Protocol
Practise from meaning to the missing word
Recognition and production are different appointments with the same word.
When it fits
- You recognise a word immediately but cannot retrieve it while speaking.
When to avoid it
- A translation cue can have several correct answers. Accept appropriate alternatives instead of rewarding one arbitrary string.
Why it matters
For words you need to say, start with a meaning, image or situation and retrieve the target form before seeing it. Check spelling or pronunciation afterwards. Research on retrieval direction supports distinguishing this task from recognising a displayed word.
Steps
- Create a cue that conveys the meaning without displaying the target expression.
- Say or write the expression, then reveal and correct it.
- Use the expression in a fresh sentence that the cue did not supply.
An example
The cue is a delivery arriving after its agreed date. You retrieve overdue or delayed, then explain which one fits the situation.
Check your result
Track unaided production separately from recognition scores.
Keep this limit in mind
- A translation cue can have several correct answers. Accept appropriate alternatives instead of rewarding one arbitrary string.
Connected ideas
Useful withLeave room for the learner to repair the sentenceUse before
Use spacing as a control loop, not a sacred calendar
Evidence and sources
Supports
Productive retrieval practice outperformed the other conditions on the productive vocabulary test in the pseudoword experiment.
Small laboratory-like task; spontaneous conversational transfer remains untested.
The Effects of Receptive and Productive Word Retrieval Practice on Second Language Vocabulary Learning · Abstract, result (2).