The Impact of Teaching EFL Medical Vocabulary Through Collocations on Vocabulary Retention of EFL Medical Students

Oct 15, 2026

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Teaching technical vocabulary in ESP context is vital in university-level English language teaching. This quasi-experimental study examined how teaching EFL medical vocabulary through collocations affects vocabulary retention among medical students. A pretest/posttest control group design involved 80 nursing majors at Kashan University of Medical Sciences, Iran. After proficiency testing, 62 intermediate students were assigned to experimental and control groups. The experimental group learned new medical vocabulary via collocations, while the control group used traditional techniques (synonym, antonym, definition, and mother-tongue translation). A researcher-made collocation test showed higher mean scores in the experimental group after treatment.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryResearch & Report

FormatPDF

Pages4

Reading Time10 min

AccessFree to download

Introduction

Vocabulary learning in ESP contexts

Collocation as a vocabulary teaching technique

Abstract

Advances in Language and Literary Studies ISSN: 2203-4714 [www.alls.aiac.org.au](www.alls.aiac.org.au) | The Impact of Teaching EFL Medical Vocabulary Through Collocations on Vocabulary Retention of EFL Medical Students
Maryam Najafi, Mohammad Reza Talebinezhad*
Department of English Language Teaching, Shahreza Branch, Islamic Azad University, Shahreza, IR Iran Corresponding Author: Mohammad Reza Talebinezhad, [E-mail: mrezatalebinejad@gmail.com](E-mail: mrezatalebinejad@gmail.com) | | | --- | --- | | ARTICLE INFO | ABSTRACT
Teaching technical vocabulary in ESP context is a vital part of English language teaching ata university level. EFL teachers almost use traditional techniques for teaching new medical vocabulary. This study aimed at examining the impact of teaching medical vocabulary through collocations on vocabulary learning of medical students. This quasi-experimental study with apretest/posttest control group design was conducted on 80 students majoring Nursing at Kashan University of Medical Sciences, Iran. The proficiency test was used to determine the proficiency level of the students and 62 students were selected as intermediate students. The students were assigned into two groups. In the experimental group new medical vocabulary was taught through collocations, while in the control group new vocabularies were instructed through traditional techniques including synonym, antonym, definition and mother tongue translation. Data were collected using a researcher-made test of collocation. Results showed that the mean score of teaching medical vocabulary was increased in the experimental group after the treatment. It can be seen that the experimental group outperformed the control group on the medical collocation tests. | | Article history
Received: April 02, 2018
Accepted: July 06, 2018
Published: October 31, 2018
Volume: 9 Issue: 5
Advance access: August 2018 | | | Conflicts of interest: None
Funding: None | | | Key words:
Vocabulary Retention,
Collocation, Teaching, EFL, ESP | | INTRODUCTION English for Specific Purposes (ESP) and general English are several branches of English language teaching. Needs analysis can be a vital asset for ESP teachers to determine their learners’key requirements or needs (Hyland, 2006) . ESP is related to instruction for specific purposes, and it is associated with university level learning (Hyland & Hamp-Lyons, 2002) . Vocabulary plays the major role in the foreign language learning and without learning vocabulary learners cannot establish any communication. The basic step in mastering a foreign language is vocabulary learning. Language learning has different approaches, which have a different outlook on vocabulary (Jesa, 2008) . In fact, grammar and pronunciation are considered as major components of language learning, while vocabulary is neglected in most ESP classes (Farghal & Obiedat, 1995). A large number of scholars believed that a high level of proficiency in the target language only can be obtained by vocabulary learning (Boers & Lindstromberg, 2008) . It is believed that having a large and varied vocabulary is the sign of communicative competence and it is one of the central aspects of language learning (McCrostie, 2007) . Also, vocabulary should be accepted as a key element in language teaching from the early stages (Celce-Murcia and Rosensweig, 1989) . Some researchers confirm that having an adequate stock of vocabulary with a minimum number of structures usually helps the learner more not only in reading comprehension, but also in attaining more efficient communication than having a perfect command of structures with an inadequate amount of vocabulary. Also, most of the teachers prefer to use traditional vocabulary teaching techniques such as synonyms, antonyms, definition, and mother tongue translation when they want to instruct the vocabulary items. Consequently, students do not make any attempt to get to the meaning and it is

FAQs

What is the research focus of the study?

The study investigates the impact of teaching EFL medical vocabulary through collocations on vocabulary retention of EFL medical students.

How was the study designed and who participated?

It used a quasi-experimental pretest/posttest control group design with 80 nursing students; 62 intermediate students were selected for the two groups.

What teaching methods were used in the experimental and control groups?

The experimental group learned new medical vocabulary through collocations, while the control group learned it using traditional techniques: synonym, antonym, definition, and mother-tongue translation.

Oct 15, 2026

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