Teaching and learning English vocabulary in a Spanish context

FòrumdeRecerca.Núm.23/2018,p.357-373ISSN:1139-5486.DOI:http://dx.doi.org/10.6035/ForumRecerca.2018.23.24

357

Teaching and learning English vocabulary in a Spanish context

[email protected]

AndreeaStefanescu.TeachingandlearningEnglishvocabularyinaSpanishcontext

358I.Abstract

Although the problemof teaching and learning vocabulary hasexperienced a great development in the last decades, in thecontemporarycontext,teachingvocabularyknowledgeisstillamajorchallenge on all levels. The present article attempts to tackle andsolvesomeoftheissuesencounteredbybothteachersandstudentsin the classroom regarding vocabulary knowledge. This articlepresents a study examining the effects of theVocabulary Box,KickMeActivity,andtheVocabularySurveyin2nd-yearESO1students,toshowifthemethodoflearningwordshasanimpactonthestudentlearningprocess.Resultsarebasedonthefinalwrittentest,studentobservation, and student survey. Different methods producedsignificantvariations inachievementscores,andthedata-collectioninstruments showed that students had a preference for theVocabularyBoxandselectedtheKickMeActivityasasecondchoice.This empirical study produces findings linked to the interaction ofstudents with different dynamic and stimulating tasks thatencourage not only participation, fun and engagement, but alsovocabularyknowledgeacquisition.

Keywords:Englishvocabulary,Spanishcontext,learning.

II.Introduction

Theendofthelastmillenniumhasseenaresurgenceofinterestin the teaching of foreign languages and, in particular, vocabulary.Societal changes and the progress ofmodern science are reflectedprimarily and directly through vocabulary. This research presentsseveral questions that need to be addressed when thinking aboutteaching and learning English vocabulary: Why is it important toteachvocabulary?What is thebestwaytoteachvocabulary?Whatkindoftoolscanteachersimplementinteachingvocabulary?

III.Objectives

The main objective of this article is to identify students’perceptions on vocabulary using a survey (table 1). The secondobjective is to implement new, dynamic and interactive tools forteaching English vocabulary in a Spanish context. These vocabularytools are intended to help build communication and interaction intheclassroom.Aspecificobjectiveofthisresearchistoassesstheir

1CompulsorySecondaryEducation


359efficiency and, also, to look for alternatives, in case they do notachievethetarget.

IV.Materialandmethod

An eminently practical and dynamicmethodology is applied topre-readingandpost-readingstages.Students,asprotagonistsintheconstruction of their vocabulary learning, must participate activelyand cooperatively in order to facilitate meaningful learning incoexistencewithothers.Themethodologicalstrategiesusedwillbe:theVocabularyBoxgameasan icebreakerandtheKickMeActivityasthepost-readingactivity.

Eachofthenecessarymaterialsanddidacticresourcestocarryouttheactivitiesprogrammedthroughoutthevocabularygamesareshown.Classroomrequirementsaswellasthenecessarymaterialaredetailed.

Classroomrequirements:

language laboratory with good acoustic conditions,computer and internet connection, blackboard,projectorandprojectionscreen.

Materials requiredbythestudents:

pens,paper,handouts

Methodologicalaspects:

communicative approach, cooperative learning andinteraction

VocabularySurvey

To begin with, a structured survey was undertaken to identifywhatstudentsthoughtaboutlearningEnglishvocabularyingeneral.Inorder tocollectevidence frommanystudents,a survey toolwascreated(Table1).Arelativelylargesamplegroupof79studentswasgatheredtoprovidearangeofresults.ThesurveywasconductedinIES Bovalar with 75% students who speak Spanish as L1, and 25%studentswhoare immigrants. Thisquestionnaire sought to identifywhatstudentsthinkaboutEnglishVocabularyingeneral,andhowitcanbelearnedinaSpanishhighschoolcontext.


