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FACILITATING

LONG-TERM RETENTION OF VOCABULARY:

THE SECOND-HAND CLOZE
BATIA

of

Depurtment
The

study

referred

in long-term
Purposes

and HELEN

OSIMO

English LanguaRe and Literature.

investigates

technique

LAUDER

whether

the consistent

to as second-hand

retention

of

were taught

words.

60 words

Uniwrsitv

use of a vocabulary

cloze can result

Thirty

L2

learners

in text context.

of

Thirty

30 were not. On a subsequent

task were better rcmcmbercd.

some characteristics

recall test. words

It is suppcsted

of other

improvement

English

for

Academic

words were submitted

version

submitted

techniques,

to

of the original

to the cxpcrimental

that the second-hand

memorization

Israel

reinforcement

in a significant

the second-hand cloze (filling in the target items in a summary

tests);

of Haifa,

clotc embodies

but also overcomes

their

shortcomings.

SOME

hlt3-IIODS

One of the greatest

or teachers
recall,

01:

problems

of languages.

without

success,

KIINI-OKCiN<;

in learning

new words

wc are familiar

with

a word

which

spoken

for.

The

inability

or written

to recall

discourse,

us at some

point

Since successful

retention

of words

long-term

rctcntion

which

which

Icarners

word should
16 repetitions

time.

but seems to elude

is cxpcricnccd

not only

is totally

We often
while

us when

it

in the production

rcalix

rcmcmbcr

new,

to

and used or a
ol

that WC hard

its meaning.

In worst

in fact it was familiar

to

studies

is csscntial

to the expansion

have been conccrncd

with

of ones
the factors

vocabulary
which

six,

dctcrminc

of vocabulary.

is claimed

art regularly

lY87).

How

to affect

many

are suggested
(1YM)

rcmcmbcring

words

exposed are also better recognized

exposures

bc exposed is not clear.

One way to cxposc lcarncrs

and Nation

been encountcrcd

As Icarncrs
of trying

of e.Vposure

variable

(Palmbcrg.

a long

retention.
experience

in the past.

Icxical acquisition

One

recently

but can no longer

we may bclicvc a word

numerous

Frequency

long-term

but also in comprchcnsion.

or saw a word and knew what it meant,

cases of forgetting.

for

words

is their

KfTt:.NTION

the disconcerting

has only

word which has been in our vocabulary

is looked

VOCAI%UI.AKY

by Saragi

are nccdcd for

et a/. (1978)

is via graded

renders,

is so bccausc the choice of vocabulary

where

and how

Icarning

repetitions

the same words

is constrained

Items

frequently

the

by reading.

and Nation

(1988).

suggested by Wodinsky

tend to be repeated.

by the number

to

in production.

of words

and 10 by Wodinsky
of word

frcqucncy.

and retricvcd

learning

In the cast of incidental

to the dcsircd number

is word

of words

This

appropriate

to the pctrricular Ie~el of the graded reader. Hence, for increasd number of repe:titionc.
the authors sug_gesteither choosing longer te~its, or assigning several texts at the particular
kel.
In the case of a conscious attempt on the part of the learner to memorize lists of word
pairs, the number of the necessary repetitions

may be lower. HowtLcr unima_einative rote

learning is, evidence from research suggests that words practised this way are retained quite
well (we Nation, IYSZ for a rwirw
of research).
As for the spacing of repetitions. Pimsleur (IY67) proposer a memory schedule according
to which the learner should be reminded of the ne\% lvord about 5 seconds after its
presentation.

The interval

before the nest repetition

is 5 = 25 seconds; the next intcrxil

i\ 5 = 125 seconds. and so on. Russels (1979) revision schedule (quoted in Cairns and
Rcclman, 1986). on the other hand, starts with a review 5 to IO minutes after the end of
rhc study period. continues 2-l hours later, then one \tcck later, one month later and sis
months

later.

A cliffcrwl
approach
to rciiiforcirip
rctwtioii
cintkisires
not (tic quantity
of rcpctilioflc.
but ttic rtuatily of word proccs5ilig.
Gainis and Rcdman (lYH6) suggest invuhing the Icarncr
in mc:iiiingCill activities connsctcd wit ti the newly learnt \vortls. lhcy report 311cipcrimcnt
in which one group of subjccls w;I\ ashcrl lo r;i(c items on Itic hasi% of pcrsonat prcfcrcncc.
anolhcr group of subjects had IO rtccidc whcrhcr the items would bc irnportarlt
if they wcrc
\trar~rlcd on ;I dcscrt ihid.
A coillrol
grout> w;ih ;ISLLYI 10 mctiiori/c
ttic tar,cct words for
3 test. Itic groups thal pcrtormcd the pcrsonali~ccl l~sks displayed a higher dcgrcc of recall
than ttlc role-learning group. Ialmbcrg (lY8X) claims that compurcr yamc~, and cspccially
rnoli~atiiq Ic~I-;~dvc~itL~~-cg;lriics iii 3 forcigil laiigi~agc, C;III proriicllc vocabulary Icarning.

