Session 6D

During the COVID-19 pandemic era, video-presented lectures have become an essential component of online learning, through which students in L2-medium education acquire both content knowledge and specialized vocabulary in their field of study (e.g., words like "synapse" when viewing an introductory lecture on neuron structures). So far, however, most of the research into vocabulary acquisition in academic settings has been conducted in the context of L2 reading. Little attempt has been made to explore how learners process technical words while viewing video lectures and how processing of vocabulary relates to acquisition. Even fewer studies have explored whether the acquisition of technical words from lecture viewing is influenced by individual differences in language aptitude and working memory capacity. Given the increased importance of learning through recorded video lectures, there is a clear need to understand learners' cognitive processes underlying vocabulary acquisition in this multimodal context and the way individual difference factors influence learners' vocabulary gains and attention allocation. Situated in the context of task-based language teaching, the current study aims to fill these gaps.
Thirty Chinese L2 users of English were instructed to complete a video lecture-viewing task, that is, watching a neurobiology lecture and taking notes. An eye-tracker was used to capture their visual attention while performing the task. Immediately after viewing, the participants were asked to take a surprise vocabulary post-test measuring their knowledge of 11 technical terms introduced in the lecture, followed by a free recall test assessing their lecture comprehension. A delayed vocabulary post-test and a battery of language aptitude and working memory tests were administered two weeks after the experiment. The same vocabulary test was used as the immediate post-test and the delayed post-test, consisting of a form recognition, a meaning recall, and a meaning recognition test. In line with previous eye-tracking research, the participants' visual attention being paid to the target items was examined using nine eye-tracking indices in order to capture their eye movements at both early and late stages of word processing, including first-pass reading time, first fixation duration, fixation count, total reading time, average fixation duration, second-pass reading time, second fixation duration, run count, and skip rate. The participants' explicit aptitude was assessed by the LLAMA B and E subtests, and implicit aptitude by the LLAMA D subtest and a serial reaction time task. Working memory was conceptualized as consisting of phonological working memory, visual working memory, and executive working memory, measured by a non-word span test, a digit span test, the Forward Corsi Block Task, an automated operation span task, and a color shape task.
Preliminary results from mixed-effects regressions indicate a positive relationship between processing time and learners' vocabulary gains. The analyses also reveal that aptitude and working memory are significant predictors of learners' vocabulary knowledge, and learners' attention allocation to target words is related to working memory abilities. The results will be discussed in terms of models of aptitude, working memory, and multimedia learning.

Collocations, sequences of words that tend to occur together in discourse, have been considered an important aspect of L2 proficiency (Schmitt, 2000), but they stand out as being particularly difficult to acquire for L2 learners (Laufer & Waldman, 2011).
Although previous studies have investigated the incidental learning of collocations (e.g., Pellicer-Sánchez, 2017; Vu & Peters, 2021), they are limited in that they only focused on specific linguistic, contextual, or individual variables, or they only assessed one aspect of collocational knowledge. Additionally, they produced inconsistent findings. Our study examined both the role of linguistic and learner-related factors that appear to affect the learning burden of collocations through two reading modes (i.e., only reading and reading-while-listening) as these effects are still far from clear (e.g., Peters, 2016; Nguyen & Webb, 2017). 
68 Spanish EFL learners participated in the study. We adopted a pretest-posttest-delayed posttest, mixed design in which the two reading conditions (reading only and reading-while-listening) were counterbalanced across participants. The experimental materials included 14 target collocations. The targets included 7 congruent and 7 incongruent collocations; within each congruency category, about half were compositional, and half non-compositional, resulting in 7 compositional and 7 non-compositional targets overall. 10 were verb-noun and 4 were adjective-noun collocations. Prior to the treatment, participants completed the pretest, which included a form recognition task that included all collocations, the Vocabulary Levels Test (Schmitt et al., 2001), and the LEAP-Questionnaire (Marian et al., 2007). After the treatment, they completed the immediate posttest, which included three tasks: form recall, form recognition, and meaning recognition. The same tasks were completed again for the delayed posttest, which took place two weeks after the treatment and was implemented to explore the long-term effects of the intervention (or lack thereof). 
The data for each posttest measure was fitted with logistic mixed-effects regression models. Each initial model included all collocation-related and learner-related predictors; final models were selected by removing predictors that did not contribute to model fit. Mixed findings were revealed. Results showed that collocational knowledge can be learnt incidentally from reading, although the reading mode manipulation in this study did not seem to have a significant effect on the acquisition of any of the aspects examined. Congruency improved form recall and form recognition but did not affect performance on the meaning recognition tests. Larger vocabulary size consistently corresponded to better performance, although the effect was not always significant. Potential reasons for the effect of the predictors on L2 collocation learning will be discussed in relation to previous research. 