360Table1.VocabularySurvey

Date:Age:

Surname:Sex:Male/Female

Name:Nativetongue:

Nationality:Class:

Otherlanguagesyouspeak:

1.DOYOUTHINKITISIMPORTANTTOLEARNVOCABULARY?(tickone)

a)Yesb)No

2.DOYOUBELIEVETHATYOURMOTHERTONGUEHELPSYOUTOLEARNNEWVOCABULARY?(tickone)

a)Yesb)No

3.HOWOFTENDOYOUPRACTICEYOURNEWVOCABULARY?(tickone)

a)Alwaysb)Oftenc)Rarelyd)Never

4.DOYOUUSETECHNOLOGY(iPods,iPhone,HDTV)TOLEARNVOCABULARY?(tickone)

a)Yesb)No

IFYES,WHATTYPEOFTECHNOLOGYDOYOUUSE?__________________________

5.YOURBESTSKILLIS:(tickmorethanone,ifnecessary)

a)Vocabularyb)Grammarc)Listeningd)Speakinge)Writingf)Reading

6.DOYOUHAVEENOUGHVOCABULARYINENGLISH?(tickone)

a)Yesb)No

7.HOWWOULDYOULIKETOIMPROVEYOURVOCABULARY?(tickmorethanone,ifnecessary)

a)Picturesb)Description/Explanationc)Translationd)Miming/Gestures

e)Synonyms/Antonymsf)Games

8.WHATTYPEOFVOCABULARYWOULDYOULIKETOLEARN?

________________________________________________________________

9.THEBESTWAYTOMEMORIZEVOCABULARYIS:

________________________________________________________________

Theassumptionwasmadethatstudentsfromdifferentlevels(2ESO2, 4 ESO, and 1 BACHILLERATO) would together constitute a

2CompulsorySecondaryEducation


361representative sample of pupils as a whole. The studywas carriedout in the following period: 27/04/2015 – 30/04/2015. The groupsthatwere investigated includedboysandgirlsbetween theagesof13-18. Therefore, the survey provided data on general vocabularyknowledge and acquisition. We have chosen only a few questionsfrom the Survey to analyse those that we considered as morerelevanttoourresearch:

Table2.Studentspercentageonsomerelevantquestions

SurveyQuestions Studentpercentage

1.Doyouthink it is importanttolearnvocabulary?

YES:99%NO:1%

2. Do you believe that yourmother tongue helps you tolearnnewvocabulary?

YES:59%NO:41%

4.Doyouusetechnology(iPods,iPhone,HDTV)tolearnvocabulary?(tickone)

YES:71%NO:29%

6. Do you have enoughvocabularyinEnglish?

YES:52%NO:48%

Regarding the first question, the acquisition of vocabulary in

language learning is as essential as numbers are in mathematics.Furthermore, looking at the percentage rate (99% for yes), it isevident that the relevance of vocabulary for pupils is very high.Moreover,theeffortoftheteacherstocultivateinstudentsatastefor new vocabulary is greater, and it is reflected in the surveyanswersthatstudentsareawareoftheimportanceof learningnewvocabulary.

Regarding the second question on the survey, Schmitt andMcCarthy stated that: «recent research has confirmed more andmorestronglywhat languageteachershavealwaysknown:thatthemother tongue has a considerable influence on how the secondlanguageislearntandused»(1997,160).Therefore,theinfluenceofthe mother tongue is very important when learning vocabulary inanother language, as Schmitt and McCarthy state: «the mothertonguecan influencethewaysecond-languagevocabulary is learnt,theway it is recalled foruse,andtheway learnerscompensate forlackofknowledgebyattemptingtoconstructcomplexlexicalitems».(1997,179).

The fourth question highlights that vocabulary knowledge isacquired with the help of new technology, such as computers,iPhones,iPadsandiPods.ThefindingsinTable2showthatamajority


362of students (71%) use electronic devices to learn new vocabulary;however, only 29% of students prefer other materials to improvetheir vocabulary. Electronic devices brought a vast range ofpossibilities to the educational plan, particularly in the field oflearningvocabulary.Someofthebenefitsofthosedevicesaretogivestudents instant feedback, portability, and fun. Therefore, usingelectronic devices is a convenientway for students topractice andlearnnewvocabulary.

