Vocabulary Learning Research Articles

Enhancing EFL learners' lexical alignment and vocabulary knowledge through an oral continuation task embedded with peer interaction

ABSTRACT Prior research has demonstrated the benefits of continuation tasks for second language (L2) vocabulary acquisition and highlighted the role of peer interaction in L2 learning. However, the potential benefits arising from integrating oral continuation tasks with peer interaction remain underexplored. This study investigated the impact of peer interaction on lexical alignment and vocabulary knowledge acquisition among Chinese English as a Foreign Language (EFL) learners, particularly within the context of the oral continuation task. Language-related episodes (LREs) containing target words were identified, and epistemic network analysis (ENA) was employed to explore potential ways to strengthen lexical alignment during peer interactions. A total of 47 freshmen from parallel College English classes at a leading Chinese university participated in the study. The results showed that alignment had positive and significant relationships with final L2 vocabulary learning outcomes, suggesting that the inclusion of a peer interaction session prior to oral production could facilitate a deeper understanding of reading materials and a more comprehensive engagement with different aspects of word knowledge. Specifically, it was revealed that peer interaction, when integrated into the oral continuation task, fosters heightened engagement with vocabulary in terms of pronunciation, meaning, and use, thereby potentially enhancing lexical alignment in learners’ oral continuations and strengthening their grasp of target vocabulary. The study concludes by offering pedagogical insights, providing valuable guidance for educators aiming to optimize the practical utility of oral continuation tasks for effective vocabulary learning in the classroom.

Influence of Self-Confidence on Saudi Primary Students' English Vocabulary Ability Through Differentiated Instruction Strategies

This study investigated the influence of self-confidence on Saudi primary students' English vocabulary ability through differentiated instruction strategies. The study took place in Al Jouf province during the 2023-2024 school year, with data collected through a survey questionnaire. The sample consisted of 60 primary school students. Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modeling (PLS-SEM) was used to analyze the data. The results revealed a significant relationship between self-confidence, differentiated instruction strategies, and English vocabulary ability. Specifically, differentiated instruction strategies were found to mediate the relationship between self-confidence and vocabulary ability. Higher self-confidence levels encouraged students to adopt these strategies, thereby enhancing their vocabulary skills. Based on these findings, the study recommends that teachers implement differentiated instruction strategies, such as flexible grouping, collaborative learning, and brainstorming, to increase student engagement and interest in learning. Furthermore, it emphasizes the importance of fostering self-confidence in students, in alignment with self-efficacy theory, to support their vocabulary learning and academic growth.

Designing Mobile Game “Tebak Kata Inggris” as the Media of Teaching Vocabulary for Primary School Students

This study explores the development of an Android-based mobile game application, "Tebak Kata Inggris," designed to enhance English vocabulary learning for elementary students at Luqman Al-Hakim Qur'an-Based Integral Elementary School in Pontianak. Addressing the cognitive, affective, and psychomotor aspects of education, the research utilizes the MIT App Inventor software to create an engaging, user-friendly educational tool. The game aims to increase student motivation, engagement, and vocabulary proficiency by providing an interactive learning experience that can be accessed at school, home, or play areas. The findings suggest that mobile educational games can effectively supplement traditional teaching methods, making English learning more appealing and accessible for young learners. This approach aligns with the school's mission to develop linguistic competence alongside character education, leveraging technology to meet educational objectives more effectively.

The Comparative Impact of Digital and Print Storybook Reading on Preschool Children’s Comprehension and Vocabulary Learning: A Two-Decade Meta- Analysis

The Comparative Impact of Digital and Print Storybook Reading on Preschool Children’s Comprehension and Vocabulary Learning: A Two-Decade Meta- Analysis

A Study on EFL Vocabulary Teaching for Non-English Major College Students in China Based on Multimodal Theory

In the era of global diversification and technological advancement, the vocabulary teaching of teaching English as a Foreign Language (EFL) faces new challenges and opportunities. Multimodal theory-based teaching has gained significant attention in academic research. This study addresses the challenges in EFL vocabulary acquisition among non-English major students by employing the Explanatory Sequential Design (ESD). Initially, this study conducted a quantitative semi-structured questionnaire involving 78 non-English major college students in China. It identified key vocabulary learning issues, including monotonous vocabulary presentation content, limited vocabulary teaching methods and tedious vocabulary tasks. To address these challenges, this research implemented a research practice at Wenzhou Business College (WZBC) for one semester with 20 non-English major students, focusing on pre-class, in-class, and post-class stages. This study collected data to evaluate the effectiveness of the intervention and conducted a follow-up interview with 5 students to gain deeper insights. This study shows that applying multimodal theory in EFL vocabulary teaching enhances vocabulary acquisition by engaging students with varied content, interactive methods, and customised tasks that build confidence, thereby boosting interest and participation in vocabulary learning. These findings offer valuable insights for advancing EFL educational practices.

