Let's try: Kahoot!

     Kahoot is a digital learning platform that uses quiz-style games to help students learn by making the information engaging in a fun way. The cloud-based service will work on most devices via a web browser. That means this is accessible for students in class or at home using laptops, tablets and smartphones.

 Why is this particular tool or technology relevant to teaching vocabulary?

 To begin with, mastering vocabulary  is essential when learning a language.  Acquisition of vocabulary  is important so students can be able to communicate using these concepts as they move through  their  learning  process  (Kinahan,  2001). Abrams and Walsh (2014) found that using technology-based  games for vocabulary instruction increased  student  vocabulary  assessment  scores  from  a  low  level  B  average  before  the game to a low A average after the game was played. Studies have demonstrated that using IRS (interactive response systems) applications promotes learning gains  and engagement (Mayer at al., 2009). According to Dellos (2015), Kahoot! is a student response system that engages students through  game-like  pre- made  or  impromptu  quizzes,  discussions  and  surveys.

    How might you use it to foster language learning? 

              The most remarkable feature of this application is the possibility that it offers to teachers to create material from scratch. This way, teachers can broadly evaluate any piece of  content according to their needs. In the case of vocabulary, which includes teaching single items and phrases or chunks of several words with a specific meaning, it can be tested in various ways, such as follows:

-Quiz spelling by adding wrong answers with slight similarities so they are not completely different from the correct alternative:

-Quiz meaning by using native language

-Quiz collocations and appropriateness by adding statements with a missing word or chunk, and options where students must select the most suitable for each case:

-Quiz connotation by adding images or gifs to reinforce significance: 

   What limitations are seen with the use of this technology for the purposes of teaching vocabulary?

   Kahoot is an application aimed to quiz knowledge. Thus, since vocabulary is learned in context, rather than presenting new phrases and words with this application only the degree to which students are learning the new vocabulary already studied (or to reinforce it) is evaluated, not for the production or practice of it, but only for passive memorization. Regarding the form of the words, it does not allow to know if the students can pronounce the target language correctly, it is only possible to evaluate the handling of correct spelling, collocations, meaning, connotation, word formation and appropriateness, but only in a receptive and not productive way.

    On the other hand, the overuse of this application in the classroom can quickly lead to students losing interest in seeing this tool with enthusiasm, in the same way that very long games also generate boredom in them. We suggest a Kahoot quiz not to last for more than 5 minutes so that the feeling of the game is not lost, which is the main aspect of this application in order to generate engagement in students.

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References:

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Abrams, S., & Walsh, S. (2014). Gamified Vocabulary.

Journal Of Adolescent & Adult Literacy, 58 (1), 49-58. http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/jaal.315

Dellos, R. (2015). Kahoot! A Digital Game resource for learning.

International Journal Of Instructional Technology And Distance Learning, Vol 12 (No. 4), 49 -52.

Kinahan, C. (2001). Book Review: Vocabulary in language teaching (CambridgeLanguage Education series). Language Teaching Research, 5(2), 180- 182. http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/136216880100500206.

Mayer, E. A., Stull, A., DeLeeuw, K., Almeroth, K., Bimber, B., & Chun, D. (2009). Clickers in College classrooms: fostering learning with questioning methods. Contemporary Educational Psychology, 51-57.

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