Yuichi Suzuki

This study investigates the effects of vocabulary support on engagement and lexical learning in paired interactive information-gap tasks. Sixty-six Japanese learners of English as a foreign language (EFL) performed the tasks either with or without access to task-relevant collocations. Engagement was operationalized through a task-driven composite approach, in which discourse-analytic indicators from transcribed interactions were summarized via principal component analysis. This resulted in three engagement patterns reflecting (a) use and negotiation of target collocations, (b) co-construction of task-relevant information and joint meaning making, and (c) task-maintenance behaviors. Bayesian regression and mediation analyses showed meaningful group differences in the engagement patterns but provided little evidence that these patterns mediated gains in productive knowledge of the target collocations, suggesting a complex relationship between task engagement and vocabulary knowledge development. Methodologically, the study illustrates how this approach can retain the visibility of engagement indicators, allowing greater interpretability of findings in relation to task design and instructional decision-making.

Background: University students around the world learn English as a foreign language (EFL) as it is considered vital for their post‐education opportunities locally and internationally. Optimising English language learning in EFL classrooms at the university is thus important. Aim: This study examined the roles of classroom support (teacher‐to‐class support, self‐to‐class support and peer‐to‐class support) and psychological needs satisfaction in Japanese university students' willingness to communicate (WTC) in English in the EFL classroom. Sample and Methods: Harnessing self‐determination theory and drawing on a sample of 396 students from five Japanese universities, single (students) and multilevel (students and classrooms) structural equation models were run to elucidate the process implicated in students' WTC in English in the EFL classroom. Results: The study found that classroom support for EFL learning predicted psychological needs satisfaction in the EFL classroom and that psychological needs satisfaction predicted students' WTC in English in the EFL classroom. In addition to these direct effects, psychological needs satisfaction significantly mediated the links between classroom support and WTC in English. Conclusion: Our results shed light on the role of classroom support in fostering students' needs satisfaction and WTC in English in the EFL classroom. We discuss how our results can help teachers consider the role of support in creating an optimal learning environment in the EFL classroom.

This classroom study explored the effects of vocabulary support on collocation learning and affective responses in task‐based language teaching (TBLT) among English‐as‐a‐foreign‐language (EFL) learners at a Japanese university. For this purpose, 68 EFL learners completed two interactive information‐gap tasks under either vocabulary‐support or task‐only condition, in which the first group received a list of collocations, whereas the second did not. Collocation learning was assessed through a pretest and a posttest, and learners' affective responses to the tasks were measured using a posttask questionnaire. Results revealed that the vocabulary‐support group outperformed the task‐only group in collocation learning. However, the task‐only group demonstrated higher positive psychological states, including enjoyment, pride, and perceived partners' collaborativeness, as well as lower boredom. Higher‐proficiency learners in the task‐only group exhibited stronger pride than those in the vocabulary‐support group. Furthermore, collocation learning gains were correlated with enjoyment, boredom, and perceived collaborativeness in the vocabulary‐support condition only. These findings underscore the potential link between emotions and lexical learning, suggesting that vocabulary support improves collocation learning but may diminish positive affect during tasks. Thus, further research on the relationship between emotion and cognition in TBLT is needed to seek an optimal balance between linguistic support and affective dimensions.

This is an investigation of the interplay between collaborative pre-task planning language, task repetition, and L2 proficiency in oral narrative task performance. A total of 128 EFL learners engaged in paired collaborative planning under one of four conditions: L1, L2, combined L1–L2, and no planning. Subsequently, each participant individually completed an oral narrative task four times. Task performance was analyzed for utterance fluency, and L2 proficiency was measured using an elicited imitation task. Results indicated that while the language that learners used to plan did not significantly affect fluency, its interaction with learner proficiency was crucial. More proficient L2 learners benefited most from L1 planning, particularly in formulation and monitoring processes, whereas learners with lower proficiency struggled in this condition. Task repetition also enhanced fluency across all conditions, partially mitigating initial proficiency-related differences. The study highlights the importance of learners’ individual differences, in this case proficiency level, in task-based language teaching. Findings challenge a one-size-fits-all approach to task implementation and support the judicious incorporation of L1 during pre-task planning, particularly for more proficient learners.

