Disentangling the facilitation effect of emoji in vocabulary recognition: experimental evidence from semantic matching tasks

These findings highlight the potential of emojis as semiotic and cognitive resources in L2 vocabulary learning. The study underscores the importance of context-sensitive integration of visual media in instructional design, offering practical implications for enhancing language learning through multimodal approaches. The findings suggest that emoji can facilitate vocabulary recognition. However, the current results should be interpreted as evidence that emoji facilitate learners' performance in semantic matching tasks, rather than evidence of long-term vocabulary acquisition. Future research should incorporate delayed post-tests and retention measures to examine whether emoji support durable learning outcomes.