PLENARY TALK 1
Advancing vocabulary research with AI: From word profiles to multiword, multidisciplinary language models
Speaker: Professor Laurence Anthony, Waseda University, Japan

ABSTRACT
Word profiling of texts has long been a core methodology in vocabulary research. This approach is used to measure the number of words in a language, assess the vocabulary complexity and suitability of teaching materials, determine target items for vocabulary size testing, and identify discipline-specific vocabulary for language-focused learning, among other applications. While this approach has yielded many valuable insights, critics have raised concerns about the underlying model of language on which traditional profiling is based. Some have suggested that inflectional and derivational information should be considered separately, while others have suggested that multiword units (MWUs) should also be included in profiling tools. Going further, one could question the fundamental assumption in profiling that words (or MWUs) can be considered discrete items. One could also question whether general-purpose tools are appropriate for profiling discipline-specific texts, where general words may take on highly specialized meanings.

In this plenary talk, I will first review the current state of vocabulary profiling tools and methods, highlighting their strengths while also discussing their limitations. Next, I will introduce and explain the transformative potential of artificial intelligence (AI) in vocabulary research. Innovations such as word and sentence embeddings provide researchers with sophisticated models of language use that capture the rich and multifaceted nature of vocabulary. These tools enable the exploration of multiword units and the identification of distinct language patterns across various disciplines. Furthermore, I will explain how embedding models serve as the foundation for Large Language Models (LLMs), which can generate language in various genres, registers, and discipline-specific contexts, offering exciting new directions for vocabulary research. I will conclude with a discussion on the future roles of traditional vocabulary researchers and emphasize the importance of collaborative research in a multidisciplinary context.

PLENARY TALK 2
Word lists, polysemy and metaphor in academic discourse at school
Speaker: Professor Alice Deignan, University of Leeds, UK

ABSTRACT

Researchers at Leeds have conducted a large-scale corpus project to investigate how academic language evolves and complexifies as native English-speaking children progress up through the school grades in England (Deignan et al 2023). The project found that there is a significant increase in the number of word types as school study becomes more specialised, and has developed word lists which have been shared with teachers.

The project also found that even words likely already known to children may be used with unfamiliar meanings. In some cases, these may be metaphorical extensions of a known literal meaning, for instance when the term device is used in the study of literature, in collocations such as poetic device or literary device. In other cases, however, school students might be more familiar with a metaphorical meaning, while the new, academic meaning is apparently literal, in the sense of being more concrete. For instance, pressure tends to be used in a psychological sense in everyday discourse but with a concrete, technical sense in school science.

To find out to what extent school students are aware of such language issues, we interviewed five focus groups, each comprising of six 10- 12 year olds, on three separate occasions over two school years. We found that students are aware of polysemy at a basic, general level. They also have an understanding of register and genre, albeit limited and unnuanced. However, despite having some insights into language use, we found that they tended to blur everyday and academic meanings in the interviews, apparently operating with the everyday sense as a default. This may be because completely new words, such as Photosynthesis, dominate teachers' vocabulary explanations, and polysemy is less noticed both by teachers and by students as a possible problem. This raises questions about awareness of polysemy in the L1, whether it can be taught and if so to what extent this would help with the challenge of academic vocabulary.

PLENARY TALK 3
Vocabulary acquisition: Connecting perspectives in Welsh language education
Speaker: Professor Tess Fitzpatrick, Swansea University, UK

ABSTRACT

This paper uses four Welsh language-focussed research projects to explore the relationship between research and practice, and to identify connections with theories of second language learning and of vocabulary acquisition. Currently, half a million of the three million inhabitants of Wales identify as Welsh-English bilinguals. Welsh Government’s Cymraeg 2050 policy sets out to double that number by 2050. This ambition has generated an interest in new approaches to learning and teaching, and the projects reported in this paper were conducted in collaboration with policy makers and educators. The projects cover the building of the first comprehensive corpus of Welsh language; the compilation of pedagogical word lists; a systematic review of teaching methods and approaches; an examination of vocabulary learnability; and an exploration of associative networks. Both the impact of these projects on teaching/learning practice, and the ways in which findings relate back to language learning theories, will be discussed.

PAPER PRESENTATION 1
Contribution of Different Vocabulary Depth Knowledge to Reading Comprehension in Advanced ESL Readers
– Yichang Liu, University of Exeter, UK

ABSTRACT
The L2 reading literature has been interested in how vocabulary size (VS) and depth knowledge (VD) are distinct and relatively predict reading comprehension. Findings, however, did not often converge, possibly because VD is multifaceted and tended to be conceptualized and measured in different ways across studies. Few studies have aimed to directly test how different VD aspects may uniquely predict L2 reading comprehension over and beyond VS; and how the (relative) contribution of different types of vocabulary knowledge to L2 reading comprehension may be modulated by comprehension tasks.

To fill this gap, this study distinguished between two VD aspects, that is, semantic network knowledge and polysemous knowledge; and tested how they, together with VS, predicted English reading comprehension in 97 Chinese-speaking univerity students in the UK. VS was measured with a Vocabulary Levels Test (VLT). The two VD aspects were measured, respectively, with a Word Associates Test (WAT) and a task (PK) on differentiating between academic and non-academic meanings of target words. Correlations ranged from .637 to .755 (all ps < .001) between VLT, WAT, and PK, suggesting they were related but distinct. Reading comprehension was measured with three tasks: word cloze, sentence cloze, and multiple-choice passage comprehension. Hierarchical regression analysis showed that the three vocabulary measures collectively explained 74.2% of the variance in reading comprehension not considering task variations. Over and above WAT and PK, VLT explained about 12.4% of the variance in reading comprehension (β = .573; p < .001). WAT and PK were each a significant unique predictor as well (β = .196, p = .006, 2.1% variance explained; β = .193, p < .001, 1.8% variance explained; respectively). Different patterns, however, were found when the three vocabulary knowledge measures were regressed on each of the comprehension tasks. When “word cloze” (48.1% variance explained) and “sentence cloze” (44.5% variance explained) were the criterion variables, VLT remained as the dominant predictor (β =.532 and β = .527, respectively; both p .05), respectively. When the passage task was the criterion variable (42.9% variance explained), the pattern was notably distinct in that there was a relatively balanced contribution of all three vocabulary measures: β =.278 (p < .001), β = .217 (p = .026), and β =.270 (p = .016) for VLT, WAT, and PK, respectively.

These findings suggest that VS was still the strongest predictor of reading comprehension in advanced English L2 readers; nevertheless, distinct VD aspects were important as well. The distinct patterns for the comprehension tasks seem to suggest that L2 readers may utilize their lexical repertoire differentially to cope with varied task demands and comprehension needs.

