Effect of Game-Based Instruction on Students’ Achievements in Vocabulary

This quasi-experimental study with pretest-posttestdesign intended to compare the effect of game-based instruction on vocabulary achievement among Azari-speaking EFL second-gradejunior high school students at Bostan Abad, East Azerbaijan province in Iran. Two intact classes were provided by the two different instruction methods, the children in the experimental group received language games as a treatment while the children in the control group were instructedthrough a traditional method, the scores of thirty one students out of them were taken into account. There were sixteen persons in experimental group and fifteen students in control group. The results of Independent-samples t-test indicated that there was a significant difference inscores for experimental group(M=30.80 ,SD=9.25)and control group(M=23.68,SD=9.42 ;t(29)= -2.11 ,p=0.04,two-tailed).The magnitude of the differences in the means(mean difference= -7.11 ,95 CI: -13.98to -0.24)was very large effect(eta squared=0.13).The learners in the experimental group outperformed the learners in the control group . It is recommended that teachers use games to create easy, relaxed atmosphere to lower student’s anxiety and hence facilitate learning.