Grammar: An SLA Perspective Rod Ellis · TESOL Quarterly | Mar 2006 | 965 |
| 43 | Anxiety and Second‐Language Learning: Toward a Theoretical Clarification* Peter D. MacIntyre, R. C. Gardner · Language Learning | Jun 1989 | 940 |
| 44 | The organization and activation of orthographic knowledge in reading aloud. Robert J. Glushko · Journal of Experimental Psychology Human Perception & Performance | Nov 1979 | 936 |
| 45 | Effective Practices for Developing Reading Comprehension Nell K. Duke, P. David Pearson · Journal of Education | 2009 | 926 |
| 46 | Authentic materials and authenticity in foreign language learning Alexander Gilmore · Language Teaching | 7 Mar 2007 | 919 |
| 47 | Frequency and repetition effects in lexical memory. Don L. Scarborough, Charles F. Cortese, Hollis Shapiro Scarborough · Journal of Experimental Psychology Human Perception & Performance | Feb 1977 | 913 |
| 48 | Vocabulary Learning Strategies and Language Learning Outcomes Yongqi Gu, Robert Keith Johnson · Language Learning | Dec 1996 | 895 |
| 49 | Using mobile phones in English education in Japan Patricia M. Thornton, Chris Houser · Journal of Computer Assisted Learning | 31 May 2005 | 894 |
| 50 | MTLD, vocd-D, and HD-D: A validation study of sophisticated approaches to lexical diversity assessment Philip M. McCarthy, Scott Jarvis · Behavior Research Methods | May 2010 | 893 |
Citations are OpenAlex's own counts, from its 2026-09-23 snapshot, so the ranking can differ from Google Scholar or Web of Science. A paper is listed for a field when OpenAlex files it under one of the field's topics; retracted papers and papers whose citation count cannot be traced to citing works are left out, and a preprint and the article it became are shown once. Release dates are OpenAlex's: where a source gave only a month or a year, that is what is shown. How the lists are chosen.