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READERS’ FORUM Brain-Friendly Learning Tips for ARTICLES Long-Term Retention and Recall...

READERS’ FORUM Brain-Friendly Learning Tips for ARTICLES Long-Term Retention and Recall or insufficient, it cannot support new knowledge Jeff Mehring (Amrose et al., 2010), requiring students to constantly SEAMEO-RELC, Singapore struggle with new learning and retention. Helping students overcome their weaknesses and improve Regan Thomson requires them to learn new methods or techniques JALT PRAXIS for retaining new information and strengthening Kwansei Gakuin University their prior knowledge. Unfortunately, students believe mass-practice The main study skills students presently rely on are massed works because they witness a quick improvement in practice, repetition, rereading, and highlighting which cause the ability to recall information. This false sense of a false sense of fluency (Bjork & Bjork, 1992). Memory has two strengths, storage strength and retrieval strength, with the fluency (Bjork & Bjork, 1992) plateaus and quickly theory of desirable difficulty stating that the harder one has to disappears resulting in being unable to recall the in- work to retrieve a memory, the greater the subsequent spike formation during the exam or later in other courses. in retrieval and storage strength (Bjork & Bjork, 1992; Hattie, Students feel that because the facts, formulas, or 2013). Spaced repetition, pretesting, interleaving, and regular arguments were easily remembered during practice, JALT FOCUS testing are a few study skills that can lead to deeper learning. Incorporating them into teaching as well as showing students they should remain that way forever. What students how to use them could lead to deeper learning, stronger re- don’t realize is that the harder one has to work to trieval, and longer retention. This paper examines these study retrieve a memory, the greater the subsequent spike skills, including examples of how to incorporate them into var- in retrieval and storage strength. This is known ious classroom activities. as desirable difficulty (Bjork & Bjork, 1992). They 学習者の主な学習スキルは、集中練習、反復、再読、蛍光ペンなどで found that storage strength is a measure of how マークすることだが、これらは学習者が流暢だと思い込む要因となり得 well something is learned which builds up steadi- る (Bjork & Bjork, 1992)。記憶力には「保持」と「想起」の2つがあり、 「 望ましい困難」は、記憶を想起する為に努力すればするほど、結果的に ly with study and use and can increase but never 保持と記憶力が増加するという理論である(Bjork & Bjork, 1992; Hattie, decreases. 2013)。Spaced repetition (間隔反復)、Pretesting（事前（予備）試験) In this paper we demonstrate that despite the 、Interleaving(インターリーブ：交互配置)、定期試験は、より深い学びに 至る学習スキルである。これらのスキルを授業に取り入れ、スキルの使い popularity of quick fix solutions like the mass-prac- 方を教えることは、より深い学習と学習者の達成感につながるだろう。本 tice approach to learning, spaced repetition, pretest- 論文では、これらの学習スキルをどのように教室の授業活動に盛り込め ing, regular testing, and interleaving are better ways るかについて具体的に検討する。 to learn to overcome the inevitable plateau and L the false sense of fluency. While these approaches earning is a process that leads to change as a might produce a slower rate of improvement in result of our experiences, increasing the po- the beginning, they lead to a greater accumulation tential for enhanced outcomes and improved of learning over time, as will be discussed in the future learning (Amrose, Bridges, DiPietro, Lovett, & article. Norman, 2010). Making changes in the brain requires creating new connections, building upon back- Spaced Repetition ground knowledge, encountering new information An example of Bjork and Bjork’s (1992) term de- in various formats, and even forgetting. The brain sirable difficulty could be the multiplication tables needs to encounter new information many times, many children learn in math class. They acquire relearning it in order to retain the new informa- accuracy through the combination of steady study- tion in long-term memory. For most students, the ing accompanied by ample opportunities to demon- typical way to prepare for an exam or new learning is strate use of that knowledge. Retrieval strength, through cramming or mass-practice. Unfortunately, on the other hand, is a measure of how quickly or this practice leaves students with a lack of or poor easily one can recall information. This also increas- prior knowledge. When prior knowledge is weak THE LANGUAGE TEACHER 40.4 July / August 2016 9  The Language Teacher Readers’ Forum es with study and use, but will decrease over time, into box number five where they are reviewed every hence the need for constant review. The principle other month. It is at this point that the words have of mass-practice relies on short-term memory, a strong storage and retrieval strength, becoming whereas durable learning requires time for mental part of one’s long-term memory. rehearsal and the other processes of consolidation to take effect, including forgetting. Forgetting aids learning by actively filtering out competing facts, and additional practice allows for deeper learning (Bjork & Bjork, 1992). For this reason, spaced repe- tition increases the effort required to retrieve new learning, re-triggering consolidation, and further strengthening memory (Roediger & Karpicke, 2006). Roediger and Karpicke (2006) found that when one Figure 2. Demonstration of vocabulary card box successfully recalls information through spaced rep- study intervals. etition, he (a) restores the information differently than how it was previously stored; (b) develops new connections to the information, such as connec- Pretesting tions relating to other