O n f e r e n c e

Takeshi Sato*, Yuda Lai**, Tyler Burden*** 
*Tokyo University of Agriculture and Technology, Tokyo, Japan 
**Providence University, Taichung, Taiwan 
***Meisei University, Tokyo, Japan 
[e-mail], [e-mail], [e-mail] 
Who will be Effective Users of CALL? : An Examination of Individual 
Variants in the Use of Technology-Enhanced Visual Glosses. 
Bio data 
Takeshi Sato
is an associate professor at Tokyo University of Agriculture and Technology, 
Japan. His academic interests are second language vocabulary learning, CALL and issues 
of English as a lingua franca.
Yuda Lai
is an assistant professor at Providence University, Taiwan. His academic 
interests are the language processing in English and Chinese and the interface in second 
language acquisition.
Tyler Burden
is an associate professor at Meisei University, Japan. His academic interests 
are second language vocabulary acquisition and testing. 
Abstract 
This study aims to verify the effectiveness of technologically-enhanced images 
on learners’ 
comprehension of the vocabulary in English as a foreign language (L2). It also examines 
the influence of individual factors in the effective use of these images, which could 
facilitate better sentence comprehension and production. 
Our study begins by questioning the argument previous CALL research has explored, 
namely that multimedia glosses facilitate L2 vocabulary learning. It might be true that the 
combination of visual glosses and verbal glosses on the same screen, which is one of the 
most fundamental CALL features, brings about longer retention or better understanding of 
target L2 vocabulary (e.g. Chun & Plass, 1996; Sato & Suzuki 2010, 2012). These 
findings, however, do not support the argument that the more technologically-enhanced 
glosses are used, the better the outcome they bring. The use of technologically-advanced 
devices does not always trigger successful learning as individual factors, especially the 
cognitive learning style (Littlemore, 2001), may also play a role on L2 vocabulary learning. 
Therefore, based on our hypothesis that an individual factor may affect the effective use of 
CALL materials, our study tries to find out what factors could operate the learners’ L2 
sentence comprehension and production including the target vocabulary they learn with 
the CALL materials. With special attention to the learning styles (holistic or analytic) and 
the first language (Chinese and Japanese) of L2 participants, the present research is 
conducted to examine whether the materials of L2 vocabulary with stereoscopic visual 
glosses (with the use of CALL) could facilitate successful L2 sentence comprehension and 
production. We believe the findings of our research will serve as a catalyst to develop 
individually-optimized CALL materials. 
 

---

-300- 
2014 CALL Conference 
LINGUAPOLIS
www.antwerpcall.be