This study investigates the effects of cognacy on vocabulary learning. The research expands on earlier designs by measuring learning of English-Japanese cognates with both decontextualized and contextualized tests, scoring responses at two levels of sensitivity, and examining learning in a more ecologically valid setting. The results indicated…

The aim of this article is twofold: to assess the effectiveness of a CLIL (content and language integrated learning) module on affective factors (motivation and self-esteem), and to test the purported blurring effect of CLIL on gender differences in foreign language learning. Forty-six students in their fourth year of compulsory secondary…

The present research tested the effectiveness of the word part technique in comparison with the keyword method and self-strategy learning. One hundred and twenty-one Chinese year-one university students were randomly assigned to one of the three learning conditions: word part, keyword or self-strategy learning condition. Half of the target words…

This paper aims to analyse the role of time concentration of instructional hours on the acquisition of formulaic sequences in English as a foreign language (EFL). Two programme types that offer the same amount of hours of instruction are considered: intensive (110 hours/1 month) and regular (110 hours/7 months). The EFL learners under study are…

Many contemporary textbooks for English as a foreign language (EFL) and books for vocabulary study contain exercises with a focus on collocations, with verb-noun collocations (e.g. "make a mistake") being particularly popular as targets for collocation learning. Common exercise formats used in textbooks and other pedagogic materials…

This article examines how form recall of target lexical items by learners of English as a foreign language (EFL) is affected (1) by repetition (1, 3 or 5 number of occurrences), (2) by the type of target item (single words versus collocations), and (3) by the time of post-test administration (immediately or one week after the learning session).…

The current study compared the effectiveness of computer-delivered task-essential practice coupled with feedback consisting of (1) negative evidence with metalinguistic information (NE+MI) or (2) negative evidence without metalinguistic information (NE-MI) in promoting absolute beginners' (n = 58) initial learning of aspects of Latin…

This study investigates the roles of collaborative output, the modality of output, and word engagement in vocabulary learning and retention by Chinese-speaking undergraduate EFL learners. The two treatment groups reconstructed a passage that they had read in one of two ways: (1) dyadic oral interaction while producing a written report (Written…

This quasi-experimental study investigated the noticeability and effectiveness of three corrective feedback (CF) techniques (recasts, prompts and a combination of the two) delivered in the language classroom. The participants were four groups of high-beginner college level francophone learners of English as a second language (ESL) (n = 99) and…

This study examined the opportunities that pair and small group interaction offer for collaborative dialogue and second language (L2) vocabulary learning. It compared the performance of the same collaborative writing task by learners working in groups of four (n = 60) and in pairs (n = 50), focusing on the occurrence of lexical language-related…

This study focuses on the effects of task type on the retention and ease of activation of second language (L2) vocabulary, based on the multi-feature hypothesis (Moonen, De Graaff, & Westhoff, 2006). Two tasks were compared: a writing task and a list-learning task. It was hypothesized that performing the writing task would yield higher…

In this study we compared the effects of two types of form-focused instruction (FFI) on second language (L2) learning and their potential contributions to the development of different types of L2 knowledge. Both types of instruction were pre-emptive in nature, that is planned and teacher generated. In Integrated FFI attention to form was embedded…

A number of recent studies (see, for example, Lantolf, 2010; Negueruela & Lantolf, 2006; van Compernolle, 2011) have focused on the use of learning tools developed according to the principles of concept-based instruction (CBI). Using videorecorded data from interviews and observations of classroom instruction, our study seeks to contribute to…

This study examined the effectiveness of explicit instruction on second language (L2) learners' implicit and explicit knowledge of English. Explicit instruction on the generic and non-generic use of English articles was delivered by CALL activities. Four tasks assessed acquisition: elicited imitation, oral production, grammaticality judgement, and…

Research on incidental second language (L2) vocabulary acquisition through reading has claimed that repeated encounters with unfamiliar words and the relative elaboration of processing these words facilitate word learning. However, so far both variables have been investigated in isolation. To help close this research gap, the current study…