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…

While word cards are a widely supported method of deliberately studying foreign language vocabulary, there is a surprising lack of research-based evidence supporting them. This paper first reviews some of the key literature on word cards and then briefly describes two experiments concerning word card methodology. The first experiment described in…

Previous research has shown that L1-L2 congruency is a facilitative factor in collocation processing. The present study explores the congruency effect between learners' L2 and L3. Thirty-three proficient Norwegian learners with Lithuanian as their L1 and English as their L2 completed a phase acceptability task consisting of three groups of…

This article presents a work-in-progress focused on developing an experiment to investigate the effectiveness of different types of deliberate paired-associate computer-assisted language learning (CALL). First, the rationale for Japanese EFL learners' current need for doubling their efforts with this technique is explained. Next, an overview of…

In this article, we describe the pedagogical basis for class vocabulary lists (CVLs) and their implementation using Google Sheets. CVLs allow students to collaborate and build "notebooks" of vocabulary that they feel is important to learn. CVL choices of students (N = 53) in three classes of mixed non-English majors and one informatics…

Vocableveltest.org is a testing platform on which users can create on- line self-marking meaning-recall (reading or listening) and form-recall (typing) tests that address a number of limitations of the existing vocabulary level tests and vocabulary size tests. A major limitation of many existing vocabulary tests is the written receptive…

The choice of word counting units (i.e. word family, flemma, or lemma) is of great importance in vocabulary list and test creation, as there are assumptions underpinning the use of each. Flemma-based counting assumes that if a learner can understand the meaning of a word in one part of speech (POS), they can also understand its meaning when the…

Mnemonic strategies are not often utilised by Japanese students to learn and consolidate vocabulary, despite research showing that they are particularly effective. As part of an informal action research process, a structured lesson plan was devised that would introduce mnemonic strategies indirectly, that is, not by applying them directly to…

One of the many challenges facing Japanese university students studying English is the multi-word phrase. The English language contains a large number of such multiple-word items, which act as single words with a single meaning. This study is concerned with evaluating the efficacy of yes/no checklist tests to assess knowledge of multi-word units.…

This 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…

This article introduces three important challenges and possible solutions when using spoken dialogue to measure the use of specific multiword expressions. The first challenge is deciding whether to count precise and accurate use of target expressions only or whether to extend the count to include variation. The second challenge requires addressing…