Incidental L2 Vocabulary Learning from Listening-while-Reading: The Effect of Spacing Repeated Occurrences"

Abstract

This study aimed to investigate the effect of distributing word occurrences over multiple listening-while-reading sessions (spaced practice) on incidental L2 vocabulary learning. To this end, a between-participants experimental design was set up, with forty-one Algerian intermediate EFL learners randomly assigned to either a spaced practice group or a control (massed) group. Participants in the spaced practice read and listened to two short stories containing nine pseudowords over three sessions of one-day intervals, while the control group read and listened to the same input in one session. Vocabulary knowledge was assessed using two unannounced immediate posttests: written form recognition and meaning recognition. It was predicted that there would be a significant difference between the spaced and control groups in pseudoword gains for both form and meaning