The Effect of Using Padlet as a Vocabulary Knowledge Enhancement Application on Saudi EFL Female Learners, and their Attitudes toward its Value in Learning

Abstract

This study aimed to investigate the effects of using the digital learning tool Padlet to teach English vocabulary to Saudi females learning English as a Foreign Language (EFL) within the context of Communicative Language Teaching (CLT). Specifically, it examined the attitudes and thoughts of these females toward the application and the effectiveness of using it as a learning platform. The study was set out to answer two questions; the first questions is “How effective is the application Padlet with regard to using a CLT approach to teach English vocabulary skills to Saudi female EFL learners?” while the second one is “What are users’ attitudes toward the online learning platform Padlet?”. The experiment was conducted for two weeks using Padlet. The population size was 50 Saudi females who were level-eight students at the English Language and Translation Department of Al-Imam Muhammad Ibn Saud Islamic University in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. After inclusion criteria (i.e., the results of an English language placement test) were applied, 30 students were selected for the study; this was done to ensure that the group was homogenous with regard to the level of English skill. The remaining participants then took a pretest; subsequently, the researcher and subjects engaged in seven instruction sessions using Padlet, during which the researcher followed a Communicative Language Teaching approach to presenting English vocabulary. After the experiment was concluded, the participants were given a posttest identical to the pretest in order to assess their knowledge and compare their vocabularies before and after the instructions were provided. In addition, the participants responded to an online survey designed to measure their attitudes toward Padlet. The participants’ scores and mean scores were calculated using the Statistical Package for Social Science (SPSS); specifically, a one-sample t-test and a paired sample t-test were conducted. The findings revealed that the vocabulary instructions given using Padlet were effective at improving the English lexical knowledge of learners. The survey also revealed that the learners’ attitudes toward the tool were positive. Finally, the results indicated that the implementation of Communicative Language Teaching through Padlet was crucial to developing the participants’ English vocabulary skills.