The effectiveness of Quizlet for vocabulary learning

• Session D

This study examines the effectiveness of Quizlet for vocabulary acquisition based on two cohorts of first-year business students. The findings reveal that the use of Quizlet has a significant impact on vocabulary retention. However, the relative efficacy of  Quizlet’s seven self-study activities depends on the type of retrieval required, i.e. recall vs. recognition. A regression analysis suggests that the recognition-based “Match”-activity has no impact on vocabulary scores. By contrast, recall-based tasks (“Flashcard, Write, Spell, Gravity”) and mixed recall/recognition activities (“Learn, Test”) make a significant contribution to lexical retention. Furthermore, the data might indicate a preference among stronger learners for the more effective, recall-based activities while weaker learners tend towards the easier, but ineffective, “Match”-activity. However, this conjecture still requires confirmation. NB: This talk is scheduled for 30 minutes.