Dr. Yuko Butler is the Director of Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages (TESOL) and Professor in the Educational Linguistics Division at Penn GSE. She serves as a professional consultant on language assessments of young learners at Educational Testing Service (ETS), the Center for Applied Linguistics (CAL), and the Eiken Foundation (Japan). She was awarded the National Academy of Education’s Spencer Postdoctoral Fellowship in 2004, studying East Asian perspectives on TESOL.

Originally from Tokyo, Dr. Butler earned her Ph.D. in Educational Psychology from Stanford University. She worked at their Center for Educational Research as a postdoctoral fellow, and jointly received the 1999 Cognitive Studies in Educational Practice Award for her research on the effects of metacognitive approaches to improve English as a Second Language (ESL) for language minority students. She then taught California’s Crosscultural, Language, and Academic Development certificate program at San Jose State University.

Research Interests and Current Projects

Dr. Butler’s research focuses on second and foreign language development and learning among children. She has been involved in a number of research projects concerning the effect of additional language learning in instructional settings among pre-primary and primary school students in both the United States and East Asia. Much of her work has focused investigating dual- or plurilingual development. She also has been heavily involved with the professional development of language teachers who work with young learners as well as adults.

While taking an ecological approach, Dr. Butler is interested in understanding the roles of various environmental factors and children’s age-related internal factors (such as their cognition and metacognition), as well as the interactions among them when children learn additional languages. She is also interested in understanding how to conduct “research with children” and “assessment with children” – an approach focused on developing more ethical research and assessment practices while trying to grant children greater autonomy than they have been given in traditional research methods.

Her recent research projects include studies on (a) how to incorporate children’s voices into the design of ecologically-valid materials, curricula, and assessments for their second/foreign language learning, and (b) how to invite children to design digital games for their foreign language vocabulary learning in order to maximize their digital knowledge and experience, as well as to give them ownership of and autonomy in their own learning.

Publications

Featured Books

Research Methods for Understanding Child Second Language Development

English for Young Learners in Asia Challenges and Directions for Teacher Education

English Language Proficiency Assessments for Young Learners

Globalization, Changing Demographics, and Educational Challenges in East Asia

Dejitaru-de kawaru kodomotachi: Gakushu, gengo noryoku-no genzai-to mirai [Changing Children in an Era of Digital Technology: The Present and Future of Learning and Language Abilities]

Selected Publications

Butler, Y. G. (in-press). Expanding the role of self-assessment: From assessing to learning English. In D. Valente & D. Xerri (Eds.), Innovative practices in early English language education. Palgrave Macmillan.

Butler, Y. G., & Huang, B. (Eds.). (2022). Research methods for understanding child second language development. Routledge.

Butler, Y. G. (2022). Exploring the idea of “assessment with learners” in discussing language assessment literacy. Language Teaching Research Quarterly, 29, 92-101.

Butler, Y. G. (2022). Language education in the era of digital technology. JALT Journal, 44(1), 137-152.

Butler, Y. G. (2022). Learning through digital technologies among pre-primary school children: Implications for their additional language learning. Language Teaching for Young Learners. https://doi.org/10.1075/ltyl.21009.but

Butler, Y. G. (2022). How to implement self-assessment to assist children’s language learning. In I. Papadopoulos & S. Chiper (Eds.), International current trends in applied linguistics and pedagogy (pp. 83-96). NOVA.

Butler, Y. G. (2022). Self-assessment. In H. Mohebbi, & C. Coombe (Eds.), Research questions in language education and applied linguistics (pp. 393-396). Zug, Switzerland: Springer.

Butler, Y.G. (2022). Assessment for young learners. In G. Fulcher & L. Harding (Eds.), Routledge Handbook of Language Testing (pp. 153-170). Taylor & Francis.

Zein, S. & Butler, Y. G. (Eds.). (2022). English for young learners in Asia: Challenges and directions for teacher education. Routledge.

Butler, Y. G., Peng, X., & Lee, J. (2021). Young learners’ voices: Towards a learner-centered approach to understanding language assessment literacy. Language Testing, 38(3), 429-455.

