ePrints

A case study: writing a Spanish dictionary as a collaborative task among beginner students

Lookup NU author(s): Dr Nuria Lopez

Downloads

Full text for this publication is not currently held within this repository. Alternative links are provided below where available.

Abstract

This article reports a small-scale study carried out in a beginners’ Spanish class ofsecond year undergraduate students. The purpose of the study was to investigatethe effectiveness of a vocabulary task in terms of its impact on vocabularyacquisition, the learners’ approach to vocabulary learning and their motivationand engagement. The task consisted of the creation of a Spanish dictionary as acollaborative task. The results indicate that the task enhanced vocabularyacquisition in this course. Positive results were also obtained in relation to thelearners’ perceived usefulness of the task and to their approach to vocabularylearning. However, the irregular improvement in vocabulary acquisition amonglearners and some results from the group interviews conducted at the end of thestudy suggested that although the Dictionary task was generally successful interms of enhancement of vocabulary acquisition and students’ motivation, itnevertheless needs complementing with follow-up vocabulary activities thatprovide students with further opportunities to recycle the words introduced in thedictionary.

Publication metadata

Author(s): Lopez N

Publication type: Article

Publication status: Published

Journal: The Language Learning Journal

Year: 2016

Volume: 44

Issue: 1

Pages: 52-73

Print publication date: 01/01/2016

Online publication date: 24/10/2012

Acceptance date: 01/01/1900

ISSN (print): 0957-1736

ISSN (electronic): 0957-1736

Publisher: Routledge

URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/09571736.2012.731699

DOI: 10.1080/09571736.2012.731699

Altmetrics

Share