This study explores the effectiveness of Virtual Reality (VR) in Chinese as a second language (CSL) vocabulary learning from the international students' perspective. A new theoretical framework of VR-based vocabulary learning was designed and verified to serve the investigation. A total of 30 international students learning CSL in a Chinese…

Studies on teachers' beliefs about vocabulary learning and teaching have focused, so far, on English as a second language (L2), or foreign language (FL), in different contexts but little attention has been given to other L2s and FLs. In this study, 15 Spanish L2 instructors at large universities were interviewed in order to better understand where…

This mixed-methods study examined how narrow reading affects L2 undergraduate students of forestry and agriculture in terms of their reading comprehension, vocabulary growth, and perceptions of their language knowledge and skills. To collect the data, three instruments were employed, namely pre- and post-tests, online questionnaires, and journal…

Purpose: Laboratory-based word learning research demonstrates that retrieval-based practice supports learning and retention more than passive training strategies. The goal of the current study was to determine whether incorporating retrieval-based practice into an interactive book reading intervention contributed to better learning and retention…

The present study aims to explore the knowledge level and preferences regarding vocabulary learning strategies (VLSs) among the EFL university students studying English for Specific Purposes (ESP) courses. It also investigates the impact of vocabulary learning strategies on EFL learners' performance. A sample of twenty students from an intact…

Along with standards describing what music students should be able to do, the National Core Arts Standards developed Model Cornerstone Assessments suggesting how teachers can measure student learning for each artistic process. This article explores the Respond Model Cornerstone Assessment. This column explains the Model Cornerstone Assessment for…

Children diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) often have smaller vocabularies in infancy compared to typically-developing children. To understand whether their smaller vocabularies stem from problems in learning, our study compared a prospective risk sample of 18 elevated risk and 11 lower risk 24-month-olds on current vocabulary size and…

A critical question in the study of language development is to understand lexical and syntactic acquisition, which play different roles in speech to the extent it would be natural to surmise they are acquired differently. As measured through the comprehension and production of closed-class words, syntactic ability emerges at roughly the 400-word…

Although generalized anxiety has increased among college students, it is unclear what effect this has on language anxiety. While language anxiety has been shown to negatively affect second language achievement, its impact at the level of specific linguistic subdomains has not been evaluated. In what follows, we explore what relationship, if any,…

Help adolescents learn and use the academic words that will assist them in school and beyond. The author argues that "words worth using" must matter to adolescents' authentic work in the disciplines and connect to their lived experiences. Rather than using a model of vocabulary instruction that positions students as passive recipients…

Over the last decades researches have been conducted on different disciplines and in teaching English for specific purposes in different contexts, but teaching technical words for doctors in the context of Afghanistan is the newest subject. The aim of this article is to explore the needs of doctors and prepare them a course to learn English. In…

Children from backgrounds of poverty often lag behind more advantaged peers in early language skills, including breadth and depth of vocabulary knowledge. We report the results of a pilot study of an explicit and elaborated vocabulary intervention in preschool classrooms serving children from lower-income backgrounds. The intervention used…

Purpose: The aims of this study were to explore expressive vocabulary growth rates of children who are deaf or hard of hearing (DHH) during critical periods of brain development (birth to 3 years) as well as the factors that influence the trajectories of vocabulary growth in these early years of development. Of primary interest was the effect of…

There have historically been a variety of diagnostic terms used to describe children with unexplained language disorders. Recently there has been some consensus around the use of the term developmental language disorder (DLD) however, students, in particular graduate students, need to be aware of the various terms that have historically been used…

Some children come to school with a smaller vocabulary than their peers. If children do not have knowledge of the meaning of the words they read in texts, they will fail to comprehend those texts and struggle to keep up with their peers. This is critical because the link between vocabulary and comprehension is very clear (Sticht et al., 1974, as…