Comparative study of game-based learning on preschoolers’ English vocabulary acquisition in Taiwan

ABSTRACT

This is a comparative study that explores preschoolers’ English vocabulary acquisition in Taiwan and tries to look for a better pedagogy. After Taiwan’s government announced the policy of developing a “Bilingual Nation,” English is the second language in Taiwan. The reforming of English instruction is in urgent need. Under this background, this research aims to investigate whether English vocabulary acquisition will occur in a variety of GBL. In this study, we grouped participants into four instructional groups. Two groups are designed as instructional groups of “flashcard game” in learning 2 words or 3 words per day. Another two groups are designed as groups of “driving games” in learning 2 words or 3 words per day. Without explicit instruction, the study’s result showed that preschoolers’ English vocabulary acquisition can occur autonomously by GBL, and “2 words per day” is the best and suitable vocabulary size for preschoolers to acquire English in their memory. We found that games can produce children's autonomous learning, and the numbers of children’s vocabulary memory can be taken into consideration. Besides, the appropriate amount of information can train children to enter long-term memory. The above findings will benefit language learning, game-based learning (GBL), and interactive learning.

KEYWORDS:

• vocabulary acquisition
• game-based learning (GBL)
• interactive learning
• autonomous learning, early childhood education

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Joni Tzuchen Tang

Joni Tzuchen Tang is currently an assistant professor of the Graduate Institute of Applied Science and Technology at National Taiwan University of Science and Technology, Taiwan. She received her Ph.D. from National Taipei University of Education (NTUE) under Kuo-En Chang’s supervision. Her researches include early childhood education, game-based learning, mobile learning, language learning. Her books include Entering the world of children's thinking: the exploration of children's games (2019), The Application of Situated Learning Theory in Chinese Virtual Communities (2016), Educational Psychology (2010). She has written articles on a variety of topics in the children’s play state of mind and language learning.