Technology-mediated teaching vocabulary: exploring EFL learners’ depth and breadth of lexical knowledge

AbstractDrawing on Mayer’s Cognitive Theory of Multimedia Learning, the present study aims to examine the effectiveness of technology-mediated teaching vocabulary in the form of multimedia glosses on EFL learners’ depth and breadth of lexical knowledge. The study was conducted with 91 male and female undergraduate students at a lower-intermediate level of English proficiency in Iran. Participants of the study were randomly assigned into two-variable group contrasts, experimental (text + visual) and control (text-only) groups. They attended 16 reading sessions once a week during which the experimental group practiced computerized reading texts with pop-up text and picture glosses and the control group practiced reading similar texts with pop-up text only. The relative efficacy of teaching activities in vocabulary learning was assessed by using the Word Associates Test for measuring lexical depth and the Updated Vocabulary Levels Test for measuring the lexical breadth before and after the intervention program. To scrutinize the data, ANCOVA and t-test have been done. Results of ANCOVA revealed that the experimental group outperformed the control group in both tests, and the result of the t-test specified that participants kept the scores in the Vocabulary Levels Test significantly higher than the Word Associates Test in the outperforming group. This means that using multimedia glosses in teaching vocabulary has a significant effect on improving both the breadth and depth of lexical knowledge of EFL learners. However, the effect is more significant on breadth than depth of lexical knowledge. The study by analyzing separate measurements of the breadth and depth of vocabulary knowledge of EFL learners provided original research in vocabulary teaching and learning and offered pedagogical implications for language teaching.Keywords: ESLlanguage teachingmultimedia glossescomputerized textscognitive theory AcknowledgementsThe researcher appreciates all the participants of the study.Authors’ contributionsThis study is a single-author study, and the only contributor is the author herself. The author read and approved the final manuscript.Disclosure statementThe author reports there are no competing interests to declare.Data availability statementThe data that support the findings of this study are available from the author upon request.Additional informationNotes on contributorsMandana Rohollahzadeh EbadiMandana Rohollahzadeh Ebadi is an adjunct assistant professor at the Faculty of Foreign Languages, Islamic Azad University North Tehran Branch, Iran. She earned her PhD in TESL from the University of Malaya, Malaysia. Mandana has more than 15 years of experience in teaching different sub-fields of Applied Linguistics, including Second Language Acquisition/Learning, Theories and Principles, English Language Learning Skills, Testing and Assessment, Discourse and Pragmatics, and Research Methods. Her research interests include technology-based language teaching, CALL, corrective feedback and uptake.