THE EFFECT OF PROVERBS ON LEARNING VOCABULARY THROUGH VISUAL ORGANIZERS (Published)
The acquisition of vocabulary items constitutes a major bulk of second language learning. The studies investigating the most appropriate method of presenting and teaching vocabulary have proliferated in recent years. However, the effect of proverbs on the acquisition of lexical items has not been explored yet. This investigation attempted to explore the influence of learning vocabulary through proverbs and to find out whether proverbs can be used to improve vocabulary learning through time. In addition, the study explored to what extent the visual organizers and picture cues can facilitate the learning of lexical items and their retention. To this end, 90 pre-intermediate EFL learners were assigned to two experimental and one control groups. The first experimental group was instructed through proverb whereas the second experimental group was instructed via proverbs accompanied by pictures in five different sessions. Results indicated that the proverb plus picture and the proverb group outperformed the control group in the immediate perception and production tasks. Additionally, the proverb plus picture had the highest gain of word and retention in the delayed tasks. The study reveals the effectiveness and higher rate of retention of learning lexical items through proverbs especially via pictures compared to the traditional method
Keywords: Picture, Proverb, Retention, Vocabulary learning