Finally, the sixth question explores the students’ opinionregardingtheamountofEnglishvocabularythattheypossess.Someof themwereoptimisticby saying«yes», theyhadawide rangeofvocabulary,whileothersseemedmorerealisticandrespondedwitha«no».

Table3.StudentspercentageonquestionsevenfromtheSurvey

SurveyQuestions Multipleresponses

7.HOWWOULDYOULIKETOIMPROVEYOURVOCABULARY?(tickmorethanone,ifnecessary)

a)Pictures:35%b)Description/Explanation:14%c)Translation:39%d)Miming/Gestures:14%e)Synonyms/Antonyms:8%f)Games:56%

When it comes to the strategies column, the results inTable3

show that more than half of the respondents —56 out of 79students—thinktheycanimprovetheirEnglishvocabularywiththehelpofgames.Thiscan,atleastpartially,beattributabletothestudystyle encouraged by their English teacher, Alicia GarciaMartí, whoimplementeddifferentgamesandstrategiesthatfosterthestudents’motivation.

As for the use of translation and pictures, it was found that aconsiderablenumberof students—39and35subjects—try tousethemtoenhancethenewvocabulary.Theleastpreferredstrategytoimprovevocabularywasthroughsynonymsandantonyms,towhichonly8studentsresponded.

Hence, results in Table 3 show that students seem to preferlearning vocabulary through games and translation. Knowing thefamousproverbthat«Apictureisworththousandwords»,teachersshouldconsiderandapplythisreflectionintheirteaching.However,it should be indicated that, from the perspective of students, veryimportantcausesthatleadtolearningnewvocabularyarelinkedtobothteachersandthestudents’performance.

Inconclusion,itisimportanttomentionthatthepresentsurveyhas identifiedandcontributed to thediscoveryof theopinionsand


363attitudes towards vocabulary knowledge in a Spanish context. Wecanconcludethattheseareallstrategieswhichstudentsalreadyuseandregardasbeneficial.Thefactthatstudentsprefergamesleadsustothenextstep.

Games

Society is in the process of developing communication, ofenrichingvocabularywithnewwords.Humansinventedcrosswords,scrabble,etc.;hence,wecansaythatwordshavebecomeatypeof«toy»for individuals.Peopleusethemwheneverandhowevertheywant. Unlike traditional methods of teaching foreign languagevocabulary, modern methods involve interactivity and a directparticipationof those trained in the teaching-learningprocess.Oneof the most useful interactive methods for learning a modernlanguage and, particularly new vocabulary, is the incorporation ofgames: «to memory and performance benefits, games andinteractive learning methods have important social benefits forstudents. These activities allow students to practice using thevocabularyofthediscipline»(KumarRitaandRobinLightner2007).

Beforeexplainingtheimpactofgamesinteachingvocabulary,itisrelevanttoclarifythemeaningofthewordgame.AccordingtotheOxfordDictionary,theconceptgamemeans:«aformofcompetitiveactivity or sport played according to rules». The present sectionfocuses on a number of advantages that students can experiencewithgameswhilealsolearningnewvocabulary.

As mentioned above, games have multiple advantages forstudents, especially when they learn new vocabulary in English.Firstly,gameshavetheeffectofmotivatingpupils.Inthisrespect,AliSorayaie indicatedthat:«gamescan loweranxiety,thusmakingtheacquisition of input more likely. They are highly motivating andentertaining, and they can give shy students more opportunity toexpress their opinion and feelings» (2012, 253). Therefore, gameshavethepowerofmotivatingandchallengingstudentsinanexcitingmanner, and sometimes even the timidest students feel free andrelaxed(thishappenedduringourresearch).

Secondly,Byrnepointsout thatgamescanbeperformedatallstagesoflearning,byreviewingandacquiringnewvocabulary:

Themaximumbenefitcanonlybeobtainedfromlanguagegamesiftheyforman integralpartoftheprogramme,atboththepracticeand the production stages of learning. Used in this way, theyprovide new and interesting contexts for practicing languagealreadylearnt-andoftenforacquiringnewlanguageintheprocess(1976,99).


