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The internal consistency and accuracy of automatically scored written receptive meaning-recall data: A preliminary study
No full textVocableveltest.org is a testing platform on which users can create online self-marking meaning-recall (reading or listening) and form-recall (typing) tests that address a number of limitations of the existing vocabulary level tests and vocabulary size tests. A major limitation of many existing vocabulary tests is the written receptive meaning-recognition (multiple-choice or matching) format which is associated with increased error due to guessing and decreased power to measure the type of vocabulary knowledge suitable for reading practice (McLean et al., 2020, Stewart et al., 2021a, Stoeckel et al., 2021), despite being designed for this purpose (Nation, 2012, Schmitt et al., 2020, Webb et al., 2017). Conversely, scoring meaning-recall tests by hand is labour-intensive, and the internal consistency and accuracy of automatically marked data are unknown. Thus, this study investigated the internal consistency and accuracy of automatically marked responses of 98 words from the fifth 100 most frequent words of English. This study tested for knowledge of high-frequency words as a more robust test of the marking system, as these words possess multiple-meaning senses, making their automatic marking problematic. Furthermore, the predicted limited range of learners’ knowledge of these 98 words was expected to result in data of a low internal consistency. However, the automatically marked data had a high internal consistency (Cronbach’s α = 0.868) and was 98% similar to human marked meaning-recall responses
Language learner attitudes, technology attitudes, and technology prevalence at the secondary level
No full textThis quantitative study explored how secondary world language (WL) learners’ attitudes about computer-assisted language learning (CALL) were related to their attitudes and self-confidence about their language class and the prevalence of computer usage in their language classroom. Research has suggested positive correlations between these factors, but it has focused on learner attitudes about specific technological tools, not on CALL as an integral, regular, consistent component of the learning process. An 81-item online survey was administered to WL learners of Spanish, French, and German in 37 US secondary schools in one Midwestern state (N = 1031). The results indicated several strong positive correlations: (1) between learner attitudes about the use of technology in their language class and learner attitudes and self-confidence about their language class, and (2) between the prevalence of computer usage in their language classroom, learner attitudes and self-confidence about their language class, and learner attitudes about the use of technology in their language class. Additionally, even a once-a-week usage of computers correlated with more positive attitudes about language class. The study thus suggests that secondary WL learners experience CALL as an integral, normalized part of the language classroom, and that the attitudinal benefits of more computer usage can be leveraged to enhance all learning
Scientific concepts as meaning-making resources for young EFL learners in the learning of pragmatics
No full textThis article reports on a study investigating the role of scientific concepts in the metapragmatic awareness of Norwegian primary EFL learners’ following a four-week instructional intervention on requesting informed by sociocultural theory (Vygotsky, 2012/1934). Through introducing pragmalinguistic and sociopragmatic dimensions of requesting, the intervention aimed to develop metapragmatic awareness and foster learner agency by teaching pragmalinguistic resources related to request strategies; raising awareness of contextual considerations; and drawing attention to individual perceptions of appropriateness. The instruction focused on scientific concepts, that is, systematic and abstract objects of study which facilitate learner reflections. This article draws on data collected during group interviews to analyse whether learners used scientific concepts introduced during the instruction–for example, directness of the head act and attention getters–and if so, how these were used to express metapragmatic understandings. The analysis shows how such scientific concepts were internalised and used by learners to express their understandings of the importance of linguistic variation, the communicative functions of requests, and compare request strategies in English and Norwegian. Lived experiences, contextual considerations, and prior knowledge were also used as frames of reference for interpreting the appropriateness of requests. Adding to pragmatics research using concept-based approaches with (young) adults (e.g., van Compernolle, 2014), this study reveals that internalising a conceptual understanding of pragmatic phenomena in a foreign language is possible even for young language learners, thus contributing to knowledge about how learners come to understand pragmatic phenomena and how pragmatics can be taught with these age groups
Automated identification of discourse markers using NLP approach: The case of okay
No full textThis study aimed to examine the potentials of the NLP approach in detecting discourse markers (DMs), namely okay, in a transcribed spoken data. A total of 138 concordance lines were presented to human referees to judge the functions of okay in them as a DM or non-DM. After that, the researchers used a Python script written according to the POS tagging scheme of the NLTK library to set rules for identifying cases where okay is used as non-DM. The output of the script was compared to the reference human-annotated data. The results showed that the script was capable of identifying the function of okay as DM or non-DM accurately in 92% of the cases. The inaccuracy of detecting the rest was found to be caused by a lack of proper and detailed punctuation. The implications of the results are discussed, and relevant recommendations are presented by the researchers
