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Effects of random selection tests on second language vocabulary learning: a comparison with cumulative tests

  • Kohei Kanayama ORCID logo EMAIL logo , Akira Iwata ORCID logo and Kiwamu Kasahara ORCID logo
Published/Copyright: August 28, 2023
International Review of Applied Linguistics in Language Teaching
From the journal International Review of Applied Linguistics in Language Teaching Volume 63 Issue 1

Abstract

Cumulative tests (CTs) require learners to recall previously learned words. The scope of the tested words gradually increases with increased study sessions. A potential limitation of CTs is that less learning may occur for words introduced later than earlier. This study proposes random selection tests (RSTs), which may compensate for this problem. We randomly selected the tested words from all target words, such that learners can review all words in a balanced manner. To investigate whether RSTs compensate for CT limitations, the study randomly assigned 69 Japanese learners of English to the RST or CT group. They were given 45 Japanese and English word pairs and weekly small tests across three weeks. The CT group recalled 15 words per small test, in which the scope of the tested words increased (15 → 30 → 45 words). Alternatively, the RST group recalled 15 words, which were randomly selected from 45 words, per small test. The posttest revealed that the RST group compensated for the limitation and retained the second and last 15 words better than did the CT group. The findings suggest that RSTs enable L2 learners to study all words in a balanced manner.

Keywords: desirable difficulty; random selection test; retrieval practice; second language vocabulary learning; testing effect
Corresponding author: Kohei Kanayama, Hokkaido University of Education, 071-8621, 9-chome, Hokumon, Asahikawa, Hokkaido, Japan, E-mail:

Funding source: Grants-in-Aid for Scientific Research (C)

Award Identifier / Grant number: No. 21K00781

Acknowledgments

We are grateful to the anonymous reviewers for their constructive feedback and comments and to the journal editor, Xuesong Gao, for his useful comments.

  1. Research funding: This study was supported by Grants-in-Aid for Scientific Research (C) [No. 21K00781].

  2. Informed consent: Informed consent received from all the participants.

  3. Ethical approval: Not applicable. The reason is that we used participants’ scores but not their personal names, so their privacy is totally protected.

  4. Author contributions: All authors performed research design. Akira Iwata conducted the experiment and collected data in University A. Kohei Kanayama and Kiwamu Kasahara conducted the experiment in University B. Kohei Kanayama did data analysis and wrote the paper. Kiwamu Kasahara checked the paper.

  5. Competing interests: The authors declare none.

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Supplementary Material

This article contains supplementary material (https://doi.org/10.1515/iral-2023-0141).

Received: 2023-06-23
Accepted: 2023-08-12
Published Online: 2023-08-28
Published in Print: 2025-03-26

© 2023 Walter de Gruyter GmbH, Berlin/Boston

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https://doi.org/10.1515/iral-2023-0141
Keywords for this article
desirable difficulty; random selection test; retrieval practice; second language vocabulary learning; testing effect

Articles in the same Issue

  1. Frontmatter
  2. Editorial
  3. Broadening the appliability of systemic functional linguistics
  4. Research Articles
  5. Functional linguistics in life: an embodied approach in teacher education
  6. Teaching citation to university students
  7. Patterns of interaction between experiential and interpersonal meanings in student texts in Spanish: grounds for system-based applications in an academic writing context
  8. System networks as a resource in L2 writing education
  9. Teaching Chinese grammar through International Chinese Language Education micro-lectures: negotiating mass and presence through multimodal pedagogic discourse
  10. Meaning-making in English-medium instruction science classroom interaction: from the systemic functional linguistics perspective
  11. Scaffolding instruction in an EFL drama lesson: a systemic functional analysis
  12. Teaching mental processes to EFL learners: a blended-learning proposal
  13. SFL as a socially accountable praxis: who and what are we working for?
  14. Regular Articles
  15. The influence of task complexity and task modality on learners’ topic and turn management
  16. Explicit grammar instruction in the EFL classroom: studying the impact of age and gender
  17. Language pedagogies and late-life language learning proficiency
  18. The relative effects of corrective feedback and language proficiency on the development of L2 pragmalinguistic competence: the case of request downgraders
  19. Unraveling the dynamics of English communicative motivation and self-efficacy through task-supported language teaching: a latent growth modeling perspective
  20. Effects of random selection tests on second language vocabulary learning: a comparison with cumulative tests
  21. Determining the L2 academic writing development stage: a corpus-based research on doctoral dissertations
  22. Dynamic development of cohesive devices in English as a second language writing
  23. What pronunciation specialists believe CELTA tutors need to know to prepare student teachers to teach pronunciation
  24. The effect of collaborative prewriting on L2 collaborative writing production and individual L2 writing development
  25. Beyond learning opportunities: focused encounters in a sociocognitive approach to second language acquisition and teaching
  26. Funds of knowledge for synchronous online language teaching: a translanguaging view on an ESL teacher’s pedagogical practices
  27. A frequency, coverage, and dispersion analysis of the academic collocation list in university student writing
  28. Fostering well-being in the university L2 classroom: the “I am an author” project
  29. How teaching modality affects Foreign Language Enjoyment: a comparison of in-person and online English as a Foreign Language classes
  30. Toward a better understanding of student engagement with peer feedback: a longitudinal study
  31. Chinese EFL learners’ basic psychological needs satisfaction and foreign language emotions: a person-centered approach
  32. Are foreign language teaching enjoyment and motivation two sides of the same coin?
  33. Orchestrating listening in EMI university lectures: how listening proficiency and motivation shape students’ use of metacognitive listening strategies
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