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Tialei Scanlan

Leola Solis

Veronica Wright

Brigham Young University - Hawaii, USA

 

Abstract

This mixed method study looked at how vocabulary was being addressed in an accounting course and the efficacy of integrating vocabulary strategies to assist second language learners. The purposes of this paper were to determine the pedagogical implications about the explicit teaching of accounting vocabulary and extrapolate learners’ attitudes toward accounting terminology and whether they feel these strategies were beneficial to their overall learning. Participants were mostly English as a second language (ESL) undergraduate students in a private university enrolled in an upper division accounting class. At three different times during a ten-week term, students were given different wordlists and asked to study the wordlists on their own using the online version of Quizlet (a vocabulary learning software) in preparation for vocabulary quizzes. Wordlists were created using second language learning vocabulary principles and online tools to help identify academic words, high-frequency words, and repetition in prefixes. After interviewing students, data revealed that the overall experience was a positive one especially with the functionality of Quizlet. The wordlists and the online software Quizlet seemed to help the students direct their learning, focus on key words for the class, and strengthen their connections with the given words to the textbook and previous classes. Quizlet, according to the students, was easy and fun to use, and provided the repetitious element needed for long-term retention. This suggests that the use of wordlists in conjunction with the online software Quizlet in a content course like Accounting is a useful learning experience for second language learners.

 

Keywords

Vocabulary learning, accounting vocabulary, English as a second language, Quizlet