facts in mind at the time of Pretesting is the method of testing students on in- recall; and (c) alters the old network of cells which formation which has not yet explicitly been taught previously stored the information. or studied. The brain is stimulated by novelty, paying close attention to it and later, when the brain encounters the item again, it recalls the first How Spaced Repetition Works in an EFL encounter (Brown, Roediger, & McDaniel, 2014; Environment Sousa, 2011; Willis, 2006). Essentially, pretesting Sebastian Leitner in the 1970s developed the Leitner is developing background so two or three classes Box (Landauer & Bjork, 1978). Using five boxes, four later, when the material is presented, there is a boxes for spaced practice—one box for frequent higher possibility of making a connection and being (daily) study, the second box every three days, the retained. third box once a week and the fourth every month, Additionally, pretesting requires students to vocabulary cards move in either direction between work harder by guessing first rather than by the boxes as they are studied (see Figure 1). On the studying directly, eliminating the fluency illusion first day, the student studies and moves words he (Bjork & Soderstrom, 2015; Roediger & Karpicke, knows into the second box. Daily, the student goes 2006a; 2006b). With mass-practice or memorizing, through this process until the fourth day when the students only study the correct answer. Pretest- student studies both the first and second boxes (see ing offers additional choices, hence throwing the Figure 2). The second box of words has not been re- student off so he does not second-guess himself on viewed for four days, creating the desirable difficulty the test. For example, a student studies the capital effect when reviewed. If the student successfully of Australia as Canberra but on the test encounters recalls a word it moves into the third box, where it additional options such as Sydney, Melbourne, or stays until the following week. If the student does Brisbane. Suddenly, he second-guesses himself and not recall the word correctly from box number two, may choose incorrectly. One element to keep in it moves back to box number one and is studied dai- mind with pretesting is that it requires immediate ly again. This process continues until words move feedback, so any pretest must be corrected immedi- ately. Immediate, corrective feedback helps prevent students from incorrectly retaining material they have misunderstood and produces better learning of the correct answers. How Pretesting Works in an EFL Environment Pretesting cannot be used with students who do not possess basic language abilities. For example, if the students are zero beginners and do not know the Figure 1. Demonstration of Leitner’s box for vocab- English alphabet, pretesting will not work because ulary study. students will be unable to comprehend what is 10 THE LANGUAGE TEACHER Online http://jalt-publications.org/tlt  Mehring & Thomson: Brain-Friendly Learning Tips for Long-Term Retention and Recall written. Multiple choice tests work best considering a period of practice, the players were tested to see the principle idea is to prime the student’s brain for who could hit the most pitches. Research showed what is coming. player two did much better than player one (Hall, A quick and easy way to design and administer Domingues, & Cavazos, 1994). Mixing up the pitch- these tests is by using Pear Deck (www.peardeck. es during practice helped player two distinguish ARTICLES com), a free program that allows students to use differences between the different pitches, enabling their mobile phones as clickers and stores the data him to hit more balls than player one. The brain for the teacher to review later. For example, the learns to quickly determine incongruities, in es- content to be tested could be relative clause pro- sence when the brain sees something that is out of nouns. Before class, the teacher creates the ques- order or out of place, it wakes up. Taylor and Rohrer tions using Pear Deck and during class posts them (2010) determined that interleaving enables better on the screen (see Table 1). discrimination and produces better scores on later tests because by mixing up learning between new and old material, one is better able to recognize old Table 1. Example Question Shown to Students. material as well as make connections between old JALT PRAXIS and new material. Q. #1) I saw a man (_____) was sitting on a bench. a. what How Interleaving Works in an EFL b. who Environment c. which Reading and writing are two skills where interleav- ing could play an active role in the learning process. d. where Spack (1985) discussed the notion of writing before one reads as a method to express experiences, attitudes, or issues as they relate to the reading text. Students are able to follow along by looking at JALT FOCUS For example, if the book topic is a Disney story, stu- their mobile phones which mirror what is being dents could write about their personal experiences shown on the screen. Since the teachers have access of visiting Disneyland or watching Disney movies. to real-time data, they can review the student’s answers and give feedback accordingly. The teacher Keeping a journal is another method, helping can also make sure students move along efficiently students to digest and become aware of their reac- and time is not wasted. Using Pear Deck for pretest- tions to what they have read. Students could copy ing at the beginning of class should encourage stu- passages