ABSTRACT

The number of learners seeking to acquire an L2 by means of apps is ever-increasing. This study examined the effectiveness of using the app Mondly for the acquisition of L2 English vocabulary while accounting for differences in the acquisition of receptive and productive aspects of word knowledge. Twelve Danish young learners (aged 10–11) used Mondly, installed on their personal devices, as their sole English curriculum for 4 weeks. The results showed a significant increase in vocabulary knowledge. These gains were particularly notable in regards to productive knowledge of the form-meaning connection and areas of word knowledge relating to use. While these learning gains correlated positively with the frequency of appearance of each target word in Mondly’s lexical inventory, they correlated negatively with the participants’ use of the app. We hypothesise that this was because additional use of the app with inadequate repetitions of target words leads to the creation of weak synaptic pathways which interfere with recollection of receptive knowledge of the form-meaning connection. The study indicates that Mondly may be effective as a tool for acquiring L2 vocabulary. However, explicit attention should be given to the number of repetitions of each target word in order to ensure adequate entrenchment.

摘要

寻求通过应用程序获得 L2 的学习者数量不断增加。本研究检验了使用Mondly应用程序获取 L2 英语词汇的有效性，同时考虑了在获取单词知识的接受性和生产性方面的差异。12 名丹麦年轻学习者（10-11 岁）使用安装在个人设备上的Mondly作为他们唯一的 4 周英语课程。结果显示词汇知识显着增加。这些收益在形式意义联系的生产性知识和与使用相关的单词知识领域方面尤为显着。虽然这些学习收益与Mondly中每个目标词的出现频率呈正相关的词汇清单，它们与参与者对应用程序的使用负相关。我们假设这是因为在目标词重复不足的情况下额外使用该应用程序会导致产生弱突触通路，从而干扰对形式-意义连接的接受性知识的回忆。研究表明，Mondly作为获取 L2 词汇的工具可能是有效的。但是，应明确注意每个目标词的重复次数，以确保充分巩固。