364Thirdly, according to Harmer, games are one of the teacher’stoolsthatcanleadtotheassimilationofwordsmucheasier,creatingarelaxedlearningenvironment:

Gamesare a vital part of a teacher’s equipment, notonly for thelanguagepracticetheyprovide,butalsoforthetherapeuticeffecttheyhave.Theycanbeusedatanystageofaclass toprovideanamusing and challenging respite from other classrooms activity,and are especially useful at the end of a long day to send thestudentsawayfeelingcheerfulabouttheirEnglishclass(1983,94).

Inthesameline,Thornburystatesthat:«usefulgamesarethosethat encourage learners to recall words and, preferably, at speed»(2002,102).

Another aspect thatmust bementioned in this section is thattheteachingofgamesathigh-school level isdifferentfromprimaryone.Althoughitseemshardertoinvolvestudentsintheseactivities,theyareinterested,asitbreaksdownthebarriersandrepresentsadeviation from their usual class activities. In this case the didacticgamecanbeusedto,eitherstartadiscussion,inorderto«breaktheice», to highlight competitive features of participants, or to reviewsomeconceptsstudied.

However, if the games are not well explained by the teacher,theycannotbeplayedwell andachieve theproposedgoals. In thisregard, ThanhHuyen and ThuNgadeclare that: «games cannot besuccessful if the teacher does not explain the tasks and roles ofstudentsclearlyinplayinggames»(2003,12).

Many researches argue that gameshave apowerful impactonstudents; however, teachersmust take into consideration differentaspects when they implement games in the class. For instance,Thornburystatesthat:«manywordgamesdealsolelywithisolated–rather than contextualized– words, and often require only shallowprocessing on the part of the learner, they should be usedjudiciously» (2002,102).Thus,efficiencydependson thegameandwhatitactuallyfostersinaclass.

Tomeetthespecificobjective,wetriedtoimplementtwotypesof vocabulary games, in order to gain information regarding thestudents’ satisfaction and acquisition of new vocabulary. Belowwewill listtwotypesofgamesandwhentheycanbeusedaspartofalesson. Games can be used at the beginning of the class, in themiddleandattheend.


365VocabularyBox3

Procedure

Thisgamecanbeusedforall levelsandages.Thegameshouldlastno longer than five to tenminutes.Thiswarm-upgamecanbeappliedatthebeginningofaclass.Theteacheraskseverystudenttopickaword fromtheboxand then translate it intoSpanish.At theendoftheclass,theteacherprovidesstudentswithapieceofpaperontowhich theywrite their newly acquiredwordwhich they thenputitintotheirso-called«VocabularyBox».

We did this activity for a month during my internship at IESBovalar at thebeginningand theendofour classeswith the threedifferentgroupsthatwetaught.Whatwefoundinterestingwasthefactthatonestudentwrotethesamewordfivetimesonthepieceofpaper to, perhaps, retain the word, whereas another studentreturned a blank piece of paper, arguing that he had not learntanything in the lesson. However, what really surprised us was thestudents’attitudetowardsthisactivity.Onedaywhenweforgottooffer them the game, they reminded us by saying: «When are wedoingtheVocabularyBox?».Thisactivitycanbeusedasawarm-uptocheckwhatstudentsrememberfromthepreviouslesson.

Therefore, we can say that the Vocabulary Box is a type of«Pandora’sbox»,as itarousesstudents’curiosity,mixedwithotherfeelingssuchas:anticipation,joy,intuition,andcreativity.Inthelastclasswithourstudents,wewantedtosurpriseandrewardthemfortheir participation, interest, enthusiasm, and for creating a goodatmosphere, by putting sweets into the Vocabulary Box instead ofwords.Wewantedtothanktheminaspecialwayastheexperiencehadbeenveryrewardingforus.

Studycaseofthe«KickmeActivity»

MethodologyandProceduresParticipantsofthe«KickmeActivity»

This gamecanbe implementedat all levels andat anyage.Asthisresearchwasbasedonaspecifictaskcalled«KickMeActivity»,wechosethreedifferentclassesofthesamelevel(AB;C,E;andD),in IES Bovalar, Castelló de la Plana, Spain. Therewere 43 studentsbetween the ages of 11 and 15, and their level of English can beclassifiedfromelementarytointermediate.

