Effective vocabulary acquisition strategies employed by Ecuadorian teachers and students: A cooperative experience using a flashcard web application

• Main Authors: Verónica Herrera Caldas, Erzsébet Ágnes Békés, Carmen Maricela Cajamarca Illescas
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Department of English, Faculty of Arts and Letters, University of Santo Tomas 2020-10-01
• Series: Asian Journal of English Language Studies (AJELS)
• Subjects: digital flashcards; online vocabulary learning applications; vocabulary acquisition strategies
• Online Access: https://ajels.ust.edu.ph/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/7_Effective-vocabulary-acquisition-strategies-employed-by-Ecuadorian-teachers-and-students_A-cooperative-experience-using-a-flashcard-web-application.pdf

The present Action Research report describes the vocabulary acquisition strategies of a team of English language teachers and students at an Ecuadorian university. They took part in an international online vocabulary learning tournament using a digital flashcard web application called WordEngine. During the four-week competition, the team employed a range of discovery and consolidation strategies for vocabulary acquisition. Quantitative data were collected by an adapted survey based on Schmitt’s (1997) taxonomy, while qualitative data were gathered from interviews conducted with the teachers. The quantitative data related to vocabulary development were supplied by the tournament organizers and are based on the Correct Responses (CRs) given by the team members while carrying out Meaning Definition Tasks (MDTs). These data suggest that, as a result of participating in the tournament, the eight contestants noticeably improved their listening and reading comprehension skills and also expanded their receptive vocabulary size under the specific conditions of the time-constrained, competitive setup. The Action Research project was accomplished under the unprecedented circumstances of the global coronavirus pandemic in 2020, which created extremely difficult conditions for students and teachers in Ecuador. The teacher-researchers conclude that in the global ‘new reality,’ computer-assisted language learning (CALL) methods, including web-based applications, have the potential of being employed as an alternative strategy in remote learning, especially in the area of vocabulary development.