I lc dcxribcs an crpcrirncnl with computer game\ inkdving new vo~abul3ry. A month

aflcr the cspcrilncnt tlic subjccl\ ~rdnsl;~tctl correctly 35 out of Ihc 50 word\ \\hich ucrc
1CSlCd.

.A cliflcrcnt yualitativc mdhocl of vocabulary learning involves the use of vcrtxrl and imagery
mnemonics. The technique operates as follows: a foreign word is linked IO the keyword----a
ridlive language word or phrase similar in sound 10 part or AI of rhc Iorcign langu;ig:c word.
Then, an interacting image is tx;Ltcd bctwccn the keyword and the natikc langu;tgc
cquivnlent of the nc\v foreign word. For example. if the new word is palo (Sp~misli for
dusk), the English keyword c:tn be pot arid ttic image is a duck wearing ;1 pot on irs
head. (Atkinson
tY75). Numerous studies showed thar, on tcs,ts of vocabulary rctcntion,
the mnemonic ~cchniques compared favorably with other methods (Atkinson and Raugh
lY75. Kelly lY86, Cohen I987 for a review of rcscarsh).

I~hile the keyword technique relics on interlingual

associations

bct\vccnthe L2 word and

similarly sounding I.1 word, committing new vocabulary to memory can also be fxilitatcd
by establishing intralingual links. i.c. links between the new item and other items in 1.2.
Thc~ links can be paradigmatic--tiith
the ncu words synonyms, antonyms, co-hyponym\.

F ~ClLIT4 I-I?& LONG-TERM

morphologically

RETESTION

OF VOCABCLARl

related words, or syntagmatic-with

: THE SECOhD-H.XiD

CLWE

2lY

the words collocating with it. the

sentence in which the word appears, or its wider context.

One argument for using intralingual associations could be supported by the schemata model
in reading comprehension,

according to which

new knowledge is more easily acquired when it can be related or attached to something that
is already known. Translated into vocabulary instruction, this model would capitalire on existing
semantic relationships as means of showing students how new words are related to alread!
known words or concepts. (Hague. 1987: p. 21).

hlore important,

however, is the claim that linking the new word with other words associated

with it, in terms of form, meaning, or context, provides an opportunity

for deeper or more

elaborate processing of the target word, which in turn leads to the formation

of a more

persistent trace and consequently better memory performance. Craik (1973: p. 57) reports
an experiment (among several others) in which three types of questions were asked about
the target words:
I. Is the word in capital letters/lower
case?
2. Dots the word rhyme with
?
3. l)oc~ the word fit into the following scntcncc_

-__-__?

Type 3 questions rcquircd dccpcr analysis of the word than types 2 and I. The word had
to bc chcckcd for its part of speech, its grammatical cnvironmcllt,
meaning in the immediate
as runny target

arid

the

witlcr

contc.u(s.

its collocations.
wcrc asked

arid

lo recall

words as they could from t hc task. words suhjcctcd to question type 3 wcrc

bcttcr rcrncmbsrcd than those in type I

A similar approach

to

In her cxprrimcnts.
learnt. Trcuting

2.

md

vocabulary Icarning is advocalcd by Schoutcn-van Iarrcrcn (19X9),

who claims that variety and

meaningful

Whcri the stthjccts

co~~tcnt

actions

ofthc

011

words arc crucial for their relention.

the grcalcr the variety of ways words were treated. the bcttcr they wcrc

words in diffcrcnr

ways, according

to

the author,

C;III best

bc

done

in

texts.

Some prucricul litnilulions

a/ llir

A cu&tnic Purpo.ws) courses

The above mcrhods of reinforcing

relenlion

ttwIirods

retention,

the subjects in the respective experiments,

in the cottlexf 0J EA I (English Jiw

successful as they might have proven with

may not necessarily be applicable in the

cast

of EAP

(English

for Academic Purposes) courses.

hlultiplc

exposures to new words, whether 10 or 16, can most easily be implemented with

elementary and intermediate learners, who are exposed lo a limited number of new words.
The esplosion
10 a

of vocabulary occurs at a more advanced stage when learners arc exposed

large number of words in a short period of time. This

makes it difficuh

of the number of times each word was cncountcrcd. Although

can increase the number of repetitions.
learners, who have 10 confront

to keep track

the use of graded

readers

such readers arc no longer of help 10 advanced

unsimplified

material. Authentic

(cxts arc not written with

language

learners

in mind,

IO rely.

for memorization

in such

a text.

