Language Teaching Research

This study examined the idiosyncratic development of second language (L2) learners in a listening strategies course. The progress of four Taiwanese EFL learners was examined longitudinally through a variety of quantitative and qualitative techniques as the learners participated in a course combining direct instruction of strategies with their practice embedded in the class listening texts. The results showed how all learners developed a greater balance in their use of top-down and bottom-up strategies, chiefly by selectively integrating suitable strategies from the course into their listening repertoires. They also developed in a number of person-related and task-related areas, including their confidence, motivation and feeling of control over the listening process.

This study examines common claims associated with shadowing. Studies in Japan conclude that shadowing is effective for improving learners’ listening skills. Two common claims are that shadowing is effective for lower-proficiency learners and that it enhances learners’ phoneme perception, thus improving listening comprehension skills. The former notion lacks sufficient research and the latter empirical data. Therefore, this study explores these claims by examining whether shadowing training improves learners’ phoneme perception and listening comprehension skills, and whether its effectiveness is limited to lower-proficiency learners. Participants comprised 43 Japanese learners of English as a foreign language (EFL) from a Japanese national university. Nine lessons were conducted using an EFL textbook, following the teaching procedures outlined by previous studies. The pre- and post-tests utilized part of Japanese standardized tests for English listening (22 questions) and a 20-item dictation cloze test. Students were divided into low- and intermediate-proficiency groups using the listening pre-test results. Statistical analyses indicated that phoneme perception was enhanced in both groups, but only low-proficiency learners improved their scores for high-school level listening questions. Accordingly, language instructors may wish to use shadowing to improve learners’ foreign language skills, especially for bottom-up processes in listening.

Although repeated reading – a pedagogical practice often involving phonological support in which learners revisit novel forms in context – has been extensively studied in terms of reading fluency and comprehension, little research has explored whether it promotes language acquisition. The current study, an attempt to fill this gap, found that without explicit instruction 80 Mandarin-speaking intermediate learners of Japanese as a foreign language were capable of recognizing nearly one novel foreign orthographic form in every three seeded in passages after one hour of repeated-reading-based practice. The study also shows that the efficacy of repeated reading was modulated by how the phonological practice was implemented (e.g. shadowing, time-lapse imitation, subvocalization) and whether the target vocabulary was encountered in the same or different contexts. Additionally, repeated reading was found to be more effective with target vocabulary that shares etymological roots with the learners’ L1. Pedagogical implications based on these findings are discussed in terms of how repeated-reading-based techniques should be best implemented for the most positive outcomes in terms of incidental foreign vocabulary acquisition.

Previous research investigating the effectiveness of textual enhancement as a tool to draw adult second language (L2) learners’ attention to the targeted linguistic form has consistently produced mixed results. This article examines how L2 form recognition and reading comprehension are affected by different types of textual enhancement. Participants (n = 109) in the experimental group read a passage that contained one type of textual enhancement (underline, bold, italics, change in font size, use of capital letters or change of font) on the target structure (Spanish present and preterit tense) morphemes. A control group (n = 16) read the same passage without any type of enhancement. To measure L2 form recognition, all groups completed pre- and post-tests consisting of an L2 to first language (L1) translation task. To assess the effects of enhancement type on L2 reading comprehension, the participants completed a 40 item multiple choice test with questions focusing on form or meaning from the reading. Results for the present study revealed that one type of textual enhancement was better than others with regard to facilitating L2 form recognition, and that comprehension was not hindered by enhancement, regardless of enhancement type.

The present study examines how glossing of second language (L2) texts affects L2 learners’ reading comprehension as well as their learning of L2 grammar and vocabulary. It employed a pretest, immediate posttest, and delayed posttest design with two treatment sessions. The target features were English unaccusativity and 10 pseudo-word items. Participants were 52 Korean college students learning English, who were randomly assigned to a glossed or unglossed condition. Glossing was achieved by means of providing Korean translation of each targeted item in the margin of the text. Reading comprehension was measured with 14 multiple-choice items for each text. The learning of the target features was assessed with a grammaticality judgment test and a word form and meaning recognition test. These tests were supplemented with reaction time data and binary confidence ratings in order to assess the solidity of the knowledge acquired. The results indicated that glossing significantly facilitated learning of the target constructions, while having no influence on reading comprehension scores. These results will be discussed in light of potential usefulness of glossing as a means to facilitate learning of L2 grammatical and lexical features.

This study investigates whether congruency (+/– literal translation equivalent), collocate–node relationship (adjective–noun, verb–noun, phrasal-verb–noun collocations), and word length influence the learning burden of EFL learners’ learning collocations at the initial stage of form–meaning mapping. Eighteen collocations were selected on the basis of a pretest. They were divided into 9 congruent and 9 incongruent collocations and into 6 verb–noun collocations, 6 phrasal-verb–noun collocations and 6 adjective–noun collocations. Forty-one EFL learners (first language: Dutch) were asked to read a word list containing the 18 target collocations, their translation and a sample sentence and to complete four online exercises, in which the 18 collocations were presented twice. Learning gains were measured at three levels of sensitivity: form recall test 1, form recall test 2 (+ clue), form recognition test. Although mixed findings were revealed, all factors seemed to affect the learning difficultly of the collocations. Incongruent collocations appeared to be more difficult to recall than congruent ones. Adjective–noun collocations were better recalled and recognized than (phrasal) verb–noun collocations. Depending on the posttest, participants’ vocabulary size and word length of the individual constituents making up the collocation also affected the learning process.