| Summary: | 碩士 === 國立臺北科技大學 === 應用英文系 === 107 === This study investigates enrichments (i.e. pictures and gestures) used by teachers when instructing vocabulary in elementary foreign language classrooms. Vocabulary instruction is a key element within elementary school EFL classrooms. Therefore, making vocabulary instruction more effective is of major importance. The purpose of this study is to determine if integration of either pictures or gestures into new vocabulary instruction a) increases learner’ word learning and b) causes a positive correlation in language retention. Additionally, comparisons between pictures and gestures, and gesture producing and gesture viewing will also be discussed.
Thirty students from two 4th grade classes in a public elementary school in Taoyuan were selected to participate in this study. Using a quasi-experimental method, the participants were divided into two experimental groups (taught 12 Spanish words with the assistance of either pictures or gestures) and a control group (taught 12 Spanish words using a traditional teaching method). Achievement tests were conducted immediately after vocabulary instruction to test recognition of the 12 Spanish words. A delayed post-test for vocabulary retention was conducted 1 week after the experiment.
The test results were analyzed statistically by an independent sample t-test and by a one-way ANOVA to identify the influence of integrating either pictures or gestures into vocabulary learning. The performances of the participants from both of the experimental groups were also compared to examine the effectiveness of integrating pictures and gestures. Furthermore, a comparison was made between gesture producing and gesture viewing. The results of this study are summarized as follows:
1.Students from both of the experimental groups (i.e., picture-encoding group and gesture-encoding group) and the control group significantly improved their word learning and retention after vocabulary instruction. However, students from both of the experimental groups had better performance on word learning and retention than those from the control group.
2.With the aid of either picture or gesture representation, students were able to increase word recognition and retention, thereby enhancing the efficiency of vocabulary learning.
3.Although students from both the experimental groups performed better than those from the control group, there was no significant difference between the performances of the participants from both of the experimental groups.
4.To further compare the effect of self-performing gestures, a comparison was made between a gesture-producing group and a gesture-viewing group. Students from the gesture-performing group received higher scores than those from the gesture-viewing group. This shows that students who perform gestures while learning vocabulary memorize words better than those who simply view others performing gestures.
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