The effectiveness of vocabulary learning website games on English language learners' communication skills

Abstract

This study focuses on the effectiveness of using website games for learning vocabulary on fifth grade English as a foreign language (EFL) learners' communication skills (listening, speaking, reading, and writing) development. In addition, the study investigates the effect of website game type (context, word search, compound word, recognition, and synonyms and antonyms) on students' communication skills, and the effectiveness of using website games on students' ability for vocabulary retention. To find the differences that may arise because of the treatment conditions in the study, means, standard deviations, ANOVA analysis, t-test, and Scheffe test were used to test hypotheses about differences between two or more means. The findings of the study revealed that website-based instruction showed more improvement on the achievement test in communication skills than traditional instruction. It was also found that the experimental group significantly outperformed the control group in written skills (reading and writing) while there were no significant differences between them in oral skills (listening and speaking). The findings of the study also indicated that the mean scores on the word search game provide the best indicator to students' later performance on the communication skills test. Another finding indicated higher retention level in favour of the experimental group.