Effects Of Judgment Of Learning On L2 Writing Testing Effect

Numerous studies have found that testing is not only a way to evaluate learning,but also an effective learning tool.Compared with restudy,testing can better promote learners’ memory,especially the retention of long-term memory.This effect is known as the testing effect or retrieval practice effect.In recent years,the learning materials used in testing effect research have become increasingly abundant and complex.However,there is little research that uses second language(L2)writing as learning materials.L2 writing is an extremely important part of second language acquisition(SLA),and using L2 writing materials to study the testing effect has theoretical and practical significance.On the other hand,most testing effect research focuses on memory cognition,but there is insufficient exploration of metacognition.Judgment of learning(JOL)is one of the important indicators of metacognitive monitoring.When completing JOL,learners will predict their own level of learning.Previous studies mainly focused on the impact of retrieval practice on the accuracy of JOL,but there is little research on how JOL affects the testing effect.This study uses L2 writing as learning materials to explore the testing effect and the impact of JOL on the testing effect.The research questions are as follows:1.Does testing effect occur in L2 writing?2.How does JOL affect L2 writing testing effect?In the present study,128 non-English major undergraduate students in their second year from a university in Wuxi were recruited for the main experiment,while 8 students with similar language proficiency were selected for the pilot experiment.Participants were randomly assigned to four groups: restudy group(S),testing group(T),JOL+restudy group(JS),and JOL+testing group(JT).Before the main experiment,all participants completed the English proficiency test to ensure there was no difference among groups.In the first step of the first week,all four groups received a 15-minute initial study of L2 writing.In the second step,the S group received a 15-minute restudy,the T group engaged in a 15-minute free-recall,the JS group completed JOL before receiving a 15-minute restudy,and the JT group completed JOL before engaging in a15-minute free recall.In the second week,all four groups took a 30-minute final L2 writing test.After the final test,all participants completed a questionnaire.The time spent on each stage was the same for all four groups.Data analysis revealed the following results:1.There was a significant testing effect in L2 writing.Learners who used testing as a learning strategy performed better than those who only restudied.The restudy group had difficulty generating the episodic context related to the final test during their restudy session,so they could not perform well on the final test.The testing group updated their context representation by retrieving and recalling the learning materials,which improved their learning effectiveness.Testing provided learners with difficulty,as a result,learners exerted greater effort in retrieving learning materials.Testing facilitated the continuous construction of the organizational structure of L2 writing.Learners in the testing group were able to plan the structure of their compositions during the planning process by retrieval practice,and continuously monitored it during the process of completing the free recall.Testing improved overall understanding of the global-level knowledge of L2 writing,such as the writing structure,whereas restudy focused on surface-level features such as vocabulary.The initial test task was similar to the final test and therefore had a transfer effect,contributing to better performance on the final test.Contrary to previous research findings,the use of complex tasks such as L2 writing still resulted in testing effect.Although L2 writing involves high levels of element interactivity,it did not impede students’ learning of writing structure.2.JOL promoted the generation of testing effect in L2 writing.JOL also had a promoting effect on restudy,but the effect was not as strong as on testing.JOL prior to free recall improved performance on the initial test because learners were able to successfully update their contextual representation,further restricting the search set and thus enhancing performance on the final test.JOL helped learners to plan the overall structure of L2 writing during the planning process and continually adjust learning goals.JOL improved the transfer and helped learners in the restudy group strengthen encoding between items and improve transfer to the final test,but learners in the testing group conducted the similarity structure provided by JOL to improve the overlap between the initial and final tests through the retrieval practice,thereby enhancing the generation of testing effect.In addition,JOL helped to eliminate unnecessary distractors to limit the cue set and improve the efficiency of free recall,but had a relatively limited effect on restudy.Through this study,it can be found that testing,as a learning strategy,can significantly improve learners’ learning performance in L2 writing.As an effective metacognitive strategy,JOL can improve the efficiency of retrieval and further improve the generation of testing effect.Therefore,in second language teaching,teachers can choose appropriate learning strategies(such as retrieval practice)and metacognitive strategies(such as JOL)to improve students’ learning efficiency and results.