Games

and

university

other

activities

bith

regard

tcuchcr,

up visual

art useful.

associations)
not imply
(Stern

for
p.

imagination.

According

to Stern

t lo\vcvcr.

x-if-report%.

mnemonic

of word

Ihe raluc

it. I,ir\l,

riot

clues,

or

iii I.1

and

rcinforccs

will

\vhich

gucsciilg

Iookcd

for.

nlisr,lhcii

1.2 (I.:iufcr

s1udcn1s

IWW),

Some

rcscrvations
nc\v uordh

of study.

cccond-hand

hmg-lcrm

on the individual
in generating

it was found,

from

prcfcrrcd

10 the

lvcrc

method

rctcnlion

would

is

bc suitable

for

, according lo Schoulcri-

in coiilcsl.

IVc do

wc have two

I lowcvcr.

CIOK

may

inlcrprct

5lrudurc,

or gcncral

dispute

rl0l

rcscrvalioris

lhc word

rc3crublarlcc

nlisurlclcrstanrlirl~

Ihcre

ix the danpcr

it W;I\ Iclf that, within

corllprchcrl\iofl,
of claboratc

as words

Secondly,

appeal

lcsical

Icarncr

way of reinforcing

of

that

lhs

wider

it W;L

COII[CXI

procc\\ing

of words

long-term

rctcntion.
in texts

out the missing

word>

academic Icarncr.

felt [hat this

prcscnlation,

If

rmming

IYXY.

iiilcnsivs

mctl~od

LAP

\houlcl

in nienninyfu1

l:irst,

which

contcsl.

wrong

ol ;III

diffcrcnt

on

lo Olhcr

by IlulQijn

bc

tcxtls

it is more ~loscly
arc rclcvarlt to the

in the test on the basis

is rcgardcd a> a kind ofproblcm

to 311 adull,
initial

rhc

wrongly

irl Imtl

it is [hc

;I slightly

arc practiscd

figuring

pucAng,

;II the stage ofthsir

IO a\ the second-hand

The

new words,

of new wxxrl\

lhc

and wider context

a ccrlairi

about

like IIS to have

were trained

tcchniqucs

(the
dots

may depend on ones

used depends

the kcy~rnrtl

ri~orlliologi~~il

the method

immcdiatc

and ;I\ such ha

mind

Icarncrs

by the

has association5

cvidcncc III:I~ this is indeed w is provided

aim of the course

field

adult

keywords

create them

hc should

come to ones

Icariiing.

lhcn

reading

on

In principle,

of the words

beings

the associations

are nctunlly

criharicc~

mcrnori/;ltiorl,

focuscs

IO the

10 find

if provided

one can or does

Icarriing

Second.

IYSJ).

like

\ccmcd ICI be an approprialc

rclatcd

on the ability

s;cs\ioris of Icarninp

iri vocabulary

In view of the above limitation\,

which

adult
regard

iill word5 can hc guccscd from conlcit, cilhcr bccau5c the conlcut dots
bccau\c
lhc clues lhcnisclvcs
arc in words unfaniiIiar
lo the Icarncr,

bc rcmcmbcrcd.

tout-xc

from

and m ho hill

consuming.

No

study,

lhc nlcarling

guc\\ing

lllc Ixi\i\ of fal\c clues,

guc\sinp

(1980)

it is not clear u hcthcr

procck\irlg

(IW5),

of Icsical

resistance

Icarncrc.

(I~cr~wu~ca~i ;iritl I.aufcr

that

(IYi?),

ri(lli-riilic11ioriis

the

with

of its occurrences

\+hether such association<,

these associations

in ~ubscqucnt

Thuc

of lhc

k;in Iarrcrcn

wcIrd\

time

it is unrealistic

number

meet

fact that any one of us as human

thal

ones.

lhc hind

give

It i\ doubtful

whether

Therefore,

academic lirerature

its success depends

method,

In Cohen and Aphck~

the nia.jorily

riot

often

21) . How often such a<sociationr

And

style.

aksociatiorl5.

about

unnecessarily

images.

us. The

Hill

is reading

that a teacher can create in our minds

1973:

Icarninp

acti\ities

and

as childish
to the keyword

and conjure

their

ptrqonalircd

vocabulary.

