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The Korean Association for the Study of English Language and Linguistics
[ Article ]
Korea Journal of English Language and Linguistics - Vol. 22, No. 0, pp.441-457
ISSN: 1598-1398 (Print) 2586-7474 (Online)
Print publication date 31 Jan 2022
Received 10 Apr 2022 Revised 15 May 2022 Accepted 27 May 2022
DOI: https://doi.org/10.15738/kjell.22..202205.441

Effects of Part and Whole Learning on the Learning of L2 Words and Idioms

Jungyoon Choi ; Hyunsook Yoon
(1st author) Graduate Student, Dept. of TESOL, Graduate School, Hankuk University of Foreign Studies, Tel: 02) 2173-3978 nadia0308@naver.com
(corresponding author) Professor, Dept. of English Education, Hankuk University of Foreign Studies, Tel: 02) 2173-3978 hsyoon3@hufs.ac.kr


© 2022 KASELL All rights reserved
This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons License, which permits unrestricted non-commercial use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

Abstract

This study examined the interrelation between spacing and types of lexical items in SLA. The study compared the effects of four spacing methods (i.e., 1-item part, 5-item part, 10-item part, and 20-item whole learning) on the learning of L2 words and idioms. The experiment was held in a classroom-based environment to suggest the optimum spacing when learning a wordlist and whether the optimum spacing should be applied differently depending on vocabulary types in the real classroom. Eighty adult learners of English in Korea participated in learning L1-L2 paired associates of 20 words and 20 idioms in one of the four spaced conditions with different spacing. The results of the study showed a significant interaction between spacing methods and vocabulary types. On the immediate posttests, whole learning generated better performances than the 1-item and the 5-item part learning when learning words, while all spaced learning performed better than 1-item part learning when learning idioms. On the 1-week delayed posttests, the 10-item part learning produced more correct responses than the 1-item and the 5-item part learning in word learning but outperformed all the other groups in idiom learning. The results of the study suggest that (a) overall, spaced learning has a better effect on learning lists of words and idioms than 1-item part learning, and (b) the optimum spacing should be determined based on retention intervals and the types of vocabulary, including length, difficulty, frequency levels.

Keywords:

spacing effect, part learning, whole learning, idioms

Acknowledgments

This work was supported by Hankuk University of Foreign Studies Research Fund of 2021.

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