Exploring Spanish Vocabulary Acquisition Between Analog Activities and Digital Games
Introduction
Foreign language is a unique academic pursuit. Humans have a natural, innate ability to learn language and systems of communication. We are, after all, social beings. We are more or less able to learn to speak our first language without much effort on anyone’s part. A baby witnesses oral communication and begins to mirror what they see until they have the cognitive function and motor control of their mouths and tongues to pronounce words intentionally. However, many foreign language students study their second language under dramatically different circumstances. They know and are exposed to native speakers infrequently. They are learning grammatical structures and building knowledge of the rules of the language. They learn new words and batches that do not necessarily relate to their experience.
This project was specific to Spanish language learning. In the US, Spanish is the most popular foreign language to learn in schools, with nearly half of all foreign language high school students in a Spanish program (American Councils for International Education, 2017). Outside of schools, Spanish learning apps and programs are prolific. Across different school programs and app designs, there are countless approaches to learning Spanish. Some curricula try to emulate immersion, recreating something akin to how people typically learn their first language. This is an analog approach. In this case, the learning is based on conversation and designed to maximize oral participation. An alternative is digital game-based learning. While digital games are not all made alike, they generally introduce a distinct element of moving through stages or levels and auxiliary elements to make the experience more fun and captivating.
As a private Spanish teacher, I am uncertain about the comparative value of an analog versus a digital approach for my students. I tend to use fully analog, immersive, conversational lessons. I learned Spanish by maintaining a commitment to oral participation in traditional classes and spending significant time immersed in Spanish-speaking communities throughout Latin America. However, digital games have gained dramatic popularity and offer a unique format for learning Spanish (and many other languages). While they were not in my experience, they are a valued tool among millions of students. This project intends to gain insight into how analog conversation-based activities compare to digital game-based activities in students’ vocabulary acquisition.
Literature Review
Foreign language acquisition has yielded many debates within educational research circles. Traditional language teaching methods often diverge from the inherent communicative instinct with which everyone is born. As a result, years of study in a traditional classroom often fail to yield foreign language speakers. As a Spanish educator, I prefer to foster immersive learning environments, where student engagement is encouraged through conversational exchanges and collaborative storytelling. While this approach resonates intuitively, it is unclear if it is the most effective approach.
A primary concern surrounding the use of digital games for vocabulary acquisition is the potential detachment of new words from their context. Language, inherently social and integrative, necessitates contextual comprehension for effective usage. Elgort (2018) underscores this concern, observing a predominant emphasis on “explicit vocabulary knowledge tests of individual items” in studies examining technological interventions for vocabulary instruction. Such assessments often fail to relate newly acquired vocabulary with broader language proficiency. This necessitates a distinction between passive word memorization and active contextual application (Laufer and Paribakht, 1998).
Building on this framework, Dizon (2017) delves into the differing impact of digital versus physical flashcards on vocabulary acquisition among ESL students. In contrast to earlier studies, which predominantly focused on passive vocabulary reinforcement, Dizon’s research introduces activities that promote active vocabulary learning. Even in this case, the findings reveal comparable improvement in passive and active vocabulary using both digital and physical flashcards. These results demonstrate the need for more research and consideration of additional factors in foreign language study.
In my research, it was important to measure students’ active vocabulary retention rather than just how much they enjoyed the lessons. A lot of the existing studies on digital game-based language learning have been more interested in whether students enjoy the learning and the activities rather than if they are improving their language skills (Osman and Rabu, 2020). Further, there is a shortage of long-term studies on how language skills develop over time, especially as new technology is developed to assist in learning. Most of the existing research focuses on computer-based programs, ignoring the explosion of language-learning apps (Osman and Rabbu, 2020).
In large part, the research is inconclusive. Few studies comparing digital and analog instruction methods have yielded statistically significant results. However, they highlight the need for further study and the importance of specificity in the factors that researchers consider. Language mastery is complex and multi-faceted. This project intends to be another step (albeit small) toward a larger body of research and a deeper understanding of foreign language education.
