The effectiveness of computer-based spaced repetition in foreign language vocabulary instruction: a double-blind study

Authors

  • Evgeny Chukharev-Hudilainen Iowa State University
  • Tatiana A. Klepikova St. Petersburg State University of Economics

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.1558/cj.v33i3.26055

Keywords:

vocabulary acquisition, double-blind design, activity generation

Abstract

The purpose of the present paper is twofold; first, we present an empirical study evaluating the effectiveness of a novel CALL tool for foreign language vocabulary instruction based on spaced repetition of target vocabulary items. The study demonstrates that by spending an average of three minutes each day on automatically generated vocabulary activities, EFL students increased their long-term vocabulary retention rate three fold. Second, we demonstrate that the double-blind experiment design, which has become standard research practice in such extremely high-stakes fields as pharmacology and healthcare, has the potential of being successfully implemented in CALL research.

Author Biographies

  • Evgeny Chukharev-Hudilainen, Iowa State University
    Evgeny Chukharev-Hudilainen is an assistant professor in the Applied Linguistics and Technology program at Iowa State University. He holds BSc and MSc degrees in computer engineering from Northern Federal University of Russia and a PhD in applied and computational linguistics from Herzen State Pedagogical University. Prior to joining Iowa State in 2012, he spent more than six years working as a senior software engineer at the Central Bank of Russia. His current research interests lie at the intersection of applied linguistics, psycholinguistics, and computational linguistics. He is leading research and development of a web-based automated writing evaluation system and teaching graduate and undergraduate courses in linguistics at ISU.
  • Tatiana A. Klepikova, St. Petersburg State University of Economics
    Tatiana A. Klepikova is a professor in the Department of English and Translation Studies at St Petersburg State University of Economics. She holds PhD and DrSc degrees in Germanic linguistics. Her areas of interest include cognitive linguistics, corpus linguistics, and computer-assisted language learning, with special emphases on the theory of linguistic metarepresentations, construction grammar, vocabulary acquisition in foreign language pedagogy, and discipline-specific language. She has published more than 100 papers in journals and edited collections in Russia and internationally, and is an editorial board member for the journal Issues in Cognitive Linguistics. She teaches both theoretical courses in linguistics and practical courses of English for specific purposes.

References

Al-Jarf, R. (2007). Teaching vocabulary to EFL college students online. CALL-EJ Online, 8(2). Retrieved from www.callej.org/journal/8-2/al-jarfl.html

Beliaeva, L. N. (2007). Lingvističeskie avtomaty v sovremennyx gumanitarnyx texnologijax [Linguistic automata in modern humanitarian technologies]. St Petersbug: Knižnyj dom.

Brown, C. G. (2002). Inferring and maintaining the learner model. Computer Assisted Lan­guage Learning, 15(4), 343–355. Retrieved from http://dx.doi.org/10.1076/call.15.4.343.8269

Collins, H. (2010). Tacit and explicit knowledge. Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press. Retrieved from http://dx.doi.org/10.7208/chicago/9780226113821.001.0001

Davelaar, E. J., Goshen-Gottstein, Y., Haarmann, H. J., & Usher, M. (2005). The demise of short-term memory revisited: Empirical and computational investigation of recency effects. Psychological Review, 112(1), 3–42. Retrieved from http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/0033-295X.112.1.3

Davidoff F., Haynes B., Sackett D., & Smith R. (1995). Evidence based medicine. BMJ, 310(6987), 1085–1086. Retrieved from http://dx.doi.org/10.1136/bmj.310.6987.1085

Ebbinghaus, H. (1885/1913). Memory: A contribution to experimental psychology. New York: Columbia University.

Gordania, Y. (2012). The effect of the integration of corpora in reading comprehension classrooms on English as a Foreign Language learners’ vocabulary development. Computer Assisted Language Learning, 26(5), 1–16.

Gorjian, B., Moosavinia, S. R., Kavari, K. E., Asgari, P., & Hydarei, A. (2011). The impact of asynchronous computer-assisted language learning approaches on English as a foreign language high and low achievers’ vocabulary retention and recall. Computer Assisted Language Learning, 24(5), 383–391. Retrieved from http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/09588221.2011.552186

Hays, R. D., & Woolley, J. M. (2000). The concept of clinically meaningful difference in health-related quality-of-life research. Pharmacoeconomics, 18(5), 419–423. Retrieved from http://dx.doi.org/10.2165/00019053-200018050-00001

Hoadley, C. M. (2004). Methodological alignment in design-based research. Educational Psychologist, 39(4), 203–212. Retrieved from http://dx.doi.org/10.1207/s15326985ep3904_2

Hulstijn, J. H. (2001). Intentional and incidental second-language vocabulary learning: A reappraisal of elaboration, rehearsal and automaticity. In P. Robinson (Ed.), Cognition and second language instruction (pp. 258–286). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Retrieved from http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/CBO9781139524780.011

Jones, M., Gebski, V., Onslow, M., & Packman, A. (2002). Design of randomized controlled trials: Principles and methods applied to a treatment for early stuttering. Journal of Fluency Disorders, 26(4), 247–267. Retrieved from http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/S0094-730X(01)00108-5

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(5), 1250–1257. Retrieved from http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/a0023436

Kirk, R. (2009). Experimental design. In R. E Millsap & A. Maydeu-Olivares (Eds.), The SAGE handbook of quantitative methods in psychology (pp. 24–47). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications. Retrieved from http://dx.doi.org/10.4135/9780857020994.n2

Labrie, G. (2000). A French vocabulary tutor for the Web. CALICO Journal, 17(3), 475–499.

