Usage-based theories of language development underscore the importance of children using language to learn language. Few investigations have applied usage-based theories to dual language learners (DLLs), who comprise a growing share of children attending early education programs in the U.S. Three studies were carried out to investigate the role of…

The present study investigated the effects of gamified grammar and vocabulary learning using Kahoot!, Quizizz, and Quizlet on learning performance, motivation, enjoyment, anxiety, and classroom dynamics and engagement in an English course. The investigation also involved the effects of gamified learning on gender, proficiency, and learning…

Language-minority students constitute a heterogeneous group, both in terms of skills in the majority language and contextual factors, such as language use at home and socioeconomic status. These characteristics may interact with the effectiveness of language instruction programs. This study investigated whether the effectiveness of a digital…

This bibliometric study analyzed the research topic structure of the "Reading in a Foreign Language" ("RFL") journal in the past two decades. Using two well recognized bibliometric approaches, namely, the keyword co-occurrence analysis and hierarchical cluster analysis, the study examined author keywords and their co-occurrence…

Ongoing debate exists concerning pedagogical strategies including song to improve vocabulary learning in second or foreign language learners. A search of primary empirical studies published from 1990 to 2020 produced 27 articles with 28 studies and 1864 total participants. Effect sizes were analysed for the influence of English instructional…

Adopting the focus on form (FonF) practice model, the effectiveness of game-based collaborative vocabulary learning (GBCVL) was tested as a tool to develop vocabulary size and depth with a focus on dynamicity and nonlinearity of second language (L2) learner motivation. To improve the measures, a mixed-methods approach was used on a sample of 95…

Children learn what words mean from hearing words used across a variety of contexts. Understanding how different contextual distributions relate to the words young children say is critical because context robustly affects basic learning and memory processes. This study examined children's everyday experiences using naturalistic video recordings to…

This study was conducted with the following objectives: 1) to develop digital technology that supports learning in children with disabilities; 2) to test the effectiveness of digital technology used in children's learning. The sample selected to study the current context of and needs of digital technology consisted of a group of 46 teachers and…

While existing literature supports the use of smartphones to teach English vocabulary, limited studies have addressed how learned words can be transferred to college students' writing. This action research study designed pretest, treatment on mobile phones, posttest, and out-of-class pair-work, followed by a delayed posttest after three weeks to…

Recently researchers have proposed using information from teachers and learners to supplement the information from corpora in the selection of the most useful words for foreign language learners. Yet the extent to which these data sets correlate to one another is unclear. This study explicitly investigated the relationships between (a) the lexical…

Reading comprehension seems to be a significant challenge for rising fifth graders with limited vocabulary knowledge. A possible solution is to provide them with explicit vocabulary instruction which may positively impact their reading comprehension. This action research aimed to evaluate the effect of implementing explicit vocabulary instruction…

The present study investigated the lexical demands of scripted and unscripted television programs. To that end, two corpora consisting of 286 episodes from 14 different programs, both scripted and unscripted, were analyzed. The results indicated that the 1,000 most frequent word families, plus proper nouns, marginal words, transparent compounds,…

Gamification has become a popular approach to blending learning with fun and enjoyable experiences. However, gamification research has been criticized for mostly focusing on game mechanics and related outcomes while paying little attention to the psychological processes that mediate the relationship between these mechanics and outcomes.…

This research takes a dyadic approach to study early word learning and focuses on toddlers' (N = 20, age: 17-23 months) "information seeking" and parents' "information providing" behaviors and the ways the two are coupled in real-time parent-child interactions. Using head-mounted eye tracking, this study provides the first…

The past decades have witnessed the spectacular development of English language as a principal lingua franca, used by millions of people all over the world. Without a doubt, the transition and acquisition of knowledge in all daily respects, from daily communication to academic disciplines, are more closely linked with the competence of English…