Current second language (L2) instruction research has encouraged the use of collaborative output tasks in L2 classrooms. This study examined and compared the effectiveness of two types of output tasks (reconstruction cloze tasks and reconstruction editing tasks) for learning English phrasal verbs. Of interest was whether doing the tasks…

Purpose: To explore the phonological awareness skills of deaf children with cochlear implants (CIs) and relationships with vocabulary and reading development. Method: Forty-three deaf children with implants who were between 5 and 15 years of age were tested; 21 had been implanted at around 2.5 years of age (Early CI group), and 22 had been…

This paper reports on the use of an English-language reading practice application for an Android tablet computer with students who are not native speakers of English. The application materials for vocabulary learning in reading-passage contexts were created to include words from a database of low-frequency and technical noun-verb collocations…

Since the learner is actively engaged when composing writing assignments, integrating math through various writing modes can enhance and strengthen students' understanding of math concepts. Two expository writing assignments, an acrostic poem and a vocabulary activity, are demonstrated. Writing can have a positive effect on learning as students…

Reading is a learned skill needed for life. It requires cognitive processing increasing with practice. This study examined the use of colored paper for comprehension and vocabulary assessments given to fifty-one fourth graders for the purpose of increasing test scores. All fourth grade students received weekly comprehension and vocabulary…

Background: Naming accuracy for nouns and verbs in aphasia can vary across different elicitation contexts, for example, simple picture naming, composite picture description, narratives, and conversation. For some people with aphasia, naming may be more accurate to simple pictures as opposed to naming in spontaneous, connected speech; for others,…

English as a foreign language students in Japan learned target words in word pairs receptively and productively. Five aspects of vocabulary knowledge--orthography, association, syntax, grammatical functions, and meaning and form--were each measured by receptive and productive tests. The study uses an innovative methodology in that each target word…

There is no doubt of the importance of vocabulary in EFL coursebooks. Yet, criteria for the selection of target words remain unclear. Frequency and functionality have been proposed as the two underpinning for selection. However, they are usually incompatible so that materials designers must opt for one or the other. The question is which one…

In the past two decades, vocabulary researchers have determined the number of word families that an undergraduate needs to know in order to read effectively in English, and further work has examined vocabulary size among Indonesian university students. What this research has so far not considered, however, is the distinction in the learner's…

This study examined effects of lexical factors on children's spoken word recognition across a 1-year time span, and contributions to phonological awareness and nonword repetition. Across the year, children identified words based on less input on a speech-gating task. For word repetition, older children improved for the most familiar words. There…

This study experimentally tested the relationship between children's lexicon size and their ability to learn new words within the domain of color. We manipulated the size of 25 20-month-olds' color lexicons by training them with two, four, or six different color words over the course of eight training sessions. We subsequently tested children's…

Day after day, teachers hand out reading assignments; students ignore them; and both groups spend another day at school discouraged, less than enthusiastic, and bored. While principals struggle with stagnant test scores, teachers wonder how they can possibly work more diligently toward instructional outcomes. Getting students excited about reading…

This article reports on a study and subsequent vocabulary instructional framework involving middle school students' knowledge of word walls and the efficacy of this instructional tool for improving vocabulary knowledge at these grade levels. We investigated middle school students' perspectives and understanding of word walls by conducting…

Repetition priming refers to the facilitation of stimulus processing due to prior processing of the same or similar stimulus, and is one of the most primitive ways in which experience and practice can affect performance. Previous studies have produced contradictory results regarding the stability of repetition priming across development. Drawing…

This article offers an empirically based contribution to the growing body of studies using Conversation Analysis (CA) as a tool for analyzing second/foreign language learning in and through interaction. Building on a sociointeractional view of learning as grounded in the structures of participation in social activities, we apply CA methods to…