ITL - International Journal of Applied Linguistics - Volume 176, Issue 1, 2025

Abstract

This paper accounts for the development and initial validation of a yes/no vocabulary test of North Sámi called North Sámi Vocabulary Test (NSVT). North Sámi (NS) is an Indigenous language spoken in northern Scandinavia. Being an endangered language, NS is in need of revitalisation efforts. One contribution is the provision of proficiency assessment tools. We administered a 75-item NSVT version (50 real verbs and 25 pseudoverbs) to users of North Sámi in Sweden and Norway (N = 289). Evidence of high item- and person-based reliability and separation indices were observed, as well as support for a number of validity facets. High correlations existed between NSVT scores and self-reported and rated spoken proficiency. The NSVT provides quick and reliable assessment of vocabulary knowledge and an indication of overall language proficiency in North Sámi.

Abstract

This study investigated the role of working memory and attention control in incidental L2 vocabulary learning from engaging in reading-while-listening. Fifty-nine Cantonese ESL learners engaged in reading-while-listening to two English stories in which twelve adjective-pseudonoun collocations appeared three times in meaningful contexts. Immediately after the reading-while-listening task and again one week later, participants completed unannounced posttests that measured their receptive and productive knowledge about the pseudonouns and their collocations. Their working memory was assessed with an automated operation span task, and attention control ability was measured with three squared tasks that consisted of Stroop, Flanker, and Simon squared tasks. The results indicated that attention control played a significant role in remembering the target pseudonoun forms and their collocational features for both recall and recognition. The working memory, by contrast, did not emerge as a determinant factor. The implications of the findings were discussed in the context of L2 vocabulary learning.

Abstract

This study examines the effects of informal English exposure on vocabulary, grammar, and writing. A total of 178 Galician adolescent learners of English completed a placement test, a language background and an out-of-school English activities questionnaire, and three language tasks: a grammaticality judgement test, a vocabulary test, and a writing task. Findings revealed that the most common out-of-school activities were listening to music, watching films without subtitles, and gaming. Positive correlations were found between learners’ performance on the language tasks and the activities of watching films without subtitles, watching films with captions, reading, writing, and, to a smaller extent, listening to music, gaming, and speaking online. Gender-related differences were noticed in the frequency of some out-of-school activities and the correlations with learners’ performance on the three language tasks.

Abstract

Although there is a growing interest in assessing how much L2 receptive affix knowledge learners have, research testing this knowledge using an extensive, standardized measure is relatively scarce. This study tested 21 L1 and 107 L2 learners of English to assess receptive knowledge of forms, meanings, and grammatical functions of 118 derivational affixes. Participants’ responses on the Word Part Levels Test were analyzed in mixed effects logistic regression models that examined the effects of affix difficulty, affix knowledge aspect, and vocabulary levels in predicting response accuracy. Results indicated that L1 and L2 affix knowledge differed depending on affix difficulty and knowledge aspect, L2 affix knowledge increased as a function of L2 vocabulary levels, and there was a clear difference between learners that had not mastered the first 1,000 frequency level and the rest of the learners. This suggests that developing the knowledge of the highest frequency vocabulary is critical to improve affix knowledge. The importance of using standardized measures of vocabulary in teaching and researching vocabulary knowledge is also discussed.

This article reviews Policy and practice for multilingual educational settings. Comparisons across contexts

This article reviews Multilingual Approach to Diversity in Education (MADE): A Methodology for Linguistically and Culturally Diverse Classrooms978-3-031-17334-9£ 119.99978-3-031-17335-6£ 96.29