岐阜大学教育推進・学生支援機構年報

第3号

2017年

【Practice article】
T.O.O.L.S. for Efficient Language Acquisition
Advantages of Spaced Learning & Flashcards
van‘t Hof Onno
Gifu University Part-time lecturer

Abstract
This paper gives a summary of a classroom instruction“ T.O.O.L.S. for efficient language
acquisition” to teach students 5 crucial elements of efficient language acquisition, and presents
the results of a research project of how spaced learning with short increments and the use of
flashcards can increase the efficiency of language acquisition.
Keywords: spaced learning, flashcards, language acquisition, efficiency, self-motivation

Introduction
In Leonard Bloomberg’s words, the acquisition of language “is doubtless the greatest intellectualfeat any of us is ever required to perform”, (Language, 1933), and it is a feat that many people
need or want to accomplish more than once. Having studied six foreign languages extensively
myself, personally experiencing countless different teaching styles and using various methods tostudy, I know many of the challenges that second language learners face.
Efficient language acquisition can be defined as studying language in the best possible
manner with the least waste of time and effort. While in these modern times students have thepossibility to use many electronic and internet-based tools, many students seem to lack the skill
or knowledge to use those tools in the most efficient way.
During the first class of every semester, whenever I have students that I have never taught
before, I tell the students that as important as WHAT they study is HOW they study, and a partof my instruction is “T.O.O.L.S. for efficient language acquisition”. T.O.O.L.S. is an acronym
for Try, Objective, Often, Little by Little and Stamina. It is a description of 5 crucial elements,
not in any particular order of importance, for efficient self-motivated language acquisition.

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T.O.O.L.S. for Efficient Language Acquisition

Two aspects of T.O.O.L.S. involve spaced learning, a topic that has seen plenty of
research, for example by Paul Kelley who showed in his research project that spaced learning
greatly improves efficiency (Kelley, 2016). However, while Kelley studied students during a
Biology course, through T.O.O.L.S. I try to stimulate students to utilize the countless shortincrements of free time in their day to improve their English language acquisition. In order to see
whether the students would benefit from spaced learning during these short time periods, in theorder of 1 to 2.5 minutes, I did a research project among 244 first and second year students.
The aim of this paper is not only to explain T.O.O.L.S., which students can use as a
guideline for efficient self-motivated language acquisition, but also to show the results of a studyof how the spaced learning and the use of flashcards greatly affect a language learners’ efficiency.
The aim of this study is to show students simple and effective ways to greatly increase their study
efficiency. My research shows that students studying exactly the same content, reach very
different results depending on their method of study. It compares “regular”, non-spaced learningwith spaced learning, as well as comparing study with word lists with study with the use of
flashcards.
T.o.o.l.s - Try
As David Kolb wrote, “learning is the process whereby knowledge is created through thetransformation of experience” (Kolb, 1984, p.38). In Kolb’s learning process he describes thefour-stage cycle of learning, comprised of concrete experience (having an experience), reflective
observation (reflecting on the experience), abstract conceptualization (learning from theexperience) and active experimentation (trying out what you have learned). Although it is does
not matter in which stage of the cycle is entered, learning only occurs if all stages are executed.
(Kolb, 1974)
While experimenting or trying is crucial in the learning process, most EFL teachers inJapan have experienced the anxiety of students. The students exhibit a fear of real or anticipatedspeaking, because students are worried about making mistakes, which is an inherent part ofexperimenting.
Not only should teachers try to create a classroom setting that is less formal, wherestudents are less anxious to speak and less worried to be punished for mistakes they make, but
students should be encouraged that it is okay to actually make mistakes. Only students who try
and challenge themselves will improve their language proficiency.
t.O.o.l.s. – Objective
As Stephen R. Covey wrote in “The 7 habits of highly effective people” as habit 2: “Begin
with end in mind”. As for setting one`s goal, it is important to distinguish long-term goals, or179岐阜大学教育推進・学生支援機構年報

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core goals, and short-term goals, also known as proximal goals. While core goals, such as wanting“to become an English teacher”, “to be able to speak with foreigners”, “to travel to foreigncountries”, are what drives the student to study English, proximal goals are important in deciding
how fast, if ever, and with how much effort one`s core goal is reached. Proximal goals are thesteps that need to be taken to reach the distant core goal, and without concrete proximal goals, formost students their core goal will be nothing more than a distant dream. Setting proximal goals
forces a student to think about the way and methods to reach one’s core goal.
It is important for students to set realistic, obtainable, concrete and quantifiable proximal
goals, because they are not merely measuring points for their progress, but also reaching one`s
proximal goals on a regular, daily or weekly basis, keeps students from getting demotivated.
Especially when studying a foreign language, it is easy to get demotivated because no matter how
many years one has studied, there is always a level of frustration of “still not being able tounderstand”, partly because the more one understands, the higher one’s expectations become.
Unless one takes level tests, it is very difficult to measure one`s language proficiency or progressby oneself.
The following goals are examples of possible concrete, quantifiable proximal goals:-

read one news article a day about a topic of one’s interest.

