Learning the words of a language is crucial to successful language learning. The study reported in this article aimed to investigate the potential for simple images to be used in foreign language vocabulary learning. English words presented in either first language form or simple pictorial form were used as cues for recall in classroom and…

This article explores the usefulness of a web-based education game for learning English idioms and examines attitudinal factors contributing to the learning of the idioms with the game. The two studies reported in this article involved two groups of English as a foreign language students in two different contexts. The students were surveyed on…

This article focuses on the design of digital instructional game (DIG) tasks for young second language (L2) learners. The aim of the study is to identify motivational task elements based on what children respond to positively in games and incorporate into their own L2 vocabulary learning game designs. Eighty-two sixth-grade students (ages 11-12…

Ensuring that students are "engaged" in learning is a key concern for instructors across many fields. With regards to vocabulary in language learning, teachers should provide students with tasks which promote high levels of motivation and resultant engagement. The recent trend of online systems which have dynamic, collaborative, and even…

The purposes of this study are (1) to longitudinally measure the receptive vocabulary size (VS) of Japanese EFL senior high school learners; (2) to investigate how the learners develop their VS; and (3) to describe the longitudinal developmental patterns of VS of each learner during their three years of high school. Kasahara's (2005) VS tests, a…

Recently, the use of children's picture books to teach English has been increasing in Japan. An advantage of these books is the high proportion of basic vocabulary they include. Can picture books also be useful for teaching Japanese students Italian and increasing their motivation? The present study analyses the effectiveness of employing a…

The study reported in this article investigated task-repetition with young Japanese children. Fifteen children with no prior knowledge of English completed a communicative listening task that was designed to introduce new vocabulary. The same task was repeated nine times over five weeks. In line with Allwright's (1984) claim that "interaction…

Researchers, especially in the field of educational psychology, have argued that self-efficacy plays an important role in self-regulated learning. As such, teaching of self-regulated learning often focuses on enhancing self-efficacy. However, few studies have examined how the process of self-regulated learning might lead to the enhancement of…

For this research, learners did extensive graded reading (EGR) with traditional graded readers, and they also interacted with short graded stories in the liberal arts and sciences (LAS). This study describes the purpose and format of the LAS stories used by hundreds of university students and adult learners in Japan. It summarizes the results of…

Interview guides and a questionnaire were developed in order to find what factors demotivated students in Japanese high school English classrooms. Five college students who were attending two private universities and one public university shared their views about demotivation in the interviews. Forty-two students at a public university responded…

The IADIS CELDA 2012 Conference intention was to address the main issues concerned with evolving learning processes and supporting pedagogies and applications in the digital age. There had been advances in both cognitive psychology and computing that have affected the educational arena. The convergence of these two disciplines is increasing at a…