In theory, computer game-based learning can support several vocabulary learning affordances that have been identified in the foreign language learning research. In the observable evidence, learning ...with computer games has been shown to improve performance on vocabulary recall tests. However, while simple recall can be a sign of learning, observation of skill application in communication is a better indicator of skill mastery. Further, observing this use in separate communicative contexts could constitute evidence of transferability of skills. Hence, this paper presents the results of two investigations of learning outcomes in EFL classes at a Japanese university using computer game-based lessons. The first study was a quasi-experiment comparing use of targeted words in a writing task between a group of students who participated in a computer game-based lesson, and a group of students who did not. The second study was a cross sectional analysis comparing use of targeted vocabulary in a writing task with amount of participation in computer game-based lessons. The results suggest that computer game-based approaches to foreign language education in real-world classrooms can improve transferability of learned vocabulary.
Although numerous studies have identified a correlational relationship between vocabulary and comprehension, we know less about vocabulary interventions that impact reading comprehension. Therefore, ...this study is a systematic review of vocabulary interventions with comprehension outcomes. Analyses of 36 studies that met criteria are organized around (a) type of comprehension measure (i.e., comprehension of passages that included taught words or more generalized comprehension measures) and (b) type of intervention (i.e., direct teaching of word meanings or word-learning strategies). The authors looked for patterns in characteristics of vocabulary instruction within these analyses. Their findings led to four major themes: (1) Teaching of word meanings supported comprehension of text containing the target words in almost all cases; (2) instruction that focused on some active processing was typically more impactful than a definition or a dictionary method for supporting comprehension of text containing the target words, but we do not know how much instruction is sufficient; (3) there is very limited evidence that direct teaching of word meanings, even long-term, multifaceted interventions of large numbers of words, can improve generalized comprehension; and (4) there is currently no empirical evidence that instruction in one or two strategies for solving word meanings will impact generalized comprehension. However, studies that actively teach students to monitor their understanding of vocabulary and to use multiple, flexible strategies for solving word meanings are a promising area for future research. The authors discuss the implications of these themes, as well as critical avenues for future vocabulary research.
Given the emerging evidence on the importance of learning content-specific vocabulary in the early years, many early childhood teachers try to incorporate science vocabulary teaching as part of ...classroom activities. In this article, the authors argue for the importance of teaching science vocabulary in engaging ways using read-aloud and the usefulness of narrative informational storybooks as an engaging tool to introduce and build science concept knowledge and vocabulary. The authors show how to evaluate and select texts that can be effectively used for explicit and embedded teaching of science vocabulary, based on an engagement-focused framework. The framework targets four aspects of engagement: concept learning engagement, word learning engagement, emotional engagement, and social engagement. The engagement framework empowers teachers to determine which science storybooks are appropriate and how to use them to teach science concepts and vocabulary.
A central goal of behavioral medicine is the creation of evidence-based interventions for promoting behavior change. Scientific knowledge about behavior change could be more effectively accumulated ...using “ontologies.” In information science, an ontology is a systematic method for articulating a “controlled vocabulary” of agreed-upon terms and their inter-relationships. It involves three core elements: (1) a controlled vocabulary specifying and defining existing classes; (2) specification of the inter-relationships between classes; and (3) codification in a computer-readable format to enable knowledge generation, organization, reuse, integration, and analysis. This paper introduces ontologies, provides a review of current efforts to create ontologies related to behavior change interventions and suggests future work. This paper was written by behavioral medicine and information science experts and was developed in partnership between the Society of Behavioral Medicine’s Technology Special Interest Group (SIG) and the Theories and Techniques of Behavior Change Interventions SIG. In recent years significant progress has been made in the foundational work needed to develop ontologies of behavior change. Ontologies of behavior change could facilitate a transformation of behavioral science from a field in which data from different experiments are siloed into one in which data across experiments could be compared and/or integrated. This could facilitate new approaches to hypothesis generation and knowledge discovery in behavioral science.
In recent years, the number of studies investigating the effectiveness of using digital games for incidental second language (L2) vocabulary learning has been rapidly increasing; however, there is ...still a lack of research identifying the factors that affect incidental L2 vocabulary learning. Hence, the current study examined vocabulary-related (word level, exposure frequency, salience) and learner-related (language proficiency, interest, viewing captions) variables and investigated factors affecting EFL students’ incidental vocabulary learning in the use of a vernacular (noneducational) murder mystery game (N = 59). The study employed a quantitative research method and descriptive and inferential statistics (repeated measures ANOVA and multiple linear regression). The results showed that playing the game greatly facilitated L2 vocabulary acquisition and retention. Among the vocabulary-related variables, the study found that only salience significantly influenced vocabulary acquisition. Regarding the learner-related variables, the students’ interest and viewing captions were positively related to vocabulary learning, whereas their language proficiency levels were negatively correlated. The study found that the students’ conscious attention, in conjunction with salience of the word, was the main facilitating factor in incidental vocabulary acquisition and retention in the game-enhanced language learning environment. The study suggested pedagogical implications for incidental vocabulary learning through game play based on the results of the study.
