The Effectiveness of Strategy-based Vocabulary Instruction on Iranian EFL Learners' Recall

Abstract

This study investigated the preferred vocabulary strategies, used by Iranian intermediate EFL learners and also the effect of strategy-based vocabulary instruction on students’ recall once immediately after the instruction period and once after a time interval (two weeks). In order to determine the learners’ level of proficiency, NET (Nelson English Test) was administered to the intended population. Those students, whose score fell within the range of 28-33 were labeled as intermediate. To identify the learners’ preferred vocabulary learning strategies, a questionnaire known as VOLSI (Vocabulary Learning Strategies Inventory) was given to them. The results indicated that there was not any significant difference between the mean scores of the participants in the control group and the participants in the experimental group (0.46). In simple words, the two groups were homogenous in terms of lexical knowledge at the beginning of the course. With regard to the obtained results for the two post-test phases, it was found that the post-treatment means of the two groups were significantly different in terms of recalling vocabulary. Taken together, the findings of this study support the foreign language research literature on vocabulary strategy training.