Optimizing Second Language Practice in the Classroom: Perspectives from Cognitive Psychology (original) (raw)
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This opening chapter of the special issue provides an overview of the role of practice in a second language (L2) from both pedagogical and theoretical perspectives. The following five areas of research are identified for studying L2 practice from cognitive psychology perspectives: (a) the type of practice (retrieval practice, corrective feedback, modality), (b) distribution of practice, (c) schedule of practice (blocking and interleaving effects), (d) individual difference factors (aptitude-treatment-interaction), and (e) effects of practice on learning trajectories and outcomes. This special issue sets a research agenda toward better understanding the learning processes and resulting knowledge through practice. That research can inform teachers about how they can optimize L2 teaching and learning for a variety of learners across different classroom contexts.
The Modern Language Journal, 2009
Practice in a Second Language provides a comprehensive overview of the state of the research on practice in second or foreign language learning. To clarify, it is not the practice of second language teaching that is being discussed here, nor is practice treated as the flip side of theory. Practice comes into focus as a collective name for activities that lead to improving a skill during the second language learning process. Practice here is a subclass of learning, whose aim is to reinforce and develop a skill or sub-skill in which the second language learner already has at least a basic level ability.
2021
This chapter discusses second language (L2) learning processes from cognitive perspectives gained from psychology and second language acquisition (SLA) research. A particularly useful cognitive theory for elucidating L2 learning processes from a cognitive perspective is skill acquisition theory. In L2 learning, declarative knowledge consists of exemplars and rules that L2 learners are usually aware of, while procedural knowledge is used by applying declarative knowledge to behaviors/skills, such as L2 comprehension and production. Optimal practice scheduling is a particularly burgeoning research area and is inspired by cognitive psychology research. L2 researchers have started to reveal the optimal timing to repeat L2 practice activities for proceduralization and automatization. In cognitive psychology research, distributing practice opportunities over multiple study sessions has been proven to be more valuable for long-term retention. Compared to cognitive factors like aptitude, however, relatively little attention have been given to the affective and motivational factors for research on L2 practice. Implications of many of the findings are somewhat straightforward.
Practice for Second Language Learning: Don’t Throw out the Baby with the Bathwater
International Journal of English Studies, 2010
After presenting some of the main arguments against certain narrow concepts of second language practice, this article argues that a broader concept of practice, still focused on form or even forms, but with due attention to form-meaning links and with appropriate sequencing of activities to ensure declarative knowledge first, followed by its proceduralization and (at least partial) automatization, is as relevant as ever. A brief overview is given of the range of activities that fall within this concept, and recommendations are made for adaptation to students’ individual and group differences.
This coda chapter offers unified theoretical accounts of the major findings of the empirical studies in this special issue of Optimizing Second Language Practice in the Classroom: Perspectives from Cognitive Psychology. We present a theoretical framework from cognitive psychology (desirable difficulty framework, Bjork & Schmidt, 1992) and link it to the ideas of second language (L2) difficulty (Housen & Simoens, 2016). We argue that practice condition, linguistic difficulty, and individual differences need to be taken into account for creating optimal, deliberate and systematic L2 practice. The desirable difficulty framework may serve as a theoretical foundation to better understand the role of practice on L2 acquisition, as well as to gain insights into effective L2 teaching. Future directions for research are presented to further develop this emerging field of L2 practice.
(2019) Practice makes Perfect? A review of second language teaching methods
The Bulletin of the Graduate School of Josai International University, 2019
This article explores the role of practice within second language teaching. It begins by defining the term and then reviews how practice has been applied throughout language teaching history. The article then reports how skill acquisition theories have informed the use of practice within language teaching methods. It then discusses how research in second language acquisition (SLA) have since promoted modern approaches involving practice instruction. The final section then examines issues regarding the implementation of these approaches within Asian educational contexts. Overall, this paper shows how practice has been applied in different ways within language teaching, and that no one method appears superior. Consequently, it is useful for teachers to have an understanding of the pros and cons of each method so as to benefit their own teaching.
Practice in a second language: Perspectives from applied linguistics and cognitive psychology
2007
Pp. xi + 323 ISBN 978-0-521-68404-0 (paper) $36.00 USD Practice in a Second Language provides a comprehensive overview of the state of the research on practice in second or foreign language learning. To clarify, it is not the practice of second language teaching that is being discussed here, nor is practice treated as the flip side of theory. Practice comes into focus as a collective name for activities that lead to improving a skill during the second language learning process. Practice here is a subclass of learning, whose aim is to reinforce and develop a skill or sub-skill in which the second language learner already has at least a basic level ability.
Pp. xi + 323 ISBN 978-0-521-68404-0 (paper) $36.00 USD Practice in a Second Language provides a comprehensive overview of the state of the research on practice in second or foreign language learning. To clarify, it is not the practice of second language teaching that is being discussed here, nor is practice treated as the flip side of theory. Practice comes into focus as a collective name for activities that lead to improving a skill during the second language learning process. Practice here is a subclass of learning, whose aim is to reinforce and develop a skill or sub-skill in which the second language learner already has at least a basic level ability.
Throughout the history of applied linguistics, “practice” and “automatization” have frequently elicited negative connotations with mechanical, mindless drills of structural patterns and superficial parroting of dialogues in the audiolingual era. At the start of the 21st century, however, the concept of practice was updated and expanded to capture a wide range of activities aimed at second language (L2) knowledge and skill development (DeKeyser, 2007). The goal of this opening chapter is to provide a fresh perspective on this obsolete coupling of practice and automatization. First, I explain recent theorizations of practice and automatization from the skill acquisition theory perspective. Second, I offer five principles of effective practice that are rooted in cognitive psychology: (a) deliberate, (b) systematic, (c) transfer-appropriate, (d) feedback, and (e) desirable difficulty. As these principles are central to the current edited volume, I present a survey of empirical research on these topics conducted in different contexts/rooted in different teaching approaches. Finally, I provide an overview of this edited volume, explaining how each chapter contributes unique insights into the evolving concepts of L2 practice and automatization.
The Modern Language Journal, 2019
We present a theoretical framework from cognitive psychology (desirable difficulty framework) and link it to the ideas of second language (L2) difficulty. We argue that practice condition, linguistic difficulty, and individual differences need to be taken into account for creating optimal, deliberate, and systematic L2 practice. The desirable difficulty framework may serve as a theoretical foundation to better understand the role of practice on L2 acquisition, as well as to gain insights into effective L2 teaching. Future directions for research are presented to further develop this emerging field of L2 practice.