A research article co-authored by a Michigan State University College of Arts & Letters faculty member and an alum has received the 2025 Albert Valdman Award for Outstanding Publication in Studies in Second Language Acquisition, which recognizes the top article published in the international journal each year.
The award-winning article, titled Testing the three-stage model of second language skill acquisition, was written by Ryo Maie, Senior Assistant Professor at Tohoku University in Sendai City, Miyagi, Japan, who received his Ph.D. in Second Language Studies from Michigan State University in 2022, and Aline Godfroid, Red Cedar Distinguished Professor in MSU’s Department of Linguistics, Languages, and Cultures. The article was published in April 2025 in Studies in Second Language Acquisition and was selected from a highly competitive pool of articles published in the journal that year.
“It is a true honor and privilege to receive this recognition,” Maie and Godfroid wrote in their acceptance note. “We are also deeply grateful to the U.S. National Science Foundation, as this study would not have been possible without their generous financial support through a Doctoral Dissertation Improvement Grant.”
The study, which began in 2020, explored how people develop proficiency in a new language by testing the widely used Skill Acquisition Theory, which proposes that learning a second language develops in three stages: first by consciously learning and using rules, then by practicing those rules, and eventually by using the language automatically with little effort.
“It is our hope that this study will serve as a steppingstone for future research and stimulate further interest in Skill Acquisition Theory.”
In the study, participants learned elements of Japanese (a novel language to them) and practiced comprehending the language over 500 trials while Maie and Godfroid measured their accuracy and response times as their skills developed. The analysis of data based on computational and statistical modeling supported the three-stage model, showing that learners initially rely on applying consciously learned vocabulary and grammar rules but gradually improve through practice by developing more efficient performance routines, shifting toward more automatic language use in the end.
“It is our hope that this study will serve as a steppingstone for future research and stimulate further interest in Skill Acquisition Theory,” Maie and Godfroid wrote.
The Albert Valdman Award is presented annually to the most outstanding article published in Studies in Second Language Acquisition. The award is named in honor of the journal’s founding editor, Albert Valdman.
Published by Cambridge University Press,Studies in Second Language Acquisition is an international peer-reviewed journal devoted to the scientific study of the acquisition and use of non-native and heritage languages.
By Kim Popiolek