References:
Pellicer-Sánchez, A. (2017). Learning L2 collocations incidentally from reading. Language Teaching Research, 21, 381–402. 
Peters, E. (2016). The learning burden of collocations: The role of interlexical and intralexical factors. Language Teaching Research, 20(1), 113-138.
Schmitt, N. (2010). Researching Vocabulary: A Vocabulary Research Manual. London: Palgrave Macmillan.
Webb, S., & Chang, A. C. S. (2020). How does mode of input affect the incidental learning of collocations? Studies in Second Language Acquisition.

Language learning applications (apps) have gained increasing popularity in recent years for their effectiveness in supporting second language (L2) development, but the issue of low learner engagement persists in both formal classroom (e.g., Hanson & Brown, 2020) and informal self-study (e.g., Loewen et al., 2020) contexts. Additionally, despite over two decades of progress in mobile-assisted language learning (MALL), the integration of MALL into L2 classes is still lacking (Burston, 2014), and it remains inconclusive how teachers can support learners during MALL (Chwo et al., 2018). Stemming from Instructed Second Language Acquisition's goal to bridge research and pedagogy (Sato & Loewen, 2019), this study aims to provide an example of incorporating app-based L2 learning as a course assignment, and to explore how goal-setting with feedback as updated teaching strategies (Mercer & Dörnyei, 2020) affects learner engagement in app-based L2 vocabulary self-study. 
Sixty-three Japanese college learners in upper-intermediate English as a Foreign Language (EFL) classes were randomly assigned to a treatment (n = 32) or a control (n = 31) group, and studied TOEIC words with the Memrise mobile app as an after-class assignment for 8 weeks. The control group had their weekly goals of studying 35 words set by the teacher, whereas the treatment group set and checked their weekly goals of studying at least 30 words and provided reasons if not meeting their goals. The number of words studied weekly was recorded for each participant to index learner engagement. Apart from examining goal-setting-and-checking activities, we also explored leaderboards (student rankings based on task performance) and Unfinished Lists (lists of students who did not finish the Memrise assignment) as supplementary feedback tools by collecting learner ratings and comments. EFL listening and reading proficiency before and after using Memrise was assessed with TOEIC tests. 
Results from descriptive statistics and robust between-within ANOVA showed the treatment group studied significantly more words than the control group, although TOEIC performance did not differ between groups or change within each group. Findings based on quantitative descriptive statistics and qualitative thematic analysis of learner perception data supported the positive effects of adopting these three pedagogical interventions in class. Practical guidance on adapting these pedagogical interventions into L2 classrooms will be discussed.
References
Burston, J. (2014). The reality of MALL: Still on the fringes. CALICO Journal, 31(1), 103–125. 
Chwo, G.S.M., Marek, M.W., & Wu, W.C.V. (2018). Meta-analysis of MALL research and design. System, 74, 62–72. 
Hanson, A. E. S., & Brown, C. M. (2020). Enhancing L2 learning through a mobile assisted spaced-repetition tool: An effective but bitter pill? Computer Assisted Language Learning, 33(1–2), 133–155.
Loewen, S., Isbell, D. R., & Sporn, Z. (2020). The effectiveness of app-based language instruction for developing receptive linguistic knowledge and oral communicative ability. Foreign Language Annals, 53(2), 209–233.
Mercer, S., & Dörnyei, Z. (2020). Engaging language learners in contemporary classrooms. Cambridge University Press.
Sato, M., & Loewen, S. (2019). Do teachers care about research? The research–pedagogy dialogue. ELT Journal, 73(1), 1–10.