Enhancing Active Learning through the Interactive Learning Platform to Improve Thai EFL Students’ English Vocabulary, Grammatical Retention, and Motivation in English Learning

Enhancing Active Learning through the Interactive Learning Platform to Improve Thai EFL Students’ English Vocabulary, Grammatical Retention, and Motivation in English Learning

Vocabulary learning strategies used by non-English major students: A case study at Saigon University

Vocabulary learning strategies used by non-English major students: A case study at Saigon University

Theory-supported corpus pedagogy for ESL pre-service teachers: using Parallel EAP Corpora for language learning

Abstract Corpus technology (CT) as an effective technology for language learning is slowly being adopted by in-service language teachers. However, there is limited focus on pre-service language teachers, who first need to experience CT and gain a basic corpus literacy as learners. Therefore, this research aimed to demonstrate the learning benefits of CT to pre-service teacher and explore their intentions for future use of CT. A corpus pedagogy supported by constructivism, socio-cultural theory, and noticing hypothesis, was designed to help three-classes of pre-service ESL teachers in Chinese Hong Kong to improve citation skills using Parallel EAP Corpora. A mixed-method design was adopted by collecting data via tests, surveys, classroom interactions and interviews. The results revealed that the participants learned to use reporting verbs for citations, acquired adequate corpus literacy, positively evaluated the theory-supported pedagogy, and expressed strong intentions to use CT for learning vocabulary and academic writing, conducting research to complete course assignments, and facilitating future teaching. The findings highlight the significance of designing corpus-based learning activities through theory-supported pedagogy and reveal that introducing CT to pre-service ESL teachers who have multiple identities as language learners, novice researchers, critical thinkers, and future teachers, can have important pedagogical implications.

Effects of Augmented Reality with Pedagogical Agent on EFL Primary Students’ Vocabulary Acquisition, Motivation, and Technology Perceptions

Mobile augmented reality (MAR) technology provides EFL learners with a combination of real and virtual learning environments. However, little research has been conducted to investigate the effects of integrating pedagogical agent (PA) into AR applications. Therefore, this study designed and developed a MAR application with the pedagogical agent (PA-MAR) to support EFL primary school students' vocabulary learning. A total of 60 students from a primary school in central China participated in the experiment, and a QUAN-qual sequential mixed-method design was used. The results showed that students in the PA-MAR group outperformed students in the NoPedagogical Agent Augmented Reality Mobile Application (NPA-MAR) group and those who learned vocabulary in a traditional classroom in terms of vocabulary acquisition, motivation, and perception of technology. The results of the qualitative analyses showed that the students perceived PA-MAR as a useful tool for their vocabulary learning and that it improved their motivation and enjoyment. The theoretical and practical value of the study is also discussed.

Penguasaan Kosakata dalam Pembelajaran BIPA Melalui Kata Serapan dalam Bahasa Indonesia

This research aims to examine the use of loan words as teaching material for Indonesian Language for Foreign Speakers (BIPA) in mastering vocabulary. This research is motivated by the development of the Indonesian language, one of the processes of which is through loanwords. Data was obtained from various sources such as scientific journals, books and relevant articles. Data analysis was carried out qualitatively with a focus on identifying main themes, patterns and relationships between various variables in the literature that had been collected. The results of the research show that loan words can be used as BIPA teaching materials which are useful for facilitating understanding and enriching vocabulary for BIPA learners. Loan words originating from various languages such as Arabic, Dutch, English, Sanskrit, Portuguese, French, Chinese, Japanese, Persian, Greek, Hindi and others are proof that Indonesian is adaptive and open to other languages. The strategies used for BIPA learning using loanwords include cognitive approaches, use in daily conversations, introduction to grammatical concepts, and approaches to daily contexts, academic use, and use in the field of technology.

