Desirable difficulties in language learning

General discussion about learning languages
Kraut
Black Belt - 2nd Dan
Posts: 2599
Joined: Mon Aug 07, 2017 10:37 pm
Languages: German (N)
French (C)
English (C)
Spanish (A2)
Lithuanian
x 3204

Desirable difficulties in language learning

Postby Kraut » Fri May 14, 2021 9:18 am

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Desirable_difficulty

https://bjorklab.psych.ucla.edu/wp-cont ... l_2015.pdf

Desirable Difficulties in Vocabulary Learning

Desirable Difficulties in Vocabulary Learning
ROBERT A. BJORKUniversity of California, Los Angeles
JUDITH F. KROLLPennsylvania State University
Abstract
In this article we discuss the role of desirable difficulties in vocabulary learning from two perspectives, one having to do with identifying conditions of learning that impose initial challenges to the learner but then benefit later retention and transfer, and the other having to do with the role of certain difficulties that are intrinsic to language processes, are engaged during word learning, and reflect how language is understood and produced. From each perspective we discuss evidence that supports the notion that difficulties in learning and imposed costs to language processing may produce benefits because they are likely to increase conceptual understanding. We then consider the consequences of these processes for actual second-language learning and suggest that some of the domain-general cognitive advantages that have been reported for proficient bilinguals may reflect difficulties imposed by the learning process, and by the requirement to negotiate cross-language competition, that are broadly desirable. As Alice Healy and her collaborators were perhaps the first to demonstrate, research on desirable difficulties in vocabulary and language learning holds the promise of bringing together research traditions on memory and language that have much to offer each other.

---------------------------


A REVIEW OF LABORATORY STUDIES OF ADULT SECOND LANGUAGE VOCABULARY TRAINING

Abstract

This review examines and integrates studies of second language (L2) vocabulary instruction with adult learners in a laboratory setting, using a framework provided by a modified version of the Revised Hierarchical Model (Kroll & Stewart, 1994), the Revised Hierarchical Model-Repetition Elaboration Retrieval. By examining how various training methods promote or fail to promote the development of high-quality orthographic, phonological, and meaning representations, and strong connections between these representations, we reconceptualize the current body of knowledge, and highlight gaps in the existing literature. We review evidence that training methods that only promote L1 to L2 form connections (e.g., massed repetition) are generally ineffective, but can become highly effective when paired with methods that also strengthen L2 form-meaning connections (e.g., spaced repetition training with retrieval practice or semantic elaboration requiring user-generated responses). We discuss the implications of these findings for researchers and educators interested in improving L2 vocabulary learning outcomes.



https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals ... 2EEE83124A

----------------------

https://tomprof.stanford.edu/posting/1419


"Desirable Difficulties" can Lead to Deeper Learning and Better Retention
Tomorrow's Teaching and Learning

-----------------------------------
https://www.sciencegate.app/document/10 ... 3119000500

The effects of semantic and thematic clustering on the learning of second language vocabulary

Thomas Tinkham

ESL students are often presented much of their new English vocabulary preorganized for them in ‘semantic clusters’, sets of semantically and syntactically similar words, e.g., eye, nose, ear, mouth, chin. Although clustering of this sort facilitates the activities which serve current approaches to language teaching and would seem,at first glance, to facilitate vocabulary learning as well, little or no empirical justification is offered by researchers in support of its employment. In fact, research that might apply, psychological research generated by interference theory, would predict that such clustering of similar items impedes rather than enhances learning. On a more positive note, a more ‘thematic’ manner of organizing new L2 vocabulary is suggested by more recent psychological research which would predict that clusters like frog, green,hop, pond,slippery, croak would be more easily learnt than groups of unassociated words. With these predictions in mind,the reported research explored the effects upon L2 vocabulary learning of both ‘semantic’ and ‘thematic’ clustering. The results provide a wide range of evidence that suggests that semantic clustering does indeed serve as a hindrance while thematic clustering serves as a facilitator of new language vocabulary learning.
3 x

Kraut
Black Belt - 2nd Dan
Posts: 2599
Joined: Mon Aug 07, 2017 10:37 pm
Languages: German (N)
French (C)
English (C)
Spanish (A2)
Lithuanian
x 3204

Re: Desirable difficulties in language learning

Postby Kraut » Mon May 24, 2021 7:55 pm

How to make use of Desirable Difficulties to boost your learning ?

