چكيده به لاتين
One of the most noticeable and crucial aspects of learning a foreign language is learning vocabulary. There are many techniques for teaching foreign language vocabularies to children. Teachers use different techniques based on the teaching methods, topics, students’ interest, needs, levels and many other factors. Due to the technological improvement in the present decade, schools, teachers and learners are interested to integrate technology in the educational curriculum more and more. The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of digital games, songs, and flashcards on vocabulary knowledge of bilingual preschool learners in Iran. The research also compared the effects of using each of these techniques with the two other. The participants of the present study were 46 female preschool learners aged 5-6 selected randomly stratified from two private preschool centers in Western Azarbaijan, which divided into three tablet, group, and traditional group. The materials consisted of a digital game, 16 songs, a structured course booklet and a workbook, and 60 flashcards. This research collected the data by the use of pretest, posttest, and four mid-course tests based on the learnt vocabularies during the research. The data were analyzed through computing descriptive statistics and paired sample t test. Then Analysis of Covariance (ANCOVA) was run to take into account the initial differences on the pretest as covariate and then compare the final results of the three groups in posttest. At the end, the descriptive statistics of the three groups in terms of each mid-course test mean were computed. Then, one-way ANOVA was run, comparing the three groups in terms of each mid-course test mean. Finally the analysis of the data revealed that although digital games, songs, and flashcards had positive effects on learning foreign language vocabularies in preschool learners, there was no significant difference in preschool learners’ vocabulary knowledge that learnt vocabularies via games, songs, and flashcards. The results also showed that there was a significant difference in the three groups’ participants’ mid-course tests with different topics. Therefore, using different techniques in the classroom in regard to interest and needs of learners improves vocabulary knowledge of young learners.
