Word-cards in Action: A Classroom-based Study

Vocabulary is arguably the most important aspect of learning a new language, for without it, the successful expression of one’s thoughts, feelings, and desires cannot be achieved. There exist a multitude of ways through which vocabulary may be taught and learned, but one often-overlooked method in today’s communicative classroom environment is that of word-cards. In this study, word-cards were employed throughout a four-week session to aid ESL students (N=11) in the acquisition (recognition and use) of new vocabulary. This study aimed to answer the following three questions: (1) What features do classroom learners typically include or leave out in the making of their vocabulary cards, and which do they find most useful? (2) How do the learners perceive vocabulary learning through word cards? (3a) Are there measurable learning effects as indicated by performance on vocabulary tests administered at the beginning and end of a four-week school session during which vocabulary cards were used? (b) If so, to what extent was the knowledge acquired via word cards retained four weeks after the end of the session? Of a list of 213 potentially new words encountered in five separate 90-minute lessons, students were free to choose any 10 to 15 unknown words per lesson for which to create their word-cards (which resulted in a final average of 45 cards per student in total). Prior to beginning, both students and teacher were instructed in the basics of producing and using word-cards in their studies. Results indicated that the use of word-cards lead to the acquisition of new vocabulary. When the vocabulary that was learned with word-cards was compared to vocabulary learned without word-cards, results indicated a more successful overall acquisition rate for the word-card words