CHAPTER 3. METHODOLOGY
3.6. Data analysis
Data from the tests were gathered, summarized, and displayed using a system of charts or tables in Microsoft Excel. Both groups' pre and post-test data were combined. The numbers for both groups were then compared to see if there was any significant difference in the test scores obtained by the two groups, which could indicate the influence of the spaced repetition strategy on improving students' vocabulary retention.
Based on the test results, the researchers compared the information she had with the findings of prior studies to check for any parallels and discrepancies, then reviewed the contemporary research findings and reached a conclusion.
CHAPTER IV
FINDING AND DISCUSSION
presents statistics from student assessments demonstrating how spaced repetition increases vocabulary retention of the Viet Yen Number 1 High school student. The final part describes the test findings.
4.1. Findings of initial levels of understanding and vocabulary retention
4.1.1. Students’ initial levels of understanding after learning 2 months before the experimental period (Pre-test 1)
The number of words and phrases for the pre and post-test was 11.
Based on the Correct words (CR) each student remembered; the individual vocabulary knowledge was calculated using the following formula:
Vocabulary Knowledge = Vocabulary retention = 100: 11 * CR
Students' vocabulary knowledge has been divided into several categories to better clarify their vocabulary retention ability. The grouping criteria and names allocated to each group (No Misunderstandings, Great Understanding, Good Understanding, Moderate Understanding, Some Understanding, and Little to No Understanding), as indicated in the table below, were merely provided by the researcher herself based on the students' pre-test 1 results, with the goal of presenting a clearer picture of the students' vocabulary knowledge rather than any established benchmarking framework.
Table 1. Students’ initial levels of vocabulary knowledge after learning 2 months before the experimental period
Vocabulary knowledge levels
Understandin g
Group (N=13)
Control Experimental
No Misunderstanding = 100% 0 0
Great Understanding < 100% 0 0
Good Understanding ≤ 85% 0 0
Moderate Understanding ≤ 70% 1 2
Some Understanding ≤ 55% 7 4
Little to No Understanding ≤ 30% 4 7
As can be seen from the table, before Spaced repetition method was applied, in both groups, there are no students considered no misunderstandings learners who could understand 100% vocabulary they have learned. In both groups, all students fell to
be more specific, the number of students who understand the vocabulary is more than 70% is very small, with only 1 to 2 people. The figures for some understanding and little to no understanding students of the control group were 7 and 4, respectively while the same-level students of the opponent witnessed the opposite trend. This proves that there are more students having more knowledge in the control group than in the experimental group.
4.1.2. Students’ initial vocabulary retention after learning 2 months before the experimental period (Pre-test 1)
The table below contains data on students' vocabulary retention prior to treatment implementation.
Table 2. Students’ initial Vocabulary retention after learning 2 months before the experimental period
Control group Experimental group
Student code Correct words
Vocabulary Retention
(%)
Student code Correct words
Vocabulary Retention
(%)
S1 7 64 S14 8 73
S2 6 55 S15 7 64
S3 6 55 S16 6 55
S4 5 45 S17 5 45
S5 4 36 S18 4 36
S6 5 45 S19 6 55
S7 5 45 S20 2 18
S8 4 36 S21 3 27
S9 3 27 S22 5 45
S10 6 55 S23 2 18
S11 2 18 S24 1 9
S12 1 9 S25 2 18
S13 2 18 S26 3 27
Average 56 39% Average 54 38%
starting average vocabulary retention. Whereas the control group could recall around 39 % of the time, the experimental group could only remember 38 %, which was one percent less than the other group. The comparability of the test findings suggested that before the repeated reading approach was used to teach, the two groups' vocabulary retention was the same.
The following bar chart visualized students’ initial vocabulary retention after learning 2 months before the experimental period based on the data collected.
