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Introduction
I supervise master's research in TESOL, especially issues relating to second language vocabulary acquisition.
Current institution
Publications
Publications (42)
Word recognition is a basic aspect of vocabulary skill, and a critical skill in fluent reading. Native speakers of English can recognize single words in about one tenth of a second. Learners are somewhat slower, but this difference is difficult to measure without sensitive equipment. This chapter describes how we developed a test of word recognitio...
We investigate translanguaging (i.e. the co-use of first and second languages) in a Content and Language Integrated Learning course, as a pragmatic means to promote the skill of young university students in extended critical academic writing. We aimed to prepare new undergraduate students (n = 180) for courses where partial English-medium instructi...
Courses taught through English are an emerging feature in Japanese universities. From an English-education perspective, this raises the question of how best to prepare new undergraduates at various proficiency levels to move onto such courses. We investigate a class based on Content and Language Integrated Learning (CLIL) principles, with a focus o...
Tasks that promote a collaborative communication strategy may helpe learners produce more accurate and fluent language in conversation with foreigners. To develop my Japanese learners' awareness of this strategy, I designed a syllabus with a range of one-way tasks in which they practised making repairs to each other's communcation breakdowns. Use o...
The motivation for this research is the observation of frequent read-aloud
miscues among Japanese university students, and the slow rate of reading
on simplified graded readers by many post-secondary learners. We
investigate what components of the second-language reading complex
may remain undeveloped. Word recognition in different languages
employ...
“Translation, Translanguaging and Machine Translation in Foreign
Language Education” is an edited volume concerned with a wide range of topics about the current and emergent roles of translation and translanguaging in foreign language instruction. These are areas that have been gaining increasing momentum in recent years, with traditional understa...
The goal of this research was to investigate how well L2 English speakers of different proficiency levels were able to perform on a test of auditory memory like that used in the Wechsler Memory Scale (WMS). In this test, participants must retell heard stories. While the validity of elicited imitation tests is well established in second-language acq...
English is taught intensively and prescriptively in China. The insistence on accuracy in English instruction in the country is driven by competitive entrance examinations. However, it can induce a strong sense of foreign language-learning anxiety. Our focus is how later third-language (L3) learning of Japanese is influenced by the early experiences...
An edited book that gathers chapter contributions from IB teachers and researchers in locations across the Asia Pacific. The book examines how the provision of education which fosters IB ideals such as critical thinking, student-centered syllabus, curriculum reform is developing. The emergence of innovative responses to the need for educational ref...
This paper reports on a study of how three Japan-based tutors (the authors) guided thesis writing, potentially towards publication, and provided their students with the agency to negotiate disciplinary norms. In this paper, we attempt to supplement the body of literature on academic writing supervision and consider particularly the later stages of...
This is research that was conducted in Ms. Nakanishi's classroom for young learners. The focus is on the identification of a) good strategies to support the English-reading decoding skills of young Japanese learners; b) the possibility of more deep-seated reading delays or disorders among these learners.
The study also introduces a sheltered eleme...
Japan is moving from a traditional focus on prescriptive English education towards a more forward-looking hybrid model, melding the influences of the world-class international baccalaureate (IB) curriculum into the existing Japanese educational model. In this chapter, the authors review the background and describe developments that are framing the...
This study describes how three Japan-based tutors practically guided thesis writing, and potentially publication, and provided students with the agency to negotiate disciplinary norms. This was achieved by scaffolding students’ writing, bilingual discussions, direct corrective and metalinguistic feedback, and mind-mapping. We argue these emphases o...
This book introduces and amply describes The European Digital Kitchen (EDK), a digital learning-management system designed to facilitate the simultaneous learning of second languages and cooking outside the classroom.
This study reports small-scale corpus-based analysis which had the aim of investigating the lexical characteristics of an English extensive reading website (Extensive Reading Central, as ER-C) using a frequency-driven approach. A corpus was created from over 700 simplified texts from various genres in ER-C. Based on analyses of vocabulary content a...
The use of LexCombi (productive collocation skill test)
CONFERENCE PRESENTATION This paper investigates the effect playing English video games have on Japanese university students. The participants in the study included a treatment group of nine second-year university students and a control group of ten second-year university students. All the students were in the same major program and came from the sa...
