The Minimal English Test: a new method to measure English as a Second Language proficiency

2020

Language Learning

In an exploration of the effects of task-repetition practice on fluency development, English-as-a-foreign language learners performed three oral narrative tasks involving six-frame cartoons for 3 consecutive days. They engaged in task-repetition practice under either a blocked (Day 1: A-A-A; Day 2: B-B-B; Day 3: C-C-C) or an interleaved (Day 1: A-B-C; Day 2: A-B-C; Day 3: A-B-C) task repetition schedule. The results yielded by a posttest involving new six-frame cartoons indicated that blocked practice resulted in greater fluency development (faster articulation rate and shorter mid-clause pause duration) than did interleaved practice. Moreover, the learners in the blocked-practice group tended to pause more frequently at clause boundaries. Blocked practice also led to significantly longer mean length of run and higher phonation/time ratio during training, although this advantage failed to transfer to meaningful pretestposttest changes. These dynamic fluency developmental patterns are discussed to elucidate the underlying proceduralization in L2 speech processes.

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Optimizing Fluency Training for Speaking Skills Transfer: Comparing the Effects of Blocked and Interleaved Task Repetition

2020

Language Learning

“…Based on their scores on a standardized test (Test of English for International Communication [TOEIC] Bridge), their English proficiency was estimated to fall between the A2 (elementary) and B1 (intermediate) levels in the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (CEFR) benchmark. The participants’ L2 English proficiency was assessed by the junior Minimal English Test (jMET; Goto, Maki, & Kasai, ). The jMET is a dictation test, and the test scores are found to correlate highly with general L2 English proficiency as measured by scores on the reading and listening sections of Japanese university entrance exams.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Mixing Grammar Exercises Facilitates Long‐Term Retention: Effects of Blocking, Interleaving, and Increasing Practice

Nakata

The Modern Language Journal

2019

Cognitive psychology research has shown that interleaving, wherein learners practice multiple skills or concepts at once, facilitates learning more than does blocking, wherein learners practice only one skill or concept at a time. Despite the advantage of interleaving over blocking observed across a number of domains, limited attention has been devoted to the effects of interleaving on second language (L2) learning. This study examined the effects of blocking and interleaving on L2 grammar learning. In this study, 115 Japanese learners studied 5 English grammatical structures under 1 of 3 conditions: blocking, interleaving, and increasing (i.e., blocking followed by interleaving). Learning was measured using a grammaticality judgment test administered immediately and 1 week after the treatment. Although interleaving led to the highest number of incorrect responses during training, it was more effective than blocking in the 1‐week delayed posttest. These results indicate that the advantage of interleaving extends to L2 grammar learning. Furthermore, learners’ levels of prior knowledge were found to moderate the effects of interleaving. Specifically, participants with lower pretest scores benefited more from interleaving compared to those with higher pretest scores. Pedagogically, the findings suggest that grammar learning may be enhanced by incorporating interleaved practice.

“…They were randomly assigned to either a blocked task repetition (n = 24) or an interleaved task repetition (n = 26) condition. The difference between the English proficiency levels of students assigned to the two groupsbased on the junior English Minimal Test, an objective proficiency test developed for research purposes (Goto et al, 2010) was not statistically significant.…”

Section: Participantsmentioning

confidence: 82%

Individual differences in memory predict changes in breakdown and repair fluency but not speed fluency: A short-term fluency training intervention study

Applied Psycholinguistics

2021

The purpose of this intervention study is to reveal the extent to which memory-related aptitudes are implicated in the second language (L2) fluency development fostered by task repetition. English L2 learners are engaged in oral narrative tasks three times per day under two different 3-day task repetition schedules: blocked (Day 1: A-A-A, Day 2: B-B-B, Day 3: C-C-C) versus interleaved (Day 1: A-B-C, Day 2: A-B-C, Day 3: A-B-C). Their phonological short-term memory (PSTM), attention control, and associative memory were used as predictors of fluency changes measured through speed, breakdown, and repair fluency behaviors. Results showed that while the articulation rate change was not explained by any of the examined predictors, breakdown and repair fluency were predicted by different memory components. Specifically, PSTM was associated with mid-clause pause decrease during the training phase, while associative memory was linked to the increase in clause-final pauses in the posttest. Attention control, as well as PSTM, was related to greater repair frequency in the posttest, indicating increased learners’ attention to speech monitoring. Furthermore, PSTM and associative memory contributed to reducing breakdown fluency in the blocked repetition condition only, suggesting that learners can capitalize on their memory for improving oral fluency by engaging in blocked practice.