چكيده به لاتين
Abstract
Vocabulary learning has an important role in learning foreign languages; however, it is challenging to choose the best strategies for learning vocabulary. Using Short Message Service (SMS) and tablets are suggested to be effective for vocabulary learning (Savas, 2014; Zhang et al., 2011). Flashcards are also found to be useful in vocabulary learning as they can be used easily (Erbey et al., 2011).The purposes of this study were to compare the effect of using SMS, tablet and flashcard on the EFL learners‘ vocabulary learning and to investigate the learners‘ attitudes and autonomy towards learning vocabulary via SMS, tablet, and flashcard. The participants of the study were 45 Iranian advanced EFL learners with various academic backgrounds. They were divided into three groups, each with 15 participants. The first group learned the vocabulary items via tablet, the second group learned them via SMS, and the third one learned the vocabulary items via flashcard. Four instruments were used in this study: a pretest of vocabulary, a posttest of vocabulary, autonomy and attitude questionnaires. Descriptive statistics, ANOVA, paired samples t test were performed in this research. The results showed that there was a significant difference among the mean scores on the vocabulary test for the three groups. The results also revealed that tablet, SMS, and flashcards were found to be useful for vocabulary learning. The results also showed that the majority of the learners in the SMS-based group found reading texts on mobile phone‘s tiny screen troublesome and preferred to receive English words via email rather than SMS. Majority of learners in the flashcard group considered flashcard effective for learning English words arguing that flashcards could be used on the move and provide flexible learning anywhere, anytime. Learners in the tablet group reported that tablet learning increased their motivation and was effective for learning English words. This study recommends that instructors consider language learners’ attitudes towards various methods for learning vocabulary.
