Bilingualism and Vocabulary Learning; A Comparison between Sistani and Persian EFL Learners

Bilingualism is broadly defined as the ability to speak two languages; however, there area number of grey areas in determining which languages are first, second and third languages(Keykhaie et al.,۲۰۱۵). Vocabulary learning and production are critical features in languagedevelopment. In every part of the world, there are signs of bilingualism. Promoting bilingualismhas many reasons. There are also different kinds of migration, intermarriage and vocationalopportunities. It is said that-more than half of the world’s population is bilingual and two thirdsof the World’s children grow up in a bilingual environment (Crystal, ۱۹۹۷).Vocabulary learning and production are the key elements of language development. As aresult, over the past decade there has been an increasing importance to acquire words forsecondary languages. Learners has been pointed by many researchers and theorists. Learningvocabulary is crucial to master a second language (Schmitt, ۲۰۰۸). Words are a vital part of thelanguage, as they identify items, actions, ideas which people may not understand in order toexpress their intended meaning. In the field of theory and research, a growing recognition hasbeen given in recent years to the important role that language skills play in learning second orforeign languages. In order to train vocabulary, a wide range of approaches, methods, exercisesand techniques have been put in place (Hatch & Brown, ۱۹۹۵).This study is intended to measure the effect of bilingualism on vocabulary learning. Tothis end, ۴۲ female students from two Farhangian universities in Zahedan and Zabol cities wereselected by random sampling. The Oxford Placement Test (OPT) was used to homogenize theparticipants. According to the results, ۳۰ students were chosen and divided into two groups:experimental and control group. standard vocabulary test including ۲۵ questions as a post testwas administrated to the students and the results were analyzed by SPSS ۲۷. The resultsindicated that Sistani-Persian bilingual speakers outperformed in general Vocabulary learning.

Keywords:

Bilingualism , English language learning , Vocabulary learning , Persian language , Sistani dialect.