The Comparison of Computer Assisted Teaching and Traditional Explicit Method in Learning / Teaching English Vocabulary

Learning and teaching vocabulary has gained a considerable attention in the last decades. The advent of computer technology, on the other hand, has opened new windows to learning and teaching practices. The purpose of this study is to incorporate computer technology to teaching vocabulary practices by providing online contextualization of vocabulary. The participants of the study were 60 male EFL learners, aged about 15, from Zanjan city who were in two groups, traditional explicit group and technologically contextualized group. The data came from final post-test questions, open-ended questionnaire and subsequent informal interview with the students about their attitude toward the teaching practices. The data was analyzed using independent and paired sample t-test for quantitative data and systematic comparative analysis for qualitative data. The analysis of the results revealed that while both of the groups had improved significantly the technologically contextualized group could not outperform the traditional group. Students- attitude, however, toward the classroom activities was different in the groups. Pedagogical implications are presented