Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-ndw9j Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-19T07:19:10.675Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

EFFECTS OF EXPANDING AND EQUAL SPACING ON SECOND LANGUAGE VOCABULARY LEARNING

Does Gradually Increasing Spacing Increase Vocabulary Learning?

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  16 April 2015

Tatsuya Nakata
Tatsuya Nakata*
Affiliation:
Victoria University of Wellington
*
*Correspondence concerning this article should be addressed to Tatsuya Nakata, Faculty of Foreign Language Studies, Kansai University, 3-3-35 Yamate-cho, Suita-shi, Osaka Japan 564-8680. E-mail: [email protected]
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Although expanding spacing is often regarded as the most effective practice schedule, studies comparing equal and expanding spacing have yielded mixed results. The present study set out to examine whether the amount of spacing and the retention interval may influence the effects of expanding and equal spacing on second language (L2) vocabulary learning. One hundred and twenty-eight Japanese college students studied 20 English-Japanese word pairs. The type of spacing (expanding and equal) and the amount of spacing (massed, short, medium, and long) were manipulated. Results demonstrated a limited, yet statistically significant, advantage of expanding spacing. The finding is significant because this is the first L2 study to find the superiority of expanding over equal spacing. The main effect of the amount of spacing was also significant, producing large effect sizes. Taken together, the results suggest that expanding spacing may facilitate vocabulary learning, although introducing spacing may have a larger effect.

Type
Articles
Information
Studies in Second Language Acquisition , Volume 37 , Issue 4 , December 2015 , pp. 677 - 711
Check for updates
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2015 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