To investigate the effects of vocabulary practice timing on lexical learning and neural processing during communication tasks, we engaged 80 Japanese learners of English (40 pairs) in information-gap tasks with vocabulary practice in the pre-task or post-task phase. Learning of verb-noun combinations was orally assessed through translation and narrative tasks one week later. To quantify neural coupling between participants during task-based interaction, hyperscanning with fNIRS was used to measure inter-brain synchronization (IBS). Results showed that pre-task vocabulary practice led to greater learning, while post-task practice resulted in higher IBS in the brain region underlying language processing. Better vocabulary practice performance predicted more automatic use of multiword expressions in the post-task condition. IBS in the brain regions underlying social cognition and language processing predicted multiword learning. These findings reveal how practice timing influences neural synchronization and language acquisition, highlighting the importance of balancing lexical learning with communication processes in task-based language teaching.

Automatization is the learning process by which controlled, effortful second language (L2) processing becomes automatic, fast, and effortless through practice – a critical transition for L2 development. Achieving automaticity allows learners to progress from laborious language use to fluent, real-time communication by freeing limited cognitive resources. This research timeline synthesizes four decades of laboratory and classroom research on automatization, bridging cognitive learning theories with pedagogical practice. We trace five key research strands: (1) cognitive mechanisms, including the explicit-implicit knowledge interface; (2) skill development trajectories across phonological, lexical, morphosyntax, and pragmatics domains; (3) instructional approaches promoting automatization of knowledge and skills through deliberate and systematic practice; (4) methodological advances in measuring automaticity (e.g., reaction time, coefficient of variation, neural measures); and (5) individual differences in long-term memory systems (declarative and procedural memory). This timeline offers a comprehensive perspective on how automatization research has significantly advanced our understanding of L2 learning.

The aim of this study was to contribute to the field of computer-assisted language learning (CALL) by investigating the individualization of intentional vocabulary learning. A total of 118 Japanese-speaking university students studied 20 low-frequency English words using flashcard software over two learning sessions. The participants practiced retrieval of vocabulary under different learning schedules, with short or long time intervals between encounters of the same word in each learning session: Short–Short, Short–Long, Long–Short, and Long–Long. Two individual difference measures – learning efficiency and language aptitude – were examined as predictors of long-term second language (L2) vocabulary retention. Learning efficiency was operationalized as the number of trials needed to reach a learning criterion in each session, whereas a component of aptitude (rote memory ability) was measured by a subtest of Language Aptitude Battery for the Japanese. Multiple regression and dominance analyses were conducted to evaluate the relative importance of learning efficiency and language aptitude in predicting delayed vocabulary posttest scores. The results revealed that learning efficiency in the second learning session was the strongest predictor of vocabulary retention. Language aptitude, however, did not significantly predict vocabulary retention. Moreover, the predictive power of learning efficiency increased when the data were analyzed within each learning schedule, underscoring the need to assess learners’ abilities under specific learning conditions for optimizing their computer-assisted learning performance. These findings not only inform the development of more effective, individualized CALL systems for L2 acquisition but also emphasize the importance of gauging individuals’ abilities such as learning efficiency in a more flexible, context-sensitive manner.

One key tenet of Global Englishes for Language Teaching (GELT) is that the native English speaker should no longer serve as the role model for second language (L2) English users. Such a view does not discount that some degree of linguistic knowledge is necessary for successful global communication. However, GELT scholarship has remained relatively silent on the process and product of L2 acquisition. In this paper, we propose integrating L2 acquisition theory into GELT pedagogical practices without relying on theoretical perspectives steeped in some form of native speakerism. At the heart of our discussion is the concept of linguistic knowledge–implicit (unconscious) and explicit (conscious)–emphasizing the role of explicit learning processes in GELT classrooms rather than adhering solely to the idealistic goal of implicit competence. Because L2 learners need to reflect on linguistic knowledge (repertoire) and strategies for effective global communication, we propose that their learning should aim to develop skill sets of using explicit and implicit knowledge dynamically and efficiently in varied communicative contexts. We argue that skill acquisition theory offers a useful framework for GELT, as it can account for the development of automatized explicit knowledge alongside implicit knowledge, aligning with GELT objectives of fostering multicompetent English users. We illustrate how this perspective can inform classroom activities such as shadowing and task repetition. These activities not only promote deliberate, explicit learning processes but also integrate seamlessly with awareness–raising activities commonly employed in GELT, enhancing learners' communication strategies and capacity for effective English use in global contexts.