THE EFFECT OF COMPUTER ASSISTED LANGUAGE LEARNING (CALL) AND CONTEXT-BASED INSTRUCTION OF LEXICAL ITEMS ON THE RECALL AND RETENTION OF IRANIAN EFL LEARNERS AT ELEMENTARY LEVEL

This research was done at a non-profit school in Masjed-e-Soleyman (MIS) city in Iran. The aim of this research was to find the effect of using computer-assisted language learning (CALL) approach on the learnersʹ recall and retention at the elementary level. In order to have homogeneous participants, the researcher used Nelson proficiency test (Fowler & Coe, 1976). 50 participants whose scores fell one standard deviation below the mean were chosen to take part in the research. The null hypotheses were proposed: CALL would not improve learnersʹ recall and retention and there would be no significant difference between the mean scores of the students who were instructed traditionally and those who were instructed based on CALL regarding the recall and retention of vocabulary learning. The chosen participants were divided randomly into two groups of 25 students, one control, and one experimental group. Three sets of tests were designed by the researcher as the pre-test, immediate, and delayed post-test. Learners were taught ten units of Picture Dictionary (Nakata, Frazier & Hoskins, 2011) during ten sessions of treatment. Two groups took a post-test immediately after the treatment and a delayed post-test after a-two-week interval. Paired samples t-test and independent samples t-test were used to compare the groupsʹ means. The findings revealed that control group was good only at the recall of vocabulary items and the experimental group was good not only at recall but also at retention of vocabulary items.