Evidence-based teaching strategies in ELT

Carol Lethaby clethaby@clethaby.com
Website: http://clethaby.com Twitter: @clethaby
Patricia Harries patti.harries@gmail.com

Which of these strategies have you ever used
as a teacher (or learner  )?
•Work in pairs.
•Put a check next to the ones you
have used
•Which have you felt were most
useful for learning? (H – M – L)
Carol Lethaby and Patricia Harries, 2018

Used? How
useful?
1 Used highlighting and underlining as you read.
2 Given a reason for the answer you give.
3 Written a summary of a text in order to help you learn the contents.
4 Practiced the same thing on different days.
5 Used mnemonic devices to remember vocabulary.
6 Explained to yourself (or others) how you worked out the answer.
7 Tried to visualize what you are reading.
8 Tested yourself on vocabulary you’ve just learned.
9 Read a text more than once.
10 Thought or talked about the topic before reading a text.
11 Mixed up the types of practice you do in the same session.

What does the research say?
Dunlosky, J., Rawson, K.A., Marsh, E.J., Nathan, M.J. &
Willingham, D.T. (2013). Improving students learning
with effective learning techniques promising directions
from cognitive and educational psychology.
Psychological Science in the Public Interest, 14/1, 4-58.
doi: 10.1177/1529100612453266
http://nyphotographic.com/

Highlighting and underlining 1
•Using highlighting and underlining as you read
•Rating: Low usefulness – doesn’t seem to
improve learning

Summarizing 3
• Writing a summary of a to-be-learned text
• Rating: Low usefulness - hard to teach learners to do
it and research findings aren’t conclusive

Visualize what you are reading 7
• Imagery use for text learning: form mental images of
text material you are learning
• Rating: Low usefulness – benefits limited to imagery-
friendly texts
By jonny goldstein https://www.flickr.com/photos/jonnygoldstein/4366087009

Mnemonics 5
• The keyword technique: making associations with
first and second language
• Rating: Low usefulness; not universally applicable and
benefits don’t appear to last

Re-Reading 9
•Re-reading: reading a text again
•Rating: Low usefulness; time could be better
spent

OK ….
…. So what does work?

Prior knowledge 10
Thought or talked about the topic before
reading a text.

“If I had to reduce all of cognitive
psychology to one principle it would be
this: the most important single factor
influencing learning is what the learner
already knows. Ascertain this and teach
him accordingly.”
(Ausubel, 1978: flyleaf)

Previous knowledge
•“the single most widely
demonstrated difference [in
learning outcomes] is prior
knowledge.”
•(Clark, 2014: 335).

Prior and background knowledge
•Prior knowledge – previously acquired
knowledge gained through life and
experience
•Background knowledge – academic prior
knowledge
• (Marzano 2004)

•“The importance of prior knowledge to
comprehension and communication is
included in virtually all modern theories of
reading”
• (Anderson & Pearson, 1984; Pressley, Wood, & Woloshyn, 1992;
Spivey, 1996)
• (Allington and Cunningham, 2010)

•“.. what students already know about the
content is one of the strongest indicators of how
well they will learn new information relative to
the content.”
• Marzano, 2004

Connections!
•Synapses – connections between neurons
•New information – connections
•Known information – reinforces
connections – using complex neural
networks
Prior Knowledge: Carol Lethaby, 2015

•“On a daily basis, we adjust and extend
the enormous knowledge base in our
brain.”
• May 12, 2014 Marlieke van Kesteren
• http://www.neuwritewest.org/blog/2014/5/12/building-on-prior-
knowledge-how-does-the-student-brain-learn

Dunlosky et al (2013)
High to moderate usefulness
•Elaborative interrogation (2)
•Self-explanation (6)
•Practice testing (8)
•Distributed practice (4)
•Interleaved practice (11)

• Roediger, H. L., & Pyc, M. A. (2012). Inexpensive techniques to
improve education: Applying cognitive psychology to enhance
educational practice Journal of Applied Research in Memory and
Cognition, 1/4, 242-248. Doi: 10.1016/j.jarmac.2012.09.002
• Three general principles for improving learning based
on research evidence.
•Distribution of practice
•Retrieval practice
•Explanatory questioning

Elaborative interrogation 2
Explaining why something is true
“Why?”
“Why is this true?”
“Why is this the case here, but not here?”

Research
• “Elaborative interrogation enhances learning
by supporting the integration of new
information with existing prior knowledge”
Dunlosky et al (2013:6)
• “ effortful, conscious
processing” Howard-Jones et al (2018:3)

Research
•text comprehension e.g. Smith et al
(2010) or learning lists of facts
•“moderate utility” Dunlosky et al (2013)

Self-explanation 6
• Explaining features of your own learning to
yourself
“ How does it relate to what I already know?”
“What steps do I take to solve this problem?”
“How can I apply this in a different situation?”

