Understanding the distributed practice effect and its relevance for the teaching and learning of L2 vocabulary

Edmonds, Amanda; Gerbier, Émilie; Palasis, Katerina; Whyte, Shona

doi:10.4000/lexis.5652

Cited by 6 publications

(4 citation statements)

References 25 publications

(12 reference statements)

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“…Evidence from previous research indicates that intentional learning may be more conducive to vocabulary learning than incidental (Yanagisawa et al, 2020). Consistent findings have been reached for the benefits of intentional learning in spaced practice studies (Edmonds et al, 2021).…”

Section: Spaced and Massed L2 Vocabulary Learning Practicesupporting

confidence: 60%

“…SLL researchers explored the impact of distributed practice on learning different language skills and sub-skills, including speaking (Kobayashi, 2021), syntax and grammar (Ambridge et al, 2006;Miles, 2014), and especially vocabulary (Edmonds et al, 2021;Nakata & Elgort, 2021;Pavlik & Anderson, 2005), many of which have confirmed the beneficial effects of distributed practice and instruction. According to Kim and Webb (2022), several theories shed light on the effects of spaced practice: a) Desirable difficulty framework shows that spacing intervals between learning sessions can make learning more complicated but more desirable.…”

Section: Spaced and Massed L2 Vocabulary Learning Practicementioning

confidence: 99%

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A Spacing Contribution on the Retention of L2 Word Forms and Meanings

Alkhudiry¹

2023

WJEL

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This study examined the contribution of spacing on facilitating learning and retention of L2 word forms and meanings. 38 Saudi Arabian learners of English studied 30 English words (beyond their current language proficiency) using a spaced and massed displays. The former refers to the frequent distribution of repetition across multiple learning sessions, whereas the latter deals with the repetition of words into one single learning session. The 15 lexemes, hence, under the massed condition were classified into three categories of five words, each set was studied three times in one of the three sessions, whereas the other set of words were studied under the spaced condition in which all 15 words were learned once in each of the three sessions. One offline test was conducted to measure the meaning of word knowledge, and one online lexical decision task measured respondents’ accuracy and speed in recognizing the form of target words. These two tests were administrated in immediate post-test (IPT) and delayed post-test (DPT), conducted two weeks later. The results show that the meaning and form of spaced L2 words are learned and retained better than those of massed L2 words. The reaction time (RT) results also show that L2 learners who are under the spaced condition are faster in recognizing L2 target word forms than those who are under the massed condition. These findings can have meaningful theoretical and pedagogical implications for developing L2 vocabulary learning and retention.

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Section: Spaced and Massed L2 Vocabulary Learning Practicesupporting

confidence: 60%

Section: Spaced and Massed L2 Vocabulary Learning Practicementioning

confidence: 99%

A Spacing Contribution on the Retention of L2 Word Forms and Meanings

Alkhudiry¹

2023

WJEL

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“…Conflicting findings among previous studies may also be related to the training and testing formats (Edmonds et al, 2021), with some studies using productive recall (e.g., Bahrick, 1979), while others used receptive recall (e.g., Bahrick & Hall, 2005). To our knowledge, no study has specifically examined the differences between a productive and receptive test after different ISIs, which is one of the gaps the present study aims to fill.…”

Section: The Lag Effect In Paired-associate Learning Under Lab Condit...mentioning

confidence: 72%

Lag Effects for Foreign Language Vocabulary Learning Through Quizlet

Serfaty¹,

Serrano²

2023

Preprint

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This is an earlier version of a study accepted for publication in Language Learning & Technology. The study was conducted in early 2021 and it was originally part of a thesis, defended in January 2023. Digital flashcard apps allow students to learn and practice foreign language vocabulary independently and efficiently, leaving more classroom time for communicative activities. However, words learned this way may be forgotten. Previous lab studies have shown that vocabulary retrieval practice can be optimized for long-term memory by employing longer intersession intervals, but this lag effect has not been shown in classroom conditions. The present study investigated the optimal gap between two Quizlet sessions for retaining new vocabulary. Secondary-school students (n = 96, mean age = 13.44) learned 16 novel words in an unknown language with either a 1-day or 1-week interval. Their productive and receptive knowledge was tested after 7 or 28 days. Results showed that longer spacing was beneficial for vocabulary retention, contrary to previous findings reported with school-aged learners using other types of training. The effect was small, but significantly larger on receptive tests, suggesting that the lag effect depends upon the kind of knowledge being tested.

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“…Studies in SLA using a similar paradigm have also confirmed the spacing effect for vocabulary learning in one single session (Koval, 2022;Nakata, 2015;Nakata & Suzuki, 2019). There are different theories that try to account for the spacing effect, including the deficient processing, encoding VIAL n_21 -2024 variability or study-phase retrieval theories (see Edmonds, Gerbier, Palasis, & Whyte, 2021;Serrano, 2012;Toppino & Gerbier, 2014). The desirable difficulties theory proposed by Bjork (Bjork, 1994;2018) has received recent attention in the SLA literature (Rogers & Leow, 2020;Suzuki et al, 2019).…”

Section: Spacing and Repeated Readingmentioning

confidence: 90%

Online processing and vocabulary learning in massed versus spaced repeated reading

Serrano,

Pellicer-Sánchez

2024

VIAL

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The present exploratory study analyzed the effect of two different implementations of repeated reading (massed vs. spaced) on the online processing of the text and unknown vocabulary, as well as on incidental vocabulary learning. The relationship between processing and learning of target vocabulary in massed versus spaced repeated reading was also examined. A group of Spanish undergraduate students read the same text in English three times under either a massed (three times consecutively) or spaced (once a week) schedule, while their eye movements were recorded. Knowledge of a set of target words from the text was assessed in immediate and delayed multiple-choice, meaning-recognition tests. The results of this study suggest that repeated reading led to a decrease in total reading time and number of fixations in the massed group but not in the spaced group. However, there were no significant differences between the two conditions in the processing of target words or immediate vocabulary gains. Finally, it was observed that longer processing time on the target words was related to larger immediate vocabulary gains, but only in the spaced group.

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Understanding the distributed practice effect and its relevance for the teaching and learning of L2 vocabulary

Cited by 6 publications

References 25 publications

A Spacing Contribution on the Retention of L2 Word Forms and Meanings

A Spacing Contribution on the Retention of L2 Word Forms and Meanings

Lag Effects for Foreign Language Vocabulary Learning Through Quizlet

Online processing and vocabulary learning in massed versus spaced repeated reading

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