The Impact of Corpus-aided Discovery Learning Approach on EFL Egyptian Students ' Learning of Vocabulary

Abstract

This study attempted to examine the impact of the corpus-aided discovery learning approach on promoting Egyptian EFL learners' collocational competence. It sought to investigate the effect of incorporating this technique in two Egyptian EFL pedagogical settings, i.e., Ahram Canadian University and October Six University. The study employed a quasi-experimental design in which two intact classes were divided into an experimental and a control group in each university. The experimental group was exposed to the corpus-aided discovery learning approach for learning the target structures. The control group was taught them in the context of the traditional classroom. The participants comprised 125 students studying at Ahram Canadian University and 125 students enrolled in October Six university. The study lasted for 9 weeks. The general attitude of the learners towards employing this technique was assessed through administering a questionnaire. The results demonstrated that the experimental groups exhibited higher levels of collocational mastery than the control groups. They manifested that students enrolled in Ahram Canadian University outperformed those enrolled in October Six University with regard to the learning of the target collocations .The findings reported positive attitudes towards employing the corpus-based technique in Egyptian L2 classes. The study pointed to inductive learning strategies as contributing to the efficient incorporation of corpus pedagogy in Egyptian L2 settings so as to cultivate well-educated learners able to adapt to rapidly-changing technology enhanced learning.