Research
• Fewer studies but broad range of content areas
• Encourages learners to actively process content
and relate it to what they already know
• “self-explanation can provide the kind of deep
learning that permits transfer” Roediger & Pyc
(2012:247)
• E.g. Wong et al (2002)
• “moderate utility” Dunlosky et al (2013)

•Can these evidence-based
strategies be applied to ELT?

How can we apply these strategies to ELT?
• Give examples for using the principle and strategies in
the ELT classroom/with language learners. What have
you used / could you use?
•A Using prior knowledge (10)
•B Elaborative interrogation (2)
•C Self-explanation (6)

Practice testing 8
• 8 Practice testing: low/ no stakes and self-testing
• Rating: High usefulness – overwhelmingly shows
improved learning
By German.aiflc - Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0,
https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=35405949

• Retrieval practice - (via self testing) for durable
learning;
• Having tests interspersed with learning – good for
long term learning
• Practice in retrieving information makes that
information easier to retrieve in the future
Experiments in language learning - retrieval practice is
a powerful means of improving retention in learning
foreign language vocabulary (e.g., Karpicke & Smith,2012; Pyc &
Rawson, 2010),

Distributed/spaced practice 4
•spreading out practice activities over time

• This “is one of the most
general and robust effects
from across the entire history
of experimental research on
learning and memory”
Bjork & Bjork in Coe et al (2014:17)
Ebbinghaus
Huge volume of research shows it leads to
much greater long-term retention

Research
• Studies in L2 vocabulary learning e.g. Bloom
& Shuell (1981); Bahrick et al (1993)
• Nation (2014:29) on the use of vocabulary
word cards: “spaced repetition results in
longer lasting learning”
• Recent research in L2 grammar practice :
Bird (2009), Rogers (2015), Suzuki &
DeKeyser (2017)
• “high utility” Dunlosky et al (2013)

Interleaved practice 11
•mixing up different practice activities in a
single session
✗AAA BBB CCC
✔ABC CBA BCA

Research
• Fewer studies
• Can improve brain’s ability to tell
concepts apart, lead to better transfer of
skills & greater retention
• Effective for problem solving e.g. Rohrer & Taylor (2007)
& categorisation e.g. Kang & Pashler (2011)
• “moderate utility” Dunlosky et al (2013)

•Give examples for using the strategies in the
ELT classroom/with language learners.
What have you used / could you use?
•D Practice testing (8)
•E Distributed practice (4)
•F Interleaved practice (11)

• Give examples for using the strategies in the ELT classroom/with
language learners. What have you used / could you use?
•A Using prior knowledge (10)
•B Elaborative interrogation (2)
•C Self-explanation (6)
•D Practice testing (8)
•E Distributed practice (4)
•F Interleaved practice (11)

Principle: Using prior knowledge

What prior knowledge do L2 students have?
•Content
•L1
•L2

How can we use what students know to help
them to learn more easily?
•Use pre-tasks
• activate background knowledge
• build background knowledge

Listening – pre-tasks
•Field – higher and lower levels – content
vs language
•“At either level it makes perfect sense”
(2008 p 138)

•Lower levels – help with de-coding
•( pre-tasks are “encouraging learners to
make use of world knowledge, topic
knowledge etc to compensate for gaps in
understanding”)

•Higher levels – it helps in building meaning
(“learners can be encouraged to expand
on what they hear by relating it to
background knowledge just as they
would in L1”)

How can we use what students know to help
them to learn better?
•Re-cycle and build on what learners
know / use a spiral curriculum

•“It is very important in education that
courses build on each other as much as
possible, because knowledge builds from its
antecedents.”
• Van Kesteren, 2014

•Use L1 and L2 knowledge
•Help students to notice similarities and
differences
•Use cognates – false cognates
•Build on what learners already know in English
eg words and expressions in English
•Predict problems – spend more time on tricky
areas, less time on easy things
•Use references to background and culture of
the student – make connections to real life

Know about learners’ interests
•We are most interested in / motivated by the
things we already know something about
•(“interest in the topic is also important but often
is related to prior knowledge.”)
•Therefore … we need to make connections
between what we do in class and students’ real
lives.