https://johnywrites.com/2020/10/11/how- ... -learning/
0 x

User avatar
sporedandroid
Blue Belt
Posts: 656
Joined: Mon Jan 07, 2019 6:54 am
Languages: English (N), Spanish (heritage/intermediate), Hebrew (A2-B1)
x 1371

Re: Desirable difficulties in language learning

Postby sporedandroid » Wed May 26, 2021 10:27 am

I think consistency is the most important thing.If things are too difficult that may make some people not study as consistently.
0 x

Kraut
Black Belt - 2nd Dan
Posts: 2599
Joined: Mon Aug 07, 2017 10:37 pm
Languages: German (N)
French (C)
English (C)
Spanish (A2)
Lithuanian
x 3204

Re: Desirable difficulties in language learning

Postby Kraut » Thu May 27, 2021 12:04 am

Individual differences in the desirable difficulty effect during lexical acquisition

https://psycnet.apa.org/record/2020-00782-001


Abstract
Reading in difficult or novel fonts results in slower and less efficient reading (Slattery & Rayner, 2010); however, these fonts may also lead to better learning and memory (Diemand-Yauman, Oppenheimer, & Vaughan, 2011). This effect is consistent with a desirable difficulty effect such that more effort during encoding results in better long term retention (Bjork, 1994). The effect is robust and found in many contexts; however, it has not yet been applied to the process of lexical acquisition. The purpose of the current study was to investigate whether readers would learn words better when presented in Sans Forgetica, a font designed to induce desirable difficulty. One hundred sixty participants were randomly assigned to one font type and read sentences with 15 very low-frequency English words presented in two different informative contexts while their eye movements were monitored. They completed a spelling skill assessment and tests of their orthographic and semantic acquisition of the words. Linear mixed effects analyses were conducted and indicate that high-skill spellers learned the spelling and meaning of words better in the desirable difficulty font, but low-skill spellers did not show the same benefit. This pattern highlights the importance of individual differences in learning such that a desirable difficulty for one reader may be an undesirable difficulty for another. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2021 APA, all rights reserved)




https://sansforgetica.rmit.edu.au
You do not have the required permissions to view the files attached to this post.
Last edited by Kraut on Thu May 27, 2021 12:27 am, edited 1 time in total.
1 x

Kraut
Black Belt - 2nd Dan
Posts: 2599
Joined: Mon Aug 07, 2017 10:37 pm
Languages: German (N)
French (C)
English (C)
Spanish (A2)
Lithuanian
x 3204

Re: Desirable difficulties in language learning

Postby Kraut » Thu May 27, 2021 12:15 am

https://opus.bibliothek.uni-wuerzburg.d ... ocId/19717
Disfluency as a Desirable Difficulty — The Effects of Letter Deletion on Monitoring and Performance


Desirable difficulties initiate learning processes that foster performance. Such a desirabledifficulty is generation, e.g., filling in deleted letters ina deleted letter text. Likewise, letterdeletion is a manipulation of processing fluency: A deleted letter text is more difficultto process than an intact text. Disfluency theory also supposes that disfluency initiatesanalytic processes and thus, improves performance. However, performance is oftennot affected but, rather, monitoring is affected. The aim ofthis study is to propose aspecification of the effects of disfluency as a desirable difficulty: We suppose that mentallyfilling in deleted letters activates analytic monitoring but not necessarily analytic cognitiveprocessing and improved performance. Moreover, once activated, analytic monitoringshould remain for succeeding fluent text.
0 x

User avatar
rdearman
Site Admin
Posts: 7231
Joined: Thu May 14, 2015 4:18 pm
Location: United Kingdom
Languages: English (N)
Language Log: viewtopic.php?f=15&t=1836
x 23123
Contact:

Re: Desirable difficulties in language learning

Postby rdearman » Thu May 27, 2021 8:17 am

This is one advantage of ebooks the font you use is determined by the device (except for pdf's) and so you can use a font that is larger or more natural. Most book publishers use Serif fonts which help with readability, and are therefore preferable in the body of a book. The “serif” is the decorative stroke that finishes each end of a letter (think Times Roman). Serif fonts are easier on the reader's eye than sans-serif fonts; the stroke leads the reader's eye from one letter to the next.
0 x
: 0 / 150 Read 150 books in 2024

My YouTube Channel
The Autodidactic Podcast
My Author's Newsletter

I post on this forum with mobile devices, so excuse short msgs and typos.


Return to “General Language Discussion”

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: iguanamon, lichtrausch, nathancrow77 and 2 guests