To remedy the paucity of studies on the relationship between vocabulary knowledge and speaking proficiency, we examine the degree to which second language (L2) speaking proficiency can be predicted by the size, depth, and speed of L2 vocabulary among novice to intermediate Japanese learners of English. Studies 1 and 2 administered vocabulary tests and a speaking test to 224 and 87 L2 learners, ...

Reading is claimed to be the major source of vocabulary growth in L1, but is it also the main source of L2 vocabulary? This paper surveys some experiments in acquiring L2 vocabulary from reading that report very small vocabulary gains from short and long texts. By comparison, reading supplemented with word-focused tasks yields better results. Similarly, when reading is compared with a word-focu...

Little research has explored how preschools can support children’s second-language (L2) vocabulary development. This study keenly followed the progress of twemty-six Turkish immigrant children growing up in Norway from preschool (age five) to fifth grade (age ten). Four different measures of preschool talk exposure (amount and diversity of teacher-led group talk and amount and diversity of peer...

This study investigated the effects of captioned texts on second/foreign (L2) listening comprehension and vocabulary gains using a computer multimedia program. Additionally, it explored the caption ordering effect (i.e. captions displayed during the first or second listening), and the interaction of captioning order with the L2 proficiency level of language learners in listening comprehension a...

BACKGROUND This study examines the role of decoding and vocabulary skills as longitudinal predictors of reading comprehension in young first (L1) and second (L2) language learners. METHODS Two-group latent growth models were used to assess differences in growth and predictions of growth between the 198 L1 and 90 L2 language learners. RESULTS L1 learners had better initial reading comprehens...

Theory strongly suggests that L2 perception is influenced by the L1. More recently, it has also been proposed that L2 vocabulary size may be related to the perception of non-native phones. Japanese (JP) learners of Australian English (AE) identified AE vowels using JP vowel categories and provided goodness-of-fit ratings. Results show systematic perceptual assimilations of L2 to L1 vowels and l...

The increasing number of experimental studies on second language (L2) processing, frequently with English as the L2, calls for a practical and valid measure of English vocabulary knowledge and proficiency. In a large-scale study with Dutch and Korean speakers of L2 English, we tested whether LexTALE, a 5-min vocabulary test, is a valid predictor of English vocabulary knowledge and, possibly, ev...

This study examined the effectiveness of L1 and L2 glosses on incidental vocabulary learning in a multimedia environment. The investigation included the effects of additional pictorial cues in L1 and L2 glosses, and how these additions affect vocabulary learning. The analyses of a mixed design repeated measures 2 (L1, L2) X 2 (picture, no picture) X 2 (immediate test, delayed test) analysis of ...

In our modern technological world, Computer-Assisted Language learning (CALL) is a new realm towards learning a language in general, and learning L2 vocabulary in particular. It is assumed that the use of multimedia annotations promotes language learners’ vocabulary acquisition. Therefore, this study set out to investigate the effects of different multimedia annotations (still picture annotatio...

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