Elaborative interrogation
• Ask questions about grammar
rules and compare different
structures – Why does this
need –ed and this doesn’t?
• Make connections between
classroom language and
language heard outside

American English File Level 2 (2nd Edition) Latham-Koenig & Oxenden (2013:13) OUP

Self- explanation
•Reading & listening comprehension tasks –
How did I find the answers?
•Student explains thought-processes to a
partner
•Learners explain similarities and differences
between new and previously studied material

Open Mind Pre-Intermediate Student’s Book Rogers, Taylore-Knowles, Taylore-Knowles (2014:92) Macmillan

Elaborative interrogation & self-explanation:
the ‘takeaway’
•A way to focus on form
•Learners need to participate in
becoming self-teachers (Hattie &
Yates 2013:36)

Practice testing
•Applications to ELT: vocab tests,
test yourself, practice tests
•formative assessment and
continuous assessment, self-testing
at different stages

From: English ID 1 by Seligson, Lethaby and Gontow Richmond Publishing

From:JustRight(SecondEdition)by
Lethaby,AcevedoandHarmerCengage
/NGL

Distributed/spaced practice
•Recycle vocabulary (e.g. ‘word bag’ /app) with
increasingly greater time spaces
•Don’t do the freer practice activities immediately
after the controlled practice
•Begin each lesson with a practice of target
language from a previous lesson
•Help learners plan their own study timetable

Interleaved practice
• Mix language & skills practice up in class – don’t be
too predictable
• Jumble up practice of language structures in one
session
• Review material in a different order
• Timetabling – integrate skills & language
• Train learners to switch between learning topics when
they study

NewCuttingEdgeIntermediateStudents'Book
Cunningham&MoorPearsonLongman2005:32-
33

Distributed practice & interleaved practice:
the ‘takeaway’
✔ distributed practice for vocabulary
•More research needed on applications of
both types of practice to other areas of
language learning (Rogers 2017)
•Learners need training and convincing!
Howard-Jones et al (2018:3)Carol Lethaby and Patricia Harries, 2018

Conclusions
•Evidence-based strategies exist – we should be
aware of them
•We already do a lot of these things in the
classroom (it’s good to know there’s evidence to
back them up – and why it works)
•Thought and time is needed to apply them to ELT
•But … we need to also consider how and which
parts are applicable

• References
• Arbuthnott, K.D., & Krätzig, G.P (2014) Effective teaching: sensory learning styles versus general memory
processes. Comprehensive Psychology, 4,2.
• Bahrick, H.P., Bahrick, L.E., Bahrick, A.S., & Bahrick, P.E. (1993) Maintainence of foreign language vocabulary
and the spacing effect. Psychological Science, 4, 316-321
• Bird, S. (2010) Effects of distributed practice on the acquisition of second language syntax. Applied
Psycholinguistics, 31, 635-650
• Bloom, K.C., & Shuell, T.J. (1981) Effects of massed and distributed practice on the learning and retention of
second-language vocabulary. Journal of Educational Research, 74, 245 – 248
• Coe, R., Aloisi, C., Higgins, S & Elliot Major, L. (2014) What makes great teaching? The Sutton Trust
• Dunlosky, J., Rawson, K.A., Marsh, E.J.,Nathan, M.J., & Willingham, D.T. (2013) Improving student’s learning
with effective learning techniques: Promising directions from cognitive and educational psychology.
Psychological Science in the Public Interest, 14 (1) 4 - 58
• Hattie, John and Yates, Gregory, "Plenary 4 - Understanding Learning : lessons for learning, teaching and
research" (2013). 2009 - 2017 ACER Research Conferences. 10.
https://research.acer.edu.au/research_conference/RC2013/6august/10
• Howard-Jones, P. A. (2007). Neuroscience and education: Issues and opportunities, A Commentary by the
Teaching and Learning Research Programme. TLRP/ESRC.
• Howard- Jones,P, Ioannou, C., Bailey, R., Prior, J., Shu, H.Y., & Jay, T.(2018) Applying the science of learning in
the classroom Impact
• Kang, S.H.K., & Pashler, H. (2011) Learning painting styles: Spacing is advantageous when it promotes
discriminative contrast. Applied Cognitive Psychology, 26, 97-103

• Nation, I.S.P. (2001) Learning Vocabulary in Another Language CUP
• Nation, P. (2014) What do you need to know to learn a foreign language?
https://www.victoria.ac.nz/lals/about/staff/publications/paul-nation/foreign-language_1125.pdf
• Roediger, H.L., & Pyc, M.A. (2012) Inexpensive techniques to improve education: Applying cognitive
psychology to enhance educational practice. Journal of Applied Research in Memory & Cognition, 1, 242-248
• Rogers, J. (2015) Learning second language syntax under massed and distributed conditions. TESOL
Quarterly, 49, 857-866
• Rogers, J. (2017) The spacing effect and its relevance to second language acquisition. Applied Linguistics
38/6, 906-911
• Smith, B.L., Holliday, W.G., & Austin, H.W. (2010) Students’ comprehension of science textbooks using a
question-based reading strategy. Journal of Research in Science Teaching, 47, 363 – 379.
• Suzuki, Y., & DeKeyser, R. (2017) Effects of distributed practice on the proceduralization of morphology.
Language Teaching Research, 21(2), 166-188
• Wong, R.M.F., Lawson, M.J., & Keeves, J (2002). The effects of self-explanation training on students’ problem
solving in high –school mathematics. Learning and Instructino, 12, 223-262

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