Quantitative analysis of the learning curve obtained for foreign language studies

Abstract

The article presents the results of an experimental construction and quantitative analysis of the learning curve (LC) obtained from individuals learning a foreign language. The experiment was conducted at the Ural Federal University named after the first President of Russia B.N. Yeltsin. Three types of LC were constructed for different level of English skills of the subjects: Pre-Intermediate, Intermediate and Upper-Intermediate. Comparison of these curves demonstrates that the subject's knowledge acquisition keeps running for 14 hours after the flash memory session. The paper presents two dependencies for constructing an approximation of the learning curve: logarithmic and polynomial. Based on a comparison of the approximation of the experimental LCs with functions of various types, we suggest that they all provide satisfactory results. Based on the results plans for further study of the problem were proposed.