Xiaotong Xi

Learners with greater auditory acuity of duration and more frequent L2 use can benefit more from study abroad programs for the perceptual learning of L2 stops.

Xi, X., Shea, C., & Li, P. (Online first). Perceptual Development of Second Language Sound Categories in a Study Abroad Program: L1 Mandarin speakers in Spain. Language and Speech.

Both individual auditory acuity and the amount of L2 input influence how study abroad programs help learners shift their perceptual cue-weighting strategies for L2 lexical stress.

Li, P., Xi, X., & Martin, C.D. (Online first). ​The interaction of auditory acuity and L2 input in suprasegmental cue-weighting shifts after study abroad: Mandarin speakers’ perception of Spanish lexical stress. Second Language Research.

Hand gestures help learn L2 Mandarin pronunciation and promote greater generalization to untrained items.

Gao, S., Xi, X., & Li, P. (Online first). Multimodal phonetic training with hand gestures enhances Mandarin pronunciation learning and promotes greater generalization to untrained items. Language and Speech. 

A review of research since 2010: how beat, durational, pitch, and articulatory gestures facilitate L2 speech acquisition.

Xi, X. & Li, P. (2026). A review of the effectiveness of hand gestures in second language phonetic training. Languages, 11(3), 43. [Invited contribution]

Oral narrative interventions have a medium-to-large positive effect on L2 outcomes, with intermediate learners and medium-term interventions benefiting the most.

Yao, T.,  Xi, X. , & Prieto, P. (2025). The effects of oral narrative interventions on second language learning: A systematic review and meta-analysis. System, 134: 103835. 

How do tonal L1 speakers produce intonation for statements and questions in non-tonal L2, considering the lexical-prosody interplay?

Li, P. & Xi, X. (2024). Nuclear contours of Spanish statements and questions produced by Mandarin speakers with advanced Spanish proficiency. Phonica, 20, 1–26. [Invited contribution]

Hand gestures that mimic the mouth shape, as opposed to the tongue position, can help the L2 sound production.

Xi, X., Li, P., & Prieto, P. (2024). Improving L2 vowel production with hand gestures encoding visible articulation: Evidence from picture-naming and paragraph-reading tasks. Language Learning, 74(4), 884–916.

Using hands to touch the tip of the tongue can help the production of L2 English /θ/ and /ð/.

Ozakin, A. S., Xi, X., Li, P., & Prieto, P. (2023). Thanks or tanks: training with tactile cues improves learners' accuracy of English interdental consonants in an oral reading task. Language Learning and Development, 19(4), 404–419.

Learners who are able to accurately produce hand gestures can improve more on L2 stop production.

Li, P., Xi, X., Baills, F., & Prieto, P. (2021). Training non-native aspirated plosives with hand gestures: learners' gesture performance matters. Language Cognition and Neuroscience, 36(10), 1313–1328. 

Observing hand gestures that are congruent to the phonetic features of target L2 sounds can help learning.

Xi, X., Li, P., Baills, F., & Prieto, P. (2020). Hand gestures facilitate the acquisition of novel phonemic contrasts when they appropriately mimic target phonetic features. Journal of Speech, Language, and Hearing Research, 63(11), 3571–3585.