Guo, Jiali;
Saito, Kazuya;
(2025)
Limited Effects of Distributed Practice on L2 Proficiency in the 4/3/2 Activity: Roles of Aptitude in Predicting Fluency and Accuracy.
System
, Article 103936. 10.1016/j.system.2025.103936.
(In press).
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Guo_& Saito(2025)Limited Effects of Distributed Practice on L2 Proficiency in the 4_3_2 Activity Roles of Aptitude in Predicting Fluency and Accuracy.pdf Access restricted to UCL open access staff until 29 November 2027. Download (1MB) |
Abstract
This study investigated how individuals’ perceptual–cognitive aptitudes (auditory processing and working memory) and practice schedules (massed vs. spaced) relate to L2 speech production—specifically fluency and accuracy—during a repeated monologue task under increasing time pressure. The sample comprised 50 Chinese university students with intermediate to advanced English proficiency, 42 of whom had less than one year of immersion experience. Participants were randomly assigned to either a massed 4/3/2 group (n = 25), who completed the task continuously, or a spaced 4/3/2 group, who had two five-minute intervals between monologues. Statistical analyses indicated that: (a) the 4/3/2 activity significantly promoted certain aspects of fluency development, yet produced no notable variation in accuracy, regardless of whether intervals were included between repetitions. (b) Notably, fluency gains, particularly those related to linguistic encoding (e.g., mid-clause pauses, past tense error ratio), were significantly associated with participants’ perceptual abilities (i.e., auditory processing) rather than their working memory. Taken together, these findings suggest that heightened perceptual acuity may play a facilitative role in L2 speech production among Chinese L2 learners with immersive experience. The results highlight a distinctive and potentially irreplaceable relationship between different aptitude domains (perceptual vs. cognitive) and language development (fluency vs. accuracy), with immersive experience effectively controlled.
| Type: | Article |
|---|---|
| Title: | Limited Effects of Distributed Practice on L2 Proficiency in the 4/3/2 Activity: Roles of Aptitude in Predicting Fluency and Accuracy |
| DOI: | 10.1016/j.system.2025.103936 |
| Publisher version: | https://doi.org/10.1016/j.system.2025.103936 |
| Language: | English |
| Additional information: | This version is the author accepted manuscript. For information on re-use, please refer to the publisher’s terms and conditions. |
| Keywords: | domain-general auditory processing, fluency and accuracy performance, distributed practice, the 4/3/2 classroom activity, second language speech acquisition |
| UCL classification: | UCL UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Education UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Education > UCL Institute of Education UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Education > UCL Institute of Education > IOE - Culture, Communication and Media |
| URI: | https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/10218129 |
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