A Study on the Phenomenon of Negative Transfer in Online English Vocabulary Learning—A Case Study of Senior Three Students in Tuhuang High School

A Study on the Phenomenon of Negative Transfer in Online English Vocabulary Learning—A Case Study of Senior Three Students in Tuhuang High School

Cross-Language Morphological Analysis Improves Academic Word Learning for Multilingual Adolescents

ABSTRACT Purpose Converging evidence demonstrates that robust academic vocabulary and morphology instruction improves literacy outcomes of multilingual adolescents. However, few interventions have focused on teaching word analysis using bound Latin roots, the major meaning-carrying constituents of academic words (e.g. voc meaning “speak” in advocate). Moreover, how students leverage a home language (L1; e.g. voz = “voice” in Spanish) to analyze academic words and develop robust representations has been understudied. This contribution to the special issue on the science of teaching reading presents results from an intervention focused on high-impact, general academic words, cross-linguistic connections, and inferring unfamiliar word meanings through morphological analysis. Method We evaluated a 16-week intervention, employing a quasi-experimental design with 192 multilingual middle schoolers (mean grade = 7.7; 63.02% Latino, 20.83% Asian/Pacific Islander, 8.86% Black, and 7.29% unknown). Adjusting for clustering of students (n = 100 intervention) within classrooms, we estimated treatment effects on root meanings, word meanings, orthographic processing, multidimensional vocabulary knowledge, morphological analysis, and reading comprehension. We examined interactions by L1 (Spanish or other) for each outcome. Results Significant and practically meaningful main treatment effects were found for five of six outcomes (d = 0.98 to d = 0.32), except reading comprehension where effects were positive but small. Interactions showed small advantages for Spanish L1 adolescents for root meanings, word meanings, and multidimensional vocabulary knowledge. Conclusion Our findings contribute evidence to the science of teaching reading, demonstrating how emphasis on cross-language analysis of morphological relationships and Latin roots supports flexible and generative vocabulary learning for multilingual adolescents.

Exploration of Artificial Intelligence Driven Strategies for College English Vocabulary Learning in the Context of Big Data Era

Exploration of Artificial Intelligence Driven Strategies for College English Vocabulary Learning in the Context of Big Data Era

Exploring the Strategies Teachers Use in Incorporating Translation to Enhance Students’ Vocabulary

This study examines the strategies teachers use to incorporate translation to enhance students’ vocabulary. Utilizing the qualitative method of research, the researcher used structured interview questions as the main data-gathering instrument. English language teachers from Rizal College of Taal were selected as the respondents of the study. Finding of the study suggests that teachers face multifaceted challenges when using translation as a tool to enhance students’ vocabulary, including students’ dependence on translation methods, the complexity of addressing idiomatic expressions and words lacking direct translations, time constraints, and varying language proficiency levels among learners and addressing these challenges requires a comprehensive approach that includes promoting contextual learning, balancing translation interventions to reduce dependency, providing teacher training on effective translation strategies, and incorporating collaborative and multimodal techniques to engage students across different proficiency levels. On the other hand, this study also highlights that teachers employ various strategies to address the challenges of using translation in vocabulary development. These strategies include contextualizing vocabulary within sentences or real-life scenarios to enhance understanding, using instructional materials like visual aids, flashcards, and role-playing to make learning engaging, and implementing scaffolding exercises to match students’ proficiency levels while balancing translation interventions to reduce dependency. Furthermore, this study revealed that addressing the challenges of using translation to support vocabulary acquisition requires practical and innovative solutions. These include implementing regular formative assessments, such as exit tickets and quick checks, to identify and address students’ learning gaps effectively. In addition, providing workshops and training programs equips teachers with advanced translation strategies, enabling them to use tools like visual aids, word banks, and interactive activities to enhance vocabulary learning. Therefore, a combination of these approaches fosters better teaching practices and more effective vocabulary acquisition for students.

AN ANALYSIS OF SONGS ON VIDEOS BY EARLY CHILDHOOD IN RETAINING VOCABULARY

<p>The core elements of a language are its vocabulary. Early childhood development is a critical time in a person's life that holds great significance for their future. There are problems that young learners face in learning language such as hard to get focused, easy to feel bored, struggle to remember or recall vocabulary items, and still need a stimulus to boost their motivation in the learning process. Learning vocabulary through songs and video making are one of the ways to solve those problems. This current study aims to examine if the songs help young learners in retaining English vocabulary and whether a video making is effective in engaging them in learning vocabulary. This current study used a content analysis design and the samples were 5 students who are 3-7 years old and enrolled English class at RainbowKids BPI. The results showed that songs help early childhood students to retain their English vocabulary. They had memorized all vocabulary on the songs taught to them. They were also able to use pronouns, auxiliary, verb, adjective, and even adverb of degree correctly. Making video is also effective in engaging young learners to improve their English vocabulary and speaking skills.</p>

An Investigation of First-Year English Majors’ Ability for Independent Study Through Use of Online Vocabulary-Learning Tools at Nguyen Tat Thanh University

This research examines independent study techniques, particularly those aided by technology, used by students majoring in English in their first year at Nguyen Tat Thanh University in Vietnam, with a focus on their study of vocabulary. English majors in particular used a variety of online tools to achieve a wide range of vocabulary in order to reach higher levels of language proficiency. Using a mixed-methods approach and an AI tool, Random Forest Regressor, this study aimed to identify the most frequently chosen online vocabulary tools and the factors influencing their use for independent study. It would also evaluate students’ aptitudes for self-directed learning, identify successful strategies, and recommend ways to foster independent learning through the use of technology. The findings highlight that independent study enhances academic outcomes critical thinking, and vocabulary learning autonomy.