"That sounds about right"--Lexical bundle naturalness intuitions in Japanese learners of English
No full textThe current study examines the perceived naturalness of lexical bundles learned from early-stage teaching materials in Japanese learners of English. Naturalness ratings of 24 native English speakers and 23 non-native speakers with Japanese as their first language were compared in relation to corpus derived frequencies from the British National Corpus (BNC) and a corpus of Japanese secondary-school English textbooks–the “Junior High School English Textbook Corpus” (JHSETC, Northbrook & Conklin, 2018). The rating scores of both groups were significantly predicted by lexical bundle frequency. However, the groups were sensitive to different metrics, the performance of native speakers was best predicted by the BNC, and that of the Japanese speakers by the JHSETC. This is taken as evidence that learner intuitions are affected by the input they receive from teaching materials, and that these intuitions may stay with learners long ter
The contribution of high-frequency multi-word sequences to speech rate and listening perception among EFL learners
No full textThis experiment tested gains in spoken fluency and ability to complete a dictation listening task accurately among 33 Japanese L1 English language users. Both a control group (N = 17) and an experimental group (N = 16) studied Anki vocabulary cards each week for 10 weeks and described three picture stories that contained the vocabulary words every week. Both groups studied 10 common bigrams (such as take advantage) each week while the experimental group additionally studied sets of 10 reduced trigrams (how do you) and did narrow listening homework each week. The results for spoken storytelling fluency found a large advantage for the experimental group while fluency for the free speaking task showed a medium advantage for the experimental group that was not statistically significant. For the listening dictation task, both groups reduced their errors from pretest to posttest but neither group was statistically different from each other
Second language vocabulary teaching and learning: A commentary on four studies for the JALT vocabulary SIG
No full textFour papers by Brandon Kramer, Tohru Matsuo, Aaron Sponseller, Young Ae Kim, Suzuka Nishiyama, and Stuart McLean, Stuart Benson and Naheen Madarbakus-Ring, Michael McGuire and Jennifer Larson-Hall, and Atsushi Mizumoto, Geoffrey Pinchbeck, and Stuart McLean were presented in the morning session of the 2021 Vocabulary SIG Symposium held in Kyoto, Japan, on 04 December 2021. As discussant, it was my pleasure to comment on each of the papers. The fours studies were investigations of the attrition of productive vocabulary knowledge, the lexical composition of two English for Academic Purposes (EAP) textbooks, the relationship between high-frequency multi-word sequences, speech rate, and listening perception, and the use of various word lists with the New Word Level Checker. After reviewing and summarising each study in this paper, I present suggestions for further developing the studies and expanding the research agenda of each study
Mobile and blended, please! Migrants and refugees’ learning choices in a language MOOC
No full textIn this article, a study is presented of two socially inclusive Language MOOCs undertaken by refugees and migrants as part of the MOONLITE project. Three research questions were formulated on the types of devices the students prefer to use for the courses, whether that choice affects course completion, and if the teaching practice influences success on the courses. In order to answer these questions, qualitative and quantitative data were obtained from an initial and final student questionnaire, semi-structured interviews with the language teachers involved in the courses, and from the MOOC platform and YouTube Analytics. The data supported the conclusion that the students prefer to use a mobile device to undertake the courses. The majority of the students who used a mobile device successfully completed the courses. The near ubiquity of these devices and ease of use of the LMOOCs were arguably factors that made “anytime anywhere” studying possible. Regarding the teaching methodology, the majority of students who completed the course attended F2F language classes, found the online courses to complement them, and would have liked to have more time spent in the classes on the courses
Shaping the teaching and learning of intercultural communication through virtual mobility
No full textThe globally mobile reality of today’s world has made the field of intercultural communication increasingly relevant as people more often find themselves in intercultural situations. As a result, language teachers must be more prepared to work in intercultural contexts, and to teach their own students how to communicate across differences in intercultural situations both physically and virtually. The present paper examines this special issue’s topic of physical and virtual mobility and intercultural competence through the lens of teacher education. Using narrative inquiry, two teacher educators in very different geographic and socio-economic contexts (US and Colombia) explore their own attempts at developing intercultural communication in teacher learners through a WhatsApp pen pal exchange project in their intercultural communication classes before and during the COVID-19 pandemic. Findings reveal different ways in which virtual mobility and other affordances of WhatsApp can be harnessed to achieve various aims of intercultural education, but also how activities such as the pen pal exchange can be improved in order to align more with current theories of intercultural communication
Review of The Routledge Handbook of Research Methods in Applied Linguistics
No full textThe Routledge Handbook of Research Methods in Applied Linguistics edited by Jim McKinley and Heath Rose, Routledge, 2020, xxi+529pp., €190.00 (Hardcover) €39.99 (eBook). ISBN 9781138501140