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The Effects of Three L2 Vocabulary Learning Methods Through Reading Activity Kodama, Keita; Shirahata, Tomohiko
Beyond Words Vol 9, No 1 (2021): May
Publisher : Widya Mandala Catholic University Surabaya

Show Abstract | Download Original | Original Source | Check in Google Scholar | DOI: 10.33508/bw.v9i1.2778

Abstract

This study examines the effectiveness of the three vocabulary learning methods the authors adopted. In search of this research issue, the study used longitudinal experiments with 93 university Japanese learners of English (JLEs) for fifteen weeks. Once a week for six consecutive weeks, participants of the three experiment groups were given different treatments for learning 110 targeted English words when they were mainly reading an English textbook: (i) Group A: the Implicit Vocabulary Learning Group with Questions in English/Answers in English Task, (ii) Group B: the Explicit Vocabulary Learning Group with a Cloze Test Task, and (iii) Group C: the Explicit Vocabulary Learning Group with Multiple-choice Word Test Task. A pretest, immediate posttest, and delayed posttest were conducted. The results showed that (i) all the groups improved their performances at the immediate posttest and almost maintained their performance levels at the delayed posttest, which indicate that all the learning methods were more or less effective. However, the developmental degrees of the vocabulary increase were different: Group C showed the highest improvement among the three. From these findings, the authors claim that using a (multiple-choice) word test is fairly effective for JLEs to develop their knowledge of English words.
Measuring the English vocabulary acquisition of Japanese learners Ishikawa, Yoshie; Otaki, Ayano; Okamura, Hiromu; Shirahata, Tomohiko
Studies in English Language and Education Vol 11, No 1 (2024)
Publisher : Universitas Syiah Kuala

Show Abstract | Download Original | Original Source | Check in Google Scholar | DOI: 10.24815/siele.v11i1.30460

Abstract

The measurable vocabulary knowledge of Japanese learners of English (JLEs) has yet to be fully investigated. This study, therefore, attempts a detailed investigation of JLEs vocabulary knowledge to clarify the relationship between the frequency of words and their difficulty level and to identify the factors that affect the difficulty of vocabulary learning. We tested 192 university-level JLEs on 1,035 verbs, requesting that they choose a correct Japanese translation. The average number of correct answers for each verb was compared with its frequency ranking. Moreover, the characteristics of verbs that received high and low percentages of correct answers were examined. The three major findings were as follows. First, the average number of correct answers was 751.97 (72.65% of the verbs investigated). Second, the average number of correct answers decreased as the frequency of the verb decreased. However, this tendency diminished beyond the 4,000-word level. Finally, not a few low-frequency verbs garnered a high percentage of correct answers; these were verbs that included affixes or were English loanwords that were possibly known to JLEs. However, other low-frequency verbs received a low percentage of correct answers because they had abstract or multiple meanings and lacked clues that could facilitate an understanding of the words meaning. We concluded that these were the main factors affecting the degree of difficulty in learning each vocabulary item. Regarding this studys pedagogical implications, efficient use should be made of English-based loanwords and affixes, and university-level JLEs should intentionally learn low-frequency words.