10 30 50 70 90
39 38
Students' initial vocabulary retention after learning 2 months before the experimental period (%)
Control group Experimental group
Figure 4. Students’ initial vocabulary retention after learning 2 months before the experimental period
4.1.3. Students’ vocabulary retention after learning 1 hour (Pre-test 2) The number of words and phrases in the input session for the pre was 24.
Based on the Correct words (CR) each student remembered; the individual vocabulary knowledge was calculated using the following formula:
Vocabulary Knowledge = Vocabulary retention = 100: 24 * CR
The data shown in the chart above revealed that students in both control and experimental groups achieved a similar rate of vocabulary retention. While the statistic for the control group was 41 percent, a comparable proportion (40 percent) was provided for the other group. It is noticeable that that was just a negligible change.
words by individual students was also summarized and presented in the following table.
Table 3. Students’ Vocabulary retention after learning 1 hour
Control group Experimental group
Student code Correct word
Vocabulary Retention
Student code
Correct word
Vocabulary Retention
S1 13 54 S14 11 46
S2 11 46 S15 9 38
S3 10 42 S16 13 54
S4 8 33 S17 10 42
S5 5 21 S18 8 33
S6 9 38 S19 11 46
S7 11 46 S20 9 38
S8 11 46 S21 5 21
S9 10 42 S22 8 33
S10 9 38 S23 6 25
S11 15 63 S24 13 54
S12 11 46 S25 10 42
S13 4 17 S26 11 46
Average 127 41% Average 124 40%
The following line graph symbolizes the forgetting curve which visualized students’
vocabulary retention after learning 1 hour based on the data collected above.
1st learning0 1 hour 1 day
20 40 60 80 100
Forgetting curve
Experimental group Control group
Figure 5. Students’ forgetting curve after learning 1 hour
Control and the Experimental group after the experimental period
The difference in language retention between the control and experimental groups after the study period will be shown by comparing the results before and after the test offered here. Any substantial variation in lexical knowledge shows that language retention practices have an effect on student results.
The table below offers a summary of the number of students that improved their vocabulary retention following the study session.
Table 4. Brief report about the number of students who made changes
Group
Vocabulary retention (N=13) Increases Unchange
d
Decrease s
Control 1 11 1
Experimenta l
13 0 0
According to the table above, students from both groups made some adjustments. The experimental group showed growing trends in changes in vocabulary retention for all students. The majority of kids in the control group had the same unchanging pattern, with one of them having an increasing and one having a decreasing result. The next part contains detailed information regarding the changes in the pupils' vocabulary knowledge levels.
4.2.1. Changes in vocabulary knowledge levels
The first difference could be drawn from the changes in the number of students’
vocabulary knowledge levels of the two groups after the research period as presented in the table below.
Table 5. Changes in students’ vocabulary knowledge levels after the research period
Vocabulary knowledge Understandin Control group Experimental
levels g
(N=13)
(N=13) Befor
e After Before Afte r
No Misunderstanding = 100% 0 0 0 4
Great Understanding < 100% 0 0 0 7
Good Understanding ≤ 85% 0 0 0 2
Moderate Understanding ≤ 70% 1 2 2 0
Some Understanding ≤ 55% 7 6 4 0
Little to No Understanding ≤ 30% 4 5 7 0
The data in the table above showed that there was only a minor change in the number of, Some Understanding and Little to No Understanding learners of the control group.
Though one more student became a Moderate Understanding learner, no students in the control group turned into Good Understanding or Great Understanding or No Misunderstandings learners who have vocabulary knowledge of more than 85% to 100%. On the contrary, all students of the experimental groups had vocabulary knowledge of more than 85% to 100%, especially 2 of them became Good Understanding learners, 7 students became Great Understanding learners and 4 students became No Misunderstanding learners after 2 months of practicing spaced repetition.
