This study deals with English vocabulary learning by elementary school students and the development of vocabulary learning e-Book contents for use throughout Korea's public school system from 2014.
The existing research about e-Book contents have fo...
This study deals with English vocabulary learning by elementary school students and the development of vocabulary learning e-Book contents for use throughout Korea's public school system from 2014.
The existing research about e-Book contents have focused on the development and application of e-Book contents. However, the earlier studies have been limited to offering suggestions such as hardware and software that could be developed for in the future. For this reason, this research is based on an actual survey of vocabulary learning, students' needs analysis and previous contents analysis. Furthermore, this research is distinct from other studies in that it conducted an experimental class using vocabulary e-Book contents which contained pseudo words and looked at the effects of using e-Book contents.
The purpose of this study was four fold.
The first objective was to identify the elements affecting English vocabulary learning by elementary school students and vocabulary selection of e-Book contents.
The second and third objectives were concerned with e-Book contents development and evaluation of previous e-Book contents, and group evaluation by experts. The last objective involved the application of the developed vocabulary learning e-Book contents to validate of its effectiveness.
For this purpose, receptive and productive vocabulary tests were administered using 100 high frequency words as suggested by the English elementary education curriculum. Test results were also analyzed by focusing on test scores, pronunciation, word length, similarity of word forms, abstractness and complexity of word combinations. In this study, vocabulary learning e-Book contents were developed on two separate occasions. In the first phase of content development, vocabulary e-Book contents were analysed. Developed e-Book contents were then administered in an experimental class to check for the effectiveness of the content itself utilizing pseudo-words. The second phase of content development included reflecting on the results of the experimental class, evaluation by a group of experts regarding the first phase, and another group evaluation.
Based on the above study, the following results were obtained.
First, analyzing the results of the vocabulary tests that were administered prior to the development of the e-Book contents, some interesting factors came to light. Comprehension and production of words previously learned and whether or not significant differences exist between Korean phonological processing, length of word, and abstractness of word were observed. The complexity of the combinations of words was indicated to provided effect to the expression of pre learned words. Thus, in e-Book content development, these factors affecting vocabulary learning should be considered.
Second, according to the analysis of vocabulary learning e-Book contents, factors such as explicit presentation of learning goals, selection of detailed study elements considering the levels and interests of the learners and self-guided learning elements should be included when developing materials. Furthermore, many different types of multi-media contents should be included in keeping with the characteristics of e-Books and to hold the interest of the learner.
Third, e-Book contents analysed by experts indicated that there were differences from the previous vocabulary learning contents in the areas of the learners’ self-guided activities, learning strategies, interesting content and consideration of the learners’ levels. In conclusion, students were able to learn vocabulary easily through e-Book contents which contained detailed elements such as pronunciation, form and meaning.
Fourth, according to the results of the experimental to test the effectiveness, the developed e-Book contents helped improve receptive vocabulary through explicit learning in the areas of spelling, meaning, and related sentences. Also, it can be utilized effectively in improving productive vocabulary such as writing words.
In conclusion, this study has shown that e-Book contents that will be developed in the future should include various types of multi-media elements such as still images, moving pictures, and sounds to captivate students' interests and to motivate them. In addition, students' needs and vocabulary learning conditions should be reflected in the content to aid the students in self-guided study. However, using e-Book contents to learn vocabulary is not without limitations. For example, producing desired pronunciation and using learned vocabulary in actual communication is not entirely feasible, so feedback about pronunciation, chatting, and applying SNS programs are needed to promote the positive effects of content development. Furthermore, teaching and learning models using e-Book contents are also needed to enhanced the validity of e-Book contents.
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