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Comparing the effectiveness of word cards and list learning with Japanese learners of English
No full textThis study investigated the recall of words learned through two deliberate learning techniques, word cards and list learning. While the literature points to word cards as being more effective, Japanese learners of English are seen to prefer list learning, which may indicate unique learning styles stemming from a non-alphabetic L1. To test the efficiency of the two techniques for Japanese learners, 25 university students of varying English proficiency were divided into four groups. Following the within-subject design, all groups were subjected to both treatments. Twenty low-frequency English words were learned within a 20-min period using one method, and then 20 more words were similarly learned with the other method. Subjects were tested immediately after the treatments, after a 20-min distraction period, and after an interval of 2 weeks. Results from all three testing stages indicated that list learning was more effective than word cards for these students
Insights from replication on the factors affecting task engagement in mobile-based learning activities
No full textDespite the large amount of research that has taken place with mobile devices for language learning over the years, there are still limited conclusions that can be reached as to what contributes to sustained task engagement. A common problem that has long been seen in the CALL literature is that many tasks and activities that are reported are small scale studies taking place in a single environment with a limited number of subjects, often as a result of teachers investigating the outcomes of their own teaching (see Warschauer, 1997; Hubbard, 2005). Given the nature of the environments in which many teachers find themselves, it is in some way inevitable that studies tend to be of a smaller scale and often undertaken within a single class. It is possible to gain deeper insights into the tasks used through replication studies (Porte, 2012). This paper discusses the potential insights gained from replicating approximately the same basic language learning tasks in varied contexts. Research on vocabulary and listening tasks was carried out in Japan over an 8-year period from 2010 through 2017 for Japanese learners of English. In addition, the same tasks were adapted for Australian learners of Japanese in 2012 and Taiwanese learners of English in 2013, with a total of 420 participants. Data were collected through post-treatment surveys, semi-structured interviews and server logs recording the times spent on the tasks, the scores achieved, and the devices used to engage in the tasks. The same methods of data collection were used in each of the studies, using primarily the same tasks apart from adaptations made for developments in technology and for the different language learning contexts. Carrying out the same tasks in subsequent years with increasingly newer technologies and with teachers and learners from different cultural backgrounds provided insights into the effect of the context, the technology, and role of both teachers and learners in successfully implementing the tasks
Making global knowledge accessible to EFL speakers of an undergraduate leadership program through a flipped and ubiquitous learning environment
No full textThis paper reports on how an undergraduate global leadership course was designed and implemented at a Japanese mid-sized private university to match the Japanese government’s initiative of fostering global individuals through education. By incorporating a flipped learning approach (Bergmann & Sam, 2012) and the content materials from a Massive Open Online Course (MOOC), the university was able to offer a global leadership program to Japanese students with some “hidden” English language assistance. The language support was provided by employing Content and Language Integrated Learning (CLIL), a pedagogical approach that is gaining global popularity (Coyle, Hood, & Marsh, 2010). Flipped learning was introduced to maximise the face-to-face class time for the activities to enhance active learning. Content learning was designed to be done online, before coming to every class. In order to support flipped learning and CLIL, ubiquitous learning was also incorporated to the program design. This paper also focuses on capturing the leadership program and develop the understanding of roles of each stakeholder by mapping human and nonhuman actors to see what resources were involved in manifesting this highly complex learning environment. The student perception on the leadership program was compared through interviews conducted in Weeks 4 and 14, to see if the program was successfully perceived as a leadership program, or perceived as just another English language program. Some implications of designing this type of multifunctional course are discussed to conclude the paper
Lighting the fuse for interaction and negotiation: The potential of information-gap digital puzzle games for language learning
No full textWhile the existing CALL literature identifies a range of positive learning outcomes for second language acquisition (SLA) that may be achieved through digital game-based activities, Peterson (2013) points to the need for more theory-led research to shed more light on the learning processes involved. To this end, a case study was carried out in which three upper-intermediate-level learners of English at a Japanese university played the cooperative puzzle game Keep Talking and Nobody Explodes (2015) over four sessions. An interaction analysis was performed on their linguistic output in order to identify instances of negotiation for meaning and associated interactional strategies theorised to benefit learning within a cognitive-interactionist SLA framework. The findings confirm that negotiation for meaning occurred and suggest that breakdowns in communication resulting from vague language usage or from gaps in lexical knowledge are most likely to elicit beneficial forms of negotiation. In addition, learners are shown to have made regular use various interactional strategies, either to repair breakdowns in communication or to pre-empt them. Clarification requests and elaborations on previous utterances are shown to have occurred and the data suggest that these two strategies are the most likely to produce substantial modified output that may facilitate SLA
Students’ and teachers’ perceptions of Moxtra as an online space for blended learning
No full textIn this exploratory study, the author examines both students’ and teachers’ perceptions of Moxtra, a cross-platform cloud collaboration service, as a blended learning tool in a language course. Participants were 242 first-year students studying General English and 8 teachers at the Bunkyo English Communication Centre (becc) at Hiroshima Bunkyo Women’s University in Japan. Both students and teachers were given an iPad self-efficacy survey along with a Moxtra Perceptions and Attitudes questionnaire with student survey results being followed by principal components analysis. Findings showed positive indicators regarding the potential for Moxtra in a language learning context, not only as a tool to support blended learning, but also as a tool to support teachers in a collaborative working environment. With that said, the results also indicate that for Moxtra to reach its full potential, students need to be inculcated, nurtured and encouraged to engage fully with the application. Similarly, teachers must also be encouraged to utilize Moxtra’s many features with their students in order to benefit from all of its affordances. The study provides both curriculum developers and language instructors with insights into the adoption of Moxtra in an efl context