PAPER PRESENTATION 2
How speakers of English as L1 and L2/additional language detect miscollocations
– Olga Makinina, York University, Canada

ABSTRACT
Research on collocation acquisition suggests that compared to speakers of English as a first language (L1), English as a second/additional language (ESL/EAL) speakers have higher error rates (ER) when recognizing/producing collocations. While most studies (e.g., Bardovi-Harlig & Bastos, 2011; Sonbul, 2015; Shi et al., 2022) attribute this difference to the English language proficiency level, age of onset of learning English, quantity/quality of exposure to an English-speaking environment, and collocation-specific characteristics, fewer studies address how the factor of English as a primary vs. second/additional language might intersect with additional extralinguistic factors (e.g., the focus of attention (FOA) and attention span while reading, and preferred vocabulary learning strategies). This presentation reports on the study that compared how 50 speakers of English as L1 and 43 ESL/EAL speakers detected miscollocations while engaging in an acceptability judgment reading task. For this task, 18 medium to high frequency Adjective + Noun and Verb + Noun collocations were randomly selected in the excerpts from Canadian news reports, and the collocates for node words were substituted with synonyms. Participants read the text excerpts and highlighted two-three-words-long combinations/phrases that seemed odd/incorrect/nonEnglish-like. The information on the strategies that participants employed while identifying incorrect word combinations was collected through a follow-up survey and interviews. The results indicate that participants with lower ERs (both English as L1 and ESL/EAL speakers) focused on “sentence structure,” “flow,” context, and overall meaning of larger chunks of text while the FOA for participants with higher ERs was on the meaning and/or forms of individual words. This finding confirms that detection of miscollocations (and consequently collocational awareness) largely depends on the reading/processing strategies. However, when suggesting corrections for miscollocations, ESL/EAL speakers had significantly higher ERs, which attests to a lesser degree of productive collocational knowledge as compared to English as L1 speakers.

References
Bardovi-Harlig, K., & Bastos, M. T. (2011). Proficiency, length of stay, and intensity of interaction, and the acquisition of conventional expressions in L2 pragmatics. Intercultural Pragmatics, 8(3), 347–384.
Shi, J., Peng, G., & Li, D. (2022). Figurativeness matters in the second language processing of collocations: Evidence From a self-paced reading experiment. Language Learning, 73(1), 47-83.
Sonbul, S. (2015). Fatal mistake, awful mistake, or extreme mistake? Frequency effects on off/ line/on-line collocational processing. Bilingualism: Language and Cognition, 18(3), 419– 437.

PAPER PRESENTATION 3
A lexical analysis of commercial-off-the-shelf games in English
– Iwarin Suprapas & Beatriz González-Fernández

ABSTRACT
Out-of-classroom (extramural) media has been recommended as a complement to compensate for the limited exposure to second language (L2) input, especially in English as a Foreign Language (EFL) contexts where classroom teaching time is constrained (Peters, 2018). In addition to movies, TV series, and podcasts, commercial-off-the-shelf (CoTS) games are among the most popular types of media that L2 learners engage with outside of the classroom and have been speculated to have a potential to promote L2 incidental vocabulary learning (Rodgers & Heidt, 2021). However, to date, a lexical profile of gaming language has yet to be extensively and thoroughly explored. This research aims to build a lexical profile of games in the English language and shed light on the vocabulary knowledge learners need to comprehend gaming language.

A corpus of gaming language was created, comprising language data extracted from 34 popular English CoTS games from a variety of gameplay genres (e.g., Adventure, Strategy, and Role-Playing games). Then, the corpus was lexically analysed using Nation’s (2017) 25000-BNC/COCA word lists as the reference list. Results indicate a lexical demand of at least 6000 most frequent word families with proper nouns and marginal words for 95% and more than 25000 for 98% coverage, higher than other extramural input types (e.g., movies: Webb & Rodgers, 2009). From the main corpus, various sub-corpora were created for each game genre. Each sub-corpus was lexically profiled, and results were compared across sub-corpora to explore the differences across genres. Results reveal Adventure games have the lowest and Strategy games have the highest lexical demand. However, when analysing games within the same genre, the lexical demand varies; thus, other factors, such as language type, might be a better indicator of lexical demand than gameplay genres. Implications for vocabulary learning and recommendations for further research will be discussed.

References
Nation, I. S. P. (2017). The BNC/COCA Level 6 word family lists (version 2.0.0).
Peters, E. (2018). The effect of out-of-class exposure to English language media on learners’ vocabulary knowledge. ITL - International Journal of Applied Linguistics, 169(1).
Rodgers, M. P. H., & Heidt, J. (2021). Levelling up comprehensible input and vocabulary learning. In Pop Culture in Language Education: Theory, Research, Practice. Routledge.
Webb, S., & Rodgers, M. P. H. (2009). The lexical coverage of movies. Applied Linguistics, 30(3), 407–427. https://doi.org/10.1093/applin/amp010

PAPER PRESENTATION 4
Predicting the intended grade level of English and French L2 textbook reading materials: The role of lexical and grammatical features
– Amaury Van Parys, Vanessa De Wilde, Lieve Macken, & Maribel Montero Perez; Ghent University

ABSTRACT
Textbooks are a fundamental source of input in the L2 classroom. Researchers typically recommend to scaffold the difficulty of textbook reading materials by gradually increasing vocabulary loads (e.g., Schmitt & Schmitt, 2014), i.e., the number of word frequency levels that must be mastered to reach points of coverage crucial for text comprehension (95 and 98% of text tokens; Webb, 2021). However, aside from vocabulary loads, other linguistic complexity features also affect textual demands (Webb, 2021). These can be both lexical (e.g., lexical diversity, density) and grammatical (e.g., subordination, mean sentence length) (Weiss et al., 2021). Yet, it is currently unknown what the relative contribution of vocabulary loads is compared to such features. Additionally, little is known about textbooks aimed at non-English L2s. This study investigates (1) the extent to which the intended grade level of English and French L2 textbook reading materials is predicted by lexical and grammatical complexity features (including vocabulary loads) and (2) how this differs across L2s (English vs French). The corpus contains reading materials from three English and three French L2 textbook series used in Flemish secondary education (ca. 300,000 tokens per L2). Per text, vocabulary loads at 95 and 98% coverage were calculated using a custom Python script relying on flemmatised subtitle-based frequency lists (cf. Pinchbeck et al., 2022). Other measured lexical characteristics include lexical diversity and lexical density. Grammatical complexity was assessed using a comprehensive feature set measuring both syntax (e.g., mean sentence length) and morphology (e.g., inflectional diversity). Regression analysis reveals that vocabulary loads significantly predict grade level in English, but not in French. Conversely, several other features were significant in French which were not in English, including lexical diversity, density, and multiple grammatical measures. This implies that vocabulary loads may be overshadowed by other linguistic features during materials development, particularly in French.

References
Pinchbeck, G. G., Brown, D., Mclean, S., & Kramer, B. (2022). Validating word lists that represent learner knowledge in EFL contexts: The impact of the definition of word and the choice of source corpora. System, 106, 102771. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.system.2022.102771
Schmitt, N., & Schmitt, D. (2014). A reassessment of frequency and vocabulary size in L2 vocabulary teaching. Language Teaching, 47(4), 484–503. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0261444812000018
Webb, S. (2021). Research Investigating Lexical Coverage and Lexical Profiling: What We Know, What We Don’t Know, and What Needs to be Examined. Reading in a Foreign Language, 33(2), 278–293.
Weiss, Z., Chen, X., & Meurers, D. (2021). Using Broad Linguistic Complexity Modeling for CrossLingual Readability Assessment. Proceedings of the 10th Workshop on Natural Language Processing for Computer Assisted Language Learning (NLP4CALL 2021), 17

PAPER PRESENTATION 5
The effect of lexical coverage on the processing of unknown vocabulary
– Ana Pellicer-Sanchez, Stuart Webb, & Andi Wang, University College London, UK

ABSTRACT
There has been much discussion about the effects of lexical coverage, i.e., the percentage of words learners know in a text, on second language (L2) reading comprehension, with studies suggesting that a lexical coverage of 95% could be enough for minimal comprehension, while a coverage of 98% might be needed for optimal comprehension (Laufer & Ravenhorst-Kalovski, 2010). These lexical coverage figures have been widely used to make claims about text difficulty, to select appropriate reading materials, and to set vocabulary learning targets. However, the evidence supporting these figures is limited and the majority of the available studies have focused on comprehension. No studies to date have examined how the various lexical coverage percentages suggested in the literature are reflected in the cognitive effort involved in processing text and the attention that is devoted to the unknown vocabulary, despite the importance that attention to unknown vocabulary has for successful learning.