-

learn to sing one English song a week.

-read ten pages of a book a week.

-learn five new words a day.

-practice vocabulary flashcards 6 times a day.

-write at least five sentences or thirty words in one`s diary each day.

-add 10 new words to one’s Anki flashcard application completed list.

-

listen to an NHK English broadcast at least four times a week.

-

watch a movie or TV show in English once a week.

-

use English (speaking, reading, writing, or listening) at least five times a day, for at least
two minutes each time.

It is obvious that depending on the specific proximal goal, its frequency and its level ofdifficulty, the student’s progress will vary, but it is better to set some proximal goal than none atall. Students should also be encouraged to choose a combination of proximal goals, or several
different goals at once. Just practicing flashcards on a daily basis is less interesting and effective,
than reading a book and watching a TV show, in combination with the use of flashcards.
t.o.O.l.s. – Often

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Especially in language acquisition, where one has to master a huge amount of information,i.e. vocabulary and grammar, increasing the frequency of study (or language use) while
maintaining the total amount of study time is more efficient than just increasing the overall
amount of study time. As the results of my research project below show, students who studied
vocabulary during a total of 10 minutes, spread over six short (1.5-minute and 2.5-minute)increments with 4-minute breaks in between, scored much higher on tests than students who
studied for one single 10-minute period. Therefore, students should be encouraged to study/use
English not (just) more, but more often.
t.o.o.L.s. – Little by little
Many ESL learners would find it impossible, or undesirable to free up one hour a day to
study or use English. However, many people should be able to find five or more one- or twominute slots in a day. Just like Facebook’s aim and strength is not to replace people’s existing
activities, or try to get people to give up their current hobbies in favor of Facebook, it catches
people in their free moments, the “empty moments in between activities”, and then tries to keepthem using Facebook for as long as possible. Although competing with easily accessible
entertainment like Facebook and the like has not made it any easier, getting ESL learners torecognize and use those free, “empty” moments efficiently is a powerful tool in language
acquisition. It is not about creating time by replacing other fun or necessary activities, it is about
making the students aware of the (many) empty moments in their daily schedule that they could
use to study, practice or use English.
ESL learners need to be made aware that not only are they more likely to find five empty
2-minute periods in their daily schedule than one 10-minute empty period, but also that, as myresearch shows, studying vocabulary in several short increments instead of one longer period canlead to a better result (higher efficiency). Many students might have the misconception that using
or studying English for only 2 minutes at a time is not benefitting their English acquisition.
To make efficient use of those short slots of time in people’s busy lives, thoroughpreparation is crucial. The material that one plans to use should be ready at hand, for example a(copied) page of a magazine or flashcards in one’s pocket, a book in one’s (hand)bag, or evenbetter, a digital version of it on one’s mobile phone. Mobile phones and tablet computers havemade it much easier to access study material instantly. One can easily carry and instantly accessbooks, newspapers, flashcards, TV series and movies, and have a multitude of supporting
websites and applications, like dictionaries, websites that explain grammar, etcetera. A few
examples of the many available applications that minimize preparation time and maximize
efficiency for ESL learners are Anki, Busuu, Livemocha.

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t.o.o.l.S. = Stamina
I often tell my students “Do not STUDY English……, but USE English”. Few people
truly enjoy studying, especially the extensive study over many continuous years that is necessary
to gain proficiency in any language. Therefore, the “S” in T.O.O.L.S. does not stand for Study
but for Stamina. Stamina is the ability to sustain prolonged physical or mental effort, and while
things like getting enough sleep, eating healthy food, regular exercise, and removing distractions
can improve one`s stamina to study longer, maintaining one’s stamina to continue for years has
additional requirements.
One powerful way to maintain the will to keep studying is finding ways to enjoy USING
the language. If students enjoy reading (comic) books, they should try to read (comic) books in
English. If they are interested in reading in their native language about for example bikes, cats,or travelling, then they should try to read about those topics in English. If they love karaoke, thenthey should challenge themselves and try English songs. If they enjoy watching movies, theyshould try to watch movies in English.

Research project
Research question: Is spaced learning using 1.5 to 2.5-minute periods more effective thannon-spaced, continuous learning, and to what extent does the use of flashcards in a spacedlearning setting further enhance language acquisition.
Participants
180 first-year and 64 second-year students from the department of education, engineeringand regional studies at Gifu University participated in this research project. The participants werestudents of Monday first and second period (education department, first year students), Tuesday
first and second period (engineering department, first year students), Wednesday first and second
period (regional studies department, first year students) and Thursday fourth and fifth period(engineering department, second year students).
Time and location
The research took place during regular class hours during a 3-week period in May andJune of 2017, with the actual tests taking place during 8 days in the second and third week.
Method and sequence of research
1.

