ON THE IMPACT OF TEACHING VOCABULARY THROUGH ASYNCHRONOUS SOCIAL MEDIA ON EFL LEARNERS’ VOCABULARY LEARNING AND RETENTION
Keywords:
Keywords: Asynchronous Learning, EFL Learners, Mobile-Assisted Language Learning (MALL), Vocabulary Acquisition, Vocabulary Retention.Abstract
Abstract: The purpose of this study was to look into how EFL learners’
vocabulary acquisition and retention were affected by teaching vocabulary through
asynchronous social media. Utilizing a quantitative experimental design, the study
compared an experimental group exposed to contextualized vocabulary instruction via
mobile social applications with a control group taught through traditional, face-to-face
classroom methods. Data were gathered through a series of pre-tests, immediate post-
tests, and delayed post-tests to track both immediate lexical acquisition and long-term
retention over time. The statistical analysis revealed that the experimental group
achieved significantly higher scores on both post-tests, demonstrating that the
multimodal, self-paced nature of asynchronous social media platforms promotes
deeper cognitive processing and more durable memory traces. Language instructors,
EFL students, and syllabus designers can all benefit from the current study's findings.
Specifically, these insights offer practical strategies for extending language exposure
beyond physical classrooms, reducing student anxiety through familiar digital
environments, and designing mobile-assisted language learning (MALL) frameworks
that transform passive social media scrolling into active, collaborative production.
References
References
1. Abrar, A. (2021). Effects of social network information on online language learning
performance: A cross-continental experiment. International Journal of e-Collaboration,
17(2), 72-87.
2. Ajjan, H., & Hartshorne, R. (2008). Investigating faculty decisions to adopt web 2.0
technologies: Theory and Empirical Tests. The Internet and Higher Education, 11(2),
71-80.
3. Akhlaghi, M., & Zareian, G. (2015). The effect of power point presentation on
grammar and vocabulary learning of Iranian pre-university EFL learners. Academic
Research International, 6(1), 160-165.
4. Alsharidi, N. K. M. (2018). The use of Twitter amongst female Saudi EFL learners.
International Journal of Applied Linguistics & English Literature, 7(4), 198-205.
5. Alsmari, N. A. (2019). Fostering EFL students' paragraph writing using Edmodo.
English Language Teaching, 12(10), 44-54.
6. Barcroft, J. (2004). Second language vocabulary acquisition: A lexical input
processing approach. Foreign Language Annals, 37(2), 200-208.
7. Hajebi, M.; Taheri, S.; Fahandezh, H., & Salari, F. (2018). The role of web-based
language teaching on vocabulary retention of adult pre-intermediate EFL learners.
Journal of Language Teaching and Research, 9(2), 372-378.
8. Hairrell, A., Rupley, W., & Simmons, D. (2011). The state of vocabulary research.
Literacy Research and Instruction, 50, 253-271.
9. Idrees I. A. (2021). Verifying the efficacy of translation as a teaching technique from
EFL teachers' perspective. International Journal of English Language Teaching, 9(7),
22-39.
10. Janfeshan, K. (2022). The Effect of Edmodo social learning network on Iraqi EFL
learners’ vocabulary learning. Computer Assisted Language Learning Electronic
Journal (CALL-EJ), 23(1), 347-373.