Courses taught in English are emerging in Japanese universities. From an English-education perspective,
this raises the question of how best to prepare new undergraduates at various proficiency levels to move
onto such courses. The authors investigate a class based on Content and Language Integrated Learning
(CLIL) principles, with a focus on acade...
The issue of word recognition efficiency in secondary school students in Japan and Korea is considered. The relative distance between language writing systems can exert a strong influence on reading in second languages. Since the Japanese writing style is further from English than Korean, it is shown, through the use of a quick-and-easy test of wor...
Courses taught in English are emerging in Japanese universities. From an English-education perspective, this raises the question of how best to prepare new undergraduates at various proficiency levels to move onto such courses. The authors investigate a class based on Content and Language Integrated Learning (CLIL) principles, with a focus on acade...
The development of rapid word recognition ability is recognized as essential in second language reading. (e.g. Koda, 2005) According to Grabe (2009, p.118), developing the ability to rapidly read the most frequent words of
English as sight words is very important early on, since it allows the formation of skill at reading other words though analogy...
Tests of word-recognition speed (lexical accessibility) for second language learners have become more common in recent years as its importance in lexical processing has become apparent. However, the very short reaction-time latencies mean they are often complicated to handle or set up in school-based testing situations. They may also produce data t...
As English medium content courses are increasing at Japanese universities, institutions struggle with how to best support content specialist faculty members who are required to teach content courses to L2 learners. This paper describes the early stages of a Teaching Lab that was established at small university in response to that situation. The Tea...
Word-recognition tests for second language learners have become more common in recent years with increased awareness of their importance in lexical processing. However, the very short reaction times involved mean the associated technology is complicated to handle and set up in school-based testing situations. Our solution to this problem is a quick...
This paper describes the place that storytelling plays in ordinary discourse. This refers to the exchange of daily information on happenings and opinions, and the research background is described. Next, it is asked how this linguistic description is relevant to the teaching of English in Japan, and the effect of this instruction on students’ oral s...
No abstract: A small contribution to the book by Jane Willis and Dave Willis "Doing Task-Based Teaching: A practical guide to task-based teaching for ELT training courses and practising teachers"
https://books.google.co.jp/books?id=ye2dBgAAQBAJ&pg=PT124&lpg=PT124&dq=coulson+willis+dictogloss&source=bl&ots=9mQSE5KqJT&sig=QqsgG-ivcG6n0T0-DXBD_R3DrvU...
Questions
Questions (10)
I am interested in CA analysis of SLA interaction, both in classrooms and outside. It seems very hard to find the source recording for a lot of published work in this field.
Very interested to read about your project. I have a student who is working on primary school students' word-recognition development. But they are in Japan, so judging from the explanation in the call-for-papers, it may not match the description. Is it worth asking whether there is a chance you will expand the focus to East Asian English learners.
Is there a reliable online test for this issue, in addition to SPSS?
A post-graduate student is working on assessing the effect of the syllabus in the high school where she works, as an English teacher. She believes that, in addition to the linguistic development of her students, the goals of the school curriculum may additionally be reflected in the acquisition of "21st-century skills".
These are defined as: critical thinking, collaboration, meta-cognitive skills, problem-solving skills, and so on.
Specifically, how can progress in these specific skills be measured? Is there a rubric which is used for this purpose? Links, recommendations for published articles on this specific topic would be welcome.
Data for word associations in English is available in EAT. This resource returns data on inquiries about normed associations by English native speakers. If you input 'cat', the following comes up:
DOG 49 0.52
MOUSE 8 0.08
BLACK 4 0.04
I would like to know sites, or resources, providing similar normed data for other languages, especially French and Japanese.
The positive effects of an IB (International Baccalaureate) on an individual's education are well attested. For example, the ratio of admission to the top universities in the world is strongly in favour of students with an IB background. Here in Japan, the Ministry of Education is promoting a plan to massively increase the number of schools offering an IB education (mainly in Japanese, but with English-medium content too) in the near future. This is probably a good thing generally since Japan's education system is said not to adequately foster critical thinking skills.
My question concerns the wider effect, if any, of introducing an IB curriculum on the curriculum of regular state school education systems around the world. I am interested in this especially regarding the notion of a pluri-lingual view of language learning. Further, is there a spill-over effect from the IB philosophy on the wider education system, or can one be predicted? If anyone has specific information or knows of case studies concerning this, I would be glad to hear. Or indeed might there even be a negative effect, with the stronger students being siphoned off to IB schools? Many thanks in advance, David
