Abstract

Flashcards are widely used in primary school English teaching, and the types of flashcards and flashcard drills are various. However, the effectiveness of flashcard drills is always neglected by teachers. This research aims to investigate the effective application of flashcards in primary school English teaching. 22 third-graders participate in this research and the effectiveness of flashcards was measured by the number of words which participants can recognize and read accurately in the follow-up vocabulary test. Results indicate that flashcards can facilitate English vocabulary teaching, and flashcard with Chinese meaning and English word which is written in four-line form on one side and picture overleaf is the most effective one.

Keywords: flashcards; effectiveness; type; primary school students; English teaching

Contents

Abstract

摘  要

1. Introduction-1

1.1 Background of the Study-1

1.2 Significance of the study-1

1.3 Organization of the study-1

2. Literary Review-3

2.1 Flashcards-3

2.1.1 Definition-3

2.1.2 Types of Flashcards-3

2.1.3 Functions and Advantages of flashcards-5

2.2 Related Studies of Flashcard in Primary School English Teaching-5

2.2.1 The Origin and Development of Flashcard Drill-5

2.2.2 Traditional Drill and Practice-6

2.2.3 Interspersal Techniques-6

2.3 The Psychological Development of Primary School Students-7

3. Research Design-8

3.1 Research Questions-8

3.2 Subjects-8

3.3 Instrument-8

3.3.1 Interview-8

3.3.2 Classroom Experiment-8

3.4 procedures-8

4. Data Analysis and Discussion-12

4.1 Comparison among groups of Meaning part-12

4.2 Comparison among groups of Pronunciation part-12

4.3 Comparison among groups of Image part-13

4.4 Comparison among groups of writing part-13

4.5 The overall comparison of the effectiveness of all types of flashcards-14

4.6 Comparison of forgetting rate among Week1, Week1’, and Week1’’ and between Week2 and Week2’’-15

4.7 Comparison of learning effectiveness between males and females-16

5. Conclusion-17

References-18

Appendix-19