Effects of retrieval schedules on the acquisition of explicit, automatized-explicit, and implicit knowledge of L2 collocations

This study investigates the effects of retrieval schedules on the acquisition of second language (L2) collocations. Chinese learners of English first studied 36 target verb-noun collocations using flashcards and form-meaning matching practice. Subsequently, the participants practiced retrieving the target collocations from memory, following either a massed (consecutive) or spaced schedule. After each retrieval attempt, corrective feedback was provided. The acquisition of L2 collocations was measured by near-immediate and 1-week delayed posttests that assessed explicit knowledge with an offline form recall task, automatized explicit knowledge using an online acceptability judgment task, and implicit knowledge with an online collocation priming (lexical decision) task. Results showed equal learning effects of massed and spaced retrieval at both posttests of explicit knowledge and the near-immediate posttest of automatized explicit knowledge. The spacing effect was observed for the implicit knowledge across the two posttests and the automatized explicit knowledge at the delayed posttest.