Learning unit: sentence-translation file cards sorted into boxes by self-test performance¶

Element · All elements
Evidence · no claims cited

Description¶

The learning unit consists of file cards with one corner removed and four or five boxes. Each card carries a target-language sentence with the new word underlined on one side and a translation on the other. After self-testing by reproducing the whole sentence, the student sorts each card into one of three boxes by whether the answer was immediate, delayed, or wrong, reassigning cards at each periodic test; a fourth box may hold over-familiar items needing only annual checks.

Design Implications¶

Context¶

Requirements¶

• File cards with a removed corner so cards can be checked for orientation
• Four or five boxes large enough to hold a large number of cards
• Periodic self-testing by the student

Constraints¶

• The system requires a great deal of time and effort on the student's part, which the author acknowledges as its one very great disadvantage

Target Learners¶

• foreign language students, including those at the lowest level

Target Learning Goals¶

• vocabulary revision and retention in syntagmatic context

Claims¶

Related Elements¶

Examples¶

• Flashcard Drill
• Allocate revision time economically by concentrating self-testing on the box of not-yet-known items

Key Sources¶

• Whiteley, Darryl. (1971). Foreign Language Vocabulary Learning. https://eric.ed.gov/?id=ED062899