Effects of Anki-Based Spaced Repetition on Academic Vocabulary Use in Writing

Resumen

Pre-service EFL teachers frequently struggle to use academic vocabulary in writing activities. This study aimed to investigate the effectiveness of Anki-based spaced repetition in enhancing the productive use of academic vocabulary in contextualized EFL writing tasks. The present study employed a quasi-experimental pretest-posttest design with a sample of 40 B1 Ecuadorian pre-service teachers, 31 women and 9 men. The intervention consisted of 8 sessions with 20 students in an experimental group and 20 in a control group. The experimental group reviewed 35 B2 academic words through Anki flashcards, whereas the control group received regular classroom instruction. Both groups completed the same writing tasks. To analyze the data, paired-samples and independent-samples t-tests were conducted. The outcomes indicated that the experimental group achieved higher post-test target vocabulary use (M = 2.70, SD = 1.895) than the control group (M = 1.50, SD = 1.395). The between-group difference was statistically significant, with a medium-to-large effect size (Cohen's d = 0.72). The findings suggest that combining spaced repetition with contextualized writing practice may help translate vocabulary knowledge into productive use. This study presents empirical evidence for integrating Anki-based spaced repetition with writing practice to enhance academic vocabulary development in EFL contexts.