Vocabulary Teaching Strategies: How Do They Affect L2 Learners’ Lexical Recall?

Abstract

Abatract

The present study set out to compare the effects of different vocabulary teaching strategies, teaching vocabularies through context, dictionary definition, and synonyms, on short-term and long-term retention of vocabulary items. 90 intermediate EFL learners were randomly divided into three groups of context, definition, and synonyms (thirty learners in each group). 30 vocabulary items were selected and taught to them in two sessions. Two delayed post-tests were administered to investigate the retention of vocabulary items, the first one after 4 weeks and the second after 8 weeks of delay. The obtained scores were analyzed through one-way ANOVA. Results revealed that the context method produced superior results compared with the other two methods in both delayed post-tests. The findings of the study provide pedagogical implications for EFL teachers, learners, syllabus designers, material developers and language test makers. The findings of the study also provide helpful information about the most effective way of teaching vocabulary that leads to a more durable retention of L2 words.

Keywords: Implicit and explicit learning, Vocabulary retention, Long term, Synonym, Definition