Exploring the Efficiency of Associative Vocabulary Teaching Strategies to Foreign Language Learners

Abstract

This study attempted to explore the effect of applying three associative
vocabulary instruction strategies (context-based, morphemic analysis and concept
map) compared with the traditional strategies on the intermediate EFL learners'
vocabulary development employing a quasi-experimental, quantitative, pretest/post-test design. With the aid of an English proficiency test and a researcherdeveloped vocabulary test the homogeneity of the participants were checked
before the study's treatment. Subsequently, 80 intermediate EFL learners were
chosen via convenience sampling procedure from private language schools and
recruited for the study and divided into four groups of 20 as the experimental and
control participants. The experimental participants were taught the target lexical
items with the aid of contexts, concept maps and morphemic analyses while the
control participants experienced the traditional instruction (i.e., L1 equivalent
provision, word lists, flashcards and memorization). The same vocabulary test was
administered this time as the post-test to check whether there was a significant
difference in the learners’ attainment for the taught lexical items. The performance
of the participants on the vocabulary post-test was analyzed both descriptively and
inferentially (a MANOVA, an ANOVA and an independent-samples t-test). It was
revealed that all the associative vocabulary teaching strategies were significantly
more efficient than the traditional vocabulary teaching strategies. Moreover, it was
found that concept mapping was the most efficient instructional strategy for
teaching the lexical items compared with the traditional strategies and other
associative strategies for the intermediate EFL learners.