This study used eye-tracking to examine how lexical coverage affects the processing of text (global measures) and unknown vocabulary (word-level measures), as well as the relationship between processing time on unknown vocabulary and learning. Ninety-four L2 advanced speakers of English read a text with one of four levels of lexical coverage (90%, 95%, 98%, or 100%) while their eye movements were recorded (EyeLink 1000+). After the reading, all participants completed a comprehension test and a meaning recall post-test. Results of mixed-effect models showed a processing advantage for the 98% condition, reflected in longer saccades and less effortful reading than the 90% and 95% conditions. However, lexical coverage did not have a significant impact on the amount of attention spent on unknown vocabulary. Processing times were found to significantly predict vocabulary gains.

Laufer, B., & Ravenhorst-Kalovski, G. (2010). Lexical threshold revisited: Lexical text coverage, learners’ vocabulary size and reading comprehension. Reading in a Foreign Language,22,15–30.

PAPER PRESENTATION 6
How Personalized Text Recommendation Systems Support Incidental L2 Vocabulary Learning
– Tong Zhu

ABSTRACT
This paper presents an interdisciplinary comprehensive review of foundational theories and architectural frameworks underpinning personalized text recommendation (PTR) systems, with a particular focus on incidental L2 vocabulary learning. An extensive literature search was conducted among scholarly recognized databases to retrieve relevant peer-reviewed studies published in the last twenty years. Only studies with accessible full texts and a focus on personalized L2 reading and vocabulary learning were included for further analysis. Guided by influential factors of incidental L2 vocabulary learning through reading, this paper examined how existing PTR systems integrate learner and textual models to cater to learner factors (i.e., linguistic ability, reading interest, and memory cycle) and textual elements (i.e., text topic, text difficulty, and the number and proportion of unknown or unfamiliar words). Based on these models, an adaptation model is established to optimize text recommendations tailored to individual learner abilities, needs, and preferences. Despite robust empirical evidence supporting the facilitative role of PTR systems in enhancing L2 vocabulary learning, our review identifies a critical shortfall in the system design: a lack of personalized gloss. To address this gap, this paper proposed a system architecture of the PTR and glossing system, incorporating lexical profiling, k-means clustering, computer-adaptive vocabulary tests, the Rasch model, the repertory grid, the fuzzy inference mechanism, and the analytical hierarchy processing. In addition to recommending interest-oriented and comprehensible texts to each learner, an upgraded adaptation model is discussed where learners’ differences in the knowledge of in-text words are taken into account, and personalized unknown or unfamiliar words are highlighted and glossed with first language (L1) translations by the system. To this end, this paper expands theoretical insights into personalized learning technologies and sheds light on the linguistically informed design of personalized tools for L2 reading and vocabulary learning.

PAPER PRESENTATION 7
Using Contrastive Sentence Connectors in Arab and Native Students’ Argumentative Writing (A Corpus-Based Study)
– Amani Alonayzan, University of Leeds, UK

ABSTRACT
This study examines the utilisation of contrastive sentence connectors in argumentative essay writing among Arab learners of English and native English speakers from British and American backgrounds using a corpus-based methodology. The objective is to investigate how the use of these connectors contributes to establishing coherence in academic texts, a difficulty frequently encountered by English as a foreign language Learners. A sup-corpus of the Arab Learner English Corpus (ALEC), which consists of argumentative essays, is compared to two sub-corpora from the Louvain Corpus of Native English Essays (LOCNESS): USARG, which represents American English, and BRSUR, which represents British English. The study focuses on analysing the frequency of contrastive connectors used by advanced Arab learners, using the classification given by Quirk et al. (1985). The study also examines the differences in connector usage between Arab learners and both varieties of native speakers. Quantitative as well as qualitative methods employing a contrastive interlanguage analysis (Granger, 2015) are used, and the log likelihood (LL) statistical test is applied to compare connector frequencies. The results indicate that Arab learners exhibit a greater frequency of using specific contrastive connectors in comparison to their American counterparts. Arab learners' greater reliance on individual connectors in their writing could be the reason for this increased use. Comparing the use of these connectors among Arab learners and British students reveals a significant difference. Arab learners use fewer contrastive connectors, as indicated by a negative log-likelihood difference. Out of the contrastive connectors that were analysed however was found to be the most frequently used by Arab, British, and American students. The lack of specific connectors, such as “in contrast and whilst”, indicates possible variations used by American students.

PAPER PRESENTATION 8
Boosting learners’ ability to use single words and formulaic sequences creatively in second language writing through explicit instruction
– Rebecca Moden

ABSTRACT
Understanding how second language (L2) learners progress their knowledge of single words (SW) and formulaic sequences (FS) to productive levels is a priority in vocabulary research, but there remain few studies focused on productive mastery. Moreover, whether SW and FS can be learned equally well from the use of popular instructional methods is unclear, with existing research showing contradictory results (Alali & Schmitt, 2012; Laufer & Girsai, 2008).

The present study therefore aimed to measure whether instruction enhanced learners’ vocabulary use in creative sentence-writing and in their coursework essays. Because of their popularity in EAP coursebooks, two types of contexts were selected as the instructional method: cohesive contexts involving sentences developing a single theme, and unconnected sentences describing unrelated events. Consequently, a further aim was comparing the impact of these two contexts. A comparison of the productive gains of SW and FS was also made.

Sixty-five L2 students learned 34 SW and 30 FS in one of three conditions (cohesive, unconnected, control) in six hourly lessons. Both groups encountered the vocabulary in sentences with their meanings, then the cohesive group practised the vocabulary in sentences on a single topic, while the unconnected group practised the items in unrelated sentences. A control group completed the pre-tests and post-tests. The tests measured the ability to produce creative sentences using the items. Coursework essays provided by 20 learners were also analysed. A rating scale was developed to measure vocabulary use in the tests and essays.

A mixed-effects model confirmed that both experimental groups significantly outperformed the control group in sentence-writing. There was a significant advantage of the cohesive condition over the unconnected condition, while SW and FS were learned at similar rates. Analysis of the coursework essays showed that the experimental groups used significantly more SW than FS. Pedagogical implications will be discussed.

References
Alali, F., & Schmitt, N. (2012). Teaching formulaic sequences: The same or different from teaching single words? TESOL Journal 3(2), 153-180.
Laufer, B., & Girsai, N. (2008). Form-focused instruction in second language vocabulary learning: a case for contrastive analysis and translation. Applied Linguistics 29(4), 1–23.
Note
The BAWE was developed at the Universities of Warwick, Reading, and Oxford Brookes under the directorship of Hilary Nesi and Sheena Gardner [formerly of the Centre for Applied Linguistics (previously called CELTE), Warwick], Paul Thompson (Department of Applied Linguistics, Reading), and Paul Wickens (Westminster Institute of Education, Oxford Brookes), with funding from the ESRC (RES-000-23-0800). More details can be found at the corpus Web site: www.coventry.ac.uk/bawe/.

