This paper is part 4 in a series of workshops that examine the properties of some simple models of vocabulary networks. This Workshop explores how the overall activity level of a vocabulary network can be altered by changing the connections in the network (i.e., by implementing relinking events). The Workshop is linked to an online practice room…

Vocabulary knowledge plays an important role in language learning and language proficiency, but it is difficult to know how much of a role it plays without appropriate vocabulary measures. In this article, we first discuss learner vocabulary in our research on Korean as a second/foreign language. Unable to find appropriate measures for receptive…

In this brief report, we present a scoping review of 31 second language (L2) vocabulary research syntheses published in the Web of Science from January 1990 to May 2022. The purpose of this undertaking was to understand what L2 vocabulary research synthesizers have aggregated and the investigative foci they intended to address. It was observed…

Knowledge of derivational affixes makes an important contribution to second language learners' success when reading. Yet while the effects of some learner variables (L2 proficiency, L1 background) have been investigated, there has been little research addressing the effects of varying characteristics of affixes on their acquisition. The goal of…

Workshop 2 explores some larger vocabulary networks than those presented in Workshop 1 (1,000 words instead of 100), and introduces some additional ways of activating words in a network (e.g., by using new parameters in our models). The simulations will show that raising a network's activation level may not be as easy as we would have expected,…

The idea that a vocabulary is a network of words is one that has become a common theme of the second language (L2) vocabulary research literature. However, not many people have considered the wider implications of this powerful metaphor. This paper is the first in a series of workshops that examines some of these implications. In this first…

This paper is part 5 of a series of workshops that examines the properties of some simple models of vocabulary networks. While previous workshops dealt with activating words in the network, this workshop focuses on vocabulary loss. We will simulate two possible ways of modelling attrition: (a) explicitly turning active words OFF, and (b) raising…

Since its emergence, generative AI has significantly impacted various fields, including English language education. Numerous academic studies have investigated its capabilities in grammar correction, writing evaluation, and dynamics of user interaction. However, there have been insufficient investigations into whether texts generated by such AI…

This paper represents a summary and discussion of the three studies presented at the morning session of the Fall 2022 JALT Vocabulary SIG. The papers, which were written by Ali Al-Hoorie, Masaki Eguchi, Derek Canning, Stuart McLean, Christopher Nicklin, and Joseph Vitta, represent a range of topics and study designs that are common in recent…

Despite the substantial expansion in vocabulary research since the 1980s, we still know very little about how vocabulary develops over time and what factors influence this development. This methodological overview discusses key issues and considerations in vocabulary breadth growth assessment to help advance research in this area. The report…

Local item dependency (LID) occurs when test-takers' responses to one test item are affected by their responses to another. It can be problematic if it causes inflated reliability estimates or distorted person and item measures. The cued-recall reading comprehension test in Hu and Nation's (2000) well-known and influential coverage--comprehension…

A growing body of vocabulary learning strategies (VLSs) studies focuses on accumulating empirical evidence on the relationship between frequency of VLS use and vocabulary acquisition by using the frequency-based measures of VLSs. Our study by contrast, examined which VLSs are perceived as important and useful, and how they are employed by Japanese…

Studies relating to the vocabulary items within EFL textbooks have revealed a divergence from well-researched wordlists such as the New General Service List (NGSL) (Browne et al., 2013), and the BNC/COCA wordlist (Nakayama, 2022; Sun and Dang, 2020). In Japan, the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (MEXT) recently…

This paper introduces a novel online vocabulary profiling application called the New Word Level Checker (https://nwlc.pythonanywhere.com/) and word list resources used by the application. First, the rationale for developing another web vocabulary profiler and the word lists included in the application are described. Next, the lexical units (i.e.,…

This paper is part 3 of a series of workshops that examine the properties of some simple models vocabulary networks. This Workshop focusses on how the vocabulary network responds when words become easier to activate. The Workshop is linked to an on-line practice room where readers can explore these processes for themselves.