The Effect of Pictorial Vocabulary Notebooks vs. Traditional Vocabulary Notebooks on Vocabulary Retention of EFL Intermediate Learners

Abstract

Vocabulary learning is one of the important aspects of language learning. One way to make vocabulary learning personal and practical is to use vocabulary notebooks. This may help the learners to remember the new word better. This research aimed to examine the effect of keeping two types of vocabulary notebooks on vocabulary retention of intermediate learners. The research question which was investigated in the present study was: which type of vocabulary notebooks (pictorial or traditional) is more effective in vocabulary retention? In order to answer this question an experiment was carried out in which learners were first introduced the concept of vocabulary notebooks, its importance and the practical suggestions on how to develop and use them. The researcher helped and supervised the learners in due time. The difference between the performance of learners in pretest and post-test was used to make conclusions on the issue. By using t-test and other statistical procedures it was revealed that the pictorial group outperformed traditional group in the post-test. Therefore, the null hypothesis of this study which states that “there is no difference between the traditional and pictorial groups concerning vocabulary learning” is rejected. So, according to the results of the study it can be declared that pictorial vocabulary notebooks are more effective than traditional ones in vocabulary learning for Iranian intermediate learners.

Key words: vocabulary learning, vocabulary retention, traditional and pictorial notebooks