REFERENCES

Baddeley, A. D. (1997). Human memory: Theory and practice (Rev. ed.). East Sussex, UK: Psychology Press.Google Scholar
Balota, D. A., Duchek, J. M., Sergent-Marshall, S. D., & Roediger, H. L. (2006). Does expanded retrieval produce benefits over equal-interval spacing? Explorations of spacing effects in healthy aging and early stage Alzheimer’s disease. Psychology and Aging, 21, 19–31.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Barcroft, J. (2002). Semantic and structural elaboration in L2 lexical acquisition. Language Learning, 52, 323–363.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Barcroft, J. (2007). Effects of opportunities for word retrieval during second language vocabulary learning. Language Learning, 57, 35–56.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Barcroft, J. (2013, December). Four input-retrieval patterns and incidentally oriented vocabulary learning during reading. Paper presented at the Conference, Wellington, New Zealand.Google Scholar
Bjork, R. A. (1994). Memory and metamemory considerations in the training of human beings. In Metcalfe, J. & Shimamura, A. (Eds.), Metacognition: Knowing about knowing (pp. 185–205). Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Carpenter, S. K., & DeLosh, E. L. (2005). Application of the testing and spacing effects to name learning. Applied Cognitive Psychology, 19, 619–636.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Cepeda, N. J., Coburn, N., Rohrer, D., Wixted, J. T., Mozer, M. C., & Pashler, H. (2009). Optimizing distributed practice: Theoretical analysis and practical implications. Experimental Psychology, 56, 236–246.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Cepeda, N. J., Pashler, H., Vul, E., Wixted, J. T., & Rohrer, D. (2006). Distributed practice in verbal recall tasks: A review and quantitative synthesis. Psychological Bulletin, 132, 354–380.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Cohen, J. (1988). Statistical power analysis for the behavioral sciences (2nd ed.). Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum.Google Scholar
Crothers, E., & Suppes, P. (1967). Experiments in second language learning. New York, NY: Academic Press.Google Scholar
Cull, W. L. (2000). Untangling the benefits of multiple study opportunities and repeated testing for cued recall. Applied Cognitive Psychology, 14, 215–235.3.0.CO;2-1>CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Cull, W. L., Shaughnessy, J. J., & Zechmeister, E. B. (1996). Expanding understanding of the expanding-pattern-of-retrieval mnemonic: Toward confidence in applicability. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Applied, 2, 365–378.Google Scholar
Dobson, J. L. (2011). Effect of selected “desirable difficulty” learning strategies on the retention of physiology information. Advances in Physiology Education, 35, 378–383.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Dobson, J. L. (2012). Effect of uniform versus expanding retrieval practice on the recall of physiology information. Advances in Physiology Education, 36, 6–12.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Elgort, I. (2011). Deliberate learning and vocabulary acquisition in a second language. Language Learning, 61, 367–413.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ellis, N. C. (1995). The psychology of foreign language vocabulary acquisition: Implications for CALL. Computer Assisted Language Learning, 8, 103–128.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Fitzpatrick, T., Al-Qarni, I., & Meara, P. (2008). Intensive vocabulary learning: A case study. Language Learning Journal, 36, 239–248.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Griffin, G. F., & Harley, T. A. (1996). List learning of second language vocabulary. Applied Psycholinguistics, 17, 443–460.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hulstijn, J. H. (2001). Intentional and incidental second language vocabulary learning: A reappraisal of elaboration, rehearsal, and automaticity. In Robinson, P. (Ed.), Cognition and second language instruction (pp. 258–286). Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kang, S. H. K., Lindsey, R. V., Mozer, M. C., & Pashler, H. (2014). Retrieval practice over the long term: Should spacing be expanding or equal-interval? Psychonomic Bulletin & Review, 21, 1544–1550.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Karpicke, J. D., & Bauernschmidt, A. (2011). Spaced retrieval: Absolute spacing enhances learning regardless of relative spacing. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, and Cognition, 37, 1250–1257.Google ScholarPubMed
Karpicke, J. D., & Roediger, H. L. (2007). Expanding retrieval practice promotes short-term retention, but equally spaced retrieval enhances long-term retention. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, and Cognition, 33, 704–719.Google ScholarPubMed
Karpicke, J. D., & Roediger, H. L. (2010). Is expanding retrieval a superior method for learning text materials? Memory and Cognition, 38, 116–124.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Landauer, T. K., & Bjork, R. A. (1978). Optimum rehearsal patterns and name learning. In Gruneberg, M. M., Morris, P. E., & Sykes, R. N. (Eds.), Practical aspects of memory (pp. 625–632). London, UK: Academic Press.Google Scholar
Laufer, B. (2012). Second language word difficulty. In Chapelle, C. A. (Ed.), The Encyclopedia of Applied Linguistics (pp. 5151–5156). Oxford, UK: Wiley-Blackwell.Google Scholar
Logan, J. M., & Balota, D. A. (2008). Expanded vs. equal interval spaced retrieval practice: Exploring different schedules of spacing and retention interval in younger and older adults. Aging, Neuropsychology, and Cognition, 15, 257–280.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Maddox, G. B., Balota, D. A., Coane, J. H., & Duchek, J. M. (2011). The role of forgetting rate in producing a benefit of expanded over equal spaced retrieval in young and older adults. Psychology and Aging, 26, 661–670.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Metcalfe, J., & Kornell, N. (2007). Principles of cognitive science in education: The effects of generation, errors, and feedback. Psychonomic Bulletin & Review, 14, 225–229.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Mondria, J.-A. (2003). The effects of inferring, verifying, and memorizing on the retention of L2 word meanings: An experimental comparison of the “Meaning-Inferred Method” and the “Meaning-Given Method.” Studies in Second Language Acquisition, 25, 473–499.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Mondria, J.-A., & Wiersma, B. (2004). Receptive, productive and receptive + productive L2 vocabulary learning: What difference does it make? In Laufer, B. (Ed.), Vocabulary in a second language: Selection, acquisition, and testing (pp. 79–100). Amsterdam, the Netherlands: Benjamins.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Nakata, T. (2011). Computer-assisted second language vocabulary learning in a paired-associate paradigm: A critical investigation of flashcard software. Computer Assisted Language Learning, 24, 17–38.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Nakata, T. (2013). Optimising second language vocabulary learning from flashcards (Unpublished doctoral dissertation). Victoria University of Wellington, New Zealand.Google Scholar
Nation, I. S. P. (2000). Learning vocabulary in lexical sets: Dangers and guidelines. TESOL Journal, 9(2), 6–10.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Nation, I. S. P. (2001). Learning vocabulary in another language. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Nation, I. S. P. (2006). How large a vocabulary is needed for reading and listening? Canadian Modern Language Review, 63, 59–82.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Nation, I. S. P., & Beglar, D. (2007). A vocabulary size test. The Language Teacher, 31(7), 9–13.Google Scholar
Nation, I. S. P., & Webb, S. A. (2011). Researching and analyzing vocabulary. Boston, MA: Heinle Cengage Learning.Google Scholar
Pashler, H., Zarow, G., & Triplett, B. (2003). Is temporal spacing of tests helpful even when it inflates error rates? Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, and Cognition, 29, 1051–1057.Google ScholarPubMed
Pyc, M. A., & Rawson, K. A. (2007). Examining the efficiency of schedules of distributed retrieval practice. Memory & Cognition, 35, 1917–1927.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Pyc, M. A., & Rawson, K. A. (2009). Testing the retrieval effort hypothesis: Does greater difficulty correctly recalling information lead to higher levels of memory? Journal of Memory and Language, 60, 437–447.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Roediger, H. L., & Karpicke, J. D. (2010). Intricacies of spaced retrieval: A resolution. In Benjamin, A. S. (Ed.), Successful remembering and successful forgetting: A festschrift in honor of Robert A. Bjork (pp. 23–47). New York, NY: Psychology Press.Google Scholar
Schmidt, R. A., & Bjork, R. A. (1992). New conceptualizations of practice: Common principles in three paradigms suggest new concepts for training. Psychological Science, 3, 207–217.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Schmitt, N. (1997). Vocabulary learning strategies. In Schmitt, N. & McCarthy, M. (Eds.), Vocabulary: Description, acquisition and pedagogy (pp. 199–227). Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Schmitt, N. (2007). Current trends in vocabulary learning and teaching. In Cummins, J. & Davison, C. (Eds.), The international handbook of English language teaching (pp. 827–842). Norwell, MA: Springer.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Schneider, V. I., Healy, A. F., & Bourne, L. E. (2002). What is learned under difficult conditions is hard to forget: Contextual interference effects in foreign vocabulary acquisition, retention, and transfer. Journal of Memory and Language, 46, 419–440.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Schuetze, U. (2015). Spacing techniques in second language vocabulary acquisition: Short-term gains vs. long-term memory. Language Teaching Research, 19, 28–42.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Shaughnessy, J. J., & Zechmeister, E. B. (1992). Memory-monitoring accuracy as influenced by the distribution of retrieval practice. Bulletin of the Psychonomic Society, 30, 125–128.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Son, L. K., & Simon, D. A. (2012). Distributed learning: Data, metacognition, and educational implications. Educational Psychology Review, 24, 379–399.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Steinel, M. P., Hulstijn, J. H., & Steinel, W. (2007). Second language idiom learning in a paired-associate paradigm: Effects of direction of learning, direction of testing, idiom imageability, and idiom transparency. Studies in Second Language Acquisition, 29, 449–484.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Storm, B. C., Bjork, R. A., & Storm, J. C. (2010). Optimizing retrieval as a learning event: When and why expanding retrieval practice enhances long-term retention. Memory & Cognition, 38, 244–253.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Webb, S. A. (2009). The effects of pre-learning vocabulary on reading comprehension and writing. Canadian Modern Language Review, 65, 441–470.CrossRefGoogle Scholar