This article reports on 2 connected studies that provide data about the flow of research to foreign language (FL) educators in majority Anglophone contexts. The first study investigated exposure to research among FL educators in the United Kingdom using 2 surveys (n = 391; n = 183). The data showed (a) some limited exposure to research via professional association publications and events, (b) negligible direct exposure to publications in the Social Science Citation Index (SSCI), (c) barriers to exposure caused by poor physical and conceptual access, despite generally positive perceptions of research, and (d) the importance of university-based teacher educators for research-practice interfaces. The second study investigated the potential for indirect exposure to research from 7 professional publications over 5 years in Australia, the United Kingdom, and the United States. We systematically reviewed the extent to which these professional publications referenced 29 SSCI journals that aim to publish pedagogy-relevant research. In our corpus of 8,516 references in 284 articles in professional journals, the mean proportion of references to all 29 SSCI journals, combined, was 12.43% per professional article. The overall mean number of references to each SSCI journal was 0.17 per professional article. The emerging picture is rather bleak, and we propose action from academic journals and researchers to promote a more international, systematic, and sustainable flow of research.Keywords: perceptions of research; research-practice interface; consumption of research; citation; professional journals; teacher knowledge; teacher education THE DESIRE TO FACILITATE THE FLOW of information between research and practice is well established among journal editors (via 'Aims and Scope' sections), researchers (via articles and books), research associations (via mission statements, conference themes, invited plenaries), teachers (via professional associations, journals, conferences), and policy makers (via infrastructure, grey literature, schemes to incentivize researcher-practitioner communication). One way of enriching research-practice interfaces is via engaging practitioners in doing action
Within limited‐input language classrooms, understanding the effect of distribution of practice (spacing between practice) on learning is critical, yet evidence is conflicting and of limited relevance for young learners. For second language (L2) grammar learning, some studies reveal advantages for spacing of 7 days or more, but others for shorter spacing. Further, little is known about the role of cognitive individual differences (e.g., language analytic ability; LAA) in mediating practice distribution effects for L2 grammatical knowledge development and retention. To address this gap, this classroom‐based study investigated whether distribution of practice and LAA moderated the effectiveness of explicit, input‐based grammar instruction for young first language (L1) English learners of French (aged 8 to 11). The study revealed minimal differences between longer (7‐day) versus shorter (3.5‐day) spacing of practice for learning a French verb inflection subsystem, at either posttest or delayed posttest. Minimal group‐level gains and substantial within‐group variation in performance at posttests were observed. Accuracy of practice during training and LAA were significantly associated with posttest performance under both practice schedules. These findings indicated that within an ecologically valid classroom context, differences in distribution of practice had limited impact on learner performance on our tests; rather, individual learner differences were more critical in moderating learning. This highlights the importance of considering individual learner differences in the development of resources and the potential of digital tools for dynamically adapting instruction to suit individuals.
This study extends previous input-based grammar instruction research (for reviews, DeKeyser and Prieto Botana 2015; Shintani 2015) by comparing two types of input-based practice, each with the same explicit information, for learning L2 German definite article case-marking cues (der, den). Participants (N=138, aged nine to 11) received explicit information followed by either task-essential practice in making form-meaning connections (referential activities from Processing Instruction) OR task-essential practice in spotting the form (noticing activities). Both interventions yielded equivalent durable gains across six ecologically valid tests of comprehension and production (written and oral modalities), compared to negligible gains in a Control group. The findings revealed that, following explicit information, input practice requiring noticing of the target feature (as proposed by Svalberg 2012) was equally effective as task-essential form-meaning connection practice, shedding important light on previous claims in the research agenda on task-essential input practice (e.g. Marsden 2006; Marsden and Chen 2011). Responding to calls for ecologically valid effect-ofinstruction research (Mitchell 2000; Spada 2015), this classroom study demonstrates the efficacy of grammar practice for young learners within input-poor foreign language classrooms. 1 1 Note and Acknowledgements All intervention and test materials are freely available at www.iris-database.org. We are very grateful to the teachers and pupils who took D O ' A Capinska. The project was funded by an ESRC PhD studentship. Rowena Kasprowicz completed her PhD in Education at the University of York (under her maiden name, Hanan) and is now a post-doctoral research associate in the Digital Creativity Labs at the University of York.
This study investigated the influence of practice distribution (i.e. spacing between practice sessions) on successful vocabulary learning by examining two different time distributions, i.e. 1-day spacing (1-DS) vs. 7-day spacing (7-DS) using a freely available computer-assisted language learning programme (Quizlet). The study achieved high ecological validity through a classroom-based study with low proficiency second language (L2) English language learners at an Omani college of technology. The sample consisted of 96 participants in control ( n = 33), 1-DS ( n = 34) and 7-DS ( n = 29) groups. The control group was a test-only group with no explicit practice activities for the target words (34 nouns). Meanwhile, the 1-DS group (one day spacing between each practice session) and 7-DS group (seven day spacing between each practice session) received four 20-minute practice sessions using Quizlet to learn the target words. The participants completed baseline tests, including vocabulary level tests (VLTs), and working memory tests (WMTs), alongside performance tests at three time points (pre-test, immediate post-test, delayed post-test). The results revealed that the two experimental groups (1-DS, 7-DS) both scored significantly and equally higher than the control group at post-test, indicating that the spacing of practice sessions did not mediate learning success through this computer-based vocabulary practice. The technique feature analysis (TFA) model by Nation and Webb was applied to identify the key features of Quizlet activities, which may contribute to its effectiveness for vocabulary learning. The results revealed that the activities met a high percentage of the TFA criteria, which may account for the significant learning gains achieved by both the 1-DS and 7-DS groups.
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