It’s no surprise to teachers of English Language Learners – and to those of us who have learned a second language – that a new study has found that repeating new words/phrases aloud helps with retention.
Interestingly, that same research has found that it’s much better to repeat them to someone else instead of just to a screen or in your head:
Previous studies conducted at Professor Boucher’s Phonetic Sciences Laboratory have shown that when we articulate a sound, we create a sensory and motor reference in our brain, by moving our mouth and feeling our vocal chords vibrate. “The production of one or more sensory aspects allows for more efficient recall of the verbal element. But the added effect of talking to someone shows that in addition to the sensorimotor aspects related to verbal expression, the brain refers to the multisensory information associated with the communication episode,” Boucher explained. “The result is that the information is better retained in memory.”
I’m assuming that repeating them aloud chorally to a teacher in the classroom would qualify as repeating them to someone else, but don’t know that for sure…
I love sites like English Central and others that let students repeat into a microphone and have their pronunciation automatically evaluated, but I guess we teachers should consider this kind of research (if replicated) in thinking about online tools…
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