Haddad, AhlemBoulmaiz, Djallel2018-04-082018-04-082015http://hdl.handle.net/123456789/2647Vocabulary is an important area in learning a second or foreign language, thus; english as foreign language learners should work to improve it. It helps students to be effective interlocutors; it improves their ability to understand others' views as well as to express their ideas and thoughts in a more better way. For this purpose, different strategies have been used in attempt to develop students' vocabulary knowledge, among these strategies extensive reading of authentic materials by english as foreign learners. Therefore, the current study aims to examine the effectiveness of reading short stories on improving students' vocabulary acquisition. In the light of the stated aim, we hypothesis that assigning university students with reading short stories would help them to improve their vocabulary knowledge than those who are taught vocabulary following the traditional method. In order to prove or reject the stated hypothesis, a quasi-experimental study takes place at Larbi Ben M'Hidi university Oum-El-bouaghi, where 60 first year LMD students of english are chosen randomly and subdivided into two groups; one experimental and the other control. Students of both groups pre-tested to know about their vocabulary knowledge, in which they are asked to answer three exercises; in the first exercise they had to classify ten words in three categories. In the second exercise they had to choose the correct word to fit with its definition. And in the third exercise they should define four vocabulary items then put them in meaningful sentences to show their understanding of the words' meanings. After the pre-test phase, the experimental group were asked to read three short stories; however, the control group stuck to the traditional method, i.e., depending only on teachers' instructions. And finally, they are post-tested. Data analysis shows the significant improvement in students' vocabulary acquisition through reading short stories. This led us to support the alternative hypothesis and to reject the null one.enTeaching : english : EFL : vocabularyOther