PAPER PRESENTATION 9
Factors Affecting Retention of Productive Word Knowledge of Thai EFL Learners
– Samanan Sudsa-ard

ABSTRACT
This study aimed at exploring the potential factors leading to retention of productive word knowledge in terms of form recall. Previous studies (e.g., Laufer & Goldstein, 2004; Utsajit, 2022) on both receptive and productive knowledge revealed one common pattern in that learners’ productive vocabulary was always smaller than their receptive knowledge. Also, the investigation into word knowledge from different EFL contexts (i.e., Turkey, Thailand, and Sweden) showed similar positive results of receptive knowledge. This could mean that receptive vocabulary knowledge does not seem to be the main obstacle among EFL learners (Özönder, 2016; Mungkonwong & Wudthayagorn, 2017; Snoder & Laufer, 2022) while productive vocabulary knowledge is the aspect that EFL learners needs support from language teachers. More research should explore plausible factors supporting the development and retention of productive knowledge for the purpose of sustainable learning of these language learners. Four vocabulary learning factors proposed by Nation and Webb (2011) involve Motivation, Noticing, Retrieval and Generative Use. These influential factors have also been suggested by scholars in the field of motivation (e.g., Dörnyei, 2001a; Gardner, 2001; Shuman, 2014), noticing (e.g., Schmidt, 1990; 2001), retrieval (e.g., Candry et al., 2020; Van den Broek et al., 2018) and generative use (e.g., Nation, 2011, Ellis, 1995). However, little is known about the extent to which these factors support (short-/long-term) retention of controlled productive knowledge. In the current study, these four factors which are believed to promote word retention in written production were compared by using a quasi-experimental research design. The Linear Mixed-Effects Models analysis with pairwise comparison showed that Motivation, Noticing, Retrieval and Generative Use have various degree of support on short-term and long-term retention. The investigation also provides further insight into the relative power of each component on vocabulary retention that can be applied to develop vocabulary learning materials and instruction.

PAPER PRESENTATION 10
Developing a scale to measure learners’ engagement in learning English vocabulary using technology
– Xuan Zhao, University of Exeter, UK

ABSTRACT
Engagement has been a focus of educational psychology for many years, but it is only in recent years that this concept has begun to receive attention in second language acquisition(SLA) (Dornyei & Mercer, 2020). However, there is no instrument to measure learners’ engagement in SLA, especially in the more specific area of vocabulary learning using technology, which hinders its progress (Mercer, 2019). Therefore, this study aims to develop a psychometrically-based and theoretical sound instrument to measure learners’ engagement in learning English vocabulary using technology and explore the possibility of transferring the theoretical construct of engagement from educational psychology to SLA.

PAPER PRESENTATION 11
Developing a Knowledge-based Academic Vocabulary List
– Chen Chen, Tong Li & Jiale Guo

ABSTRACT
Corpus-based academic vocabulary lists, such as the well-known Academic Word List (AWL) (Coxhead, 2000), have been widely used in the learning and teaching of English for Academic Purposes (EAP). These lists have been constructed mainly based on word frequency statistics, with the assumption that higher-frequency words are more likely to be encountered and, thus, more useful for learners. However, frequency ranking does not necessarily indicate whether learners are more likely to know the word. To address this gap, Schmitt et al. (2021) developed a Knowledge-based Vocabulary List consisting of words ranked by learners’ vocabulary knowledge. While this list has limited utility in the academic context, our study developed a Knowledge-based Academic Vocabulary List (KAVL) by testing Chinese university students' academic vocabulary knowledge. A vocabulary test with 712 items divided into eight subsets was designed and distributed to Chinese undergraduate students. Eight hundred twenty-eight respondents from 22 universities completed the test. Rasch analysis was conducted to compute the Rasch item difficulty of the 712 lemmas, based on which the KAVL was built. Additionally, we examined the correlation between knowledge rankings and frequency rankings of the lemmas. We found a significant but moderate correlation, indicating that frequency is not reliable to indicate learners' word knowledge, highlighting the need for knowledge-based vocabulary lists. The KAVL is the first of its kind to focus on academic rather than general vocabulary based on learners’ vocabulary knowledge. This research bridges the gap between word frequency and actual learner proficiency, offering a valuable resource for enhancing EAP vocabulary teaching and research.

References
Coxhead, A. (2000). A New Academic Word List. TESOL Quarterly, 34(2), 213–238. https://doi.org/10.2307/3587951
Schmitt, N., Dunn, K., O’Sullivan, B., Anthony, L., & Kremmel, B. (2021). Introducing Knowledge‐based Vocabulary Lists (KVL). TESOL Journal, 12(4). https://doi.org/10.1002/tesj.622

PAPER PRESENTATION 12
Creating and evaluating frequency-informed vocabulary lists for adolescent, beginner to low-intermediate learners of French, German and Spanish
– Natalie Finlayson & Emma Marsden

ABSTRACT
In learning contexts where students have very little exposure to the target language, a systematic approach to defining lexis is likely to be useful. An example is the case of French, German, and Spanish in secondary schools in England, where students preparing for high-stakes national examinations typically receive just two hours’ tuition a week. To help focus learning goals, align material taught and assessed, and ensure students can complete tasks with core curriculum knowledge, England’s Department for Education has introduced new policies that make use of word lists compulsory for the first time. Stipulations about list size, composition, and units of counting are supported by research on lexical inferencing, the number and type of words needed to pass exams, and transparency of word forms and parts.

Developing a word list for teenagers that aligns with these specifications is a first for our field. In this paper, we describe the methodological steps we have taken in partnership with an awarding organisation to create and evaluate a new, frequency-informed word list with input from practitioners. We have tested the potential of the new lists to prepare learners to comprehend relevant material by conducting lexical coverage analyses with corpora of exam papers, young adult novels, and web-based language. As a point of comparison, we used the non-obligatory, topic-driven word lists currently provided as guidance for teachers. Despite being 36%–44% (foundation tier) and 11%–21% shorter (higher tier), the new lists provided an average 11% (foundation) and 18% (higher) more coverage of every text type. It seems likely that these stark results can be attributed to a combination of (a) the nature of the content (rather than function) words; (b) the negligible coverage benefits given by the many multiword phrases on the current lists, and (c) a more even part-of-speech distribution across the new lists.

WORK IN PROGRESS 1
Does Arabic varying script transparency affect the contribution of vocabulary knowledge to reading comprehension?
– Aeshah Maashi

ABSTRACT
Vocabulary knowledge is a key skill that plays a critical role in reading comprehension as reading comprehension depends heavily on the ability to comprehend words in text. However, the relation between reading comprehension and vocabulary is thought to be affected by the nature of the orthographic system and the degree of its transparency. Arabic is a language with varying orthographic consistency. It is transparent (vowelised) when diacritic marks are placed above and under letters creating consistent relations between graphemes and phonemes, but a visually complex orthography. It is also opaque (devowelised) when those diacritic marks are omitted leading to inconsistent grapheme-phoneme relations and many heterophonic homographs. The current study is a within language comparison of vocabulary knowledge contribution to reading comprehension in vowelised and devowelised Arabic orthography among a sample of 115 monolingual Arabic-speaking children in fourth grade. For this purpose, children’s reading comprehension was evaluated at sentence comprehension level using two different lists each consisting of 25 incomplete sentences. One of the lists is without diacritic marks (devowelised) and the other with diacritic marks (fully vowelised). Children were given 180 seconds to indicate the completion word by circling or underlining their choice for as many sentences as possible. Vocabulary knowledge was measured via the Arabic receptive-expressive vocabulary Test to examine children’s semantic knowledge at the receptive and production levels. The results will be discussed in relation to the unique orthographic characteristics of Arabic and its varying transparency.

