Our study aims to optimize a multimedia application for vocabulary learning for English as a Foreign Language (EFL). Our study is based on the concept that difficulty in reading a text in a second language is due to the need for more working memory for word decoding skills, although the working memory must also be used for text comprehension skills. This implies that the automatization of word decoding to free the working memory is indispensable. Therefore, developing a multimedia application for vocabulary learning with a time-control function, our study hypothesizes that vocabulary learning with this function brings about the automatization of word decoding or faster recall of the meanings, and, as a result of freeing more working memory, better comprehension of text. According to our research, multimedia application users not only retained more words and recalled their meanings more quickly but also obtained higher scores on reading comprehension tests that contained the words learned through the application. From this result, we conclude that multimedia vocabulary learning with a time-control function can automatize word decoding skills and therefore free more working memory, thereby leading to better comprehension of the text.
This study examined why some high achievers on the course nal exam were unsuccessful on the prociency exam in English. We hypothesized that the learning motives and learning behaviors (learning strategy, learning time) had di唖 erent e唖 ects on the outcomes of the exams. First, the relation between the variables was investigated using structural equation modeling. Second, the learning behaviors of students who got good marks on both exams were compared with students who did well only on the course nal exam. The results were as follows. The students who got good marks on both exams performed the learning behaviors that were useful on the prociency exam more frequently than the students who did well only on the course nal exam.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.