1. Waseda University Developing an Intelligent Reading System for Vocabulary Learning GLoCALL 2009 Glenn Stockwell, Ph.D. Professor & Assistant Dean (Academic Affairs) School of Law, Waseda University

2. Waseda University Vocabulary Acquisition  Importance of vocabulary in L2 learning indisputable (e.g., Zimmerman, 1997)  Vocabulary can be naturally acquired through extensive reading (Coady, 1997)  Significantly more effective when supplemented with targeted vocabulary activities (Paribakht & Wesche, 1997)  Wide range of books and articles about vocabulary (e.g., Nation, 2009)

3. Waseda University CALL and Vocabulary Learning  An area that has attracted interest since the early days of CALL  One of the most commonly researched areas in CALL (Stockwell, 2007)  Change from drill-type activities in 1980s to varied approaches (Varied Courseware, Online Activities, Dictionaries, Corpora & Concordancing, & CMC)  Three types of CALL programs for learning vocabulary: courseware with vocabulary, texts with glosses and dedicated software (Ma, 2004)

4. Waseda University CALL and Vocabulary Learning Examples of CALL vocabulary learning:  Annotations:  Written texts, with both textual (De Ridder, 2002) and non- textual (Yeh & Wang, 2003) annotations  Dedicated Software:  Deduction: learners deduct meaning from context  Usage: learners consolidate meaning through usage exercises  Examples: words are presented in authentic contexts  Retrieval: learners must type the correct word for a given sentence (Groot, 2000)

5. Waseda University CALL and Vocabulary Learning  Many of these studies are almost completely dictated by the teacher  The choice of vocabulary  Example sentences, activities, etc.  Little understanding of what learners actually know  Difficult to create targeted vocabulary activities for learners

6. Waseda University Method  Data Collection  Vocabulary pre-test  Access logs  Procedure  Vocabulary pre-test based on vocabulary items appearing in the readings  Explanation of online reading activities  Reading activities conducted in class  Vocabulary activities done outside of class

7. Waseda University Method  Subjects:  43 1 st year law major students at Waseda University, taking a compulsory English reading and writing course  Students met once a week for a 90 minute class  Some variation in English level (between 450 – 650 TOEIC, but generally at lower end)  Used computers in first semester for listening activities and practice (c.f., Stockwell, 2008)

8. Waseda University Method  Online System  Written in PHP/MySQL (integrated with Moodle)  Content and interface kept separate  Class time spent on how to use the system  Kept independent logs and Moodle logs  Reading Activities  Carried out during class time  Short reading passages provided with hypertext linked words (most content words linked)

9. Waseda University Method  Reading Activities  Links were not initially salient, but changed colour when the mouse was passed over them  A pop-up window provided details of the word  Records were kept regarding all words clicked and the time the window was open  Learner activity was recorded and organised

10. Waseda University Method  Reading Activities

11. Waseda University Method  Reading Activities

12. Waseda University Method  Vocabulary Activities  Choose appropriate word for sentence  Choose appropriate word for English definition  Choose appropriate word for Japanese meaning  Match list of words with their English definitions  Write a word for an English definition  Write the appropriate word for a sentence More Active

13. Waseda University Method: Vocabulary Activities

14. Waseda University Method: Vocabulary Activities

15. Waseda University Method: Vocabulary Activities

16. Waseda University Method: Intelligent Language Tutoring Systems

17. Waseda University Method  Research Questions  Do learners look up meanings of words that are deemed as “unknown” according to a pre-test?  How long to learners spend looking at word descriptions?  How much time do learners spend on vocabulary activities outside of class time?  Can vocabulary profiles be constructed through annotated reading activities?

18. Waseda University Results (thus far…)

19. Waseda University Results (thus far…)

20. Waseda University Results (thus far…) CategoryM (Seconds)SD Unknown12.26.32 Known10.65.74  Time spent reading vocabulary descriptions

21. Waseda University Results (thus far…) CategoryM (Minutes)SD PC14.11.47 Mobile2.80.29  Time spent on vocabulary activities/week

22. Waseda University Results (thus far…) CategoryM (Seconds)SD PC105.111.2 Mobile203.516.8  Time spent on vocabulary activities/task

23. Waseda University Results (thus far…) JACET Level Known Vocabulary 182.3 274.2 357.3 461.2 555.8 642.6 748.9 832.7 Other16.2  Sample vocabulary profile (Student 17)

24. Waseda University Results (thus far…)  Sample vocabulary profile (Student 17)

25. Waseda University Comments  Learners do not look up all words deemed as “unknown”  Possibly guess from context  Learnt elsewhere since pre-test  Pre-test not an accurate reflection  “Known” words looked up  Confirmation of meaning  Learners want to see examples or hear pronunciation

26. Waseda University Comments  Construction of basic profiles possible  BUT very early in the research  Need to see trends with larger vocabulary bank over longer period of time  Ex-post facto results  Mobile phone usage consistent with earlier studies (see Stockwell, 2007, 2008)  Activities took markedly longer on mobile phones compared with PCs

27. Waseda University Question Time Thank you!