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6 real negative results, null findings, and replication failures in Language and Literature · Negative / Null Result Report. Search the index →

WASTE indexes published research — it does not host or republish full papers. Each entry is a metadata record compiled from open scholarly databases; the abstract is shown in full only where the paper is openly licensed, otherwise a short excerpt under fair use. Classifications are automated and approximate.

Negative / Null Result ReportOpen accessLanguage and Literature

The Acoustic Properties of Vowels in Foreigner-Directed Speech: Insights from Speech Directed at Foreign Domestic Helpers

Azza Al-Kendi · 2025 · Languages

This study examines the acoustic properties of vowels in foreigner-directed speech (FDS) in interactions between female Omani-Arabic-speaking employers and their foreign domestic helpers (FDHs). Particularly, it investigates whether Arabic corner vowels /i:/, /a:/, and /u:/ undergo acoustic adaptations in FDS. The study also explores the influence of foreign interlocutors’ psycholinguistic characteristics, such as degree of foreign accent, religion, and length of residence (LoR), on the extent of these adaptations. Data were collected from 22 Omani-Arabic-speaking women interacting with their

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Negative / Null Result ReportOpen accessLanguage and Literature

Free Recall of Emotional Word Lists in Arabic-English Bilinguals

Ahmad M. Abd El-Aziz · 2022 · Wadī Al-Nīl Lil Dirāsāt wa Al-Buẖūṯ Al-Insāniyyaẗ wa Al-Iğtimāʿiyyaẗ wa Al-Tarbawiyyaẗ

This paper tries to investigate if there is a difference in the memory recall of emotional words between Arabic-English bilinguals. The methodology involves an experiment of free-recall responses to emotional word stimuli by 68 Egyptian Arabic-English bilinguals where the Arabic language is their native language (L1) and English language is their second language (L2). The participants divided into early English learners who acquired L2 at year 6, and late English learners who acquired L2 at year 12. A design of 2 x 2 x 3 three-way mixed ANOVA was administered with three independent variables;

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Negative / Null Result ReportOpen accessLanguage and Literature

The Relationship between Iranian EFL Learners’ Linguistic and Logical Intelligences and the Frequency of Fallacies and Evidence in their Argumentative Writing: A Gender-based Study

Mavadat Saidi · 2020 · Journal of English Language Pedagogy and Practice

The learners’ ability to write a well-organized argumentative essay has gained prominence within the last decades. The multiple intelligences play a significant role in enhancing the precision of both language and thought during the writing process. The current study aimed at investigating the possible relationship between linguistic and logical intelligences and the frequency of informal fallacies and evidence types in Iranian EFL learners’ argumentative essays. To the end, a total of 110 upper-intermediate EFL learners were asked to respond to the relevant items of Multiple Intelligences Dev

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Negative / Null Result ReportOpen accessLanguage and Literature

No hesitation at the choice point: verb–particle placement is cost-free in production

Matt Hunt Gardner, Xinyu Leslie Liao · 2026 · Language and Cognition

Using 3,154 tokens from American English, we test whether optionality in verb–particle placement increases speech-planning cost, measured as pre-verbal silence. Tokens were coded for object properties, idiomaticity and verb frequency. We find that pre-verbal silence does not differ between split (pick the book up) and joined (pick up the book) orders. While idiomaticity favours the joined order, it does not raise planning cost. Verb frequency shortens pauses only in fast speech, suggesting predictability acts lexically, not structurally. Choice symmetry does not lengthen pauses. We therefore f

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Negative / Null Result ReportOpen accessLanguage and Literature

Young People's Attitudes Toward the Causes of Drug Abuse and Its Effects on the Family and Society

khawla Alobeidli, Mohammed AL Hourani · 2026 · مجلة الآداب

This study aimed to identify young people's attitudes toward the causes of drug use and its effects on the family and society. Data were collected through a questionnaire distributed to a sample of 143 students at the University of Sharjah. The results showed that less than half of the participants (42.0%) believed that a weak religious conscience is a reason for drug use, while nearly half (41.3%) agreed that bad company is one of the individual factors leading to drug use. Additionally, 30.8% of the participants were uncertain whether traveling for recreation contributes to drug use. The qua

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Negative / Null Result ReportOpen accessLanguage and Literature

Words can interfere with perception at their associated locations: the role of orthography in spatial interference

Elisa Scerrati, Zachary Estes · 2025 · Language and Cognition

The spatial interference effect, whereby words with implicit spatial associations (e.g., ‘bird’) hinder identification of unrelated visual targets (e.g., a square) at the associated locations (i.e., at the top of a display), has been demonstrated many times in English, although it has failed to replicate several times in Italian. The current study tested whether the replication failures in Italian may be due to insufficient semantic processing of the words. Indeed, while languages with highly inconsistent pronunciations, such as English, are more likely to involve semantic processing during wo

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