Vocabulary learning strategies and language games: Reporting on a Taiwan-based study.

Abstract

This study investigates the effectiveness of games as a vocabulary learning strategy. Forty-six students of English as a foreign language (EFL) voluntarily joined a vocabulary extension training program, using games created by the author, for a total period of 20 hours in the summer of 2008. Oxford's (1990) Strategies Inventory for Language Learning (SILL) was used before and after the program to detect learning strategies and any changes in learning strategies before and after the program and Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) was used for data analysis. In terms of strategy use, there were significant differences between pretest and post-test results, particularly in the area of memory strategies. This suggests that further research in the area of games-based vocabulary enhancement, particularly in the area of strategy use and development, would be likely to be of value.