Leander S. Hughes

Saitama University · Center for English Education and Development

This study replicates research by Taguchi, Magid, and Papi (2009) regarding the L2 motivational self system, a framework for understanding second language learning motivation in terms of how learners view themselves as users of the second language (Dörnyei, 2005). The study was of 922 students at a national university in Japan who completed a quest...

Adding context to a vocabulary learning task should increase retention by inducing more evaluation and thus deeper processing of the target words. This study points out issues with previous studies that failed to find a significant positive effect for contextualization and investigates the effectiveness of a contextualized vocabulary learning task...

This review discusses and compares the findings of 38 peer-reviewed studies on text-based synchronous computer-mediated communication for second or foreign language learning from over the past twelve years. Research themes that emerged include: modality, corrective feedback, noticing, alignment and uptake, as well as task design/conditions and grou...

This study introduces an online text-based language learning application offering a novel kind of computer mediation which is 'dynamic' in that learner output is monitored and revised to optimize learning. Two experimental versions of this application are compared: a 'chat' version which administers a text-based synchronous computer-mediated commun...

Based on queries from students who frequently visit the English Resource Center (ERC) at Saitama University, this research team set out to examine what motivational factors encourage ERC attendees to participate for an extended period of time in the Center on a regular basis. Initial indications are that social collaborative learning amongst peers...

Despite the plethora of language learning applications currently available online, few offer the ability to learn languages communicatively. Text Detective (TD) was created to fill this gap. TD (http://su-apps.org/td) automatically generates and administers gamified communicative tasks from virtually any text. During these tasks, learners communica...

This presentation describes the results of a preliminary study investigating the effect of text-based synchronous computer mediated communication (SCMC) on language acquisition. The study involved 47 learners of English at a public university in Japan who were randomly assigned to use either the communicative version (n = 24) or self-study version...

This study investigated the effects of online extensive reading in a syntactically parsed text format compared to regular block format on speed, retention, and proficiency in English reading among Japanese learners of English. A syntactically parsed text format breaks sentences of a text into smaller groups of words or chunks with the intention of...

This study seeks to obtain a preliminary evaluation of the validity and reliability of reading questions generated by the program Jist for the purpose of gauging learners’ online extensive reading progress. The study specifically aims to compare Jist-generated questions to teacher-generated questions in terms of their internal consistency reliabili...

This study investigates the benefits of attending the Saitama University English Resource Center (ERC), a self-access center for English language learning open to all students at the university and managed by full-time faculty who alternate as center advisors. The study builds on previous research to explore how advisors promote language learning t...

Through the establishment of interactionally rich environments, conversation rooms and self-access centers encourage attendees to be extremely competent and resourceful language, cultural and social learners. The following paper outlines four unique yet contrasting aspects of one such self-access center—the English Resource Center at Saitama Univer...

The following investigates 50 university English students' study habits after being introduced to LLEX, a new online tool for locating and studying the unfamiliar vocabulary in a text. Results of a questionnaire administered to students at the end of the semester following the introduction of LLEX indicated that the majority of students frequently...

While the language teaching community in Japan pays much lip service to communicative language teaching and its offshoots, more traditional teaching approaches focusing on drills and grammar translation are still the norm in many language classrooms. One of the reasons for this may be that many teachers do not have a clear idea of what "communicati...