This study examined the effectiveness of explicit instruction of vocabulary learning strategies (VLSs) over a 10-week semester with a group of 146 female EFL learners from two Japanese universities. A vocabulary test and questionnaires on VLSs and motivation were administered at the beginning of the course. The learners were divided into two groups based on the vocabulary test results: an experimental group and a control group. Only the experimental group received explicit instruction on VLSs in combination with their regular language lessons. The same instruments were re-administered at the end of the course to examine the changes in both the questionnaire responses and test scores. Qualitative analyses were also conducted to explore the findings in detail. The results show that the experimental group outperformed the control group in the vocabulary test. It was also found that (1) strategy training was effective for both changing the repertoire of strategies used and improving their frequency of use, (2) the training increased the use of certain strategies more than it did for other strategies, and (3) different types of learners exhibited different responses to the strategy instruction. This study's findings contribute to a better understanding of strategy instruction in general and VLSs in particular.
With advances in information and computer technology, genre-based writing pedagogy has developed greatly in recent years. In order to further this growth in technology-enhanced genre writing pedagogy, the current study developed a data-driven and theory-based practical writing support tool for research articles (RAs). This web-based, innovative tool, powered by the combination of rhetorical moves and lexical bundles, has an auto-complete feature that suggests the most frequent lexical bundles in a move within an RA section. It was developed based on the proof-of-concept of the bundle-move connection approach. Preliminary user feedback was positive 2 overall, and it was found that the writing support tool brought about beneficial effects that genre writing pedagogy explicitly aims to achieve. In light of these findings, the pedagogical implications of the developed tool are discussed, with particular focus on the potential role that it could play in the teaching and learning of technology-enhanced genre writing.
This study examined the effects of self-efficacy on language learning strategies by focusing on vocabulary learning strategies (VLSs). A group of 281 EFL learners from two universities participated in the study. They completed the Vocabulary Size Test (Nation & Beglar, 2007), questionnaires on self-efficacy, and an open-ended question about their use of VLSs. The learners were divided into three groups based on their responses to the self-efficacy questionnaire. The effect of self-efficacy was then examined by utilizing text mining. The results show that the effects of self-efficacy were observed in the participants’ open-ended responses. It also became clear that those with high self-efficacy were active users of VLSs, they employed deep strategies, and they were metacognitively superior to participants with medium and low efficiency. Those with medium self-efficacy were also active users of VLSs, but they used shallow strategies compared with the high self-efficiency group. Those with low self-efficacy tended to be passive users of VLSs. The pedagogical implications of the current study are discussed mainly in terms of incorporating self-efficacy and self-regulation enhancing instructions into vocabulary teaching.
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