4.2.2. Changes in vocabulary retention
Figures about the changes in individual students’ vocabulary retention are summarized in the tables below
4.2.2.1. Changes in vocabulary retention of individual students after 1 hour and after 2 months
Overall, what stands out from the table is that while in the control group, average students’ results were slightly lower in the post-tests, the experimental group witnessed a remarkable upward trend after the period. The mean results for the experimental group after 1 hour and after 2 months were 41% and 38%, accordingly.
Looking at the table in more detail, approximately half of them lose from 5% to 21%
of memory, 2 students’ memory remained unchanged while the remaining ones just increased from 3% to 8% of memory. In theory, the memory will lose time over time;
they could not forget all their vocabulary. On the other hand, for the experimental groups, learners made significant advancements in their vocabulary retention. Nine out of thirteen students increased by at least 54% and at most 67% while the rest rose by about 45%. The average results for the experimental group after 1 hour and after 2 months were 40% and 94%, respectively. In other words, their vocabulary retention has been improved noticeably after 2 months of practicing spaced repetition method.
Table 6. Changes in vocabulary retention of individual students after 1 hour and after 2 months
Control group Experimental group
Student code
Before (%)
After (%)
Deviation (%)
Student code
Before (%)
After (%)
Deviation (%)
S1 54 58 5 S14 46 100 54
S2 46 50 3 S15 38 96 58
S3 42 33 -7 S16 54 100 46
S4 33 25 -8 S17 42 96 54
S5 21 21 0 S18 33 96 63
S6 38 38 0 S19 47 92 45
S7 46 54 8 S20 38 83 45
S8 46 38 -9 S21 21 88 67
S9 42 25 -17 S22 33 96 63
S10 38 42 4 S23 25 83 58
S11 63 58 -5 S24 54 100 46
S12 46 25 -21 S25 42 96 54
S13 17 21 4 S26 46 100 54
Averag
e 41%
38% Average 40% 94%
4.2.2.2. Changes in vocabulary retention of individual students before and after 2 months
As can be seen from the table below, the experimental group gained a significant advancement over the opponent. To be more specific, the vocabulary retention of the control group receiving no treatment was not noticeably different, at 39% at first and
results before and after 2 months, which means their memory gradually decreases over time. By contrast, the figures for those of the experimental group were 39% and 94%, respectively. As learners in the experimental group made a significant change in vocabulary retention (2.5 times higher) compared to that of the control group, it is possible to conclude that spaced repetition method had a remarkable favorable effect on learners’ vocabulary retention.
Table 7. Changes in vocabulary retention of individual students before and after 2 months
Control group Experimental group Student code Before
(%)
After
(%) Student code Before (%)
After (%)
S1 64 58 S14 73 100
S2 55 50 S15 64 96
S3 55 33 S16 55 100
S4 45 25 S17 45 96
S5 36 21 S18 36 96
S6 45 38 S19 55 92
S7 45 54 S20 18 83
S8 36 38 S21 27 88
S9 27 25 S22 45 96
S10 55 42 S23 18 83
S11 18 58 S24 9 100
S12 9 25 S25 18 96
S13 18 21 S26 27 100
Average 39% 38% Average 38% 94%
The following bar chart visualized students' average vocabulary retention before and after the research period based on the data collected.
Control group Experimental group
0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100
38
94 0
0
39 38 0
0
Students' average vocabulary retention before and after the research period (%)
After Column1
Figure 6. Students' average vocabulary retention before and after the research period
4.3. Findings from Practice by sessions
The following table shows the average percentage of memory gained after each session.
Table 8. Information from the practice of the experimental group by sessions The experimental group
Lesson
Session 1 2 3 4 5
Average
1 (1 day) 92 90 91 90 93 91
2 (3 days) 90 89 90 92 90 90
3 (7 days) 93 92 93 91 94 93
4 (16 days) 91 92 93 90 90 91
5 (30 days) 91 93 90 91 93 92
6 (60 days) 94 93 95 93 96 94
It is easily seen from the data that students made gradual improvement thanks to spaced repetition. After a 1-hour pre-test, students started applying spaced repetition method; therefore, the percentage of vocabulary retention over doubled and remained quite stable during the period. Despite having the same rate of forgetting after 1 hour of study, the control group, not receiving the treatment, experienced a decreasing
impressive figures in terms of vocabulary retention rate.
