The Effect of Task-Related Focus-on-Forms Instruction on EFL Vocabulary Development in Thai Primary School Students

Abstract

This quasi-experimental study investigated the effect of task-related focus-on-forms (FonFs) (i.e., written form and word parts) instructions on EFL vocabulary development in Thai primary school students. The participants were 72 sixth-grade Thai EFL students and were divided into two groups: the written form group participants (n = 37) who received the written instruction and the word parts group participants (n = 35) who received the word parts instruction. In the written form group, the teacher taught the one hundred and four target words by giving their definitions (in the form of target language explanations), followed by the participants’ spelling and example sentences; hence the focus was on the written form. The word parts group did the same as in the written form group. Besides, they focused on word parts as another aspect of word form. One vocabulary size test was conducted to measure the number of vocabulary words the participants possess. Four different tests were employed to measure receptive and productive knowledge of vocabulary development, and two questionnaires were employed to explore the participants’ perceptions. Descriptive and inferential statistics were employed to analyze the data of the study. Inferential statistics, including dependent and independent samples t-tests, were used to analyze the quantitative data. The results showed a significant improvement in both groups after the interventions. These findings indicate the significant effect of task-related focus-on-forms (FonFs) on vocabulary development among Thai primary school participants. In addition, the perception questionnaire data analysis also revealed that task-related FonFs in written form and word parts groups were helpful for learning vocabulary. Overall, the current study indicates the significance of task-related FonFs instruction on EFL vocabulary learning and development. Pedagogical implications and suggestions for further studies are presented.

-