The impact of computer-mediated task-based approach on vocabulary acquisition

Abstract

Many Algerian stundents face difficulties in the process of learning English as a foreign language. Among them, vocabulary learning/retention is the most persistent despite teachers‘ effort to help them overcome their lexical issues. This mixed methods research attempted to test the following hypothesis which stated that ― third year scientific students‘ vocabulary learning would be improved if they were taught using computer-mediated task-based approach‖. This study; therefore, investigated the impact of computer-mediated task-based approach on vocabulary learning of third year secondary school scientific stream students from Sirine Lekhmissi Secondary School, Souk Ahras.The sample included 30 participants divided into two groups: a treatment group (n=15) and a control group (n=15). Before the treatment, two pre-questionnaires were administered to ten (n=10) teachers from Souk-Ahras secondary schools in addition to thirty students from the same population in order to confirm that this study was worth undertaking. Then, a teacher-made test of vocabulary was given as a pre-test to the sample followed by vocabulary instruction through which the control group was exposed to vocabulary using the board, pictures, postures and dictionaries. The same vocabulary was introduced to the experimental group using the task-based approach and teacher-made computer quizzes and the Hot Potatoe Software. At the end of this quasiexperiment, the post-test results revealed that the computer-mediated task-based approach was more effective than the traditional way of teaching vocabulary as the unpaired t-test value (5.47) was greater than the critical value (1.70) for twenty eight degrees of freedom. That approach can be more successful if the necessary conditions were provided including the availability of computers in addition to teachers and students‘ training in computer use.