WORK IN PROGRESS 2
Investigating the relationship between patchwriting and vocabulary size: A mixed-method case study with four L2 international students in the UK
– Gergely Kajos

ABSTRACT
Aims This study explores the relationship between inappropriate source use and vocabulary size in an English-medium instruction higher education context. It aims to analyse source use in student writing and investigate the possible correlation with novice academic writers’ lexical breadth. Background Vocabulary size is a key factor underpinning academic writing skills. Meanwhile, inappropriate source use can often be the outcome of academic writing skills still being under development. There is a reason to believe that there might be a relationship between vocabulary size and appropriate source use. Neuman et al. (2020) have found a positive relationship between vocabulary size and paraphrasing ability. Therefore, researching whether inappropriate source use is less common in writers with larger vocabularies is a worthwhile investigation. Methodology This study has a mixed-method approach with case-study research design. The data comes from four postgraduate, L2, international students. Participants are asked to do three tasks: a) write a 500-word text based on given sources and a prompt, b) participate in a text-based interview and c) complete a vocabulary test. The writing samples are analysed for similarity with the provided source texts via concordance software, whilst a word-profiler is used to produce a lexical profile for each text. The interview data is used to qualitatively understand participants’ choices for source use strategies and the test results further inform the understanding of the relationship in question. Results and Discussion The findings about the relationship between vocabulary size and source use is expected to have pedagogical implications for English for Academic Purposes.

Reference
Neumann, H., Leu, S., McDonough, K. & Crawford, B. (2020). Improving students’ source integration skills: Does a focus on reading comprehension and vocabulary development work? Journal of English for Academic Purposes, 48, 1-13. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jeap.2020.100909

WORK IN PROGRESS 3
A corpus-driven study of the lexical demands of spoken conversations in English as a Lingua Franca (ELF) contexts: The cases of Asia and Europe
– Nhat Ha Nguyen

ABSTRACT
Given the importance for EFL learners to engage in spoken communication, a large number of corpus-driven studies have investigated the lexical demands of spoken English (Nurmukhamedov & Webb, 2019). Most of them used corpora from texts produced by native speakers and employed the Level-6-word family as the lexical unit. However, English has been widely used as a Lingua Franca among non-native speakers in various contexts (Mauranen, 2017). Moreover, it has been well recognised that there are no one-size-fits-all lexical units for learners (Webb, 2021). To better support EFL learners, it is important to revisit findings of previous studies using ELF corpora and different lexical units.

To fill these gaps, my project will compare the lexical demands of ELF spoken conversations in Asia and Europe and employ various lexical units. First, I will use the Asian Corpus of English and the Vienne–Oxford International Corpus of English to represent language in the ELF contexts in Asia and Europe. Second, I will use different versions of the BNC/COCA word lists in turn to analyse the lexical demands of each corpus: the Level 6-word family (Nation, 2012), the flemma (Dang & Webb, 2016), and the nuclear word family (Cobb & Laufer, 2021). Finally, I will compare the lexical demands of the two corpora using the same and different lexical units to find the similarities and differences between them. Preliminary analyses with the Level-6-word family version shows that the same vocabulary size is needed to achieve 95% coverage of each corpus (2,000-3,000 items), but there were variations in the lexical demand of sub-corpora across the two corpora. In the presentation, I will share detailed findings of the analyses with the Level-6-word family and other lexical units and suggested implications for the learning and teaching of English in Asian and European ELF contexts.

WORK IN PROGRESS 4
Corpus Analysis on Polysemy in Academic Logistics Written English
– Hongyi Zhao

ABSTRACT
Polysemous words in academic or discipline-specific contexts may pose challenges to language learners because their senses in specialized contexts may be different from those in everyday contexts (Deignan et al., 2022; Hyland and Tse, 2007). For example, chain means the entire business process of commercial goods in Logistics texts but a line of metal rings in everyday language. Exploring polysemy in specialised context may shed light on lexical nature in register and word sense in phraseology and provide pedagogical implications for language learners to overcome the challenges of polysemous words. Yet few studies have examined polysemy in specialized texts.

To address this gap, this project-in-progress takes Logistics as a case and investigates polysemy in academic journal articles, an important academic register. First, a list of 311 specialised words in Logistics was developed from a self-compiled 5.35-million-token specialised corpus from 720 articles by #LancsBox 6.0, with keyness, dispersion, range, and word classes as criteria. Second, collocation analysis and concordance line reading via the Sketch Engine and dictionary checking were used to identify different senses of each word in the specialised corpus and in a general academic corpus (the British Academic Written English Corpus). Finally, the senses of each word in the two corpora were compared with each other. It was found that about 40% of the specialized words in Logistics were polysemous words, the dominant sense of each polysemous words covering around 80% of all concordance examples. Moreover, the cross-corpora comparison on word sense demonstrated the uniqueness and similarity of senses in two registers, which helps with identifying discipline-specific senses. It was also found that these discipline-specific senses were closely related to word class and phraseological patterns. helping with extracting phrase-like terms in specialised contexts. This study manifests how corpus linguistics could inform polysemy research in specialised contexts.

Keywords: polysemy; Logistics English; academic journal articles; word sense

References
Deignan A, Candarli D, Oxley F. 2022. The linguistic challenge of the transition to secondary school. London: Routledge.
Hyland, K., & Tse, P. 2007. Is there an “academic vocabulary”?. TESOL Quarterly. 41(2), pp.235-253.

WORK IN PROGRESS 5
Testing the Four Strands Principle on Vocabulary Learning for EFL Learners
– Xuechun Huang

ABSTRACT
English as a foreign language (EFL) learners rely greatly on classroom instructions to develop vocabulary knowledge. Nation (2007) proposed that (1) in a balanced language course, there should be Four Strands: meaning-focused input (MFI), meaning-focused output (MFO), language-focused learning (LFL), and fluency development (FD); (2) vocabulary teaching and learning should take place across the Four Strands. Yet, the comparative values of the four strands to three, two, and one strands for vocabulary learning have not been tested. This ongoing experimental study explores whether vocabulary learning gains differ among MFI only, MFI+LFL, MFI+LFL+MFO, MFI+LFL+MFO+FD, and control conditions. Participants will be five groups of EFL learners at a university in China. Their vocabulary knowledge will be measured by Updated Vocabulary Levels Test to inform the selection of MFI. The MFI-only group will read while listening to passages on travel and transport in European cities. The MFI+LFL group will read while listening to the same passage and then deliberately learn the target items with flashcards. In addition to the treatment that MFI+LFL group will complete, the MFI+LFL+MFO group will also finish a writing task. The MFI+LFL+MFO+FD group will read while listening to the same passage, use flashcards for word learning, and complete a writing task and a fluency activity. The control group will not be exposed to the treatment. Target items will include single words and multi-word units. Vocabulary learning gains will be measured by form-meaning links. Two scoring systems, strict (absolutely correct answers) and lenient (spelling errors will be tolerated) will be used to measure learning gains at different sensitivity levels. Mixed effects models in R will be used to analyse the data. The results of this study will offer theoretical and practical insights on how vocabulary knowledge develops incrementally.

Reference:
Nation, P. (2007). The four strands. International Journal of Innovation in Language Learning and Teaching, 1(1), 2-13.