Moreover, the mean of the experimental group's memory throughout the experiment was always at a high level although there was a small change, which only shifted from 89% to 96%, the deviation was negligible. After 6 sessions within 60 days, the percentage of memory for all 5 lessons was almost gradually increased during the whole process, except for some very small changes of about 1-2% in some sessions.
For instance, in lesson 1, the student's memory percentage in the first session was 92%
while that of the student in the last session was 94%. In another example, in lesson 4, while the figure for 1st session is 90%, the metric for 6th session is 93%. In summary, the memory of the experimental group was always at a high level, the vocabulary retention was quite stable or slightly increased during the period. In contrast, the vocabulary retention rate of the control group was always below average and tended to decrease over time.For example, in lesson 2, after studying for 1 day, students only remember 41% of the vocabulary they have learned in the lesson, then after 60 days, students only remember 39%.
Table 9. Information from the practice of the control group by sessions The control group
Lesson
Session 1 2 3 4 5
Average
1 (1 day) 41 41 39 40 43 41
2 (3 days) 38 41 40 42 41 40
3 (7 days) 37 40 38 40 40 39
4 (16 days) 37 40 39 38 40 39
5 (30 days) 36 38 38 39 39 38
6 (60 days) 35 39 37 38 39 38
A comparison of students’ average vocabulary retention during the research period is portrayed in the line graph below.
1st learning0 1 hour 1 day 3 days 7 days 16 days 30 days 60 days 20
40 60 80 100
Forgetting curve
Experimental group Control group
Figure 7. Students' average vocabulary retention during the research period 4.4. Discussion
The data analysis revealed that students in both the control and experimental groups initially had equal levels of vocabulary knowledge. All of them belonged to either moderate understanding, some understanding, and little to no understanding levels who could understand equal or less than 70% of vocabulary after learning 2 months.
Regarding vocabulary retention, the data for the two groups were almost the same at first. Nevertheless, after two months of study, only the experimental group that received specific therapy through the use of spaced repetition saw substantial improvements in the results. The finding is similar to Raleigh (1996), Laird S. Cermak et al(1996), Baturay et al (2009) who all agreed that students made improvements with spaced repetition when the same teaching approach was used in general. In Laird S.
Cermak’s research about Amnesia patients, it was explored that spaced repetition benefited from the repetition and spacing of items in both a recognition (Experiment 1) and a recall task (Experiment 2). In both tasks, items that were repeated were remembered significantly better than items that were presented only once and items repeated following a lag of five intervening items were remembered significantly better than items presented on adjacent trials. Furthermore, the effects of repetition and spacing were of equivalent magnitude in the amnesia and control groups. The finding of intact spacing effects in amnesia patients' recognition memory is consistent
rehearsal that items receive when they are repeated following a lag. Furthermore, the Baturay argued in his research called “Effects of web-based spaced repetition on vocabulary retention of Foreign language learners” that the results of the study demonstrate that WEBVOCLE is effective for remembering words previously taught in the classroom. Throughout the study, learners are exposed to three modules consisting of 10 to 12 target words. Learners' vocabulary retention for each of the three modules, in relation to their frequency of participation and the difference in scores before and after the test, was analyzed by computer ANOVA and after-school test. As a result, the number of words that learners memorized increased in Modules A and C. The results also showed that the number of words recalled decreased for learners who did not do any review. The difference in mean scores was especially observed with revisions of practices 2 and 4. That is, learners' vocabulary retention increased as they revised words in all four practices. instead of just two practices. In addition, the mean score difference between the pre-tests is 1.9 for Module A, 0.3 for Module B and 2.6 for Module B. C. Learners' vocabulary retention increased the most in Module C, with about 2.5 words, and the least in Module B, with less than one word on average; however, learners can still remember almost the same number of words that they learned before doing Module B.