from the book that have a special meaning dents to arrive on time as well as eliminate the need to them on one half of the page and respond to to take attendance since Pear Deck keeps a record them on the other (Zamel, 1992). These responses when the student logs on. A few other pretesting could be reflections, thoughts, ideas, or summaries ideas that could be used for vocabulary practice can of what students have read. be seen in Appendices A-C. A final possibility would be to interleave read- ing and writing through free or voluntary reading which encourages students to read outside of class Interleaving under less structured conditions (Hirvela, 2004). Interleaving is the idea of presenting learning in dif- As students read various types of texts, they are en- ferent contexts for stronger memories, essentially, couraged to write about the grammatical or lexical mixing-up the learning. When a person interleaves, features, organization of the story, and expressions he is surrounding the new material or skill with old- which they may have trouble understanding. This er knowledge or skills, possibly materials he already type of reflective writing will enable students to im- knows but has not revisited in a while, whereas prove their reading skills and build the groundwork repeated practice on one skill slows learning down for future writing. (Taylor & Rohrer, 2010). Wang and Aamodt (2011) described interleaving using the example of two baseball players. Player one practiced hitting only Regular Testing fastballs followed by curve balls followed by slid- Regular testing enables students to recall more ers. Player two practiced by mixing up the pitches because the material is cycled back allowing the without knowing which pitch was coming. So, a student to add layers of context and meaning each fastball would be followed by a curveball or slider, time (Rohrer & Taylor, 2007). Arnold and McDer- then followed by a different pitch and so on. After mott (2013) found that students who are regularly THE LANGUAGE TEACHER 40.4 July / August 2016 11  The Language Teacher Readers’ Forum quizzed have two advantages over those who are material later. Regular testing provides opportuni- not: (1) they possess a more accurate idea of what ties for students to review previous learning, check they know and do not know, and (2) they possess a what they know and do not know, strengthening strengthening of learning that results with the con- retrieval. The learning plateaus that students face tinual retrieval of information. Wang and Aamodt’s when relying on popular mass-practice methods (2011) research showed that if students are tested on for studying do not have to be inevitable if teachers coursework a month apart, they are likely to recall equip them with appropriate strategies for learning. it for a year or two. If they are tested on coursework a week apart, they are likely to recall it for 10 to 20 weeks. So, regularly testing students by including References both old and new information in the tests helps to Ambrose, S., Bridges, M., DiPietro, M., Lovett, M., & improve recall. Unfortunately, one must use tests Norman, M. (2010). How learning works: Seven re- that require students to supply the answer, that is, search-based principles for smart teaching. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass. fill-in-the-blank, essay, or short answer. These types of tests appear more effective than simple recog- Arnold, K. M., & McDermott, K. B. (2013). Test-potenti- ated learning: Distinguishing between the direct and nition tests like multiple choice or true and false indirect effects of tests. Journal of Experimental Psychol- tests (Brown, Roediger, & McDaniel, 2014; Wang & ogy: Learning, Memory and Cognition, 39(3), 940-945. Aamodt, 2011). Brown, P., Roediger, H., & McDaniel, M. (2014). Make it stick: The science of successful learning. Cambridge, MA: How Regular Testing Works in an EFL Harvard University Press. Environment Bjork, R., & Bjork, E. (1992). A new theory of disuse and an old theory of stimulus fluctuation. In A. F. Healy, S. M. The most effective way to implement regular Kosslyn, & R. M. Shiffrin (Eds.), From learning processes testing is to give students weekly quizzes which are to cognitive processes: Essays in honor of William K. Estes corrected in class. This not only improves learning (vol. 2) (pp. 35-67). Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum. but students understand their mistakes immedi- Bjork, E., & Soderstrom, N. (2015). Learning versus per- ately allowing the teacher to better understand formance. Perspectives on Psychological Science, 10(2), what students are retaining, and what needs to be 176-199. covered again. For example, in the university setting Chamot, A. U. (2005). Language learning strategy instruc- a semester runs for fifteen weeks resulting in a lot tion: Current issues and research. Annual Review of of quizzes. At the beginning of the semester, the Applied Linguistics, 25, 112-130. teacher could inform students that they can pick Crow, J. T., & Quigley, J. R. (1985). A semantic field ap- ten of the quizzes that will become part of their proach to passive vocabulary acquisition for reading final grade. This way, if a student does very poorly comprehension. TESOL Quarterly, 19, 497-513. on a quiz, they have the option of dropping that Hall, K. G., Domingues, D. A., & Cavazos, R. (1994). Con- quiz from the final assessment. The quizzes would textual interference effects with skilled baseball players. contain material studied during the previous