Author: Masoumeh Mehregan, University of Isfahan, Iran
Email: mehregan56@yahoo.com
Published: October 2014
https://doi.org/10.22492/ijll.1.1.03
Citation: Mehregan, M. (2014). Game-Based Tasks for Foreign Language Instruction: Perspectives on Young Learners’ Vocabulary Acquisition. IAFOR Journal of Language Learning, 1(1). https://doi.org/10.22492/ijll.1.1.03
Abstract
The present study attempted to investigate the impact of language games on the vocabulary achievement of Iranian learners. The study also examined the possible differences between male and female participants in terms of their vocabulary learning in game-based tasks. To this end, 40 young language learners (comparison group = 20 and experimental group = 20) were selected. They were administered the KET, after which homogeneity of the participants according to their proficiency level (i.e., elementary level) was ascertained. Four types of games including ‘hangman’, ‘flash card memory game’, ‘bingo’, and ‘odd man out’ were used in the experimental class, each of which lasting for five sessions. After twenty sessions of total treatment, the participants in both groups were given a teacher-made proficiency test which included 30 items. After ensuring the psychometric properties of the post-test and the assumptions of independent samples T-test, the analyses were carried out. Results of T-test for the first research question showed statistically significant differences between the comparison and the experimental groups. However, the results of the T-test for the second research question were statistically non-significant. The discussions of the findings are further discussed in detail.
Keywords
vocabulary learning, task-based teaching, games, gender