Leitner, S. (2011). So lernt man lernen: Der Weg zum (18th ed.). Auflage. Freiburg: Verlag Herder.

Miller, G. A. (1956). The magical number seven, plus or minus two: Some limits on our capacity for processing information. Psychological Review, 63(2), 81–97. Retrieved from http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/h0043158

Miller, G. A. (1995). WordNet: A lexical database for English. Communications of the ACM, 38(11), 39–41. Retrieved from http://dx.doi.org/10.1145/219717.219748

Morraa, S., Viglioccob, G., & Penelloc, B. (2001). M capacity as a lifespan construct: A study of its decrease in ageing subjects. International Journal of Behavioral Development, 25(1), 78–87. Retrieved from http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/01650250042000050

Murdock, B. B., Jr. (1972). Short-term memory. Psychology of Learning and Motivation, 5, 67–127. Retrieved from http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/S0079-7421(08)60440-5

Nakata, T. (2008). English vocabulary learning with word lists, word cards, and computers: Implications from cognitive psychology research for optimal spaced learning. ReCALL Journal, 20(1), 3–20. Retrieved from http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/S0958344008000219

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(1), 17–38. Retrieved from http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/09588221.2010.520675

Nation, P. (2001). Learning vocabulary in another language. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Retrieved from http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/CBO9781139524759

Nicholls, A. P., & Potapova, Y. B. (2010). Insight into marine engineering English. St. Petersburg: GMA im. adm. S. O. Makarova.

Oberg, A. (2011). Comparison of the effectiveness of a CALL-based approach and a card-based approach to vocabulary acquisition and retention. CALICO Journal, 29(1), 118–144. Retrieved from http://dx.doi.org/10.11139/cj.29.1.118-144

Piotrowski, R. G. (1999). Lingvističeskij avtomat (v issledovanii i nepreryvnom obučenii) [The Linguistic Automaton (in research and continuous instruction)]. St Petersburg: RGPU.

Piotrowski, R. G., & Beliaeva, L. N. (2005). Linguistic automaton. In R. Köhler, G. Altmann, & R. G. Piotrowski (Eds.), Quantitative Linguistik: Ein internationales Handbuch (pp. 921–931). Berlin: de Gruyter.

Poole, R. (2012). Concordance-based glosses for academic vocabulary acquisition. CALICO Journal, 29(4), 679–693. Retrieved from http://dx.doi.org/10.11139/cj.29.4.679-693

Ranalli, J. (2013). Designing online strategy instruction for integrated vocabulary depth of knowledge and web-based dictionary skills. CALICO Journal, 30(1), 16–43. Retrieved from http://dx.doi.org/10.11139/cj.30.1.16-43

Rastrigin, L. A., & Erenštejn, M. X. (1988). Adaptivoe obučenie s model’u obučaemogo [Adaptive learning with a learner model]. Riga: Zinatne.

Stockwell, G. (2007). Vocabulary on the move: Investigating an intelligent mobile phone-based vocabulary tutor. Computer Assisted Language Learning, 20(4), 365–383. Retrieved from http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/09588220701745817

What Works Clearinghouse (2011). Procedures and standards handbook (v. 2.1). Retrieved from http://ies.ed.gov/ncee/wwc/pdf/reference_resources/wwc_procedures_v2_1_standards_handbook.pdf

Wissman, K. T., Rawson, K. A., & Pyc, M. A. (2012). How and when do students use flashcards? Memory, 20(6), 568–579. Retrieved from http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/09658211.2012.687052

Wozniak, P. A. (1990). Optimization of learning: Simulation of the learning process conducted along the SuperMemo schedule. Retrieved from http://www.supermemo.com/english/ol.htm

Zhu, Y., Fung, A. S., & Wang, H. (2012). Memorization effects of pronunciation and stroke order animation in digital flashcards. CALICO Journal, 29(3), 563–577. Retrieved from http://dx.doi.org/10.11139/cj.29.3.563-577

Downloads

Published

2016-08-26

Issue

Section

Articles

How to Cite

Chukharev-Hudilainen, E., & Klepikova, T. A. (2016). The effectiveness of computer-based spaced repetition in foreign language vocabulary instruction: a double-blind study. CALICO Journal, 33(3), 334–354. https://doi.org/10.1558/cj.v33i3.26055

Most read articles by the same author(s)