ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Psychol.
Sec. Psychology of Language
Volume 16 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2025.1594620
Fostering Effective Vocabulary Retention among Primary School Students: A Case Study
Provisionally accepted
- 1Cyprus International University, Nicosia, Cyprus
- 2Instructor in English Language Teaching Department, Nicosia, Cyprus
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Numerous studies on vocabulary acquisition have prioritized form-first instruction focusing on spelling and pronunciation before meaning. However, cognitive theories suggest that introducing meaning first may enhance vocabulary retention by engaging deeper semantic and conceptual processing. This quasi-experimental study explored the effects of meaning-first versus form-first vocabulary instruction on bilingual primary school students in Cyprus. Over a 12-week period, 65 fourth-grade students were divided into two groups: one receiving meaning-first instruction and the other form-first instruction. The Self-Report Vocabulary Mastery Scale (SRVMS) was used to assess both word knowledge and contextual application. Findings revealed that while both groups improved, the meaning-first group significantly outperformed the form-first group in vocabulary acquisition and sentence-level usage. The results were supported by a large effect size (Cohen's d = 1.37), suggesting that meaning-first instruction fosters stronger lexical encoding and retrieval. These findings align with theories of cognitive load, depth of processing, and working memory, offering practical implications for inclusive and sustainable language education.
Keywords: vocabulary learning, young learners, Cognitive Load, working memory, meaning-first instruction, form-first instruction, lexical access
Received: 08 Apr 2025; Accepted: 23 Oct 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Sahin and YAVUZ. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence: Damla Sahin, damlasahin19901@gmail.com
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