The Effect of Online Interpretations via Interactive White Boards on Vocabulary Learning

Background: English, as a foreign language, has become an essential part of educational curriculum in Iranian educational contexts. However, there has not been enough research in the domain of using technology in English classes in Iran to make learning easier and more accessible. The present study aims at investigating the effect of online interpretation of English lessons through Interactive White board on learning new vocabularies in an Iranian international school in the academic year 2017-2018. Methods: To achieve the goal, 60 female students were randomly selected as homogeneous learners after a placement test (Oxford Placement Test). Following a pre-test of vocabulary, all 60 participants were randomly assigned to 3 groups of 20 to be exposed to the experiment. The participants of all three groups received English vocabulary lessons on IWB screen while simultaneously receiving the online interpretation of each lesson through auditory, video, and pictorial annotations attached to the new words. In this process, the participants read the vocabularies and their usage in the texts. In the meantime, they were able to consult the data attached to them through IWB to find their definitions through auditory definition, pictures, or movies by touching the board. In order to measure the influence of whiteboard on their learning ability, the subjects of all three groups were given an immediate post-test after the lessons. Results: The data was analyzed through ANOVA and the results indicated that the group who received video interpretation (m=5.27) outperformed the auditory (m=4.42) and pictorial annotation groups (m=4.20), and auditory group displayed a significantly better performance than pictorial group. Conclusion: The results provide significant implications for teaching English vocabulary in international schools. They highlight the role of English language syllabus designers and international school educators and instructors in providing electronic programs that can substantially improve the learning process.

Keywords:

Annotation , Interactive white board , Auditory definition , Pictorial materials , Video interpretation