In today’s world, multilingualism is imperative as an asset for human interactions at social, economic and political levels. The English language is vastly spoken all around the world, and more people are enrolling in English classes on a daily basis using both visual materials like info-graphics and books. Flash cards and reading books are proven effective ways of learning English vocabulary for beginners as well as those that seek to advance their English conversance.
Flash cards are learning aids which contain short but easily comprehensible information tailored for students to read and memorize the words (Wang, Teng & Chen, 2015). They could take the form of the traditional hand written cards or the digitized form whereby students use gadgets like the iPhone App which facilitates the creation of photo cards in which students can type their information (Wang et.al. 2015). As a learning tool, flash cards are important in strengthening students' ability to memorize words which are an important aspect of the English vocabulary learning process. The portability of the flashcards makes them mobile and easy to access at several intervals during the students' daily routines. The more they read the vocabularies, the better they get at remembering them and internalizing them into their brains (Wang et.al., 2015). Digital flash cards enable students to learn vocabularies not only through print but also through audio-visual tools which help them make contextual and readily understandable materials through snapshots accompanied with words and audio messaging. This helps in learning new vocabularies while placing them in the right contexts which build the students comprehensibility of the English words (Wang et.al. 2015). Flashcards also enhance metacognition capabilities in students an aspect that is important in learning new vocabularies. For instance, when a teacher holds up a flash card with a particular word, the students get the chance to assess their ability in correctly identifying words meanings and how they are used in sentences. Before turning over the answer side, the student gets the opportunity to engage their awareness and understanding of the vocabulary capability before learning the correct answer (Wang et.al, 2015). Flash cards are therefore an indispensable and an interesting tool for learning new vocabulary more so in today’s digital world.
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Books are a valuable tool in the learning of new vocabularies since the invention of the written word (Kameenui & Baumann, 2012). For centuries, books have been known to pass knowledge down across generations and in the learning of new vocabularies, they provide words, meaning as well as place the vocabularies in context (Kameenui & Baumann, 2012). Due to the permanence of the words when well preserved, books act as active memory boosters since they provide the learner with the opportunity to revisit a word more than once which makes the vocabularies ingrained in their minds (Kameenui & Baumann, 2012). Through pictorial illustrations, books act as effective ways of teaching new vocabularies by helping the students interconnect words with objects, therefore, making it easier for them to learn new names of objects, animals, people and places (Kameenui & Baumann, 2012). Books like the dictionary, novels, biographies and academic works help students learn new words that could have escaped their attention in auditory and visual interactions. They teach them the spellings of words as well as how they are used in sentence construction while directing them on the right contextual use of the phrases.
Books and flash cards are therefore an efficient way of learning new vocabularies. They boost learners' memory, and teach them new words, their correct spellings as well as their proper contextual use.
References
Kameenui, E. J., & Baumann, J. F. (2012). Vocabulary instruction: research to practice . New York: Guilford Press.
Wang, B. T., Teng, C. W., & Chen, H. T. (2015). Using iPad to Facilitate English Vocabulary Learning. International Journal of Information and Education Technology, 5 (2), 100- 104. doi:10.7763/ijiet.2015.v5.484
