Enhancing Advanced EFL Learners’ Vocabulary Recall via MI-oriented Thematic Vocabulary Clustering

The present study aimed at exploring if the vocabulary recall of the advanced EFL learners could be enhanced by MI-oriented Thematic Vocabulary Instruction (TVI). To scrutinize the probable impact of the treatment on various intelligence groups, we selected a purposive homogeneous sample of 80 out of 118 advanced level learners and assigned them to four groups. The first experimental group (EG1) underwent TVI along with matching MI-based tasks, the second experimental group (EG2) received TVI with non-matching MI-oriented tasks, the third experimental group (EG3) had TVI but just did the coursebook exercises and the control group (CG) received conventional non-thematic instruction with coursebook exercises. 60 advanced words were taught for 10 sessions. The vocabulary recall test was administered with a three-week interval after the end of the treatment, requiring the participants to use the words in five paragraphs based on the given topic and the frequency counts showed the number of the new words. The results from ANOVA and Tukey post hoc tests revealed that the EG1 members who had undergone TVI with MI-oriented tasks significantly outperformed their peers. Specifically, verbally intelligent learners had the highest and the intra-personally dominant ones had the lowest significant performances. The findings accentuate the significance of taking individual differences into account and offer a number of pedagogical implications for the teachers and administrative authorities.