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Article published In: Australian Review of Applied Linguistics
Vol. 48:3 (2025) ► pp.535–558

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Learning medical terminology in an ESP medical course

Vocabulary notebooks versus word lists

ORCiD logo with link | Umm Al-Qura UniversityMakkah
Published online: 26 November 2024
DOI logo with link
https://doi.org/10.1075/aral.24070.gaf
Abstract
This quasi-experimental study investigated the efficacy of two distinct approaches for vocabulary learning, namely vocabulary notebooks and word lists, specifically in the context of learning medical terms. Sixty first-year undergraduate EFL students enrolled in an English for Specific Purposes (ESP) medical course were recruited and divided equally into three groups: one group received guidance on using and maintaining vocabulary notebooks to learn 50 target terms, one group was instructed in the use of word lists to study the same 50 target words, and the control group did not undergo any intervention. The results indicate that both treatment approaches yielded significant advancements in vocabulary learning from pretests to posttests. However, the vocabulary notebook group demonstrated significantly superior performance in long-term effectiveness compared with the word list group. The findings imply that both approaches should be incorporated in a medical ESP curriculum.
Article outline
  • 1.Introduction
  • 2.Literature review
    • 2.1Technical words and the medical word list
    • 2.2Word lists
    • 2.3Vocabulary notebooks
    • 2.4Initiating a medical vocabulary-learning intervention in an EMP course
  • 3.Methodology
    • 3.1Research design
    • 3.2Participants and context
    • 3.3Selection of target terms
    • 3.4Instruments
      • Vocabulary tests
    • 3.5Procedure
    • 3.6Data analysis
  • 4.Results
    • 4.1Descriptive statistics analysis
      • 4.1.1From pretest to posttest
      • 4.1.2From posttest to delayed posttest
      • 4.1.3From pretest to delayed posttest
    • 4.2Inferential statistics
      • 4.2.1From pretest to posttest
      • 4.2.2From posttest to delayed posttest
      • 4.2.3From pretest to delayed posttest
  • 5.Discussion
  • 6.Conclusion
  • References
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