Osaka Jogakuin College

About: Osaka Jogakuin College is a education organization based out in Osaka, Japan. It is known for research contribution in the topics: Vocabulary & Reading (process). The organization has 11 authors who have published 34 publications receiving 288 citations.

Predicting L2 reading proficiency with modalities of vocabulary knowledge: A bootstrapping approach:

Abstract: Vocabulary’s relationship to reading proficiency is frequently cited as a justification for the assessment of L2 written receptive vocabulary knowledge. However, to date, there has been relatively ...

Evidence for the Adoption of the Flemma as an Appropriate Word Counting Unit

Abstract: An important gap in the field of second language vocabulary research concerns the ability of Asian learners of English as a Foreign Language (EFL) to comprehend inflectional and derivational word family members. Japanese EFL learners (N = 279) were divided into three lexical proficiency groups, and their ability to comprehend inflectional and derivational English forms was measured with an English to Japanese translation test. A significant difference among the participants' ability to comprehend 12 base forms, associated inflected forms, and associated derived forms was found across the three proficiency groups, and even among participants who demonstrated mastery of the first 4,000 or 5,000 base forms of English. The flemma, a word's base form and associated inflectional forms, was found to be an appropriate word counting unit for most participants. Results are important because corpus research findings demonstrate that in cases where the word family provides 98 per cent coverage of texts, the flemma only provides 85 per cent coverage of the same texts. Thus, considering the detrimental impact to reading comprehension from only small decreases in the percentage of known tokens within a text, the results question the inferences made in word family-based research.

Loanwords and Vocabulary Size Test Scores: A Case of Different Estimates for Different L1 Learners.

Abstract: The article investigated how the inclusion of loanwords in vocabulary size tests affected the test scores of two L1 groups of EFL learners: Hebrew and Japanese. New BNC- and COCA-based vocabulary size tests were constructed in three modalities: word form recall, word form recognition, and word meaning recall. Depending on the test modality, the tests measured the knowledge of 8,000 lemmas or word families through 80 randomly sampled items, 6 of which were loanwords in Hebrew and 13 in Japanese. Therefore, we added the same number of non-loanwords from corresponding frequencies and performed within-subject comparisons between the scores of the original tests with loanwords and their non-loanword versions in which non-loanwords replaced loanwords. The comparisons were done for each L1 group, at each test modality, and at three L2 proficiency levels, as defined by the total non-loanword test score. We also compared the two L1 groups on the degree of loanword effect. In both L1 groups, tests with loan...

Social Networking Behind Student Lines in Japan

Abstract: In a cross-cultural educational context of TEFL in Japan, the author sought to enhance the integrative motivation of students toward the target language community through a supplementary online dimension. The social networking site (SNS), Mixi, was selected because it is familiar to most college students in Japan. The Mixi Japanese language interface is illustrated in this chapter, describing functions possibly applicable to education. A YouTube video that introduces Mixi in English, made in authentic collaboration with students, is also referenced as a representative CALL 2.0 classroom activity. More importantly, joining Mixi presented an opportunity to go behind the lines into student territory. Teachers and students, whether foreign or Japanese, customarily maintain their social distance in terms of separate affiliations. Social networking with Japanese students further involves issues of online technological proficiency, biliteracy, and the necessity of an invitation. The author negotiated with three 2007-08 classes on networking through Mixi, with varying outcomes extending beyond the classroom and the school year. Metaphors of lines and perspectives including “technoscapes” (Appadurai, 1990) are proposed to interpret the results, but Japanese socioculture may be most salient to account for the particulars. Student attitudes are probed as to a possible ambivalence in valuing their free expression in Mixi versus the integrative motivation of social involvement with a teacher. One prediction was that results would differ as to whether or not a teacher was welcome in a student community depending on how students were approached for an invitation. Social networking is proposed as a Web 2.0 educational approach that is authentic, collaborative, and immersive in cutting through power hierarchies and positively blurring the distinction between the classroom and the real life of students and teachers, which nowadays includes a virtual dimension.