on there being a sufficient

uho\c main objective

learners,

such

nor do the]; use limited

of a uord,

solving

activity

tlowcvcr,

in view of our

should

not bc done on

processing

but via a different

task which

WCrcfcr

clo/c.

is an cscrcisc

consisting

of a summarized

version

of a studied

text with the target words deleted. The learner has to supply the missing words in text blanks.
Though

such a task looks

like a cloze test, our exercise

could

not be considered

a cloze

test, or even a cloze exercise because the text summaries were not new unseen texts, but
rewritten versions of already studied texts. In other words. by requiring the student to supply
words in blanks,

we made use of the cloze procedure.

cloze in the following

It is different

from the conventional

respects:

-The
aim of the ordinary cloze passage is either to test comprehension,
or to practise
specific areas of language like words, grammatical
structures, discourse connectors.
The aim of the second-hand
cloze, on the other hand, is to force the student into
a situation

of deep mental

processing

of a newly

retaining
those words.
-The
contest in which the words were supplied
from their syllabus.
-The

test was not in its original

version,

learnt

set of words

as a means of

was not new, but familiar

but in a modified

summary

to students

and the deleted

items appeared in syntactic structures and collocations

which were different
from
their original
context.
-The
lenrncr wzs specifically
instructed to fill the memorized
target items as they
fitted the context. This was achieved by dictating a list of the target itcrn5 in the mother
tonpuc
which had to be translated and supplied
was named the second-hand
clo~.c.

in the proper

placc5. Thus,

the task

Tcnchcr cxpcricncc supgcstcd that whcncvcr words wcrc suhmi[tcd to the task of sccordh;Incl clo/c,
lhcy wcrc bcttcr Icarnf than those words which wcrc practiscd in other ways.
It was thcrcforc dccidcd to submit this observation to ;III empirical test. which would confirm
or rcfutc
practicing

the assumption
rnclhod

will

that

rcsull

the consistent
in

;I sig1iiIicmt

USC of

second-hand

i11lprovcmcrll

clot

ol long-lcrni

as ;I
rclcnlion

vocabulary
of

new

words.

T11E STlJI)Y

As the study investigated

it addressed
rcmcmbcrcd

the following
significantly

the effectiveness

of the second-hand

question: Are words submitted

bcttcr than words which are

clo/c in long-term

retention,

to the task of second-hand cloze

not submitted
lo this task!

Thirty university
students of an English for Academic
Purposes course took part in the
study. They were native speakers of Hebrew and Arabic. As they were graduates of lsracli
high schools, their level of English was equivalent
to that required by the First Certificate
of English. In their English course, the learners were exposed to authentic
texts of an
acndcmic nature and were trained in reading comprchcnsion
skills, so that subsequently
they might

be able to read bibliography

The investigation

in English.

AH wcrc taught

by the same teacher.

lasted 10 weeks. during which subjects studied six authentic

texts of varying

Icnpths

in order

Icxical

and

hours.

From

students.

Only

tarpet

etc.)

L7.

three

wcrc ~;~kulatcd:

inlo

tramlation
which

~lcbrcw.

(,

15.1s.

~~<O.(XX)5).

it.

to

but to an I.1

that

II \%;I\ mcntioncd
target

word5

period

for

that

argue

w;15

inCidcnlal
out

the

oiic.

to

uncspcclcd

(the

the

bctwccn
Icarnm

long-term
will

prior
may

Ihc

second-hand

the rmm~tor~y
activity
the

tc5t

was

test.

IIK

2nd

lhcir

that

of

all the target

diffcrcncc

had been
th;lt

clox
The

in SCOI-cs

submitted

hxl

Ic:lrficrs

tc\t

given

not

our

bccu

to the

\utmlittcrl

of irord\.

well-tried

word>.

that

had

cori\i\tcnt

nmnurimtion

mat

Icxninp

i5

washes

in

I lul~tijrls

while

in our5

taught

up

of \ccorid-hand

th:tt a good Icarning

The

can bc ascribed

\cc

arid not an

been

u\c

UC may conclude
of vocabulary.

Ijut

of

the

training

complctcly

words.

word>
the

lhc

voc;lbulary

new

rctcntion

IIS cffcctivcnc\\

when

rctcntion
that

to Icam

of

conclilion

of

show

cntl

in~trufncril).

Icarnirig

Icarning

asked

the

tcchniqucx

short-tcrni

rcsuIt\

wcrc

after

rncrnorik~ig

as it included

rctcntion

of scvcral

their

clorc.

translation.

clozc words.

