Research on Utilizing a Flashcard-Based Facebook Game to Facilitate Junior High Students' Vocabulary Retention

[[abstract]]English learning has been important in the curriculum in Taiwan. Among the skills of learning English, vocabulary is essential because it is the foundation of mastering a language (Smith et al., 2013). In addition, it is a mainstream that students need to take an active role in learning (Berns et al., 2013). Scholars have promoted the effectiveness of using flashcards in teaching vocabulary (e.g.,Wang, 2006). On the other hand, recently, scholars pay more and more attention to the effects of game-based learning since it provides students with motivation and achievement (e.g., Thorne, Fischer, & Lu, 2012). Therefore, this study aimed to investigate the effects of game-based learning for junior high students in their vocabulary acquisition compared with conventional flashcard teaching. The computer game applied in this research was the Criminal Case (CC) Facebook Game, which was a hidden-object and task-based game in which the students were asked to find clues and solve the crimes. The experimental group and control group both consisted of 30 7th graders respectively in Taiwan, 2014. Both groups took the pre-test before the research and showed no significant difference in learning performances. The research proceeded for 8 periods of classes. At the end of the study, both groups took the post-test. Besides, the participants of the experimental group finished both quantitative and qualitative questionnaires to show their perceptions toward the game. The results showed that a) participants with game-based vocabulary learning significantly outperformed participants with traditional flashcard teaching, b) the students of the experimental group had high learning motivation through CC, c) the learners of the experimental group underwent low cognitive load via CC, and d) the respondents highly accepted CC as a useful and user-friendly tool for learning English vocabulary. Finally, some suggestions for further research were displayed for integrating computer games into the English curriculum and improving junior high school students’ vocabulary learning and motivation