Thethreegroupswerechosenbecauseweconsideredthetaskadequate for their level.Moreover, theywere some of the groupsthat hadbeen taught by their tutor. For this reason, it canbe saidthattheyhadalmostthesamelevelandinterests.

3TheVocabularyBoxwasinspiredfromtheVocabularyJar(WaltersState2015).


366Thefirstgroup(2ndESOA,B)consistedof16students.Whenweintroduced the activity, therewere only 10 students (6 boys and 4girls). The tutor commented that in this course the students had alower level of English than in the other two groups. Students gavethe impression that they were not very interested in English. Thesecondgroup(2nd

ESOC,E)wasmadeupof15students;however,only12 students (2boysand10girls)werepresenton thedayweperformed the task. Even though this class had more reluctantstudents regarding the subject, itworkedbetter thanwith the firstgroup,astheyenjoyeddoingthetask.

The third group (2nd ESO D) consisted of 20 students with 17students (11 boys and 6 girls) present on the day of the activity.Despitebeinga largergroup t, theexpectationwashigher,as theirlevelofEnglishwasbetterandtheirinterestsverywelldefined.Mostof the students tried their best using English as their vehicularlanguage during this activity. Furthermore, their tutor mentionedthat this group was more responsible and engaged in the EnglishSubject.

TheobjectivesoftheKickMeActivityare:thisgameisused inthe post-reading stage, to learn new vocabulary, students have tomatch the words with their exact definition and it can beimplemented inanysubject.TheKickMeactivitywasdeveloped inthe post-reading stage, and it encourages movement in the class,increasing focus, engagement, and retention of information. Theteacher gives the students a handout where there are somedefinitionsontherightsideofthepaper,andtheyhavetofindthemissing words on the left side for those definitions (Table 4.).Therefore, students have to find the answers to blanks on theworksheet by looking at the words that the teacher put on thestudents’ backs, using labels. As a result, throughout this activity,studentslearnthenewvocabularythatisgoingtobeinthetext.Inthisway,duringthewhile–readingstage,theyknowthemeaningofthenewwordsthatappearinthetext.


367Table4.Student’sHandoutStudent’sHandout

FeeltheFear!KickMeActivityName&Surname:____________Date:____________________Class:________

Absurd an irrational, excessive, and

persistent fear of something inparticular.

anabnormalfearofspiders

A specialist is a person who has aparticular skill or knowsa lot aboutaparticularsubject.

Inanycase.

extremelyfrightened.

youputsomethinginaplacewheretheycannoteasilybeseenorfound.

is a psychological treatment thatwas developed to help peopleconfronttheirfears.

Causingfrightoralarm.

Unusual,odd

Thisactivityconsistsofthefollowingrules:• Nobodygetskickedduringthisactivity!• Findtheanswersforyourworksheetonthebacksofyour

classmates.• Whenyouhavethemall, sitdownatyourdesk,so that

otherscanstillseeyourlabel.


368Table5.Teacher’sHandoutTeacher’sHandout

FeeltheFear4!KickMeActivityName&Surname:___________Date:____________________Class:__________

Ridiculous

AbsurdPhobia an irrational, excessive, and

persistent fear of something inparticular.

Arachnophobia anabnormalfearofspidersSpecialist A specialist is a person who has a

particular skill or knowsa lot aboutaparticularsubject.

Anyway Inanycase.Terrified extremelyfrightened.Hide(Hid) youputsomethinginaplacewhere

theycannoteasilybeseenorfound.ExposureTherapy is a psychological treatment that

was developed to help peopleconfronttheirfears.

Scary Causingfrightoralarm.Strange Unusual,odd

Theteachergivesthestudentstenminutestofinishtheirtask–

matching10wordswiththeirappropriatedefinition(Table4.).Whenthetimefinishes,theteachersays:«Timeisup!»,andthestudentshavetositdown.Afterthat,theteacherchecksoutaloudwhodiditright, and corrects the errors. When implementing this activity,teachershavetotakeintoaccountseveralcriteriasuchas:

• Considering not only the students’ level of English butother factors too, such as: motivation, amount ofpreviousknowledge,socialsituation,geographiclocation,cultural level, genetic features (some have an innateintelligence – predisposition to learn new languages),age,etc.

