Lecture:From Dry Rehearsal to Meaningful Task Repetition: Optimal Intervals between Second Language Learning Tasks
Lecturer: Dr. Gavin Bui, The Hang Seng University of Hong Kong
Time: 9: 50-11: 50, Oct. 18th.
Venue：B107, Sixuelou Building
Bio:Gavin Bui, PhD in Applied Linguistics (CUHK), is an Associate Professor and Associate Head in the English Department of The Hang Seng University of Hong Kong, where he also serves as the Director of MA in English Language Teaching and Assessment. He is the co-editor of the Asian Journal of English Language Teaching and served as the President of the Hong Kong Association for Applied Linguistics from 2021 to 2023. Currently he is also an adjunct research fellow and PhD supervisor at the Curtin University, Australia. His research interests lie in task-based language teaching and learning as well as L3 learning motivation. Dr. Bui has received three major RGC grants, totaling more than HK$2.5 million. His recent publications have appeared in major international journals such as Studies in Second Language Acquisition (2023), Language Teaching Research (2022, 2021, 2018), Applied Linguistics Review (2020), and System (2019).
Abstract:Language learning inevitably involves practice and repetition, but learners may find rote repetition mundane. It is often a challenge to design L2 learning tasks that can be repeated in a meaningful and interesting way. A second challenge in task repetition lies in determining the optimal intervals between two repeated tasks (the spacing effects). This study aimed to explore meaningful task repetition (TR) under five performance conditions with different intervals between the initial and repeated performance. Seventy-one adult learners of English as a second language performed a picture description task and, in their randomly assigned groups, repeated the same, unanticipated task with either no interval (immediate repetition), a one-day, three-day, one-week, or two-week interval. Performance was assessed using a range of measures which capture the three dimensions of complexity, accuracy, and fluency (CAF). Results showed that, overall, TR had a positive effect on L2 performance regardless of the length of intervals. Spacing appeared to mediate the effects of TR in terms of fluency and structural complexity, with speed fluency befitting most from immediate or small intervals between initial and repeated performances. Structural complexity and repair fluency scores were higher with an interval of one week between performances.
Organizer and sponsor:School of Foreign Languages, SWPU
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