WORDLISTS AND FLASHCARDS AS EFL VOCABULARY INSTRUCTIONAL TECHNIQUES

Abstract

This study looks at the impacts of flash cards and word lists as vocabulary instructional techniques on EFL learners’ vocabulary retention. During the treatment, six groups of EFL learners at three different English levels (beginners, elementary, and pre-intermediate) were taught with flash cards, and another six groups were taught with word lists. Unlike previous studies, which investigated learners’ retention of meaning only, this research examines learners’ retention of both meaning and spelling. The results of this study indicate that flash cards have advantages over word lists for beginner EFL learners at primary school, and that word lists provide more benefits to older learners at the elementary and pre-intermediate levels.