Methodology
My primary group of Spanish students is a weekly class of four homeschooled students – a pair of brothers and a pair of sisters. Their ages range from 9 to 13 years. I have been working with them for one year. Our classes have always been conversational and student-led, often taking place outside or sitting together on a rug. They are highly motivated students, who want to learn Spanish, have visited Spanish-speaking countries, and need no convincing that they should be in my class. Their current Spanish proficiency levels range from beginner to high intermediate. They are all white and live in an affluent neighborhood in Philadelphia.
This project is designed to compare the differences in vocabulary acquisition (both passive and active) between a digital game and conversational activities as objectively as possible. Across 6 weeks, I used 12 different vocabulary lists. For the first half of class, we engaged in an analog activity focused on one vocabulary list. These activities included writing short plays, telling fictional stories, discussing current events, playing gameshow-style activities, and practicing dialogues. In the second half of class, we played games on the website Gimkit to learn a different list of words. These games included Capture the Flag, an Among Us-style game, Humans vs Zombies, and more. At the end of class, I asked each student to rank their enjoyment of each half of the class. In the following week, I asked each student to translate five words from Spanish to English in each list. This was to get a sense of passive vocabulary learning. After that, they had to use five different words from each list in a sentence. The sentence had to make it clear they understood the word. This was to measure active vocabulary learning. This project did not consider spelling or written grammar, as these quizzes were administered orally. The vocabulary words each student was quizzed on were chosen at random. The results are found in Figure 1.1.
One week after the conversational activities, students remembered an average of 2.125 words passively and 1.875 words actively. One week after the digital games, students remembered an average of 2.042 words passively and 1.458 words actively. A cursory glance at the numbers shows a slight advantage to the conversational techniques. However, measuring the statistical significance of passive vocabulary acquisition yields a p-value of 0.07. Measuring the significance of active vocabulary acquisition yields a p-value of 0.15. It is safe to conclude that both of these results are statistically significant.
There were several limitations to note in this study that likely contributed to the lack of statistical significance. Four students is a small sample size. They also all represent a particular population of upper-middle-class, white, homeschooled, students. Second, their levels being in a range, I could not control for exposure to the vocabulary chosen in previous experiences nor how much they studied the words in between classes. Additionally, this project was over a relatively short period and did not consider scaffolded vocabulary acquisition across the six lessons. Finally, the students were already familiar with my analog teaching techniques, whereas Gimkit was a new program for all of them.
In the students’ reporting of enjoyment across the two halves of the class, they rated the conversational half an average of 4.375 out of 5 and the digital game side a 4.7 out of 5. After analysis, the p-value of their ranking yields a p-value of 0.02. There thus is statistical significance in how much more they enjoyed the digital games. This tells me that while they seem to learn new words at about the same rate, they may enjoy class more if digital games were used more frequently. This statistical significance underscores the importance of leveraging diverse teaching methodologies to cater to maximize student satisfaction.
Conclusion
In the larger context of research about foreign language education, this project highlights some of the challenges in studying language learning and the severity of the need for further investigation. In every step of implementation, I was made aware of several additional factors that were influencing my study. Future research needs to make clear delineation among various skill sets required for language proficiency. It also must account for different levels, existing knowledge, and exposure outside of the research project.
In support of Laufer and Paribakht’s (1998) work, distinguishing between active and passive vocabulary is critical. There was an obvious difference between these students’ ability to translate words and use them in a sentence. In setting up the games, it also became clear that one can leverage digital games like Gimkit (which could be described as robust digital flashcards) to assist in active vocabulary acquisition and even grammatical learning. Thus, innovation in the implementation of digital tools also warrants further exploration.
Moving forward in my class, I see an opportunity to implement more digital tools, if it increases engagement and enjoyment for my students. While this set of students is already highly motivated, I want to maximize any opportunity to create positive associations with Spanish study so long as my students continue to learn. This philosophy is why I bucked traditional classroom methods and is now why I will begin introducing digital games in my lessons.
Finally, building a practice of action research and continuous monitoring of my methods can yield important feedback. Where school classrooms may have grades and standardized tests (however flawed) as measures of their methods, I rely on direct feedback from parents and students and my observations. Implementing this project underscores the value of action research to validate and support the choices I make as a private teacher.
