Innovation in Language Learning

Vocabulary learning has been given a principal role in foreign language teaching in the past three decades, and the focal attention of FL teachers has recently been directed toward different techniques of teaching vocabulary optimally through maximum exposure. Accordingly, the spacing effect, which refers to the distribution of learning across time, is assumed to lead to better vocabulary retrieval as compared to immediate repetition of words. This study investigated the impact of using digital flashcards and wordlist memorization for vocabulary learning through equal and expanding spacing conditions. The participants consisted of 60 homogeneous A2 level EFL learners who were randomly assigned to two control and two experimental groups. The target words of the study included 20 unknown B1 level words. The two control groups studied and practiced the new words using a wordlist containing all the target words, their definitions, and example sentences, while the two experimental groups studied the same words using the Cram.com website, whereby 20 digital flashcards were prepared with each word on one side and the related picture and definition on the other side. The words were presented five times in each class. In the equal spacing control and experimental groups, the words were recycled once a week, while in the expanding spacing groups they were recycled over intervals of 2, 5, 7, and 13 days. At the end of the treatment, all the participants took two immediate multiple choice and gap-filling posttests. After a two-month interval, five members of each group were randomly selected and given three delayed multiple choice, gap filling, and sentence making tests testing the knowledge of the same 20 words. The obtained results indicated no statistically significant differences between the four groups’ mean scores on the immediate and delayed vocabulary posttests. Moreover, there was no statistically significant difference between each group’s mean scores on the immediate and delayed vocabulary posttests, suggesting that their uptake had turned into the acquistion of  target words, giving credence to the efficiency of repetition in the process of vocabulary learning  irrespective of the type of spacing condition and the use of more modern or traditional techniques.

Keywords: Vocabulary learning; teaching techniques;