The Effect of Line Drawing as a Vocabulary Learning Strategy

Abstract

Acquiring a large vocabulary is essential for language learners’ language proficiency. Still, teacher manuals neglect instruction on teaching vocabulary learning strategies. A recent study by Isnaini & Lisani (2019) showed how ESL learners could benefit from the line drawing strategy. The present study examines the effect of line drawing training on ESL learners’ vocabulary retention. The participants were 72 Dutch adolescents attending secondary education dispersed over three classes. Two of those classes were randomly allocated to the experimental group and the third served as the control group. In the first session, all participants received a pre-test. Afterwards, the participants in the experimental group were instructed on using the line drawing strategy to learn a list of words. The control group read the list of words once for themselves and once out loud. The effect of the line-drawing training was assessed through a post-test in the second session. Linear mixed-model logistic regression indicates a main effect of session on the dependent variable accuracy. Adding the two remaining variables (group and learning style) did not demonstrate a significant difference. These results show that the line drawing training was not an effective learning strategy for vocabulary learning. Through a questionnaire, qualitative data was collected, which demonstrated varying attitudes towards working with an unfamiliar learning strategy.