WORK IN PROGRESS 6
To listen or not to listen? A quasi-experimental study on reading-only versus reading-while-listening for incidental vocabulary learning in L2 Spanish learners at different levels of lexical proficiency
– Jaime Verdugo, Ariadna Sánchez & Jenny Jones

ABSTRACT
The need to acquire thousands of words to attain L2 proficiency means that such a task cannot be left solely to deliberate learning, and incidental vocabulary learning (IVL) through extensive exposure thus plays a significant role for L2 learners. Therefore, it is of interest what kind of input is most effective for IVL. Moreover, there are not just quantitative but also qualitative differences in lexical learning when comparing learners with different L2 vocabulary sizes. Consequently, it is also of interest whether the same strategies are equally effective at different levels. Prior research, mostly testing L2 English learners from intact groups with relatively similar levels of proficiency, has aimed to define the number of repetitions needed for words to be learnt as well as the effects of different modalities―e.g., reading-only versus reading-while-listening―on IVL. Arguably, the effect of these modalities on IVL might differ when it comes to L2s other than English based on characteristics such as phonology and varying levels of orthographic depth. The present study tests IVL under these two modalities in a heterogenous group of learners of L2 Spanish, a language with a vastly different phonology and a much shallower orthography than English. Forty-five participants were assigned to the reading-only or the reading-while-listening condition, receiving input in the form of a short story which contained lexis all within the level of the 2,000 most frequent words in Spanish except for eight target nouns, each repeated four times, which were all above the level of the 10,000 most frequent words. Participants then completed three unannounced tests: an orthographic form recognition test, a form-meaning mapping test, and an adapted version of the Vocabulary Levels Test for Spanish. Preliminary results using Bayesian regression indicate no effect for the modality condition but much higher rates of IVL in learners with larger vocabulary sizes.

POSTER PRESENTATION 1
Methodological decisions in word association analysis
– Theo Mills, Tess Fitzpatrick, Steve Morris

ABSTRACT
Word association data is appealing to work with because of its apparent simplicity: a set of cues is presented by the researcher and spontaneous associative responses are produced by the study participant. However, a number of key decisions are required of the researcher in order to maximise potential insights from this area of research. The importance of these is often overlooked, perhaps contributing to the lack of consistent findings from word association studies.

In this poster we scrutinise decisions about cue words, about mode of data collection, and about data categorisation. We note that while, in the research literature, methods for collecting and analysing word association responses vary considerably, this variation does not seem to map systematically on to differences in target variables, research questions, or target populations. For example, the same diverse assortment of methods has been used to investigate differences between L1 and L2 word association behaviour, word association behaviour in people with dementia, and age-related differences in word associations. Those methods include different approaches to
• cue word selection, with the number of cues typically ranging from 10 to 100, and with selection dependent on a variety of word features including frequency, grammatical class, concreteness, etc.
• mode of data collection, with cues and responses being variously spoken or written, and with number of responses required ranging from 1 to 12+.
• analysis of data, which includes attention to the “stereotypy” of responses (i.e. how similar to other people’s responses they are), and to the conceptual or linguistic relationship between the cue and the response, using a variety of taxonomies.

This poster presents the range of methodological decisions used in word association research to date, and proposes ways in which these might be more closely matched to target variables and research questions, in order to progress this area of research.

The research presented in this poster was supported by AHRC Research Grant AH/Y003020/1.

POSTER PRESENTATION 2
Affective dimensions of meaning for medical vocabulary: Insights from the literature and future directions
– Milo Coffey

ABSTRACT
Beyond denotation, words used by health professionals to talk about health and illness can carry significant affective meaning for patients and other lay people (non-experts). Past research has highlighted the strong negative connotations of words like cancer and terminal, which can impact on the effectiveness of communication between doctors and patients by rendering patients too anxious to take in any further information. The purpose of this poster is threefold. First, insights from existing literature on the affective dimensions of the meaning of medical vocabulary among patients and lay people are presented. Second, relevant results from a 2021 health communication project to which this author contributed are reported and discussed with particular attention to the strengths and weaknesses of the methods employed. This project focused specifically on how lay people interpreted vocabulary used in cancer consultations. Lastly, the aims and prospective methods of the author’s PhD research are outlined, which builds upon the work done in the 2021 project. Working in collaboration with partners based at Swansea Bay University Health Board, this research will in part focus on identifying similarities and differences in the ways in which medical words that are used interchangeably among professionals are perceived by lay people. It is anticipated that the outcomes of this project will enable health professionals to better understand how the words they use may be perceived among patients and adapt their language to reduce anxiety and promote effective communication.

POSTER PRESENTATION 3
Investigating the relationship between productive vocabulary knowledge and oral fluency in L2 English
– Jinglei Yu & Zoe Handley

ABSTRACT
Previous research has shown that vocabulary knowledge, specifically breadth of productive vocabulary knowledge, is strongly associated with measures of oral fluency in a second language (e.g., De Jong et al., 2013; Kahng, 2020). There are, however, other dimensions of vocabulary knowledge that might have an influence on oral fluency, e.g., word associations (Nation, 2013). According to Levelt’s (1999) model of speech production, during lexical retrieval, activation spreads from a target lexical item (e.g., select) to other related lexical items including paradigmatically related items (e.g., choose, elect) as well as syntagmatically related items (e.g., candidate), and before specific words are selected to formulate the speakers’ intended message. As such, it might be hypothesised that knowledge of paradigmatic associations (e.g., co-hyponyms, synonyms and antonyms) and syntagmatic associations (e.g., collocations) might have different impacts on oral fluency.

This study aims to fill this gap in our understanding of the relationship between different dimensions of vocabulary knowledge and oral fluency in English as a second language (L2). 80 Chinese learners of L2 English at various proficiency levels will be recruited to participate in the study. Each learner will be asked to perform an IELTS style speaking task and four tasks designed to tap different dimensions of vocabulary knowledge. Two tasks using the Productive Word Association Task format (Meara & Fitzpatrick, 2000) will be used to provide measures of paradigmatic associations–co-hyponyms and synonyms; a task adapted from the word association task will be used to provide a measure of syntagmatic associations; Laufer and Nation’s vocabulary levels test (1999) will be used to provide a measure of breadth of vocabulary knowledge. The results of this study will provide insights into how language tutors can support English language learners to achieve their goal of oral fluency.

References:
De Jong, N. H., Steinel, M. P., Florijn, A., Schoonen, R., & Hulstijn, J. H. (2013). Linguistic skills and speaking fluency in a second language. Applied Psycholinguistics, 34(5), 893-916. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0142716412000069
Kahng, J. (2020). Explaining second language utterance fluency: Contribution of cognitive fluency and first language utterance fluency. Applied Psycholinguistics, 41(2), 457-480.
Laufer, B. & Nation, P. (1999), A vocabulary size test of controlled productive ability. Language Testing, 16(1), 33-51.
Levelt, W. (1999). Producing spoken language: A blueprint of the speaker. In C. Brown & P. Hagoort (Eds.), The neurocognition of language (pp. 83–122). Oxford University Press.
Meara, P., & Fitzpatrick, T. (2000). Lex30: An improved method of assessing productive vocabulary in an L2. System, 28(1), 19-30.
Nation, I. S. P. (2013). Learning Vocabulary in Another Language (2nd ed.). Cambridge University Press.

POSTER PRESENTATION 4
Understanding Foundation-level ESL Students’ Academic Writing: A Corpus-based Lexical Analysis across Genres and Disciplines
– Mingyan Gao

ABSTRACT
In UK higher education, foundation-level education is targeted at Foreign/Second language learners who do not meet the entry criteria for undergraduate programmes regarding their English proficiency or formal qualifications. Foundation Programmes include both English for Academic Purposes (EAP) skills and discipline-specific content modules. These play a crucial role in English Medium Instruction contexts as they provide pathways to undergraduate study by helping students develop academic literacy skills. Successful learning on such programmes could be facilitated by an understanding of the specific genres that students are required to write. However, despite extensive research into the genre effect in university-level academic writing, vocabulary use across genres in foundation-level academic writing remains under-researched. This study addresses the gap by investigating lexical features across genres in foundation-level students’ assessed writing. To fulfil this, my research questions are (1) what genres are found in foundation-level writing? (2) how do these genres differ in their typical lexical features? (3) what is the relationship between writing in EAP skills and discipline-specific content modules? This poster proposal will present the compilation of a learner corpus and measures of vocabulary in this project. Summative assignments written by foundation-level students in a British institution will be collected to build the corpus. Adopting the previous work’s taxonomy, learner texts will be classified into genres based on social purposes and stages. For measures of vocabulary, the diversity of academic vocabulary and word frequency across genres will be analysed as the main lexical features. The study will provide knowledge of genre classification and differences in lexical sophistication across genres in foundation-level academic writing. This will have pedagogical implications for foundation programmes catering to diverse student populations and contribute to our understanding of the effects of genres on linguistic features in written production.