weeks, Perceptual and Motor Skills, 78, 835-841. requiring students to recall the information. These Hirvela, A. (2004). Connecting reading and writing in sec- quizzes should not be thought of as separate from ond language writing instruction. Ann Arbor: University the lesson, but as an integral part of the lesson it- of Michigan Press. self. Regular testing enables students to continually Landauer, T. K., & Bjork, R. A. (1978). Optimum rehearsal assess their learning and retain information longer. patterns and name learning. In M. M. Gruneberg, P. E. Morris, & R. N. Sykes (Eds.), Practical aspects of memory (pp. 625-632). London, UK: Academic Press. Conclusions Roediger, H., & Karpicke, J. (2006a). The power of testing While students have depended on quick fix learning memory: Basic research and implications for educa- strategies for many years, research has proven that tional practice. Perspectives on Psychological Science, 1, there are better, more effective strategies available 181-210. which result in longer-term storage and stronger Roediger, H., & Karpicke, J. (2006b). Testing enhanced retrieval. When the brain is recalling information, learning’ taking memory tests improves long-term it is doing something different, harder than simply retention. Psychological Science, 17, 249-255. reviewing information. By spacing out retrieval at- Rohrer, D., & Taylor, K. (2007). The shuffling of math- tempts, more effort is needed to recall the content. ematics problems improves learning. Instructional Interleaving various topics or skills creates connec- Science, 35, 481-498. tions between material that is already known and new material, enhancing the ability to recall the 12 THE LANGUAGE TEACHER Online http://jalt-publications.org/tlt  Mehring & Thomson: Brain-Friendly Learning Tips for Long-Term Retention and Recall Spack, R. (1985). Literature, reading, writing, and ESL: Jeff Mehring is a Language Bridging the gaps. TESOL Quarterly, 19, 703-725. Specialist at SEAMEO-RELC in Sousa, D. (2011). Educational neuroscience. Thousand Singapore training teachers from Oaks, CA: Sage. around Southeast Asia in second Taylor, K., & Rohrer, D. (2010). The effects of interleaved language acquisition. He holds ARTICLES practice. Applied Cognitive Psychology, 24, 837-848. a doctorate from Pepperdine Wang, S., & Aamodt, S. (2011). Welcome to your child’s University and a masters from brain. How the mind grows from conception to college. Hawaii Pacific University. His New York, NY: Bloomsbury Publishing. research interests include the Willis, J. A. (2006). Research-based strategies to ignite stu- flipped classroom, integration dent learning. Alexandria, VA: ASCD Publications. of technology into the second language learning Wittrock, M. C. (1974a). A generative model of mathe- environment, and educational neuroscience. He can matics education. Journal for Research in Mathematics be reached at. Education, 5(4), 181-196. Regan Thomson is a lecturer Wittrock, M. C. (1974b). Learning as a generative process. of English at Kwansei Gakuin JALT PRAXIS Education Psychology, 19(2), 87-95. University. He holds a Masters Zamel, V. (1992). Writing one’s way into reading. TESOL of Applied Linguistics from Quarterly, 26, 463-485. Griffith University, Australia. He has taught in Australia, 42nd Annual International Conference Japan, and Canada for ten years. on Language Teaching and Learning & His research interests include Educational Materials Exhibition vocabulary learning, educational November 25–28, 2016 neuroscience, and global WINC Aichi, Nagoya, Aichi Prefecture, Japan Englishes. He can be contacted at. JALT FOCUS [JALT PRAXIS] MY SHARE Philip Head and Gerry McLellan We welcome submissions for the My Share column. Submissions should be up to 600 words de- scribing a successful technique or lesson plan you have used that can be replicated by readers, and should conform to the My Share format (see the guidelines on our website below). Email: [email protected] Web: http://jalt-publications.org/tlt/departments/myshare Welcome to the latest edition of My Share. Once again, In this month’s online edition, Nick Caine shows us summer is upon us and, I, for one, am looking forward how to make a video wall using Padlet and Drew Larson to the holidays, in hopes to escape the humidity of the has an idea for how to get students talking more in the city. I am counting the days until I can board my flight, classroom. and I am sure that many readers are also preparing for the last leg of the first semester. Exams will be foremost on the minds of many, and preparing, administering, and marking exams is the final hurdle before thoughts Draw and Tell can turn to meeting up with family and friends and spending some time on R and R. Before all that, howev- Gary Henscheid er, we have some great articles to help us get through those more difficult lessons. Nihon University Firstly, Gary Henscheid introduces us to an idea that [email protected] helps students learn English by telling traditional Jap- anese stories. Next, Nick Caine utilizes the BBC Radio 4 program, Desert Island Discs, to help motivate stu- Quick Guide dents to write and speak. Douglas Perkins and Adam »» Keywords: Japanese stories, folk legends, mem- Pearson then show us a way to introduce foreign ge- ory, recall ography and culture into the classroom. Lastly, Richard Buckley shows us his approach to help students learn »» Learner English level: Junior high to high school vocabulary. »» Preparation time: 15-30 minutes THE LANGUAGE TEACHER 40.4 July / August 2016 13