Language learning and activation in and beyond the classroom
No full textIn contemporary educational contexts, technology, globalization, and mobility have brought about a blurring of the boundary between language learning and activation in and beyond the classroom. This contrasts with the past when, in many EFL (and even ESL) settings, opportunities for language use outside the classroom were either limited or non-existent. These days, regardless of the physical context in which learners are living, there are limitless opportunities for language use outside the classroom. Additionally, the traditional distinction between classrooms, as places where language is learned, and the world beyond the classroom, as environments where classroom-acquired language and skills are activated, is problematic. Beyond the classroom, learners are not only activating their language in authentic contexts, they are also developing their communicative repertoires and acquiring new language skills that are not readily acquitted in the classroom. Accepting this assertion, which will be expanded on and exemplified in the body of the paper, leads to the following question: Within the context of a negotiated curriculum, how can teachers motivate students to engage in out-of-class projects, and what in-class support can teachers provide to students as they plan, enact and reflect on their projects? In this paper, we seek to provide teachers with responses to these questions drawing on practical illustrations from the literature
Enhancing online language learning task engagement through social interaction
No full textEncouraging learners to engage in learning activities outside of formal class time is an ongoing challenge for language teachers. It has been argued that the social aspect of technologies can used as a support for learning, but how to achieve this remains a challenge. There is evidence that from a theoretical perspective, social networking appears to provide many of the conditions necessary for supporting learning, and there is an increasing number of studies that have started to explore the potential of social networking in language learning contexts. Results thus far have been rather mixed, where learners tend to show positive attitudes but limited interaction. The purpose of the current study is to examine how social networking is used by teachers and learners as a support for supplementary out-of-class vocabulary learning through Quizlet. Learner engagement was investigated in two consecutive semesters using the same two intact classes in each semester (N=48), the first semester where learners were given support in class, and the second semester where learners were provided with support by the teacher using LINE. Learner engagement in the Quizlet activities across the two semesters were investigated, as well as the logs of all interactions in the class LINE group and the individual interactions with the teacher. The results are discussed in terms of how social networking may be used as a support tool in terms of a community discussion tool, a teacher-to-student reporting tool, and student-to-teacher reporting tool
The indirect effects of testing: Can poor performance in a vocabulary quiz lead to long-term L2 vocabulary retention?
No full textTaking a test on learned items enhances long-term retention of these items. However, it is believed that good performance in a test contributes to subsequent high retention of the tested items while poor performance does not. Recent studies have sought to find the optimal way to make up for this poor performance, and have indicated that giving the subsequent learning session soon after the test is one such way. This study is different from previous studies in that we used L1-L2 word pairs to examine whether restudying immediately after the failure in the test is useful for long-term retention. First, in the initial study session, all the participants (n = 52) were shown and asked to remember 20 English and Japanese word pairs (e.g., deceit:詐欺). A week later, Group A took the first test session (Initial Test) before the restudy session. On the contrary, Group B took the restudy session before the Initial Test. An hour after this session, both groups took Posttest 1. Then, Posttest 2 was conducted a week after Posttest 1. The results showed that Group A had significantly lower scores than Group B in the Initial Test (2% vs. 55%). However, the results were reversed in Posttest 1 (84.2% vs. 53.2%) and Posttest 2 (55% vs. 43.5%). This study found that a restudy session soon after poor performance in the Initial Test enhanced long-term L2 vocabulary retention because learners benefited from the indirect effects of testing. Thus, English teachers should take such effects into consideration when organizing vocabulary quizzes and restudy sessions
Factors influencing teachers’ intentions to integrate smartphones in language lessons
No full textResearch has shown that mobile technology could enhance the effectiveness of common language learning activities but in practice, few teachers are using mobile devices. Fishbein and Ajzen’s (2010) reasoned action approach was used to identify to which extent certain personal factors influenced teachers’ intentions to integrate smartphones in their language lessons. Data were collected from 63 teachers at language centres connected to 15 institutes for Higher Education in the Netherlands. Four subgroups were distinguished based on two variables: first basic versus smartphone owners and second non versus frequent phone users. The subgroup of basic phone owners had less favourable feelings, and a subgroup of frequent phone users had more favourable feelings towards integrating smartphones in their lessons compared with the whole group. Differences in the number of hours teachers worked and age were not significant. Some differences were found in the role of perceived norm and perceived behavioural control for the whole group and for the subgroup of smartphone owners (n = 49). This study contributed to the growing number of studies that found Fishbein and Ajzen’s model suitable for predicting technology acceptance in an educational context
Incidental professional vocabulary scquisition of EFL business learners: Effect of captioned video with glosses as a multimedia annotation
No full textUse of captioned video in classrooms has gained considerable attention in the second and foreign language learning. However, the effect of application of captioned video embedded with glosses on incidental vocabulary enhancement has not been explored. This study aims to examine the effect of video captions with glosses on efl students’ incidental business vocabulary acquisition; 50 students from a college of management served as participants. A pretest was adopted to ensure participants lacked familiarity with the target vocabulary. All participants watched three video clips presented in three modes (noncaptioned, captioned, and caption-gloss modes). After each mode session, all participants took an immediate posttest and a 3-week-delayed posttest. Following the final posttest, the participants completed a questionnaire. The findings revealed that the caption-gloss mode significantly outperformed the other 2 modes in both the immediate and 3-week-delayed posttests. Retention of the target business words did not significantly decline at the 3-weekdelayed posttest. Therefore, glosses in the captioned video improved the participants’ shortand long-term incidental business vocabulary retention. The participants also provided positive feedback regarding the efficacy of the caption-gloss mode for incidental business word acquisition. Pedagogical implications regarding use of captioned video with glosses for incidental professional vocabulary acquisition are discussed