Butler, Y. G. (2021). Struggling for a diverse but fair policy: policy challenges to implementing English at the primary school level in Japan. In S. Zein & M. R. Coady (Eds.), Early language learning policies in the 21st century (pp.41-59). Springer.

Butler, Y. G. (2021). Researching with children as an opportunity for active and interactive learning: Lessons from a digital game design project. In A. Pinter and K. Kuchah (Eds.), Ethical and methodological issues in researching young language learners in school contexts (pp. 27-47). Bristol: Multilingual Matters.

Butler, Y.G. (2021). Assessment for young learners. In G. Fulcher & L. Harding (Eds.), Routledge Handbook of Language Testing (pp. 153-170). Taylor & Francis.

Butler, Y. G., & Iino, M. (2021). Fairness in College Entrance Exams in Japan and the Planned Use of External Tests in English. In B. Lanteigne, C. Coombe, & J. D. Brown (Eds.), Challenges in Language Testing Around the World (pp. 47-56). New York: Springer.

Butler, Y. G. (2020). The ability of young learners to construct word meaning in context. Studies in Second Language Learning and Teaching, 10(3), 549-580.

Butler, Y. G. (2020). Cognition and young learners’ language development. In M. Schwartz (ed.), Handbook of Early Language Education. Springer International Handbooks of Education. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-47073-9_2-1

Butler, Y. G., & Sakurai, C. (2020). Developing a classroom-based language assessment of Japanese children who speak minority language in Japan: The dialogic language assessment. Language Assessment Quarterly, 17(5), 467-490.

Butler, Y. G., Lee, J., & Peng, X. (2020). Failed policy attempts for measuring English speaking abilities in college entrance exams: Cases from China, Japan, and South Korea. English Today.

Lee, J., & Butler, Y. G. (2020). Reconceptualizing language assessment literacy: Where are language learners? TESOL Quarterly, 54(4), 1098-1111.

Butler, Y. G. (2019). Common challenges in diverse contexts. AILA Review, 32, 178-186.

Butler, Y. G. (2019). Linking noncognitive factors back to second language learning: New theoretical directions. System. Doi: 10.1016/j.system.2019.102127

Butler, Y. G. (2019). Teaching vocabulary to young second- or foreign-language learners: What can we learn from the research? Language Teaching for Young Learners, 1(1), 4-33.

Butler, Y. G. (2019). Assessment of young English learners in instructional settings. In A. Gao (Ed.), Second Handbook of English Language Teaching (pp. 477-495). New York: Springer.

Butler, Y. G. (2019). Inviting children’s views for designing digital game tasks. In H. Reinders, S. Ryan, & S. Nakamura (Eds.), Innovation in language learning and teaching: The case of Japan (pp. 71-96). New York: Palgrave Macmillan.

Butler, Y. G., Liu, Y. (2019). The role of peers in young learners’ English learning: A longitudinal case study in China. In M. Sato & S. Loewen (Eds.), Evidence-based second language pedagogy: A collection of instructed second language acquisition studies (pp. 145-167). New York: Routledge.

Butler, Y. G. (2019). How teachers of young learners of English are educated in East and Southeast Asia: Research-based lessons. In M. S. Zein & S. Garton (Eds.), Early language learning and teacher education (pp. 17-38). Bristol, UK: Multilingual Matters.

Butler, Y. G. (2018). The role of context in young learners’ processes for responding to self-assessment items. The Modern Language Journal, 18, 1-20.

Butler, Y. G., & Le, V. (2018). A longitudinal investigation of parental social-economic status (SES) and young students’ learning of English as a foreign language. System, 73, 4-15.

Butler, Y. G. (2018). Gaming and young learners. In S. Garton & F. Copland (Eds.), The Routledge Handbook of Teaching English to Young Learners (pp. 315-319). Oxford: Routledge.

Butler, Y. G. (2018). Young learners’ processes and rationales for responding to self-assessment items: cases for generic can-do and five-point Likert-type formats. In J. Davis et al. (Eds.), Useful assessment and evaluation in language education (pp. 21-39). Georgetown: Georgetown University Press.

Wolf, M., & Butler, Y. G. (Eds.). (2017). English language proficiency assessments for young learners. New York: Routledge. (pp. 256)