VISUAL INSTRUCTION: AN ADVANTAGE OR A DISADVANTAGE? WHAT ABOUT ITS EFFECT ON EFL LEARNERS’ VOCABULARY LEARNING?

Learning vocabulary is an important issue for second or foreign language learning. The purpose of this mixed methods study was to investigate the effects of visual materials such as pictures, real objects, and flash cards on EFL learners’ vocabulary learning. Forty six female intermediate students participated in this study. First, the participants were randomly assigned to either the control or experimental group. Then the two groups were administered the pretest. During the eight sessions of the treatment, 56 vocabulary items were instructed to the participants in both groups. The experimental group was instructed the words visually, while the control group was taught the words traditionally. After the treatment, the two groups were administered the posttest. The findings showed a noticeable progress of the experimental group in learning words. It was found that the learning of words in the experimental group significantly increased more than that in the control group. Further, the participants in the experimental group perceived visual instruction as an effective way for learning vocabulary.