Does Word Coach Coach Words?
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.11139/cj.28.3.639-661Keywords:
Vocabulary Acquisition, Research-based Instruction, Data-driven Learning, Corpus-based Learning, Computer-assisted Language Learning, Game-based LearningAbstract
This study reports on the design and testing of an integrated suite of vocabulary training games for Nintendo™ collectively designated My Word Coach (Ubisoft, 2008). The games’ design is based on a wide range of learning research, from classic studies on recycling patterns to frequency studies of modern corpora. Its general usage and learning effects were tested over a four-month period, with fifty age and level appropriate Francophone English as a second language learners in a Montreal school. A battery of observational and empirical tests tracked experimental and quasi-control groups’ lexical development on the dimensions of form recognition, meaning recognition, free production, and speed of lexical access, as well as features of game use. Two months’ gaming coincided with gains in recognition vocabulary normally achieved in one to two years, longer oral productions, reduced code switching, and increased speed of lexical access. Further questions are raised about the prior knowledge Word Coach assumes, the importance of post-game follow up, and the future of commercial gaming in language learning.
References
Adolphs, S., & Schmitt, N. (2003). Lexical coverage of spoken discourse. Applied Linguistics, 24(4), 425-438.
Atkinson, R. C. (1972). Optimizing the learning of a second-language vocabulary. Journal of Experimental Psychology, 96(1), 124-129.
Barcroft, J. (2007). When knowing grammar depends on knowing vocabulary: Native-speaker grammaticality judgements of sentences with real and unreal words. The Canadian Modern Language Review, 63(3), 313-343.
Bates, E., & Goodman, J. (1997). On the inseparability of grammar & the lexicon. Language & Cognitive Processes, 12, 507-584.
Biemiller, A., & Slonim, N. (2001). Estimating root word vocabulary growth in normative and advantaged populations: Evidence for a common sequence of vocabulary acquisition. Journal of Educational Psychology, 93(3), 498-520.
Cambridge advanced learners’ dictionary, 2nd ed. (2005). New York: Cambridge University Press.
Chall, J., & Jakobs, V. (2003). Poor children's fourth-grade slump. American Educator, 27(1), 14-15.
Cobb, T. (1999). Breadth and depth of vocabulary acquisition with hands-on concordancing. Computer Assisted Language Learning, 12, 345-360.
Cobb, T. (2007). Computing the vocabulary demands of L2 reading. Language Learning and Technology, 11(3), 38-63. Available at http://llt.msu.edu/vol11num3/cobb/default.html
Cobb, T. (2008). Necessary or nice? The role of computers in L2 reading. In Z. Han & N. Anderson (Eds.), L2 Reading research and instruction: Crossing the boundaries (pp. 144-173). Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press.
Cobb, T. (2010). Learning about language and learners from computer programs. Reading in a Foreign Language, 22(1), 181-200.
Ebbinghaus, H. (1885/1913). Memory: A contribution to experimental psychology. New York: Teachers College, Columbia University.
Elgort, I. (2007). The role of intentional, decontextualized learning in second language vocabulary acquisition: Evidence from primed lexical decision tasks with advanced bilinguals. Unpublished doctoral dissertation, Victoria University of Wellington, New Zealand.
Ellis, N. (1994). Vocabulary acquisition: The implicit ins and outs of explicit cognitive mediation. In N. Ellis (Ed.), Implicit & explicit learning of languages (pp. 211-282). London: Academic Press.
Fukkink, R., Hulstijn, J., & Simis, A. (2005). Does training in second-language word recognition skills affect reading comprehension? An experimental study. The Modern Language Journal, 89(1), 54-57.
Gee, J. P. (2003). What video games have to teach us about learning & literacy. New York: Palgrave Macmillan
Godwin-Jones, R. (2010). Emerging technologies from memory palaces to spacing algorithms: Approaches to second-language vocabulary learning. Language Learning & Technology, 14(2), 4-11. Available at http://llt.msu.edu/vol14num2/emerging.pdf
Grabe, W. (2009). Reading in a second language: Moving from theory to practice. New York: Cambridge University Press.
Gruneberg, M., Morris, P., & Sykes, R. (Eds.) (1978). Practical aspects of memory: Current research and issues, Vol. 1: Memory in everyday life. Chicester: John Wiley.