During week 1, all participants in the research project were shown of list of 100 English

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words, and they were asked to not only mark the words that they knew or thought they knew,
but also describe its meaning in Japanese or English. To give all the participants the samestarting point, during the tests only words that none of the students knew were used. The
students were not told of the purpose of indicating which words they knew, so they had no
incentive to pretend not to know certain words. Using made-up (fake) words was considered,but since both the study time and test time was during the students’ valuable class time, it
was preferable to have this research project actually contribute to their vocabulary knowledge.
2.

Of the original list of 100 words, 53 words remained that none of the students had indicatedto know. Two lists of each 20 words were comprised to be used during the tests.

3.

The participants were divided in two groups, group 1 (G1), the control group, and group 2(G2). Every test day, G1 and G2 were members of the same department. The members of G1
and G2 were switched in week 3, the second week of testing, meaning that students who werein the control group during the first week of testing were not during the second week, andvice versa.

4.

Tests 1,2 and 3 took place during week 2, the last week of May, and test 4 and 5 during week
3, the first week of June.

The Tests
15 different tests were undertaken. Each of the tests consisted of 3 parts: Study Time(ST), Rest Time (RT) and Exam Time (ET).
Test 1 (T10): ST of 10 minutes, RT of 30 minutes, ET of 3 minutes.
Test 2 (T10-6x): 6 times ST consisting of 5 cycles of (ST of 1.5 minutes + RT of 4 minutes) and1 ST of 2.5 minutes, RT of 30 minutes, ET of 3 minutes.
Test 3 (T5-5x): 5 times ST consisting of 4 cycles of (ST of 1 minute + RT of 4 minutes) and ST
of 1 minute, RT of 30 minutes, ET of 3 minutes.
Test 4 (T10Flash): ST of 10 minutes (with use of flashcards), RT of 30 minutes, ET of 3 minutes.
Test 5 (T10-6xFlasjh): 6 times ST consisting of 5 cycles of (ST of 1.5 minutes + RT of 4 minutes)
and 1 ST of 2.5 minutes (with use of flashcards), RT of 30 minutes, ET of 3 minutes.
All participants received the same instruction before each test. During ST they had to study
20 English words and their Japanese meanings. During RT they had to participate in regular classactivities. During the ET they had to write the English word for each of the Japanese meanings.
All tests had the same Exam Time of 3 minutes.
All tests but test T5-5x had the same total amount of Study Time of 10 minutes. Test T5-5x`s ST
was only 5 minutes.

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Test T5-5x, T10-6x, and T10-6xFlash were “spaced learning sessions”, with 5 or 6 (short) periodsof Study Time followed by Rest Time.
Before the Study Time of Test T10, T5-5x and T10-6x the students were provided with one a4sized paper with a list of 20 English words and their Japanese meanings. Before the Study Timeof Test T10Flash and T10-6xFlash the students used 20 provided flashcards with one eachflashcard one word and its Japanese meaning.
At the end of the Study Time, all study material, the list of words, flashcards and any paper used
for practice, was handed in.
During Rest Time, students had to actively participate in class activities, which depending on the
day and class, varying from conversation to reading exercises.
Research results:
Participants’ scores showed a wide variation, varying from perfect scores of 20 correct
answers out of 20 (100%) to only 2 out of 20 (10%), despite the fact that the conditions, materials
and time frame were the same for all participants (within the same group).
Of the 31 participants that took T5-5x, the average score was 7.3 correct answers/words(out of 20), an average score of 36.5%. Only 19%, or 6 students out of 31 taking this test passed,
scoring 12 correct answers or more. See table. 1, 2 and 3.
Of the 115 participants that took T10, the average score was 9.5 correct answers/words(out of 20), an average score of 47.5%. 33% of the students taking this test passed, scoring 12
correct answers or more.
The 86 participants that took T10-6x scored better, an average of 12.3 correct answers,
an average score of 61.5%. 58% of the students taking this test passed, scoring 12 correct answers
or more.
During the second week of testing, all 234 participants used flashcards to study. Of all
the 118 participants that took T10Flash, the average score was 13.1 correct answers (out of 20),an average score of 65.5%. 61% of the students taking this test passed.
The 116 students that took T10-6xFlash scored even better, an average of 14.3 correct
answers, or an average score of 71.5%. 80% of the students passed.