The present study aims to explore both native and non-native French speakers' spoken output in two dialogic speaking tasks. More specifically, the aim of this study was threefold. First, the ...researchers focused on the relationship between L2 learners' receptive and productive vocabulary knowledge and their vocabulary use in two dialogic speaking tasks. Second, the study set out to compare L2 speakers' vocabulary use (i.e., number of words produced, lexical frequency profile, and lexical diversity as measured by D and HD-D) with L1 speakers' vocabulary use in the same speaking tasks. Third, the researchers wanted to determine which of the aforementioned vocabulary measures could predict experts' holistic ratings of lexical proficiency. Fifty 17-year-old L2 learners took a receptive and a productive vocabulary test and performed two dialogic speaking tasks, and 27 French L1 speakers performed the same two dialogic speaking tasks. The results indicate that there is a positive, moderate correlation between receptive vocabulary knowledge and holistic ratings but not between productive vocabulary knowledge and the holistic rating scores. Moreover, L1 speakers produce more tokens, types, and lemmas and fewer high-frequency words when they speak. The lexical diversity of their output is also higher than that of L2 speakers. Finally, it seems that lexical diversity (i.e., HD-D), combined with the number of types that speakers use and the frequency of those words, explains a large part of the variance in holistic rating scores. The findings of the present study shed more light on the role of L1 and L2 speakers' vocabulary use in spoken output for another language than English (i.e., French) and for another population than university students (i.e., low-intermediate learners).
Abstract This study aims to compare and analyse the effects of context-based vocabulary activities with technology-assisted tools and printed materials on fourth-grade primary school students’ ...vocabulary knowledge and learning motivation. One of the quasi-experimental designs, the “pretest-posttest control group design”, was used in the study. There were two experimental groups and one control group. Technology-assisted context-based vocabulary activities were used in one of the experimental groups, and printed materials with context-based vocabulary activities were used in the other experimental group. The implementation was carried out in the control group according to the current Turkish curriculum. It was planned to teach vocabulary by utilising sentence and text context in context-based vocabulary activities. The research was conducted with students studying in three different fourth grade classes of a primary school, which were equivalent to each other according to the pre-tests. A total of 91 students from three groups (experimental-1: 30, experimental-2: 30, control: 31) participated in the study. The Vocabulary Knowledge Achievement Test (VKAT) developed by Yaşar-Sağlık (2022) and the Vocabulary Learning Motivation Scale (VLMS) developed by Genç-Ersoy and Belet-Boyacı (2018) were used in the study. After the pre-tests were applied, 14 lesson hours of interventions were carried out over 7 weeks. After the implementation, the process was finalised by applying post-tests. The data were analysed using one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) on the difference in scores (post-test – pre-test). Also, the Tukey post hoc test was used to determine the source of the difference. In addition, partial eta squared (η2) values were calculated to determine effect sizes. As a result, it was found that context-based vocabulary activities conducted with technology-assisted tools and printed materials were significantly more effective in improving students’ vocabulary knowledge than the current Turkish curriculum. In addition, it was also revealed that technology-assisted activities were more effective in improving students’ vocabulary knowledge than the activities carried out using printed materials. In terms of vocabulary learning motivation, the results are slightly different. It was found that context-based vocabulary activities conducted with technology-assisted tools were significantly more effective in improving students’ vocabulary learning motivation than the current Turkish curriculum and the context-based vocabulary activities conducted with printed materials. In line with these results, it is recommended that technology-assisted context-based vocabulary activities be used to increase students’ vocabulary knowledge and learning motivation.
Vocabulary knowledge is a core component of second language (L2) proficiency. The critical importance of vocabulary learning is acknowledged by L2 learners, teachers, and researchers alike. ...Vocabulary development is a growing area of interest in second language research in our increasingly technologized world where rapid technological advancement and widespread access to high-speed internet have started to provide unique and promising opportunities for language teaching and learning. This paper aims to present an overview of computer corpora and concordancing and their potential role in second language vocabulary learning. After providing a brief introduction to the construct of vocabulary knowledge and the role of computer technology in language learning, the paper focuses on the use of computer corpora and concordancing in L2 vocabulary teaching and learning. The paper then presents an example of a KWIC (Keyword in Context) concordance display in order to demonstrate the kinds of lexical information that a number of concordance lines can provide about the target word. Some concordance-based vocabulary activities are also provided. This paper is hoped to help L2 researchers, teachers and learners become more aware of the potential role of computer corpora and concordances in the development of L2 vocabulary knowledge in our highly technologized world.
Language skills are important in the formation and maintenance of friendships. Children with specific learning disorder (SLD) or attention‐deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) experience ...difficulties with their relationships and have language‐related problems. This study aims to examine how expressive and receptive vocabulary may relate to friendships of children with and without SLD or ADHD. Participants were 64 children with SLD, 64 children with ADHD, and 64 typically developing (TD) children, aged 8–12 years (Mage = 9.77 years, SD = 1.22), attending Grades 3 to 6 in inclusive primary schools of Attica, Greece. The Greek versions of the Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test and the expressive vocabulary subscale of the WISC‐III were administered along with the sociometric nominations of friends and the self‐reports of best friendship duration. Results showed that children with SLD and ADHD reported best friendships of shorter duration and had significantly poorer receptive and expressive vocabulary. Children with ADHD had significantly fewer close and best friends than children with SLD, who in turn had significantly fewer close and best friends than the TD children. Children's vocabulary in all three groups was positively correlated with the duration of their best friendships and was found to moderately predict children's close friendships.
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