The development of word recognition in beginning foreign language learners: Effects of metalinguistic awareness and cross-linguistic overlap

Aims and Objectives: This study examines how foreign language (FL) word recognition in continuous speech develops from the pre-instructional state to the early stages of classroom-based English as a foreign language (EFL) learning. We ask whether (1) beginning EFL instruction improves children’s word recognition, (2) cross-linguistic phonological overlap between English words and their German translation equivalents (cognate status) facilitates recognition, and (3) phonological awareness modulates these effects.Approach: German, beginning learners of English, with at least one year of English as a FL (EFL) instruction, completed an auditory segmentation task in which they judged whether a probe word had occurred in a previously heard English sentence (target) or not (lure). Half of the target items were cognates and half non-cognates. Beginning EFL learners also completed measures of phonological awareness and German verbal fluency.Data and Analysis: The sample comprised 53 beginning EFL learners and was compared with a previous sample of pre-EFL learners (Von Holzen et al., 2026). Word acceptance responses were analyzed using generalized linear mixed-effects models testing different interactions between word status (target vs. lure), word type (cognate vs. noncognate), group (beginning EFL, pre-EFL learners), and phonological awareness.Findings: Beginning EFL learners showed significantly higher word recognition accuracy than pre-EFL learners, demonstrating rapid gains in speech segmentation after classroom instruction. Phonological awareness positively predicted recognition performance. However, cognate status did not facilitate word recognition in either group, nor did phonological awareness modulate cognate effects. Thus, improvements in early FL word recognition appear independent of cross-linguistic phonological overlap in this exclusively form-based task.Originality: The study directly compares pre- and post-instruction EFL learners using the same paradigm and isolates form-based processing without requiring semantic activation.Implications: Results suggest that cognate facilitation in young FL learners may depend on task demands, particularly meaning-based processing, highlighting implications for instructional practice.