Whereas the statistics for students in the control group revealed a small difference in vocabulary knowledge, there was a significant advancement in the vocabulary of students in the experimental group. Initially, all students in the latter group were
"Moderate Understanding," "Some Understanding," and "Little to No Understanding"
students (as described by the investigator using the name she established for each group based on their pre-test results). However, after the application of spaced repetition, they all became “Good Understanding”, “Great Understanding” and “No Misunderstanding” students who could remember from 85% to 100% words and phrases they have learned.
Statistics from practice by sessions also revealed significant gains in students' vocabulary retention; hence, it is possible to conclude that spaced repetition significantly influenced students' vocabulary retention. Despite varied in-session
the experimental group performed better in the end period of practice in all sessions.
CHAPTER V CONCLUSION
This chapter presented the summary, the implications, the limitations as well as some suggestions for future research.
5.1. Summary of the study
This research considers the effects of spaced repetition method on high school students at Viet Yen High School Number 1.
The research used a semi-empirical research approach, with 26 students from grade 11A5 comprising the control and experimental group. There are 13 pupils in each group. The data for analysis were acquired using pre and post-tests with the same passage, and they were meant to compare the results gained by the control group with the experimental group before and after the time period. Based on this data, the researcher would not anticipate tobserving a significant difference in the test scores of the two groups, implying that spaced replicates had little effect on improving students' vocabulary retention.
helping students improve their vocabulary retention as well as their level of vocabulary knowledge.
5.2. Implications
Based on the preceding chapter's findings on the usefulness of spaced repetition in improving students' vocabulary recall, it can be inferred that this technique can be a beneficial integrative strategy in teaching vocabulary. This section provides some ideas and suggestions for utilizing spaced repetition to teach vocabulary in a foreign language classroom.
Firstly, the results from research imply that learners who have difficulties decoding words might have to be educated by reading individual words or phrases foremost rather than an uninterrupted text.
Knowing that students may encounter some difficulties at the beginning of the learning period, such as the feeling of stressful if they do not know the meaning of new words, the pressure from long passages, the researchers suggested that teachers make a careful choice of passages that are suitable to students’ level with simple Sometimes, new words can be a big problem for students. A lot of new words in a passage can cause difficulty in reading and significantly demotivated them. Therefore, teachers should plan sufficient support such as providing a glossary for each passage or pre-teach the new difficult vocabulary for students.
5.3. Limitations of the study
The study examined the effectiveness of spaced repetition method on high school students at Viet Yen High School Number 1 in Bac Giang city. Although the researchers have made effort toward conducting this research, there undoubtedly exist some limitations.
For the study itself, because of covid 19 pandemic, the researcher could not apply the method to the whole class of 43 people because there are some students who contracted the Covid-19 disease or F1 subjects who cannot attend school. As a result, the study's sample size was quite small, with just 13 students in each group, and the
the SR did not include measuring prosodic features. One of the main reasons was that learners had not had experience in SR and they did not voluntarily study according to the assigned schedule; therefore, it takes the researcher a great deal of time to check and remind.
5.4. Recommendations for further study
Students who have been trained to physically remove themselves have profited from this practice and they should use the SR approach in class as well as at home. Apart from that, they must adhere to strict regulations and timetables. Furthermore, for more solid results, further study might be conducted on Primary, Secondary School, or University students.
Based on the study's limitations, there are several recommendations for future research to get additional merits from spaced repeating practice. First and foremost, future research might use this approach to a larger number of students in order to collect more data and gain a better understanding of how much it aids in the development of retention. vocabulary. Additionally, pilot testing should be carried out initially to increase the dependability of the data and their interpretation.