Mahnaz Aliyar

Mahnaz Aliyar investigated how foreign language learners acquire unknown vocabulary through engagement with authentic materials for pleasure.

Thesis title

Incidental Acquisition of Novel L2 Vocabulary from Authentic Materials

Supervisors

A/Prof Anna Siyanova and Dr Stephen Skalicky

About

Mahnaz Aliyar completed her PhD in Applied Linguistics at Te Herenga Waka – Victoria University of Wellington in April 2026.
Her doctoral research explored how people learn new vocabulary in a second language by engaging with authentic materials such as novels, audiobooks, songs, and comic books. Working across both Italian and English, she asked to what extent reading or listening for pleasure helps enhancing learner's vocabulary, and how learners come to learn not only individual words but the phrases and expressions that make a language sound natural. Her findings have been published in leading international journals, including the Modern Language Journal, and shared at major conferences across Europe and beyond.


Educated in Iran, Italy, and Belgium before settling in Wellington, Mahnaz brings a genuinely international outlook to her field, which spans language acquisition, vocabulary, and the ways language shapes identity and belonging. Her scholarship has been recognised through a Royal Society of New Zealand Te Apārangi Postgraduate Award and a Wellington Doctoral Scholarship, among other honours and awards.

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Education


PhD in Applied Linguistics – Te Herenga Waka | Victoria University of Wellington
Advanced Master in Linguistics – KU Leuven
MA in Language, Society, and Communication – University of Bologna
BA in Italian Language and Literature – University of Tehran

Publications

Book chapters:
Aliyar, M., & Siyanova-Chanturia, A. (in press). Text types and grading. In M., Magner, A., Gruber, M., Byram, Y A., Hu (Eds.) Routledge Encyclopedia of Language Teaching and Learning (3rd ed.). Routledge.

Aliyar, M., & Siyanova-Chanturia, A. (in press). Vocabulary. In M., Magner, A., Gruber, M., Byram, Y A., Hu (Eds.) Routledge Encyclopedia of Language Teaching and Learning (3rd ed.). Routledge.


Journal articles:
Aliyar, M., Siyanova-Chanturia, A., & Skalicky, S. (2026). Reading versus Listening: Which one is more effective for incidental vocabulary learning? Modern Language Journal, 110(1), 1–25. https://doi.org/10.1111/modl.70029.


Aliyar, M. (2025). Lived Language and Mobility: A Case of Young Iranians in Italy. Journal of Multilingual and Multicultural Development, 1–21. https://doi.org/10.1080/01434632.2025.2580570.


Heidari, K., & Aliyar, M. (2025). Thirty-Five Years of Research on Idioms in Second Language Acquisition: A Methodological Review. Research Syntheses in Applied Linguistics, 1–23. https://doi.org/10.1080/29984475.2025.2486966
Aliyar, M. & Peters, E. (2022). Incidental acquisition of Italian words from comic books. Reading in a Foreign Language 34(2), 349-377. https://doi.org/10.64152/10125/67429.


Aliyar, M. (2020). A corpus-based analysis of linguistic interference of Italian native speakers in English and Spanish written production as a foreign language. Journal of Second Language Teaching & Research, 8(1), pp. 103-137. https://pops.uclan.ac.uk/index.php/jsltr/%20article/view/592.


Textbook:
Aliyar, M. (in press). Lessico dell’italiano di uso quotidiano in 60 giorni: Contiene le 5100 parole utili e di uso pratico. Tehran: Nasl-e-Novin Press.


Conference/Oral presentations:
Aliyar, M., & Siyanova-Chanturia, A. (November 2025) “Can’t get you out of my head”: Learning L2 vocabulary from listening to songs [Conference presentation]. The Annual Conference of the Linguistic Society of New Zealand. Wellington, New Zealand.


Aliyar, M., & Siyanova-Chanturia, A. (June 2025) Music and lexical growth: Exploring incidental vocabulary learning through songs [Conference presentation]. The 34th conference of the European Second Language Association. Tromsø, Norway.


Aliyar, M., Yan, H., & Siyanova-Chanturia, A. (June 2025) The role of imagery, glossing, and repetition in learning vocabulary from comics [Poster presentation]. The 34th conference of the European Second Language Association. Tromsø, Norway.


Aliyar, M., Yan, H., & Siyanova-Chanturia, A. (December 2024). Incidental acquisition of vocabulary: The effects of imagery versus glossing [Conference presentation]. The Annual Conference of the Linguistic Society of New Zealand. Christchurch, New Zealand.


Aliyar, M., Yan, H., & Siyanova-Chanturia, A. (November 2024). Picture versus glossing: Which one is more beneficial for incidental vocabulary learning? [Conference presentation]. The Applied Linguistics ALAA/ALANZ/ALTAANZ Conference. Launceston, Tasmania, Australia.


Aliyar, M., Siyanova-Chanturia, A., & Skalicky, S. (September 2024). comparing the efficacy of reading and listening for incidental vocabulary learning [Conference presentation]. Hiroshima Lexical Research Forum. Hiroshima, Japan.


Aliyar, M. (June 2024). Linguistic landscape of Iran [Conference presentation]. Linguistic Landscape 15. Wellington, New Zealand.
Aliyar, M., Yan, H., & Siyanova-Chanturia, A. (April 2024). Do comics facilitate incidental vocabulary learning? [Conference presentation]. CLESOL. Wellington, New Zealand.


Aliyar, M., Yan, H., & Siyanova-Chanturia, A. (December 2023). Incidental vocabulary learning through reading comics [Conference presentation]. Vocab@Vic. Wellington, New Zealand.


Aliyar, M., & Siyanova-Chanturia, A. (December 2023). Incidental acquisition of novel L2 Italian vocabulary from authentic materials [Conference presentation]. Vocab@Vic. Wellington, New Zealand.


Aliyar, M., & Siyanova-Chanturia, A. (November 2023). Reading versus listening to authentic materials in L2 Italian: What leads to greater vocabulary learning gains? [Conference presentation] Phraseological Complexity Measures in Learner Italian, University for Foreigners of Perugia, Italy.


Aliyar, M., & Siyanova-Chanturia, A. (October 2023). Incidental acquisition of L2 vocabulary from authentic input [Invited talk]. 7th National Conference “Knowledge brings us together”. National University of Comahue, Argentina.


Aliyar, M., & Siyanova-Chanturia, A. (September 2023). Acquisition of L2 Italian vocabulary through listening to songs [Conference presentation]. Hiroshima Lexical Research Forum. Hiroshima, Japan.


Aliyar, M., Yan, H., & Siyanova-Chanturia, A. (September 2023).  Incidental vocabulary learning from reading a graphic novel [Conference presentation]. Hiroshima Lexical Research Forum. Hiroshima, Japan.


Aliyar, M. (March 2023). A comparison of learners’ and native speakers’ English academic writing [Conference presentation]. 7th International Conference on Advanced Research in Education, Teaching, and Learning. Berlin, Germany.