The Impact of Reading Genre-Specific Texts on EFL Vocabulary Learning

The present study was designed to explore the impact of reading genre-specific texts on intermediate Iranian English as a Foreign Language (EFL) learners’ vocabulary learning in intensive reading courses. The vocabulary instruction was provided through three methods: the science fiction genre instruction, the narrative genre instruction and the conventional techniques used by language institutes. The findings showed that the EFL learners’ vocabulary learning was improved in science fiction genre group. In addition, this strategy was effective in improving the learners’ vocabulary recall and retention. The teacher-led science fiction genre may have raised the learners’ motivation that helped them to change. On the other hand, narrative-genre-instruction group showed an improvement in both immediate and delayed post-test. Both narrative and science fiction genres played a role in initial vocabulary recall, as evidenced by the immediate posttest performance. However, the substantial drop in scores between immediate and delayed tests suggests that the learners in both groups did not retain the vocabulary well. This indicates that forgetting occurred regardless of the genre used for instruction.