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This study investigated the effects of first language (L1) congruency, second language (L2) proficiency, and the collocate-node relationship (i.e., verb-noun, adjective-noun, noun-noun) on collocation processing by logographic L1-Chinese learners of English. Comparisons were made of accuracy rates and response times to a collocation lexical decision task completed by L1-Chinese English as a Foreign Language (EFL) English Majors (n = 30), L1-Chinese EFL non-English Majors (n = 30), and L1-English Native Speakers (n = 26). Analysis of the data revealed that while congruent collocations were processed more accurately and faster than incongruent collocations by both L1-Chinese participant groups, the English Majors showed a processing advantage over their non-English Major peers. Further analysis revealed a processing advantage for noun-noun collocations, providing additional evidence in explaining the difficulties L1-Chinese have in acquiring verb-noun collocations. These results and other nuanced statistical findings are discussed in relation to pedagogical means of enhancing L2 collocation acquisition by L1-Chinese speakers.

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The purpose of this study was to investigate whether frequency of occurrence and the level of morphological form variation (i.e., none, inflectional, and derivational) exhibited by target words might interact to affect incidental acquisition through reading. An intact class of English as a foreign language learners (n=32) was given a copy of an unmodified 37,611-token English novel containing 49 target nonce words to read within two weeks. After reading, they were given two unexpected forms of assessment (meaning recall translation and meaning recognition multiple-choice). Meaning recall results indicate an average of 10 words having been acquired and meaning recognition results indicate an average of 25 words having been acquired. For the meaning recall data, a significant interaction effect between word form variation and frequency was found. Results point towards the conclusion that an increase in frequency may have a beneficial effect on acquisition for words whose tokens vary inflectionally, a marginal effect for words that do not vary in form, and little to no effect on words that vary derivationally. Examination of the meaning recognition acquisition results for a subset of 29 target words occurring 2–4 times to control for frequency of exposure found a significant effect for word form variation. Post hoc comparisons indicated that participants acquired significantly more target words that did not vary in form. There was no significant difference in acquisition between those that varied inflectionally and derivationally. Taken as a whole, the results of the current study indicate that word form variation does affect incidental acquisition and it can indeed present second language learners with difficulties, especially when less frequent input is received of words that vary in form. Implications for future incidental vocabulary acquisition research and classroom pedagogy incorporating reading and vocabulary instruction are discussed.

Adult English‐L1 (n = 20) and English‐L2 (n = 32) experimental groups were given a novel containing nonce words to read within two weeks to investigate whether the reading of fiction can induce a state of incidental vocabulary acquisition. After reading, an unexpected meaning recall translation assessment measuring acquisition of 49 target nonce words was administered, followed by an open‐response reflective questionnaire. Assessment results indicated that English‐L1 speakers were better than English‐L2 speakers at incidentally acquiring vocabulary through the reading of fiction. Furthermore, results indicate that only three encounters with unknown words may be needed to encourage acquisition if the reading of a target text is enjoyable or of importance to the reader. Comparing acquisition results for English‐L1 and English‐L2 experimental groups to English‐L1 (n = 13) and English‐L2 (n = 27) control groups, however, indicated vocabulary acquisition could not be completely attributed to incidental acquisition, with the English‐L1 control group being more successful in guessing the meanings of unknown words than the English‐L2 control group. Post hoc interviews with both the English‐L1 and English‐L2 experimental groups indicated a difference in English‐L1 speakers' and English‐L2 speakers' perception of nonce words, which may have affected assessment outcomes. The results of the current investigation suggest that the use of nonce words could confound acquisition results if participants realize that the nonce words are proxies representing already known real words or give the nonce words a different status than real words. Results warrant the use of control groups in incidental vocabulary acquisition research regardless of whether real or nonce words are used as targets.

Think-Pair-Share, a cooperative discussion strategy developed by Frank Lyman and colleagues (1981), is often utilized in first language contexts but rarely in second language (L2) contexts. To investigate its usefulness in the L2 context, a traditional English as a Foreign Language (EFL) reading class was transformed by integrating think-pair-share with reading strategy instruction. An intervention class was compared to a traditionally taught class to determine whether any differences in terms of motivation towards learning English and reading strategy use would be found. In addition, it was further investigated whether adolescent students are accepting of a think-pair-share integrated reading strategy method of English instruction. Results indicate that think-pair-share integrated reading strategy instruction seems to be more effective in increasing motivation than the traditional approach. However, when examined in terms of motivation type, both the traditional and intervention groups showed a statistically significant increase in intrinsic motivation. Furthermore, statistical results indicate that the think-pair-share technique combined with reading strategy instruction did not change the participants' perceptions regarding their reading strategy use. Still, based on the responses from the closed-and open-ended questions, the students appeared to be very receptive to the think-pair-share technique. Based on the findings of this study, the think-pair-share technique combined with reading strategy instruction appears to be a plausible alternative for teaching English reading to adolescents in Taiwanese EFL classrooms. Pedagogical implications of the results and future research directions are discussed.

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to examine the relationship between school climate and teacher stress. Specifically, the authors construct two parsimonious models to test two main hypotheses. First, whether preschool collegial leadership predicts teachers’ job stress through the mediating role of teacher self-efficacy; second, whether teacher professionalism influences teachers’ perceptions of occupational stress through the mediating role of teacher self-efficacy. Design/methodology/approach The authors conceptualized the mediating role of teacher efficacy as an important mechanism that can help to explain the effect of school climate on teacher stress. School climate consisted of two dimensions: principal collegial leadership and professionalism. Therefore, the authors constructed and examined two mediation models by using Bootstrapping mediation modeling: first, preschool teacher self-efficacy as a mediator between preschool collegial leadership and teacher stress; second, preschool teacher self-efficacy as a mediator between preschool teacher professionalism and teacher stress. Findings Results from two mediation analyses showed that principal collegial leadership exerts a significant negative effect on preschool teachers’ stress through the mediating role of teacher self-efficacy. Moreover, professionalism was also a significant predictor of preschool teachers’ stress through the mediating role of teacher self-efficacy. Research limitations/implications This study contributes to the literature in terms of understanding the mechanism of how school climate helps to reduce teacher stress. First, the authors found that teachers’ individual well-being can be efficiently enhanced through a more collegial leadership. Second, the preschool leadership teams can create a supportive climate to reduce teachers’ stress by improving teachers’ professionalism. Originality/value This study offers a new perspective about understanding the internal and external mechanism of teacher stress. The authors discussed the results in light of the recent push by the Chinese Government to teacher quality improvement in early childhood education. The authors argued for prioritizing support for building a supportive school climate for teachers.

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