The Effect of Corpus-Based Language Teaching on Iranian EFL Learners' Vocabulary Learning and Retention

The use of corpora in second/foreign language (ESL/EFL) classes has established to be a valuable tool in teaching grammar, vocabulary and natural language use. The corpus-based approach to language teaching and linguistics has gained its prominence since the mid-1980s. However, there has been little research on investigating the corpus-based tasks openly in the classroom. The current research attempts to examine the effect of corpus-based teaching on EFL learners' vocabulary learning and retention of Iranian EFL learners. Forty pre university Iranian female students at Saei high school in Gorgan, aged 18 participated in this study. The number of participants in each group was 20. After administering the pretest, students in the experimental group were taught using corpus-based approach while students in the control group were taught using traditional methods. After instruction, a posttest was administrated to both groups. After two weeks of the first posttest, the second posttest was administrated to both groups to see the effect of corpus-based teaching on vocabulary retention (immediate retention). The design of the study was quasi-experimental, as there was no random selection. T-tests were employed to analyze the collected data from the vocabulary tests including pretest and posttests. The results of the study indicated a significant difference between the experimental and control group in favor of corpus-based vocabulary teaching. The result also showed that corpus-based teaching has a significant effect on EFL students' vocabulary retention and the effect did not fade away over time. This study has some pedagogical implications which can bring fruitful results for language teachers and learners and material developers.