Digital flashcards for English grammar: A pilot study in rural Cambodia

Abstract

Digital flashcards are widely used and studied for vocabulary memorisation, but there has been no previous research into using this tool for grammar learning. This study aims to address this gap by examining whether full-sentence flashcard training could cause learners to notice grammatical patterns in their output and apply these inferred rules to novel sentences. The participants were school-aged students in rural Cambodia, where English proficiency is highly valued but difficult to obtain. In a pre-test / post-test design, students spent eight days typing translations from their L1 Khmer to English using the smartphone app Cram.com Flashcards, with each item repeating in a cycle until answered without errors. Post-tests of trained and untrained items took place one day, two weeks, and eighteen weeks after treatment. Results showed high relative gains for all students (M = 81%) and minimal losses at the final post-test. Equal results between trained and untrained items demonstrated that participants had indeed inferred grammar rules from the training, and a refresher session for one group fully mitigated losses. The findings are discussed in terms of the facilitating effect of output on form acquisition, and it is recommended that further research into digital flashcards for grammar is conducted under different conditions, to better understand which factors influence gains. It is further recommended that apps be used in environments where trained teachers and other resources are unavailable.