3定量-The Time Factor in EFL Classroom Practice

LanguageLearningISSN0023-8333TheTimeFactorinEFLClassroomPracticeRaquelSerranoUniversitatdeBarcelonaThisarticleanalyzeswhetherthedistributionofthehoursofclassroompracticehasanyeffectonstudents’foreignlanguagegainsbycomparingtwotypesofEFL(Englishasaforeignlanguage)programs:oneinwhichthehoursofinstructionaredistributedinlongsessionsoverashortperiod(intensivecourse)andanotherinwhichthestudentsattendshortsessionsoveralongperiodoftime(regularcourse).Datafrom152participantsattwoproficiencylevelsweregathered.Learners’grammarandvocabularyknowledge,aswellaslistening,writing,andspeakingskillswereexaminedthroughavarietyoftasks.Theresultsoftheanalysesperformedindicatethatintermediate-levelstudentstendtomakemorelanguagegainsinintensiveprogramsthaninregularprograms,whereasadvancedEFLstudentsdonotseemtobenefitfromintensiveclassroompracticeasmuchasintermediatestudentsdo.Keywordstimedistribution;English-as-a-second-languageinstruction;intensivelanguagecourses;EFLclassroompracticeThemaximthat“practicemakesperfect”reflectsacommonbeliefthatpracticeisdirectlyrelatedtoimprovementinperformance.Thisobservationhasbeendescribedincognitivepsychologybythe“powerlawofpractice”(Newell&Rosenbloom,1981),accordingtowhichtimedevotedtopracticingaskillisadeterminingfactorinautomatization,asreflectedinamoreaccurateandfasterperformance.Similarly,thesecondlanguageacquisition(SLA)literaturehasemphasizedthat,allthingsbeingequal,themoretimestudentsdevotetolearningasecondlanguage,thehighertheirlevelofproficiencywillbe1(Carroll,1967;Stern,1985).ThisresearchwassupportedbygrantNo.HUM2007-64302andgrantNo.2009SGR137.AshortversionofthisarticlewaspresentedatAILA2008(August24–29,Essen,Germany).IwouldliketothankCarmenMu˜nozforherinvaluableadviceduringallthedifferentstepsinvolvedinthisstudyandforherfeedbackonanearlierdraftofthisarticle.IalsothankRobertDeKeyserandthreeanonymousreviewersfortheirinsightfulcommentsandsuggestions.CorrespondenceconcerningthisarticleshouldbeaddressedtoRaquelSerrano,DepartamentdeFilologiaAnglesaiAlemanya,UniversitatdeBarcelona,GranViadelesCortsCatalanes,585,08007,Barcelona,Spain.Internet:[e-mail]61:1,March2011,pp.117–145117C2010LanguageLearningResearchClub,UniversityofMichiganDOI:10.1111/j.1467-9922.2010.00591.xSerranoTimeandEFLPracticeEventhoughthisparticularstudywillbrieflyexaminetheeffectofpractice(understoodaslearningopportunitiesthroughtime)inskillacquisition,ingeneral,andSLAinparticular,themainfocusofthisarticleistoanalyzehowthetimedevotedtopractice(morespecifically,foreignlanguagepracticeintheclassroom)shouldbedistributedforthecreationofoptimallearningconditions.Incognitivepsychology,severalresearchershaveinvestigatedtheeffectoftimedistribution(spacedormassed)onlearning.Moststudiesinthisfieldhaveclaimedthatitemsthatarepresentedinspacedsequences,withtimeorotheritemsinterveningbetweenthepresentationsofthetargetforms,arebetterlearnedandrememberedthanmaterialinmassedpresentations(inwhichtheitemstobelearnedappearincontinuoussequences).Thisphenomenonhasbeenreferredtoasthespacingeffect(Dempster,1996).IntheSLAliterature,theroleoftimedistributioninsecondlanguage(L2)learninghasnotreceivedmuchattention.Althoughsomeproposalshavebeenpresentedconcerningtheintervalsatwhichrepetitionsofnewwordsshouldoccurinorderforthemtobebetterlearnedandretained(Pimsleur,1967),notmuchresearchhasbeenconductedinrelationtohowthehoursofpracticeorexposuretoanL2shouldbeoptimallydistributed.ThefewstudiesthathaveanalyzedtimedistributioninL2classroomlearninghavereportedadvantagesforlearnersinintensive/compactcoursesascomparedtothosefollowingregularforeignlanguageclassesnotonlyforchildren(Collins,Halter,Lightbown,&Spada,1999;Lightbown&Spada,1994;Spada&Lightbown,1989;White&Turner,2005)butalsoforadults(Serrano&Mu˜noz,2007).ThisstudyattemptstoshedsomelightontheeffectofthedistributionofinstructionalhoursonL2learninginaclassroomcontextwhileconsideringthestudents’initialproficiencylevel.Beforepresentingtheempiricalstudy,twoareasofcurrentliteraturewillbereviewed.First,theeffectofpracticeontheacquisitionofcognitiveskills,ingeneral,andL2/foreignlanguageskills,inparticular,willbediscussed.Second,theeffectsoftimedistributionofpracticewillbeexamined,consideringfindingsfrombothcognitivepsychologyandSLAliterature.ReviewoftheLiteraturePracticeinCognitivePsychologyandinSLAMostresearchersincognitivepsychologyagreethatinorderforaskilltobe-comeautomatized,amassiveamountofpracticeisrequired;however,theydifferintermsofwhichmechanismscanaccountforautomaticbehavior.DeKeyser(2001)andSegalowitz(2003)providedcomprehensivereviewsofLanguageLearning61:1,March2011,pp.117–145118SerranoTimeandEFLPracticethedifferentcriteriathathavebeenconsideredinordertodefineautomaticityintheacquisitionofcomplexcognitiveskills.Followingthestudiesexaminedbythesetwoauthors,automaticperformancecanbedescribedasperformancethatinvolvesfast,ballistic,effortless,unconsciousprocessing,forwhichnoattentionisrequiredandwhichisnothinderedbydisruptionofinterferingevents.AccordingtoAnderson’sACT-Rskillacquisitiont