Gamification in second language acquisition research is a popular topic but there are few empirical comparative studies in the literature. This quasi-experimental mixed-approach study enrolled volunteer Japanese university EFL learners to enable a comparison between two digital vocabulary flashcard learning software conditions carefully designed by the author; (1) the gamified group’s software had daily awards (i.e., consecutive day awards, medals related to daily participation, and a bonus point counter in an effort to encourage spaced spaced learning principles and discourage cramming) and (0) the non-gamified group’s did not. The daily awards had a significant effect in encouraging the gamified group to spread out their study efforts throughout the 12-week study period more effectively than the control group as they completed a lower median number of tasks per active study day (non-gamified: 104.76, gamified: 82.11; p= .021, r(75)= -.264) but studied on more days to complete a similar total number of vocabulary tasks (non-gamified: 2313.00, gamified: 2228.50; p= .601). Moreover, the gamified group significantly outperformed the non-gamified group in terms of vocabulary knowledge score gains between the pretest and posttest; p= .03, r(50)= .300. These results show the numerous and significant positive pedagogical impacts of gamified daily awards.

The selection of an appropriate word counting unit (WCU) for the purpose of second/foreign language vocabulary acquisition (SLVA) in the last decade has become a very important and relevant topic in academic circles. However, few studies address on-the-ground teaching practices and perspectives. This mixed-approach study, conducted through an online questionnaire, collected both quantitative and qualitative data from 30 ESL/EFL teachers in Japan. The questionnaire surveyed their vocabulary teaching experience and views regarding five categories of WCUs: all word tokens (i.e., All Forms and Meanings (AFM)), plemma, lemma, flemma, and Word Family (WF). The online survey revealed that most participants (i.e., those who were not aware of SLVA research and recent teaching practices) had limited experience and knowledge regarding WCUs and their impact. Another important finding is that although the WCU category participants were most experienced with is the WF (i.e., root/basic word lists), the WCU they have the highest pedagogical regard for is the lemma which considers parts of speech (POS) in vocabulary instruction and learning, followed closely by the plemma which additionally considers the various meanings words can take on, and also irregular inflectional patterns (e.g., irregular verb past tenses and past participles), and to a lesser extent the flemma which does not consider POS nor the various meanings and irregular inflectional patterns of words in vocabulary instruction.

高等教育に適した学術英単語は、主観的指標を含む広範なデータで補完されることが望ましい。本研究では、日本の大学生 222 名を対象に 24 週間にわたって実施した調査の蓄積データを報告する。参加者は、New Academic Word List（ NAWL）963 語について、主観的語彙属性である親密度、情動価、知識度を評価した。結果、親密度と知識度は高い正の相関を示し、両者の密接な関係が示唆された。また、情動価極度は、親密度とも知識度とも正の相関を示した。これらの結果は、情動価が単語の親密度と知識度にプラスの影響を与えている可能性を示している。既存の NAWL 頻度データと本研究のデータにより、客観的概念と主観的概念の両方に基づくハイブリッドな単語項目の再順序付けが可能となった。さらに、著者らは NAWL に主観的な語彙属性データを付加した。これらの拡張は、将来の詳細な研究や教育的な応用に役立てられるために電子上で公開されている。

This study reports on the important but often overlooked selection of an appropriate word counting unit (WCU) for vocabulary teaching and learning in the area of computer-assisted language learning (CALL). The differences and similarities between various categories of WCUs will be explained in detail during the presentation (i.e., all word tokens (i.e., All Forms and Meanings (AFM), plemma, lemma, flemma, and Word Family (WF)). The topic of WCUs in the last decade has gained popularity in academic circles, and recent research questions the appropriateness of the use of the WF as a WCU for ESL/EFL students (e.g., McLean, 2018; Stoeckel et al., 2020). However, few studies address on-the-ground teaching practices and perspectives. This mixed-approach study, conducted through an online questionnaire, collected both quantitative and qualitative data from 30 ESL/EFL teachers in Japan. The questionnaire surveyed their vocabulary teaching experience and views regarding five categories of WCUs (i.e., AFM, plemma, lemma, flemma, and WF). This study addresses the following three research questions: 1- How do teachers in Japan rate the various word counting units they have utilized in their teaching? 2- What are teachers’ opinions of the various types of word counting units in terms of their appropriateness for students in Japan? 3- What are the teachers’ perspectives about including additional word forms (e.g., gerunds and irregular verb patterns) as additional vocabulary/study items? The online survey revealed that most participants (i.e., those who were not aware of research and recent teaching practices) had limited experience and knowledge regarding WCUs and their impact. Another important finding is that although the WCU category participants were most experienced with is the WF (i.e., root/basic word lists), the WCU they have the highest pedagogical regard for is the lemma which considers parts of speech (POS) in vocabulary instruction and learning, followed closely by the plemma which additionally considers the various meanings words can take on, and also irregular inflectional patterns (e.g., irregular verb past tenses and past participles), and to a lesser extent the flemma which does not consider POS nor the various meanings and irregular inflectional patterns of words in vocabulary instruction. [Selected References] McLean, S. (2018). Evidence for the adoption of the flemma as an appropriate word counting unit, Applied Linguistics 39: 823–845. https://doi.org/10.1093/applin/amw050 Stoeckel, T., T. Ishii, & P. Bennett. (2020). Is the lemma more appropriate than the flemma as a word counting unit?, Applied Linguistics 41: 601–606. https://doi.org/10.1093/applin/amy059

フォーミュラ（二語以上からなる定型表現；複数語連鎖）についてこれまで国内外で多くの研究や実践の蓄積があるものの、フォーミュラを効果的に学習するための方法についての研究は限られている。大学授業実践等の場で広く活用できる実行可能性の高いフォーミュラ学習を目指して、オンラインフォーミュラ学習システムを構築し、その作成に至る背景や手法を中心に発表した。