Hostname: page-component-8448b6f56d-dnltx Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-04-16T19:40:25.426Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

EFL students’ vocabulary learning in NS-NNS e-mail interactions: Do they learn new words by imitation?

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 January 2010

Akihiko Sasaki  and
Osamu Takeuchi
Akihiko Sasaki*
Affiliation:
Kwansei Gakuin Junior High School, 1-1-155 Uegahara, Nishinomiya, Hyogo 662-8501, JAPAN (email: asasaki@kwansei.ac.jp)
Osamu Takeuchi*
Affiliation:
Kansai University, 3-3-35 Yamate-cho, Suita, Osaka 564-8680, JAPAN (email: takeuchi@ipcku.kansai-u.ac.jp)
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

The present study investigated Japanese students’ EFL vocabulary development through e-mail interactions with a native English speaker (NS), with primary focus on students’ imitation of new words. According to sociocultural theory, learners can internalize new linguistic knowledge by imitating an expert’s expressions to create his/her own utterances. This study, therefore, specifically examined whether (1) students could imitate the new vocabulary items provided by the NS tutor, and (2) they could retain these items at the end of the project. An examination of the e-mail log showed that students did imitate and use some of the lexis provided by the NS. The results of the post-test also revealed that some of the imitated words were subsequently retained. However, there were some words that had been learned without imitation. The questionnaire survey and the students’ interview comments indicated that students memorized a considerable number of new words provided by the NS by repeatedly reading them in e-mail text, as well as in other learning contexts, such as regular classes and independent study, through noticing, retrieving, and generating the meaning/form of each word (Nation, 2001). The study concluded that vocabulary learning via e-mail takes place not only by a single process such as imitation, but also by a combination of various processes functioning in an integrated manner.

Keywords

E-mailvocabularyEFLimitationsociocultural theory
Type
Research Article
Information
ReCALL , Volume 22 , Issue 1 , January 2010 , pp. 70 - 82
Copyright
Copyright © European Association for Computer Assisted Language Learning 2010

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Arnold, N.Ducate, L. (2006) Future foreign language teachers’ social and cognitive collaboration in an online environment. Language Learning & Technology, 10: 42–66.Google Scholar
Beltz, J. (2002) Social dimensions of telecollaborative foreign language study. Language Learning & Technology, 6: 60–81.Google Scholar
Chapelle, C. (2005) Interactionist SLA theory in CALL research. In: Egbert, J. L. and Petrie, G. M. (eds.), CALL research perspectives. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum, 53–64.Google Scholar
Ellis, R. (2003) Task-based language learning and teaching. Oxford: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Fotos, S. (2004) Writing as talking: E-mail exchange for promoting proficiency and motivation in the foreign language classroom. In: Fotos, S. and Browne, C. M. (eds.), New perspectives on CALL for second language classrooms. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum, 93–107.Google Scholar
Lantolf, J. P. (2000) Introducing sociocultural theory. In: Lantolf, J. P. (ed.), Sociocultural theory and second language learning. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1–26.Google Scholar
Lantolf, J. P. (2006) Sociocultural theory and L2: state of the art. Studies in Second Language Acquisition, 28: 67–109.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lantolf, J. P.Appel, G. (1994) Theoretical framework; an introduction to Vygotskian approaches to second language research. In: Lantolf, J. P. and Appel, G. (eds.), Vygotskian approaches to second language research. Norwood, NJ: Ablex Publishing, 1–32.Google Scholar
Mitchell, R.Myles, F. (1998) Second language learning theories. London: Arnold.Google Scholar
Myles, F. (2002) Second language acquisition (SLA) research: its significance for learning and teaching issues. Subject Centre for Languages, Linguistics and Area Studies Good Practice Guide. http://www.llas.ac.uk/resources/goodpractice.aspx?resourceid=421Google Scholar
Nation, I. S. P. (2001) Learning vocabulary in another language. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Newman, F.Holzman, L. (1993) Lev Vygotsky: revolutionary scientist. NY: Routledge.Google Scholar
Smith, B. (2005) The relationship between negotiated interaction, learner uptake, and lexical acquisition in task-based computer-mediated communication. TESOL Quarterly, 39: 33–58.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Tanaka, K. (1998) Internet-no kyoikuriyou-no kouzo-teki rikai [Structural understanding of the Internet in pedagogical use]. http://home.att.ne.jp/iota/ktanaka/ronbun/ronbun17.htmGoogle Scholar
Tanaka, N. (2005) Collaborative interaction as the process of task completion in task-based CALL classrooms. The JALT CALL Journal, 1: 21–40.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Thorne, S. L. (2003) Artifacts and cultures-of-use in intercultural communication. Language Learning & Technology, 7: 38–67.Google Scholar
Warschauer, M. (2005) Sociocultural perspectives on CALL. In: Egbert, J. L. and Petrie, G. M. (eds.), CALL research perspectives. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum, 41–51.Google Scholar
Vygotsky, L. S. (1978) Mind in society: the development of higher psychological processes. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.Google Scholar
Vygotsky, L. S. (1986) Thought and language. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.Google Scholar