Student-created quizlet flashcards and podcasts: effects on vocabulary acquisition

To date, several studies have investigated the potential benefits of using Quizlet and podcasts for vocabulary development, however, they have mainly focused on the use of teacher-created material, its effects on receptive vocabulary acquisition and students’ motivation, and relatively little has been done to study the effects of student-generated podcasts and Quizlet study sets on second language vocabulary acquisition including productive skills. Hence, the present study seeks to analyze and compare how student-created podcasts and Quizlet flashcards affect vocabulary retention, taking into account both receptive and productive vocabulary knowledge. The participants in the study were 22 adult students, age 18-61. The instruments used in this research were pre-tests to check students’ prior knowledge, immediate post-tests to measure receptive and productive vocabulary acquisition and a questionnaire to gauge students’ perceptions of the two methods. Results showed that a lthough there was no major difference between the two methods regarding receptive or productive vocabulary acquisition, and both techniques helped students to retain new vocabulary, participants expressed a greater preference for the Quizlet methodology.