How do learners gather new information during word learning? One possibility is that learners selectively sample items that help them reduce uncertainty about new word meanings. In a series of cross-situational word learning tasks with adults and children, we manipulated the referential ambiguity of label-object pairs experienced during training…

The purpose of this study is to discover pre-school children's vocabulary learning, retention levels, and perspectives of English language learning using augmented reality (AR) technology. To achieve this goal, a one-group pre-test, and post-test design was used to assess the effect of using AR-supported educational toys on pre-school children's…

This paper reports a case study focusing on naturalistic communication between a Chinese beginning non-native speaker of English (NNS) and an English native speaker (NS). The participants engage informally in a form of tandem learning, with each in turn taking the dominant role in the conversation through teaching the other vocabulary items in…

This research paper aims to explore a potential model for speaking through which consists of: (a) strategies of using art as a medium for learning English; (b) challenges to use art as a medium for learning English. This qualitative case study uses semi-structured interviews and observation in three schools of South Sulawesi. Data were analyzed…

Early language competence is a reliable and powerful predictor of children's success in school, and word gaps linked to socioeconomic status disparities have cascading effects on academic outcomes. While early research -- such as the work of Hart and Risley (1995) -- focused on gaps in vocabulary, growing evidence reveals wide gaps in syntax as…

This cross-sectional study investigated the impact of length of instruction, out-of-school exposure to foreign language input, and gender on learners' receptive vocabulary knowledge in two foreign languages: French (first foreign language) and English (second foreign language). The findings suggest that, although length of instruction correlated…

Vocabulary knowledge plays an important role in determining a person's language proficiency level. This study investigates the role vocabulary plays in determining students' performance within research modules at private higher education institutions (HEIs). The discipline-specific vocabulary in this study includes target words, sampled from an…

The purpose of this study was to examine how classroom language contexts characterized by peer language skills and proportions of dual language learners (DLL) influenced English language development for DLL and non-DLL children. Participants were 2,131 children from 135 classrooms across preschool through Grade 3. Children were classified into…

The purpose of this study was to investigate the role of variability in teaching prepositions to preschoolers with typical development (TD) and developmental language disorder (DLD). Input variability during teaching can enhance learning, but is target dependent. We hypothesized that high variability of objects would improve preposition learning.…

The paper presents research results on mobile learning of English for specific purposes to ecology students with the help of the Quizlet learning platform. The study was conducted in four stages: the students were surveyed about their mobile devices, and then they underwent an experimental mobile learning process during one term. The next stage…

This article provides an argument for the recognition of complementary alternative literacy learning spaces (CALLS) as a strategy for operationalising the notion of multi-literacies in classroom practice. The paper draws empirical evidence from a small-case project to support the claim that scratch, functioning as a CALLS is a viable tool for…

Previous research has illustrated that learner initiatives have the potential to generate learning opportunities in second language (L2) classrooms. Despite a small body of recent research indicating that teachers' responses to learner initiatives play a significant role in facilitating learning opportunities in teacher-student interactions, more…

This study incorporated Google Street View into a 3D virtual environment, known as VECAR, in which EFL learners controlled their avatars to learn vocabulary in a context of New York City. New York City's Times Square is full of real-life materials, realia, which can be used to assist situated incidental vocabulary learning and to connect…

This paper describes a task-based activity used at the United States Military Academy, in their first- through third-semester Portuguese language sequence "Proficiencies" (Proficiências). The stand-alone task-based activity can be an effective tool in gaining foreign-language proficiency at even the lowest levels of classroom instruction…

In 2011, the Thai government introduced a national project, One Tablet per Child (OTPC), with the aim of supporting students' learning in the digital world. The project commenced with Grade 1 in 2012 and Grade 2 in 2013. The applications embedded in the OTPC tablet given to each child feature multimedia teaching applications (apps) on various…