• Time is a crucial factor. This activity cannot last morethan ten minutes, as the students lose concentration,interest,etc.

• Number of students (amount). Within a large class theactivityworksbetter(15-30students).

• The classroom environment in general — affectiverelationship that is established between teacher andstudents,andthepeerrelationship.

4ThedidacticUnitthatwewereworkingthattime,accordingtothetextbookwascalledFeeltheFear-thatisthereasonofwhyusingthesehandouts.


369V.Results

Tocarryoutthisresearchwefocusedontheunderstandingandthe attitudesof students, andwhat they actually learnt during thisactivity.Toobservewhatpositiveandnegativeoutcomescomefromthe adoption of a game in vocabulary acquisition, it is essential toexaminethefollowingfactors:thestudents’responses,engagement,andachievement.

Table6.Studentreaction

Studentreaction

ClassA,B:40%ClassC,E:73%ClassD:88%

Regarding the students’ reactions towards the activity, there

were different types of responses depending on their class, moodand interests. Firstly, in the classes C, E, we observed that theirreactionswere quite normal, even though they seemed somewhatexcited at the beginning of the activity. Secondly, in class A, B,studentswerenotenthusiasticatall,perhapsbecausetheywerenotinterestedinthetheme,orperhapstheyfeltsomewhatlethargic(itwas Friday). Thirdly, in classD,most of the learners (15out of 17)wereveryinterestedandcuriousabout«KickMeActivity»andtriedtheirbest.Theyseemedtobeperseverantwithfindingtheanswerswhile a relaxed atmosphere fostered the competitiveness in theclassroom.

Table7.Students’participation

Students’participation


Inthispartofthestudy,itisimportanttoconsiderthestudents’

positive or negative participation in the activity. This task providedan alternative to represent the students’ level of engagement, on-task response and peer interaction. For example, these responsescouldbereproachesregardingtheactivity,orpositiveremarksaboutdoingsimilaractivitiesinotherclasses.Wecalculatedthepercentageof their positive and negative comments regarding the task. Theresult was that in class D most of the research students (70%)


370thoughtthatduringthetasktheyparticipatedmore,astheydidnotfeel any pressure from the teacher side. We would say that thestudentsactivelyengagedinthisactivity,eventheshyones.

By contrast, in class A, B, some of the students did notparticipate thewaywe expected. They tended to speak in Spanishabout unrelated topics. For example, when we were approachingsomeofthem,theyweretalkingaboutsoccer.Additionally, inclassC, E, students had a tendency to take more risks than in otherclasses, which, in a sense, helped them perform the task and bemoreparticipative.

Wewould say that, based on the research data, the studentsparticipation was overall good. We realized that we had moreinteractionwiththestudentsonthedaysthatwedidthesetypesofactivities, which may indicate their preferences for these types oftasks.What really surprised us was the participation of a student,whoduringtheobservationperiodwasverydistracted;however, inthe end, this student’s response to the task was amazing andcollaborative.

Table8.Studentachievement

Studentachievement


Regardingthestudents’accomplishment,the«KickMeActivity»,

apart from providing fun, a relaxed atmosphere and curiosity, alsodevelopedtheacademicperformance,andthiswasreflected inthefinal written exam. In this exam, there were different sections;however,wewouldsaythataround85%ofstudentsweresuccessfulinthevocabularysection.

To collect results, both quantitatively and qualitatively, weworked with the students’ survey answers, and we kept anobservation journal to monitor their involvement in vocabularyactivities.Inthejournal,werecordedvariouscommentsmadebythestudents regarding the«KickMeActivity».Forexample:«Megustómucho el juego», «meencantó», «¿lo podemoshacer de nuevo?».Duringthedaysthatfollowedtheykeptaskingusifweweregoingtodoitagain.

