The Effect of Educational Software (DENIS) and Games on Vocabulary Learning Strategies and Achievement

Abstract

This study was carried out to measure the impact of the use of educational software (An individual educational software and games) used in vocabulary teaching on the success and the strategy use of the students. To measure the impact of educational software and games on the success of students, a quasi-experimental method consisting of one group repeated measurements was applied. A quasi-experimental method consisting of a one group pre-test and post-test was used to test the second question of the study which was the impact of the educational software and games on the students' use of vocabulary learning strategies. Two types of educational software were used in the study. One of them (Dynamic English Vocabulary Instruction Software) was a type of educational software used individually and the other consisted of four different computer games. The implementation process of the research consisted of a total of 9 weeks. Vocabulary was taught to the same group of students with the help of two different types of educational software (DENTS and Games setting) consecutively, and the success of the students in pre, mid and post-tests were compared. After the analysis, it was concluded that both types of software had positive effects on vocabulary learning. A foreign language vocabulary learning strategies scale (Kocaman & Kizilkaya Cumaoglu, 2014) was applied at the beginning and end of the application process. When pre and post-test scores of the scale were compared to subscale and total scores, it was concluded that the use of compensation strategies by the students increased significantly. In the study, vocabulary learning strategies were also analysed to figure out whether they changed according to gender. When strategy use was analysed according to gender, it was found that compensation strategies were more used by male students than female students.