The comparative effects of song, picture and the keyword method on L2 vocabulary recognition and production

The present study investigated the effects of three methods of vocabulary presentation, i.e., picture, song, and the keyword method on Iranian EFL learners' vocabulary recognition and production. The participants were 102 Iranian lower-intermediate EFL learners in Zaban Sara English language institute in Kermanshah. To make sure that they had no previous knowledge of the target words, a pretest was administered. Those words about which the participants had prior knowledge were excluded from instruction. After administering the pretest, the participants were divided into three groups. Each group was instructed through a specified method of vocabulary presentation including picture, song, and the keyword method for a whole semester. The participants' receptive vocabulary knowledge was tested through a multiple-choice test and their productive vocabulary knowledge through a fill-in-the blank test. The collected data were analyzed using two separate one-way ANOVA procedures. The results of both tests showed that the group instructed through picture had the best performance, followed closely by the group instructed through the keyword method. The group taught through the song method performed significantly worse than both the picture group and the keyword method group.