The Effect of Pictures on Online Business English Vocabulary Retention of EFL Learners Amid the COVID-19 Pandemic

Abstract

Students can find numerous online resources and platforms for English vocabulary learning during COVID-19. However, most online vocabulary recollection research was concerned with general vocabulary retention, particularly the impact of pictures on general vocabulary memorization. Little is known about business English vocabulary and the relationship between them and pictorial annotations. Therefore, this study investigated the impact of pictures on students' retention of business English vocabulary presented online and employed the two-way mixed design ANOVA to analyze the data. The findings revealed that while images did not improve online recollection of word form, they contributed to meaning retention in both the immediate and delayed post-tests. Furthermore, there was a significant change in recollecting word meaning across different presentation modes over time, although the change was not significant in word form retention. Future studies should investigate multiple parts of speech of business English vocabulary and the effects of individual differences on the results.