Enhancing acquisition of technical vocabulary: an intervention with secondary school students

Learning technical vocabulary may be challenging, as it is often unknown in the first language, used infrequently and therefore difficult to remember. The aims of the study were to explore ways of enhancing acquisition of technical vocabulary among secondary education students, through offering a tailored, research-based intervention designed to maximize opportunities for learning, and through investigating the strategies students reported they used to memorize the target vocabulary. A quasi-experimental study with three student groups (n=36) and an individual case study were carried out. The methodology comprised pre-tests, a two-week intervention, post-tests, and a questionnaire on memorization techniques used by students. In addition, there was an interview with the individual student. Findings show strong positive impacts of the designed intervention on vocabulary learning, with students reporting techniques such as repetition and creating word lists in English and Polish to be effective. Insights for effective materials design and teaching are suggested.