POSTER PRESENTATION 5
A Corpus-assisted Critical Discourse Analysis of Covid-19 News: A Comparative Study of Saudi Arabia Representation in Local and Foreign News
– Luluh Alkathiri

ABSTRACT
In Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA), discourse representation in news media is viewed as an ideological process and may be tuned to social determinants and social effects (Fairclough, 1995, p.65). CDA emphasises the relation between discourse, society, and ideology (Fairclough, 1998). During Covid-19 pandemic, numerous media discourse studies have focused on China’s coverage of COVID-19 news or the representation of China’s image in Western news outlets where the virus initially emerged in late 2019 before spreading globally. However, these studies along with other previous crises studies throughout the history, emphasize the vital role of politics and power on media discourse with crisis discourses being notably under-researched until the dawn of this deadly virus, COVID-19. Hence, the study attempts to shed light on representation in crisis discourse by examining how Saudi Arabia was represented with regard to COVID-19 in two newspapers, Arab News and The Guardian. Using Sketch Engine, a total of 137,557 corpora were collected and analyzed. This study applied Fairclough’s three-dimensional framework (1989; 1992; 1995; 2003) to reveal the ideologies underlying news discourse and Halliday’s (1985) Systemic Functional Grammar (SFG) to complement the critical perspective and enhance the analysis of certain linguistic patterns. The results showed that both keywords and collocations are thematically similar but with different focus. The two corpora highlighted that Arab News represented Saudi Arabia by focusing more on specific, local details and practical aspects of the pandemic, whereas The Guardian covered broader, more international and varied aspects of the pandemic, including its political, economic and conflict-related implications.

POSTER PRESENTATION 6
Learning L2 vocabulary from L1-inclusive word lists: a scoping review summary
– Joanna Rankin

ABSTRACT
This poster will summarise the rationale, process, results and influence of a scoping review into L1-mediated word list use in L2 vocabulary learning among school-aged learners. It will explain how the results were used to inform a pilot RCT study in Portsmouth schools.

Portsmouth Ethnic Minority Achievement Service (EMAS) employs a team of Bilingual Learning Assistants (BLAs) who support nearly 500 children in Portsmouth’s primary and secondary schools, matched by L1.

Case study work with the BLA team in early 2023 showed that they were interested in investigating ways to optimise their vocabulary learning support. While they are uniquely placed to use L1 mediation to support vocabulary teaching and learning, they were using a wide range of approaches to vocabulary support. The EMAS had created a set of bilingual vocabulary lists (by subject, year group and language), but these were not- reportedly- being used by the BLAs, many of whom were working on vocabulary with pupils on an ad hoc basis. In addition, the benefit of using L1 translations in L2 vocabulary learning is uncertain (Chalmers & Murphy, 2022; Treffers-Daller, J. 2023). Should, then, the blanket use of the lists be recommended to the BLAs?

Initial literature searches indicated relatively little in-school vocabulary research related to learning using vocabulary lists, so this became the focus of a scoping review.

The scoping review questions were:
What is the nature and scope of research on L1-mediated word list use in L2 vocabulary learning among school-aged learners?

How is word list learning operationalised in this research?

1450 references were imported for abstract screening and 31 articles, reporting 40 experiments, were included in the final data extraction process.

This poster will share results of the scoping review and how these have shaped a pilot school-based vocabulary RCT in Portsmouth schools.

References:
Chalmers, H., & Murphy, V. (2021). Multilingual learners, linguistic pluralism and implications for education and research. In E. Macaro & R. Woore, (Eds.) Debates in second language education (pp. 66–88). Routledge.
Treffers-Daller, J. (2023). Unravelling translanguaging: a critical appraisal. ELT Journal, 78(1), 64–71, https://doi.org/10.1093/elt/ccad058

POSTER PRESENTATION 7
Constructing a Corpus-based Spoken Academic Belgian Dutch Word List and Vocabulary Test
– Jolien Mathysen

ABSTRACT
Research has indicated that listening comprehension tends to improve with the increase of lexical coverage (Durbahn et al., 2020; van Zeeland & Schmitt, 2013) and that there is a correlation between vocabulary knowledge and academic listening comprehension (Wallace, 2020). More specifically, studies suggest that students ought to know 95%-98% of the running words, or the 3,000-9,000 most frequent word families (plus proper nouns and marginal words), to reach reasonable to very high comprehension of English lectures (Dang, 2022; Dang & Webb, 2014).

In line with Maxwell’s (2013) assertion that nobody is a native speaker of academic English, studies have shown that (spoken) academic Dutch and vocabulary also form stumbling blocks for both FL/L2 and L1 speakers of Dutch (Deygers, 2017; Deygers et al., 2017; Deygers et al., 2018). For English, corpora and frequency-based word lists have been used numerous times to develop/validate learning materials and inform instruction (Dang, 2019; Dang et al., 2017; Lu & Dang, 2022). Yet, to date, no spoken academic corpus or word list had been available for (Belgian) Dutch.

This study presents the development of such a list based on the SABeD (Spoken Academic Belgian Dutch) corpus, which consists of 200 lectures from Flemish university first bachelor programmes and encompasses the domains of the Arts and Humanities, Life and Medical Sciences, Physical Sciences, and Social Sciences. It was extracted using a collection of existing word lists, including a general Dutch vocabulary list by Tiberius and Schoonheim (2013), as stop lists. The validation of the list is being explored by determining its coverage in independent collections of academic speech/writing and nonacademic speech (Dang et al., 2017). The list’s validation and compilation processes will be discussed in more depth, against the background of the final goal to make a validated spoken academic vocabulary test (Schmitt et al., 2020).

References:
Dang, T. N. Y. (2019). Corpus-based word lists in second language vocabulary research, learning, and teaching. In The Routledge handbook of vocabulary studies (pp. 288-303). Routledge.
Dang, T. N. Y. (2022). Vocabulary in academic lectures. Journal of English for Academic Purposes, 58, 101123.
Dang, T. N. Y., Coxhead, A., & Webb, S. (2017). The Academic Spoken Word List. Language Learning, 67(4), 959-997.
Dang, T. N. Y., & Webb, S. (2014). The lexical profile of academic spoken English. English for Specific Purposes, 33, 66-76.
Deygers B. (2017). Validating university entrance policy assumptions. Some inconvenient facts. In Gutiérrez Eugenio, E. (Ed.), Learning and Assessment: Making the Connections – Proceedings of the ALTE 6th International Conference (pp. 46-50). Cambridge: ALTE.
Deygers B., Van den Branden K., Peters E. (2017). Checking assumed proficiency: comparing L1 and L2 performance on a university entrance test. Assessing Writing, 32, 43-56.
Deygers, B., Van den Branden, K., & Van Gorp, K. (2018). University entrance language tests: A matter of justice. Language Testing, 35, 449–476.
Durbahn, M., Rodgers, M., & Peters, E. (2020). The relationship between vocabulary and viewing comprehension. System, 88, 102166.
Lu, C., & Dang, T. N. Y. (2022). Vocabulary in EAP learning materials: What can we learn from teachers, learners, and corpora?. System, 106, 102791.
Maxwell, L. A. (2013). Common Core ratchets up language demands for English-learners. Education week, 33(10), 14-16.
Schmitt, N., Nation, P., & Kremmel, B. (2020). Moving the field of vocabulary assessment forward: The need for more rigorous test development and validation. Language Teaching, 53(1), 109-120.
Tiberius, C. & T. Schoonheim (2013). A frequency dictionary of Dutch: Core vocabulary for learners. Oxon: Routledge.
Van Zeeland, H., & Schmitt, N. (2013). Lexical coverage in L1 and L2 listening comprehension: The same or different from reading comprehension?. Applied linguistics, 34(4), 457-479.
Wallace, M. P. (2020). Individual differences in second language listening: Examining the role of knowledge, metacognitive awareness, memory, and attention. Language Learning, 72(1), 5-44.

