The Effectiveness of using crossword puzzles as a teaching strategy to anhance students' knowledge of vocabulary

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Date
2016
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university of Oum El Bouaghi
Abstract
This research work aims at investigating the effectiveness of Using crossword puzzles as a teaching technique to foster first year english students' knowledge of new foreign vocabularies. As a first step we put forward one main hypothesis, if students learn vocabulary via crossword puzzles, their knowledge of vocabulary will be raised. We believe that vocabulary is something that can be achieved through practice. Students do not wait for their teachers to teach them new words. To achieve such an aim, we relied on two means of research: the teachers' questionnaire and the test. First, the teachers' questionnaire was to collect data about the techniques they use when teaching new words in their lessons and their concerns about the affective side of the learner, whether they incorporate crossword puzzles as a teaching strategy to teach new vocabulary items in their classes. Second, for our study, a pre-test and a post-test were organized. In the pre-test, students were supposed to fill-in themed crossword puzzles with the appropriate word (down and cross). The main aim is to teach students new words, and to see the extent to which students are able to decipher the meaning of the clues, as well as the degree of students' familiarity with them. In the post-test, students were asked to answer the same crossword of the pre-test. In this respect, the goal intended is to see the extent to which students are able to memorize and recall the new acquired words. The result showed that the learners proved to have learnt nearly all the unfamiliar vocabulary items that they have dealt with in the pre-test. Accordingly, it is recommended that puzzles should be incorporated in teaching materials.
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Knowledge vocabulary
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