The Effect of Two Task Types on Learning English Words and Idioms

Learning new words or idioms in L2 is a complicated process involving a variety of sub-processes and tasks. This experimental study investigated the popular belief of many foreign language teachers that words learned with the use of two tasks- receptive and productive- are better retained receptively than words that are learned just receptively. Accordingly, the current study aimed to investigate the effects of two task types; namely, receptive and productive, on learning English words and idioms. For this purpose, 75 upper-intermediate EFL students were chosen and divided into three groups randomly. One group received a receptive task while in the second group productive tasks were implemented. The third group, however, learned the words with the combination of receptive and productive tasks. Immediate and delayed receptive and productive tests were given. The results revealed that although both tasks led to significant gains in the receptive tests, the productive task group significantly outperformed on the productive tests. However, the optimal learning happened in the third group where both task types were used. With regard to task types, findings are pedagogically helpful for not only EFL teachers, but also for EFL students.