The effectiveness of interacting with picture books on vocabulary acquisition in an EFL classroom

This research paper investigates the effectiveness of interacting with picture books on vocabulary acquisition in the young learner English as a foreign language (EFL) classroom. Recent reports show that more than half of the pupils in Swedish secondary schools do not read outside of the school environment (Skolverket, 2019). By spending more time reading, the pupils’ language and literacy skills are developed and stimulated. Furthermore, involving the pupils in their own reading process, would result in a positive attitude towards reading. Previous research in this area demonstrates that combining visual support with text has a positive effect on EFL learners' vocabulary acquisition. This text aims to investigate to what extent does interaction with picture books facilitate the acquisition and learning of vocabulary. While also aiming to investigate which form of interaction is most beneficial when interacting with picture books; teacher-led or pupil-led. Primary sources that were utilized in this text are academic studies found via ERIC and Google Scholar. Findings from these studies will be discussed in relation to curriculum directives and relevant theories. The findings from this paper are as follows: interaction with picture books in the young learner EFL classroom is beneficial for acquiring new vocabulary. Read-alouds is found to be one of the most effective methods since the teacher can repeat and demonstrate the meaning of targeted words. Findings also show that teacher-led interactions are more effective compared to pupils-led interactions since the teacher can provide the support pupils need when interacting with picture books