The Effects of Different Pedagogical Tasks on L2 Vocabulary Learning

This study investigated the relative efficacy of three different exercises for learning new vocabulary items. Three different kinds of treatments used for the experiment were input-based exercises (Input Group), written output-based exercises (Written Output Group), and oral interaction-based exercises (Oral Interaction Group). 93 Korean EFL college students participated in the experiment and they were engaged in the treatments and tests over a 5 week period. Pretests and posttests were administered for assessing gain scores in receptive and productive knowledge of target vocabulary. The major findings are: (a) The mean gain scores in receptive knowledge as well as productive knowledge of each group were more positively affected by output-based (written and oral) exercises than input-based exercises; while the differences between groups were partially significant only in productive knowledge. (b) The Oral Interaction Group outperformed the Written Output Group in both receptive and productive knowledge of the target vocabulary. In light of the findings of the study, pedagogical implications were presented to design and select effective classroom activities for vocabulary learning.