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…

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…

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…

The Vocabulary Size Test (VST) measures English learners' decontextualised receptive vocabulary knowledge of written English and has nine bilingual versions with multiple-choice options written in other languages. This study used the English-Japanese version of the VST to investigate the extent to which loanword items were answered correctly by…

The present study investigates the use of generative strategies and their effect on second language (L2) vocabulary retention and learner confidence in vocabulary knowledge over time. Generative strategies (or generation) are one in a group of learning methods known as desirable difficulties -- strategies that improve long-term learning by adding…

This brief report presents the results of a re-analysis of data by Yi, Man, and Maie (2023), who investigated L1 and L2 intuitive knowledge of phrasal frequency and collocation strength in multiword sequences. We utilized an individual-differences approach and examined which participant variables (age of onset, length of residence, language use,…

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 paper reviews WordUp, a mobile application which fosters English vocabulary learning through exposure to new words in authentic and engaging contexts such as excerpts of movies, songs, and news programme. The samples of use are introduced after the definition of the target words have been provided in both the learners' first language and…

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…

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…