The Impact of Using Etymological Analysis on Teaching Vocabulary to EFL University Students

Abstract

Abstract-Being disappointed in retention of previously encountered vocabularies is one of the most reported displeasures that EFL students have faced during vocabulary acquisition so far. Since most of the English words descend from Greek and Latin roots, among the multitude of distinct strategies employed in teaching vocabulary, providing learners with an awareness of how existing words are able to be dismantled into different roots, not only generate the opportunity to let them discover the meaning of the words for themselves but also makes them capable of retrieving the targeted words easily. The present study, thus, aimed at exploring the very effect of teaching vocabulary to 59 participants who belonged to two intact classes. They were assigned to experimental and control groups. As far as the level of vocabulary proficiency was concerned, a pretest was administered to both groups. While the control group was going to acquire new words by means of dictionary, and through inferencing the meaning of unfamiliar words from text, the experimental group received treatment based on etymological analysis. After 6 weeks, an immediate posttest was administered to both experimental and control groups. The results were analyzed through one-way Analysis of Covariance (ANCOVA). Subsequently, a questionnaire was given to the experimental group in order to collect their opinions regarding the effectiveness of teaching vocabulary through etymology. Findings indicated that experimental group outperformed the control group. Consequently, the positive effect of this strategy and its implication in teaching vocabulary was manifested by opinions elicited from the experimental group.

Effects of Using the Online Dictionary for Etymological Analysis on Vocabulary Development in EFL College Students

“…Online dictionary and the electronic medium of Blackboard has also provided supportive web resources such as thesauruses and etymology tracers that helped experimental students to learn more about words, their cultural usages, denotations, and connotational loadings of lexicon as well as the word usage in context, which is not often available in paper dictionary based classrooms of translation instruction. This finding is commensurate with prior research in this line (e.g., Aldosari & Mekheimer, 2010;Ballesteros & Croft, 2003;Bellomo, 1999;Honglan, 2005;Hosseini, et al, 2012;Hull & Grefenstetter, 1996;Koren, 1997;Provaznikova, 2009;Sharpe, 1995).…”

“…In this way, Schmitt (2008) maintains that "the overriding principle for maximizing vocabulary learning is to increase the amount of engagement learners have with etymological items, mainly the roots"(p.352) which could be done using online dictionaries that provide etymological references to their entries and semantic maps that show the development of the words (Hosseini, et al, 2012). Therefore, Trench (1998) views etymological analysis as a significant technique in the presentation of new vocabulary to foreign language learners and considers explicit etymology teaching as a mustread feature of entries in dictionaries.…”

“…Yet, research on the effects of etymological analysis is scant (Hosseini, et al, 2012). According to Hosseini, et al (2012), the use of etymological analysis through online dictionaries can be conducive to improved findings regarding vocabulary learning and positive effects on the opinions of learners regarding the use of this technique for the study of vocabulary.…”

“…According to Hosseini, et al (2012), the use of etymological analysis through online dictionaries can be conducive to improved findings regarding vocabulary learning and positive effects on the opinions of learners regarding the use of this technique for the study of vocabulary. In this vein, too, Baleghizadeh and Yousefpoori Naeim (2011) indicated that the use of semantic mapping strategies can lead to improved word retention and better vocabulary acquisition.…”

“…The Online Dictionary website can be harnessed to create hyperlinks to all the words in an e-text in order to provide an easily accessible, hyperlinked dictionary in a seamless, non-distracting manner; this can be especially helpful for learners in terms of efficacy and motivation for vocabulary learning. While prior research on glossing (hyperlinking) tested mainly its effect on comprehension and vocabulary acquisition retention (Dwight, 2003;Lomika, 1998;Nikolova, 2004) as well as reading avoidance (Vacca, 2006), very few studies investigated the efficacy of etymological analysis in improving vocabulary learning and attitudes towards vocabulary instruction (Hosseini, et al, 2012).…”