A Study on Improving English Reading Competence Through Extensive Vocabulary Learning

A Study on Improving English Reading Competence Through Extensive Vocabulary Learning

The Impact of Mind Map as Project-Based Learning on Arabic Vocabulary Learning Outcomes at Ma’had Babul Khairat

Although vocabulary learning is a fundamental aspect of Arabic language acquisition, it is often perceived as monotonous and ineffective, particularly in Ma’had settings where access to technological resources is limited. This study explores the implementation of a project-based learning (PBL) model using mind maps to improve Arabic vocabulary learning and examines students' responses to this pedagogical approach. A descriptive qualitative method was employed, focusing on female students at Ma’had Babul Khairat. Data were gathered through observations, questionnaires, and documentation, and analyzed using Miles and Huberman's framework, which involves data reduction, data presentation, and conclusion drawing. The findings reveal that the PBL model integrated with mind maps offers an innovative and effective solution for Arabic vocabulary acquisition in resource-constrained settings. Students reported that the approach was engaging and interactive, making it easier to remember and internalize vocabulary. Additionally, the use of mind maps significantly enhanced their motivation, interest, and active participation in the learning process. The method also encouraged collaboration and creativity among students, fostering a more dynamic and student-centered learning environment. These results highlight the potential of project-based learning with mind mapping as a practical pedagogical tool in Ma’had settings. This model not only addresses the challenges of traditional vocabulary learning but also contributes to the development of innovative teaching strategies that align with the needs and preferences of students in such educational contexts

VISUAL DICTIONARY FOR LEARNING VOCABULARY FOR YOUNG ENGLISH LEARNERS

One of the main problems in English learning for beginner learners is vocabulary acquisition. The ability to communicate and understand a language is often hampered by a limited vocabulary. Visual dictionaries, which display the meaning of learnt words through pictures, are a method that can accelerate vocabulary comprehension. This method is considered more efficient because the human brain more easily remembers information that is accompanied by images or visuals rather than just text. The purpose of this study is to find out how effective the use of visual dictionaries is in learning vocabulary for beginner learners. By analysing the results and pedagogical methods used, the researcher examined how visual dictionary representation can increase students' interest and success in vocabulary acquisition as well as improve word recognition, comprehension and retention. This study utilised the classroom action research method. The research findings showed pre-test data that 77% of students were able to understand the vocabulary and 67% of students were able to pronounce the vocabulary correctly. Overall, the students' vocabulary mastery ability during the pre-test was 72%. Post-test data showed that 80% of students were able to understand the vocabulary and 83% of students were able to pronounce the vocabulary correctly. Overall, the students' vocabulary mastery ability during the post-test was 81.5%. Based on the above facts, the researcher concluded that visual dictionaries can improve the vocabulary acquisition of beginner learners.

A Systematic Literature Review of Technology‐Assisted Vocabulary Learning

ABSTRACTBackgroundVocabulary learning is an essential dimension of foreign language learning. The learners have a huge responsibility in this task. Among other factors, time constraints and an overall lack of maintained motivation on the part of students makes it especially challenging. Consequently, improving vocabulary learning requires strategies to motivate learners and encourage autonomous learning. Technology‐Assisted Vocabulary Learning (tavl) aims to provide solutions to this set of problems.ObjectivesWe aim to provide an overview of the different types of TAVL tools developed and studied since 2015 with regard to (1) tool features, (2) observed variables and research methods used in the studies and (3) impact on learners' vocabulary acquisition, motivation and engagement.MethodWe conducted a systematic review of the literature between 2015 and 2023 on TAVL. After delineating our field of study and research query, we followed a rigorous methodology to extract relevant papers to answer our research questions. A total of 44 papers of different languages and academic levels were selected for this review.Results and ConclusionsWe report a wide variety of features provided by TAVL tools in various contexts. We observe an overall positive influence of TAVL tools on learners' vocabulary learning, motivation, flow and engagement. We also discuss potential biases in the studies, which do not allow generalisation of the results. We conclude with recommendations for developers and researchers, including the use of more standardised experimental protocols with comparable measures, the integration of collaborative and social features, and a more central role for teachers and academic learning contexts.