The

;I\ ;I nic;isurcnicIit

tcchniqucs
on

long-tsrm

tcchniquc.

way.
to, 30

of the second-hand

bvord\

period
the

scrvcd

inrcstigatcd

Since

improve

sccorld-hand

clot.c

to the fact thar it cmbodics

tcchniqucs,

but

;tt the

s;tmc

tirnc

shortconiinps.
40x

provides

and artificiality

as it in\olvcs

students

that

rchcar\;tl

tcstcd

to long-term

indeed

charaztcri\tics

it ovcrcomcs

that

to the

is one such cffcctivc

some

the tr;liliing
It w;15 only

diffcrcnt
wcrc

recall

contribute

tcchniquc

Ihall

Herds

tack inrtcad.

during

tsslirig.

diffcrcncc

IO week\

clo/c

thal

thr cl~tcct of individual

cspcrinicat
it wxs

carlicr
pcriotlical

list

of a list

by a matched I-test.

i\ the words;

l&t of Ll

was set. For each student,

translations

I hat tlic c.xpcrinicrir crcatcd an intcnlional

According
to 1iul\tijris
fintli~lg~
(lW9),

thcrclorc

ititention:~l,

to 1.2 translation

to L2

the

case5

wcrc subjected

of the non second-hand

SCC.OIICI-I~;II~LICIOK tx\k \icrc bcttcr rcrilcmbcrcd

In three

practice of second-hand
by Ll

test in the form

nfcorrcct

means of the twu ccts of \corcs wcrc compared

W;I\ significant

forms.

rote

to learn

was the last enc. This

No tirnc restriction

translations

At the practice

lucre told

all target items

an additional

to the

translation

derivatives,

a dictated

of
task

were practiscd

(I) the numhcr

of correct

antonyms,

the lcarncrc

list

unknolvn

a Hcbrew

take one of two

was an uncspcctcd

to bc translated

(2) the number

they

were

their

si.\ to eight

was

in the text.

(synonyms.

the dictated

exercises

Instead

which

to improve

test

and provided

one espressed

trould

other

recycling

instrument

III~;I~~~~III~II~

two scores

in the

task

and also
of each

chosen

of each text,

wcrc altcrnatcd:

30 did not.

\~c~rcl~in English
words;

were

(three sets of IO each) undctxcnt

the other

The

cloze,

quiz

skills

period

in conteyt

activities

period

The

to the identical

target words

to similar

a quiz.

two tasks

items

study

was provided-the

the study

second-hand
The

in addition
while

for

reading

The

these items

subjected

During

IO Herds

it 5%~ the
into

10 vocabulary

one meanins
wrre

various

of English.

tcachcr presented

all items

Icarninp.

and prxtise

knowlcdgc

each tc\t.

The

for them.
stags.

to acquire

syntactic

particular

an opportunity
of rote

rcconrtructing
field

learning
a summary

of intcrcst.

The

to rcaclivatc
by pro\,iding
from
gap filling

the
;I test

an authentic
task

new words,
cmtcst.
test

but

it avoids

It is a meaningful
which

deals

is not a game which

with
adults

may resist,

but a problem

mnemonic

element

mnemonic

aid. There

anyway)

for

and less

time

The

Associations

which
clore.

of the mental

by the second-hand

but into

an altered

hlost

subjects

in this

aroused

tasks.

collocative

study

probably

effort

found

student.

As

and context
(which

are less

for

serve

the
as a

may not be there

forced,

task

to the formation
eupericnce

the consistent

of a more

less artificial

environment
more

suggested

that learners

WC tried

other

content.

vocabulary

But it may be precisely

and more elaborate

1973:

dcscribcd

to cxpkin

processing

p. 51).

of new words

close. The cspcrimcnt

was indeed the cxc.

than

a much deeper level of processing,

(Craik

retention

are also

not into original

and condensed

difficult

since Deeper
trace

processing

to fit words

felt to be more difficult.

persistent

use of the second-hand

that this

much

because of the need to apply

in better retention

that results

or deep thought
is required

and syntactic
this

this difficulty

empirically

topic

imagination

hypothesis

and is therefore

Teaching

the adult

by context

clozc since the learner

which is more demanding

lcads

challenges

the familiar

consuming.

texts,

recycling

activity

is no need to rely on learners

associations.

requirements

satisfied

solving

in the second-hand

could

bcncfit

in this study

its effecti\cncss

from

showed

by pointing

out

t hc special memory rcinforcing tasks it iniposcs on t hc Icarncr. Wc do not claim that

the USCof second-hand clorc will ncccssarily solve the vocabulary rctcntion problem. \fc

do suggc5t.
rncmori/at

howcvcr,
ion.

that

it can provirlc

a useful

tcchniquc

for

reinforcing

long-term