Horst, M., Cobb, T. & Meara, P. (1997). Beyond A Clockwork Orange: Acquiring second-language vocabulary through reading. Reading in a Foreign Language, 11, 207-223.
Hulstijn, J. H. (2002). Towards a unified account of the representation, processing and acquisition of second language knowledge. Second Language Research, 18(3), 193-223.
Jiang, N. (2004). Semantic transfer and its implications for vocabulary teaching in a second language. The Modern Language Journal, 88, 416-432.
Laufer, B. (2005). Instructed second language vocabulary learning: The fault in the ‘default hypothesis’. In A. Housen & M. Pierrard (Eds.), Investigations in instructed second language acquisition (pp. 286-303). Amsterdam: Mouton de Gruyter.
Laufer, B. (2000). Task effect on instructed vocabulary learning: The hypothesis of 'involvement.' Selected Papers from AILA ’99 Tokyo (pp. 47-62). Tokyo: Waseda University Press.
Laufer, B., & P. Nation, P. (2001). Passive vocabulary size and speed of meaning recognition: Are they related? In S. Foster-Cohen & A. Nizegorodcew (Eds.), EUROSLA Yearbook 1 (pp. 7-28). Amsterdam: Benjamins.
Leech, G., Rayson, P., & Wilson, W. (2001). Word frequencies in written and spoken English: Based on the British National Corpus. London: Longman.
Mayer, M. (1967). A boy, a dog, and a frog. New York: Penguin Putman.
Meara, P. (1980). Vocabulary acquisition: A neglected aspect of language learning. Language Teaching and Linguistics: Abstracts , 13, 221-246.
Meara, P. (1995). The importance of an early emphasis on L2 vocabulary. The Language Teacher, 19(2), 8-11. (See also http://www.lextutor.ca/research/meara_lists.mht)
Meara, P., & Buxton, B. (1987). An alternative to multiple choice vocabulary tests. Language Testing, 4, 142-54.
Milton, J., & Meara, P. (1995). How periods abroad affect vocabulary growth in a foreign language. ITL Review of Applied Linguistics, 107/108, 17-34.
Mondria, J.-A., & Mondria-De Vries, S. (1994). Efficiently memorizing words with the help of word cards and 'hand computer': Theory and applications. System, 22, 47-57.
Mondria, J.-A., & Wit-de Boer, M. (1991). The effects of contextual richness on the guessability and the retention of words in a foreign language. Applied Linguistics , 12(3), 249-267.
Nakata, T. (2011). A critical investigation of flashcard software for second language vocabulary learning. Computer Assisted Language Learning, 24(1), 17-38.
Nation, P. (2006). How large a vocabulary is needed for reading and listening? Canadian Modern Language Review, 63(1), 59-82.
Nation, P. (2001). Learning vocabulary in another language. New York: Cambridge University Press.
Nation, P. (1990). Teaching and learning vocabulary. Rowley, MA: Newbury House.
Nation, P., & Beglar, D. (2007). A vocabulary size test. Language Teacher, 31(7), 9-13.
Oxford University Computing Services. (2000). The British National Corpus. Available at http://www.natcorp.ox.ac.uk/
Pensky, M. (2006). Don’t bother me Mom – I’m learning. St Paul, MN: Paragon House.
Segalowitz, N., & Hulstijn, J. (2005). Automaticity in bilingualism and second- language learning. In J. Kroll & A. de Groot (Eds.), Handbook of bilingualism: Psycholinguistic approaches (pp. 371- 388). Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press.
Schmitt, N., Jiang, X., & Grabe, W. (2011). The percentage of words known in a text and reading comprehension. Modern Language Journal, 95(1), 26-43.
Snellings, P., van Gelderen, A., & de Glopper, K. (2002). Lexical retrieval: An aspect of fluent L2 production that can be enhanced. Language Learning, 52(4), 723-754.
Spector, J., & Ross, S. (2008). Introduction: Special thematic issue on game- based learning. Education Technology Research & Development, 56, 509-510.
VanPatten, W. (1990). Attending to form and content in the input: An experiment in consciousness. Studies in Second Language Acquisition, 12, 287-301.
Zahar, R., Cobb, T., & Spada, N. (2001). Acquiring vocabulary through reading: Effects of frequency and contextual richness. Canadian Modern Language Review, 57(4), 541-572.
