Time distribution and intentional vocabulary learning through repeated reading: a partial replication and extension

Abstract

The aim of this study is to analyze the effect of different schedules of repeated reading practice on intentional vocabulary learning, and constitutes a partial replication and extension of the authors' previous study on incidental vocabulary learning. Two groups of Taiwanese EFL learners (n = 72) engaged in five repeated reading sessions; one group had the sessions on consecutive days (1-day intersession interval, ISI), whereas the other had them once a week (7-day ISI). Apart from reading for meaning, the students were also asked to focus on 36 target words. The students were tested before and immediately after the treatment. Moreover, a delayed posttest was scheduled at a retention interval (RI) of 4 and 28 days for the intensive group and spaced group respectively (considering an ISI/RI ratio of 25%). The results indicate that the shortspaced repeated reading sessions had a significantly more positive effect on vocabulary learning on both immediate and delayed posttest than the long-spaced sessions. The benefits of the short-spaced schedule were clearer in the current study on intentional vocabulary learning than in the authors' previous study on incidental learning through repeated reading.