The effects of receptive and productive tasks on vocabulary retention

This study was designed to investigate the effects of receptive and/or productive tasks on vocabulary gains. The study included two successive word sets to confirm the results. Four groups of students at the same proficiency level, lower-intermediate, were randomly assigned to different task groups: one group for receptive, one group for productive, one group for mixed (receptive+productive), and one control group, which did not receive any of the tasks. 127 students were present in the application of word set I, and 117 students were present in the application word set II.8 target words were explicitly taught in each word set. Then, students read a text in which they could see the target words. Following that, they received tasks, except the control group. All students were tested on both same receptive and productive tests just before, immediately after and four weeks after the application of each word set. Finally, a total retention test for 16 target words dealt with in word set was administered six weeks after the applications.The results revealed that all groups showed a statistically significant increase in their scores both in receptive and productive parts from pre test to post tests. With regard to receptive tests, no significant decrease was observed in task groups from immediate to delayed post test; however, the control group could not maintain its gains and decreased its scores significantly over time. In the productive tests, on the other hand, although receptive group was able to retain its gains from immediate to delayed post test, there was a significant decrease in the other groups over time.When the scores were investigated between groups, no significant effect of different tasks on students? vocabulary gains was found in receptive and productive tests applied at different intervals. However, receiving any of the tasks had a significant positive effect on receptive and productive gains of the students because task groups were significantly better than the control group, which always received the lowest scores.The results of the total retention test which included 16 target words together and which was applied 6 weeks after the applications of the word sets revealed that there was no significant difference in receptive and productive tests between the task groups. However, all groups receiving tasks were significantly different from the control group as they had significantly better scores than the control group.The findings of this study may confirm the importance of tasks as it proved just presenting target words was not enough to retain vocabulary over time. The type of task (receptive and/or productive) was not found to have divergent effects on vocabulary retention, though.