References
American Councils for International Education, American Council for the Teaching of Foreign Languages, Center for Applied Linguistics. (2017). The National K-12 Foreign Language Enrollment Survey Report. https://www.americancouncils.org/sites/default/files/FLE-report-June17.pdf
Dizon, Gilbert & Tang, Daniel. (2017). Comparing the efficacy of digital flashcards versus paper flashcards to improve receptive and productive L2 vocabulary. The EuroCALL Review, 25, 3-15. 10.4995/eurocall.2017.6964.
Elgort, I. (2018). Technology-Mediated Second Language Vocabulary Development: A Review of Trends in Research Methodology. CALICO Journal, 35(1), 1–29. https://www.jstor.org/stable/90016519
Laufer, B. and Paribakht, T. S. (1998). The relationship between passive and active vocabularies: effects of language learning context. Language Learning, 48(3), 365-391. https://doi.org/10.1111/0023-8333.00046
Osman, Nur & Abdul Rabu, Siti Nazleen. (2020). Digital Game-Based Language Learning: A Review of Research Trends on Second Language Acquisition. ASM Science Journal, 13, 56-62. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/340386978_Digital_Game-Based_Language_Learning_A_Review_of_Research_Trends_on_Second_Language_Acquisition
Appendix
Figure 1.1
|
Conversations |
Digital Games |
End-of-Class Survey |
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|
Translation |
Sentence |
Translation |
Sentence |
Conversations |
Digital Games |
||
|
Week 1 |
AV |
2 |
1 |
2 |
2 |
4 |
4 |
|
DV |
2 |
0 |
1 |
1 |
4 |
4 |
|
|
HR |
3 |
1 |
2 |
0 |
5 |
4 |
|
|
TR |
1 |
0 |
1 |
0 |
4 |
5 |
|
|
Average |
2 |
0.5 |
1.5 |
0.75 |
4.25 |
4.25 |
|
|
Week 2 |
AV |
3 |
3 |
3 |
1 |
5 |
4 |
|
DV |
2 |
2 |
1 |
1 |
4 |
5 |
|
|
HR |
3 |
1 |
2 |
1 |
4 |
5 |
|
|
TR |
2 |
1 |
2 |
1 |
5 |
5 |
|
|
Average |
2.5 |
1.75 |
2 |
1 |
4.5 |
4.75 |
|
|
Week 3 |
AV |
3 |
3 |
3 |
2 |
4 |
5 |
|
DV |
2 |
2 |
2 |
1 |
4 |
5 |
|
|
HR |
3 |
3 |
1 |
1 |
5 |
5 |
|
|
TR |
1 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
4 |
5 |
|
|
Average |
2.25 |
2.25 |
1.75 |
1.25 |
4.25 |
5 |
|
|
Week 4 |
AV |
4 |
3 |
3 |
1 |
5 |
4 |
|
DV |
3 |
2 |
3 |
3 |
4 |
5 |
|
|
HR |
3 |
3 |
3 |
3 |
4 |
5 |
|
|
TR |
2 |
1 |
2 |
1 |
5 |
5 |
|
|
Average |
3 |
2.25 |
2.75 |
2 |
4.5 |
4.75 |
|
|
Week 5 |
AV |
3 |
3 |
2 |
3 |
5 |
5 |
|
DV |
2 |
2 |
2 |
1 |
5 |
5 |
|
|
HR |
2 |
2 |
3 |
2 |
5 |
5 |
|
|
TR |
1 |
0 |
1 |
1 |
4 |
4 |
|
|
Average |
2 |
1.75 |
2 |
1.75 |
4.75 |
4.75 |
|
|
Week 6 |
AV |
4 |
4 |
3 |
3 |
5 |
4 |
|
DV |
2 |
2 |
2 |
2 |
4 |
5 |
|
|
HR |
3 |
3 |
2 |
2 |
4 |
5 |
|
|
TR |
2 |
2 |
2 |
1 |
3 |
5 |
|
|
Average |
2.75 |
2.75 |
2.25 |
2 |
4 |
4.75 |
|