Vocabulary Learning Through Picture-Viewing and Picture-Drawing on Tablets

Abstract

Beginning learners of English frequently use flashcards as a tool for learning vocabulary. However, because of the consciousness difference between the picture-readers and picture-drawers on vocabularies, errors may be involved in the learners' comprehension of the vocabulary terms on the flashcards. This article develops and evaluates an English vocabulary learning strategy for tablet devices on which learners' viewing and drawing corresponding to vocabularies on the mobile devices. Fifty-two elementary school students were recruited and divided into two groups: The first group read the printed flashcards from electronic files, the second group read the flashcards drawn by students themselves. The results indicated that the drawing learning strategy was beneficial for increasing both their learning motivation and memory retention. The learners could create their own learning content by drawing pictures in such a manner that the pictures were highly relevant to the meaning of the target word, thus transforming their learning pattern from passive to active.