Introduction: This paper describes the exploratory case and initial evaluation of the computer-based testing (CBT) prototype. The advantage of CBT over paper-based testing (PBT) is that it allows us to control the order of questions and provides test takers with continuous tasks capturing their thought processes. Additionally, their response…

This study explores the effects of various motivational variables operating within 44 English classes on 1-year-long gains in the English reading proficiency of 1,149 Japanese university students. The study adds new knowledge to the recent outcomes of second language (L2) motivational studies in 3 major ways. First, the explanatory variables…

This study examined the empirical differences between the tendency to omit items and reading ability by applying tree-based item response (IRTree) models to the Japanese data of the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) held in 2009. For this purpose, existing IRTree models were expanded to contain predictors and to handle…

The current study investigated the relation and comparison of reading comprehension and reading rate in Japanese high school EFL learners. One hundred and forty-eight tenth-graders in a Japanese high school participated in this study. Results showed that the relation between reading comprehension and reading rate was weak, but significant (r =…

Despite the growing number of studies highlighting the complex process of acquiring second language (L2) word recognition skills, comparatively little research has examined the relationship between word recognition and passage-level reading ability in L2 learners; further, the existing results are inconclusive. This study aims to help fill the…

Vocabulary is an essential component of language. It is central to reading ability, writing ability and listening ability, and the most important aspect of second-language (L2) knowledge for academic achievement. The aim of this paper is to investigate quantitatively some of the factors that make some L2 words more difficult to learn and retain…

These proceedings contain the papers of the 13th International Conference on Cognition and Exploratory Learning in the Digital Age (CELDA 2016), October 28-30, 2016, which has been organized by the International Association for Development of the Information Society (IADIS), co-organized by the University of Mannheim, Germany, and endorsed by the…

In the componential approach to modelling reading ability, a number of contributory factors have been empirically validated. However, research on their relative contribution to explaining performance on second language reading tests is limited. Furthermore, the contribution of knowledge of syntax has been largely ignored in comparison with the…

"A Psychological Study of Flexibility in Reading," the first in this collection of four articles, attempted to determine how flexibility in reading develops from elementary to junior high school. The results indicated that children in every grade in this experiment were flexible in reading, that is, they changed their speed of reading…

The effect of parafoveal noise information on a Hirakana target-recognition task was investigated in good and poor readers from first and second grades. A differential effect of parafoveal noise produced a longer or shorter variation in reaction time depending on kind of surrounding material. Filtering mechanism efficiency differences are…

A study compared the perceptions of 118 American teachers and 292 Japanese teachers children with learning disabilities. American teachers identified 4 percent of their children as meeting the criteria and Japanese teachers identified 1.5 percent. Americans rated high percentages of children as "weaker" in listening, speaking,…

A series of six studies of the reading ability of Japanese high school and college students investigated the ability of students to process various literary forms and the types of questions students have difficulty with at different levels of reading proficiency. Over 25,000 students completed various versions of an English reading comprehension…

Rauding theory states that two factors, accuracy and rate, explain nearly all the variance in the general reading ability of American schoolchildren (Carver, 1999). Using Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) and regression, this dissertation investigated to what extent the Rauding model could be applied to 92 Japanese university aged young adults…

This volume includes papers presented at the 1998 Japan Association for Language Teaching Conference. Section 1, "Voices of Experience," includes: "Towards More Use of English in Class by JTEs" (Midori Iwano); "Paperless Portfolios" (Tim Stewart); "Textbook Creation in Reverse Order for Chinese" (Chou Jine…