VI.Discussionandconclusions

Throughout this activity, students interacted with each other,and also learnt new words from each other. Regarding the


371effectiveness of «Kick Me Activity», we can report that studentsseemedto learnnewvocabulary.Thisgameencouragesvocabularydevelopment and free expression, but it can also be used forvocabularyrevisionattheendofaunit.

This method is well suited for students with a lower-intermediate to advanced level, because they can formulate moreextensive definitions; hence, helping themselves with theiraccumulated vocabulary. It is important to take into considerationthat the studywemadewas limitedas to the studentgroups,age,andtimefactors.

In summary, the «Kick Me Activity» makes the process ofassimilationofnewwordsmore interactiveandfun.Therefore, thistask has become a tool of communication and discovery, and hascreatedamoredynamicandparticipativeatmosphere,astheactivityischallengingandencouragesthestudents’intuitionandteamwork.However,the«KickMeActivity»alsopresentsseveraldisadvantages;for instance, students might speak among each other about otherthings in their mother tongue, which creates minor chaos in theclass.

In consequence, «increasing vocabulary knowledge is a basicpart of the education process, both, as a means and as an end»,declaredtheAmericanlinguistNagyWilliam.Vocabularyknowledgeisachievednotonlyatschool,butathome,bydifferentmeans,suchaswatchingmoviesor Englishprograms,by interactionwithnativepeople, etc. Hence, there are many factors that foster theimprovementofvocabulary.Thepresentstudytriedtofindandsolvesome of the problems that teachers and students face in theclassroomregardingvocabularyknowledge.

It can be said that, according to these results, interaction,dynamic,cooperativegamesarethebestwaytoteachandimprovevocabularyinaSpanishcontext.Thisresearchshowedtheeffectsoflearningtools,suchastheVocabularyBox,KickMeActivity,andtheVocabulary Surveyon 2 ESO students,with theobjectiveof findingout whether the method of learning new words influenced thestudents' learning process. These procedures led to significantchanges inachievementscores,andthedatacollection instrumentsshowed that students selected the Vocabulary Box as their firstchoice,andtheKickMeActivityasasecondoption.Theresultswereobtainedbyusingthe finalwrittentest, throughtheobservationofstudents,andthesurveytaken.

Gunn Tim claimed that: «Few activities are as delightful aslearningnewvocabulary».Thisempiricalresearchpointsoutasetofinteresting findings, of which themost relevant are related to theinteractionofstudentswithdifferentdynamicandstimulatingtasks,that encourage not only collaboration, entertainment andresponsibility,butalsotheknowledgeofvocabulary.


372VII.References

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Amy, Bailey, Gina and Lori. 2012. «Let’s Talk About VocabularyStrategies». Concord, NC: Cox Mill High School. Accessed onMay 10, 2015,https://literacy.uncc.edu/sites/literacy.uncc.edu/files/media/docs/Let’s%20Talk%20About%20Vocabulary%20Strategies%20pres

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Harmer, Jeremy. 1983 The Practice of English Language Teaching.Essex:LongmanPrint.

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373Mackay,Molly.2007.VocabularyDevelopment.ActivitiesandGamesforEarlyLearners.HuningtonBeach:TeacherCreatedMaterials.

Merriam-Webster Dictionary, n.d. «a picture is worth a thousandwords», accessed May 27, 2015, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/a%20picture%20is%20worth%20a%20t

.housand%20words

Nagy, William. 1988. Teaching Vocabulary to Improve ReadingComprehension.Newmark:InternationalReadingAssociation.

Oxford Dictionary, n.d. «game», accessed May 20, 2015,.https://en.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/game

Schmitt, Norbert and Michael McCarthy. 1997. Vocabulary:Description, Acquisition and Pedagogy. Cambridge, UK:CambridgeUniversityPress.

Sorayaie, Ali. 2012. «The Effect of Games on EFL Learners’Vocabulary Learning Strategies». International Journal ofBasicandAppliedScience1(2):252-256.

ThanhHuyen,Nguyen Thi and Khuat Thi ThuNga. 2003. «LearningVocabulary Through Games: The Effectiveness of LearningVocabularyThroughGames».TheAsianEFLJournal5(4):1-15.

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Teaching and learning English vocabulary in a Spanish context