#5: Task 2 (10%) - Article Review

"Teaching Vocabulary to EFL College Students Online"

http://www.tell.is.ritsumei.ac.jp/callejonline/journal/8-2/al-jarf.html

CALL-EJ ONLINE - Journal, Volume. 8, No. 2, January 2007

By Reima Al-Jarf, King Saud University, Saudi Arabia

Reima Sado Al-Jarf is a professor of ELT and translation at the College of Languages and Translation, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. She has been teaching ESL, translation and linguistics courses for undergraduate students and ESP courses for graduate students for 21 years. Her areas of interests are: Use of technology in language teaching and learning, reading curriculum design, reading in ESL and spelling and translation error analysis. She has published 6 books and more than 96 journal articles in refereed International and national journals. She has given 145 conference presentations and conducted 27 workshops in 35 countries around the globe and is a member of twenty two national and international professional organizations.

Summary of the article:

This research studies the use of online learning in EFL vocabulary instruction from home as a supplement to classroom instruction. Based on the previous researches on the use of technology in classroom, it is evident that different types of instructional approaches, vocabulary activities and skills are effective in developing learners’ vocabulary in L2 CALL environments. This study aims to answer following questions: 1) Does online instruction have any positive effects on EFL freshman students’ vocabulary achievement as measured by the post-tests?  2) Does the frequency of using the online course associate with the students’ vocabulary achievement level (active vs. passive participants)? and 3) Does online instruction have any positive effects on students’ attitude towards vocabulary learning?

How? 53 female freshman students were enrolled in their first vocabulary course. They were taught of English vocabulary for in-class instruction (traditional instruction) for 12 weeks. They used the same textbook and managed to cover 50 lessons during that period of time. The subjects did most of the vocabulary exercises in class with the help from the instructor (researcher). Subjects were assessed with two in-term tests and several pop quizzes. Answers were always discussed in class. As a supplement to the traditional in-class instruction, subjects used an online course. Students used their own PCs+Internet at home. Before engaging in online instruction, students’ computer literacy sills were assessed. A tutorial was given for their reference. The guide was also posted in the “Conferencing” area. The subjects checked the specific vocabulary links posted, answered the quizzes and encouraged to check the daily vocabulary lesson. They were required to write a paragraph using the vocabulary items learned and posted it in “Conferencing”. This was done for each lesson. They were also engaged in discussion threads. The researcher provided technical support, responded to individuals’ needs, provided feedbacks and served as a facilitator during the study. Before online instruction, subjects were pre-tested. The pre-test covered the vocabulary skills and themes to be studied. At the end of the semester, all participants took a 250-word vocabulary post-test that covered all of the vocabulary skills and topics studied throughout the semester. Students were also given an open-ended questionnaire covering: their reasons for joining the study, their feeling towards the course, how do they progress, their opinions on the effectiveness of the study and the frequency of using online instruction to learn.

The subjects? There were 53 female freshman students signed up for the study. All of them were from the same programme at the College of Language and Translation (COLT), King Saud University. All of them were taking the same courses as required by the faculty. All of them were Saudi and native speakers of Arabic. Their age range is between 17-19 years old.

The findings? Based on the research, it is found that students who participated in online vocabulary course improved their vocabulary skills and thus leads to good performance during the post-test. The test is proved to have content validity. The inter-rater reliability was also taken into consideration. 30% of random sample of the pre and post-test papers were selected and double-scored. For the frequency rate (Active vs. Passive participants), the analysis was based on students’ reponses+posts in “Conferencing” and how much they participated in the online group discussion. It is found that those who actively participated in the online communication achieved and performed better than those who did not contribute much to the online discussion and conference. For the attitude section of the research, it is evident that students found the online vocabulary course as useful and fun. It is also considered as a new way of learning English vocabulary and doing homework. It also increased their motivation and self-esteem level.

My reaction:

This research is very interesting because it shows how CALL courses can help boosting students’ performance in language learning. I believe that through online instruction courses, students are exposed to abundance of new things. Learning becomes effective and meaningful as they explore new findings. It also promotes autonomous learning whereby students become actively engaged with their own learning. Based on the research, students who really enjoyed the online lessons scored highest. This can be evaluated based on their comments/reflections/reactions posted in the site (message, discussion and conference). In addition to this, I believe that students who actively engage with online courses can practice freely, with their self-paced study in a non-threatening learning environment.

Therefore, I think the research was well conducted due to prior measurements and procedures done by the researcher. Every aspect was taken good consideration before the online instruction was introduced. As a result, the study is highly reliable and valid.

In Malaysian context, the research may serve as a ‘stepping stool’ for researchers to study the effectiveness of online teaching and learning. One of the crucial points is due to the technological era. Malaysian students have the tendency to use more interactive and collaborative study by using technology in classroom. Nowadays, traditional method seems to be obsolete. This research may help teachers in general and also in Malaysia to improve their teaching skills. Through online courses, students are more exposed to inductive learning and this is why this research has strong implication in the teaching norm, globally.