Implementing Quizzes to Improve the Learning of the Spoken Forms of Second Language Words

Uchihara, T. (2022). How does the test modality of weekly quizzes influence learning the spoken forms of second language vocabulary? TESOL Quarterly. https://doi.org/10.1002/tesq.3176

What this research was about and why it is important

Building the spoken forms of words in a second language (L2) is just as important as building the written forms of L2 words, given that the goal of L2 instruction is typically to develop not only reading and writing skills but also listening and speaking skills. However, vocabulary research tends to focus on investigating how learners acquire written vocabulary through exposure to written input, such as reading or writing activities. Little attention has been paid to how we should teach spoken vocabulary. Thus, the current study set out to examine the extent to which administering weekly vocabulary quizzes in spoken mode would facilitate spoken vocabulary learning and whether changing the test modality would alter how learners study new words outside the classroom. Findings suggested that simply changing the test modality (spoken vs. written) of weekly quizzes (a) encouraged learners to adopt learning strategies focusing more frequently on the spoken word forms (i.e., reciting or listening to a word’s pronunciation) and (b) increased the spoken lexical knowledge while written vocabulary learning was not compromised.

What the researchers did

• I assigned one class of 19 Japanese university students to the spoken test group and another class of 20 students to the written test group.
• Both spoken and written test groups prepared for weekly quizzes of 20 academic English words and the form meaning connection of the words was tested over 10 weeks using an English-to-Japanese translation test.
• In weekly translation quizzes, the spoken test group listened to 20 words pronounced by the classroom teacher; the written test group saw the spelling of the words without hearing the words’ pronunciations.
• Before and after the 10-week treatment, participants completed two versions of the same test (i.e., written and spoken translation tests) in order to measure the learning of the written and spoken forms of 45 target words randomly selected from a pool of academic vocabulary (22 words appeared in weekly quizzes, and 23 did not).
• A questionnaire of out-of-class vocabulary learning strategies related to written vocabulary learning (paying attention to spelling and writing) and spoken vocabulary learning (listening and reciting) were administered after the treatment.

What the researchers found

• Greater learning gains in spoken vocabulary were observed for the spoken test group compared to the written test group, whereas there was no clear difference of the written vocabulary gain between the two groups.
• Both the spoken and written test group learned a greater number of words that appeared in weekly quizzes.
• The spoken test group tended to more frequently rely on learning strategies focusing on the spoken information of the words (listening to and reciting the pronunciation of a word) compared with the written test group.
• The written test group tended to more frequently rely on learning strategies focusing on the written information of the words (paying close attention to the word’s spelling and word writing) compared with the spoken test group.

Things to consider

• The current study confirms the important role of classroom testing for optimizing the learning of academic vocabulary in both written and spoken forms.
• Vocabulary learning may be modality-specific to the extent that exposure to spoken word forms in classroom testing promotes the learning of spoken vocabulary knowledge.
• However, the spoken test group learned as much written vocabulary as the written test group, indicating that providing spoken input alone does not necessarily reduce written vocabulary learning.
• Manipulating the test modality may indirectly influence learners’ strategic behavior of studying new words outside the classroom, although they were not given any explicit instruction to do so.
• Language teachers should consider changing the test modality of weekly quizzes depending on whether an instructional focus is on improving written or spoken L2 proficiency.

Download the summary here: https://oasis-database.org/concern/summaries/ww72bc159?locale=en

How to cite this summary: Uchihara, T. (2022). Implementing weekly quizzes in spoken mode improves the learning of the spoken forms of second language words. OASIS Summary of Uchihara (2022) in TESOL Quarterly. https://oasis-database.org