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Table 1. Average score for each test by test day, and average score of all participants.
Averagescore
average of all(out of Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday
participants
20
words)
T5-5x

7.3

7.3

7.6

9.5

T10

9.3

12.5

7.9

T10-6x

10.5

13.5

13.4

T10Flash 12.5

13.7

12.8

12.8

13.1

T106xFlash

15.3

13.4

13.5

14.3

15.8

12.3

Table 2. Average score in percentage (20 correct answers = 100%) for each test by test day, andaverage score of all participants.
Averagescore inpercentage Monday(20 correct=100%):

Tuesday

Average ofWednesday Thursday allparticipants

T5-5x

36.5%

36.5%

38.0%

47.5%

T10

46.5%

62.5%

39.5%

T10-6x

52.5%

67.5%

67.0%

T10Flash

62.5%

68.5%

64.0%

64%

65.5%

T106xFlash

79.0%

76.5%

67.0%

67.5%

71.5%

61.5%

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Table 3. Percentage of participants failing, scoring 11 correct answers or less, per test by test day,and average of all participants failing.

percentage
Average ofofall
Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday
participants
participants
failing
failing
T5-5x

80%

80%

77%

67%

T10

61%

45%

83%

T10-6x

58%

33%

35%

T10Flash

41%

24%

50%

39%

39%

T106xFlash

10%

13%

29%

29%

20%

42%

Discussion of results:
As for spaced learning, comparing T10 to T10-6x, showing participants scoring 28%
higher in the spaced learning test, and T10Flash to T10-6xFlash, showing participants scoring 8%
higher in the space learning test, one can conclude that even practicing spaced learning in short
1.5-minute increments shows a substantial increase in efficiency.
As for the use of flashcards, comparing T10 to T10Flash, showing participants scoring
38% higher with the use of flashcards, and T10-6x to T10-6xFlash, showing participants scoring
16% higher with the use of flashcards, one can conclude that the use of flashcards shows asubstantial increase in efficiency as well.
Combining spaced learning with the use of flashcards (T10-6xFlash) shows an increasein performance of 51% compared to non-spaced learning without the use of flashcards.
Looking at the percentage of participants failing the tests, the benefits of spaced learningand use of flashcards appear to be even more dramatic, from 67% of the participants failing test
T10 to just 20% of the participants failing test T10-6xFlash.
The poor results of the spaced learning test T5-5x (average score of 37.5% and 80% of
the participants failing) could have several causes. It could be that the total amount of Study Time186

T.O.O.L.S. for Efficient Language Acquisition(5 minutes as opposed to 10 minutes for the other tests) was the major factor. It could also be thatthe one-minute Study time periods were too short, causing too much stress and anxiety. It could
also be a combination of these or other factors. There is not enough information to draw any
conclusions on the base of this test T5-5x. Further research would be required.
Further research into which method of study the students used, followed by instruction
about proper study methods its advised.
Also further research will be required to see whether a higher test score also means ahigher level of retention over a longer period of time.
Although in my opinion the format of the research project, studying vocabulary words
followed by a test, was not unusual, and a format that the participants had most likely priorexperience with, the possibility that participants scored better in the second week of exams thanin the first week because the participants were getting used to the format can not be excluded.
Doing the same research project in reversed order, with a completely different group ofparticipants could exclude that possibility.
Both in the first week and in de second week of testing there was a number of participants
who had a score of 100% (8 in the first, 9 in the second week of testing, or representing 3.4% and3.7% of all participants). It is impossible to tell whether those participants (if they were the same
students) actually improved or not, and if they improved, how much. To get more accurate
information of how much all participants performed, it would be better to increase the number ofwords in each test to such a number that none of the participants could get a perfect 100% score.
There were no participants who scored 0%, so one can conclude that if any participants
performed worse during any of the consecutive tests that it is reflected in the results.
An interesting fact is that the Thursday-class participants, which are second-year studentsof the Engineering department, scored lower on all tests than the Tuesday-class participants,
which are first-year students of the same Engineering department. The cause for this discrepancy
falls outside of the scope of this research.
Conclusion
Spaced learning with short 1.5 to 2.5-minute increments of study time are a very effective
way to increase efficiency in language acquisition, especially in combination with the use of
flashcards. Language learners should be encouraged to make spaced learning and the use of
flashcards part of their daily routine, both in a classroom setting as well as in their private lives.

Bibliography
Leonard Bloomberg, (1933), “Language”, University of Chicago Press.

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Stephen R. Covey, (1989),“The 7 habits of highly effective people”. Free Press.
Kolb, D. A. (1984). Experiential learning: Experience as the source of learning anddevelopment (Vol. 1). Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall.
Kolb, D. A., & Fry, R. E. (1974). Toward an applied theory of experiential learning. MIT Alfred
P. Sloan School of Management.
Paul

Kelley,https://www.forbes.com/sites/nickmorrison/2016/05/30/the-secret-of-effective-

learning-may-be-less-study-not-more/#6ea2708e18c7, May 30, 2016

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