POSTER PRESENTATION 8
Evaluating Technical Engineering Vocabulary List: Perspectives from Teachers and Learners
– Budur Alanazi

ABSTRACT
Recently, scholars have suggested integrating teacher perspectives on word usefulness and learners' vocabulary knowledge alongside data from corpora to enhance the selection process of the most beneficial words for learners of foreign languages (Dang, Webb, & Coxhead, 2022). However, it is not clear to what degree these data sets align with each other. This study specifically explores the connections among (a) the lexical coverage of an engineering academic specialized corpus (EMDC), (b) the Saudi engineering students' familiarity with engineering technical vocabulary, and (c) the opinions of engineering lecturers regarding the usefulness of technical engineering vocabulary. First, 20 experienced lecturers of Engineering rated the usefulness of 210 engineering technical vocabulary derived from the engineering vocabulary list of 930 words for their learners. Second, undergraduate Saudi engineering students in their final year complete yes/no that measure their familiarity with the same technical engineering vocabulary. Teachers evaluated that the high-frequency engineering technical vocabulary had more usefulness words than mid and low- frequency and high-frequency Items in this list were also better known by the learners.

In conclusion, these analyses provide useful input into decisions about where learners and teachers might focus their efforts in acquiring specialized vocabulary, as well as supporting the development of discipline-specific EFL teaching materials and methods.

Keywords: Corpus linguistics, learner vocabulary knowledge, lexical coverage, teacher cognition.

Reference
Dang, T. N. Y., Webb, S., & Coxhead, A. (2022). Evaluating lists of high-frequency words: Teachers’ and learners’ perspectives. Language Teaching Research, 26(4), 617-641.

POSTER PRESENTATION 9
Enhancing vocabulary learning from literary works in the EFL classroom: A view from Chinese teachers and college students
– Siying Huang

ABSTRACT
This study investigates perspectives on reading literary works in educational settings from non-native learners and teachers. To gather insights from learners, a general questionnaire covering experiences, attitudes, motivations, and preferences towards literature reading was used, while a semi-structured interview format was employed to gather teachers' views, experiences, preferences, and challenges. It has been suggested that reading narratives commonly found in literary works can be particularly beneficial for incidental vocabulary acquisition (IVA) (Gardner, 2004). Furthermore, longer texts such as novels offer favorable conditions for learning new words (Nation and Kyongho, 1995). Despite the demonstrated advantages of reading literary works for vocabulary development, there has been limited research focusing on the perspectives of EFL learners and teachers on this topic. In this study, Chinese EFL students (N=170) from various educational backgrounds participated in the survey through a questionnaire, while 3 EFL teachers from different high schools were interviewed. The results suggest that utilizing literary works for vocabulary learning is a viable approach and provides practical suggestions and recommendations for designing literature reading courses

POSTER PRESENTATION 10
The impact of integrating a data-driven learning (DDL) approach for collocation learning and retention
– Rasha Mohsen

ABSTRACT
Collocations are considered problematic for EFL learners who struggle to develop their collocational competence even at advanced levels (Laufer and Waldman, 2011). Although collocation knowledge can be acquired incidentally (e.g. Webb et al, 2013), deliberate teaching of collocations has gained popularity (e.g. Boers and Lindstromberg, 2012, for a review) which might accelerate the development of this complex aspect of language. Corpus-based teaching or data-driven learning (DDL) has shown promising results in vocabulary and collocation learning (Lee et al, 2019). This study aims to explore the effectiveness of integrating a DDL approach for collocation learning and retention in an L1-Arabic EFL context. The participants are 131 EFL students with low-intermediate English proficiency, recruited to form two groups: the control and the experimental group. Two treatment conditions were followed to establish the comparison between the traditional (dictionary-use condition) and the DDL approach. A pretest and two posttests were administered to measure form-recognition and form-recall knowledge of collocations. Students’ perceptions and attitudes towards the implementation of DDL in their classrooms were measured through a questionnaire following the intervention. The results showed that the dictionary-use and the DDL yielded significant improvement in later posttests, with no significant difference between the two conditions. However, the results suggest that dictionary use might be more efficient for accurate form-recall collocation retention in the target context. Students also seem to prefer the use of DDL over the dictionary use. The results are discussed with reference to the current stage of DDL and some implications are drawn as well.

References:
Boers, F. and Lindstromberg, S., 2012. Experimental and intervention studies on formulaic sequences in a second language. Annual Review of Applied Linguistics, 32, pp.83-110.
Laufer, B. and Waldman, T., 2011. Verb‐noun collocations in second language writing: A corpus analysis of learners’ English. Language learning, 61(2), pp.647-672.
Lee, H., Warschauer, M. and Lee, J.H., 2019. The effects of corpus use on second language vocabulary learning: A multilevel meta-analysis. Applied Linguistics, 40(5), pp.721-753.
Webb, S., Newton, J. and Chang, A., 2013. Incidental learning of collocation. Language learning, 63(1), pp.91-120.

POSTER PRESENTATION 11
The Role of Apps in Enhancing Vocabulary Development Among Saudi EFL Learners
– Shatha Alsaif

ABSTRACT
This study aims to investigate the impact of a vocabulary learning app on the vocabulary development of English as a Foreign Language (EFL) learners in Saudi Arabia. Many students in disciplines like computer science, engineering, mathematics, and physics struggle with specialist academic vocabulary, particularly when courses and textbooks are in English. Such students may benefit from an app that targets the teaching of specialist vocabulary for their discipline. To meet this need, the app "Lexigenius" was specifically developed for university-level students, offering various learning resources for each vocabulary item, including definitions, translations, example sentences, and audio pronunciations. The app was developed in R Shinny, which provides detailed information about use, such as the number and duration of consultations for a particular item as well as for different aspects of that item (e.g., definition example sentences). This detailed information allows for an exploration of the relationship between study patterns and learning gains.

The effectiveness of Lexigenius was tested in an experimental study with first-year EFL students at a Saudi university. The results indicate that Lexigenius significantly enhanced academic vocabulary acquisition, as evidenced by marked improvements in pre- and post-test scores. Furthermore, data analysis revealed robust engagement with key features of the app, particularly the translation tool and interactive audio options, which were frequently used by the students to reinforce their learning.

The primary goal of this research is to shed light on the potential of vocabulary apps to enhance vocabulary acquisition among EFL learners. By integrating quantitative outcomes from test scores with qualitative data on app usage, the study offers valuable insights that could inform the development and worldwide implementation of effective vocabulary learning tools.

Anticipated benefits from this research include the enhancement of language learning strategies and the improvement of educational resources, thereby contributing to the overall vocabulary development of EFL learners in Saudi Arabia and beyond.