The effect of Kahoot! as a student response system on the attitudes and success of university students in learning English vocabulary

The aim of this study is to determine the effect of Kahoot!, a student response system, on English vocabulary learning levels and attitudes of university students towards learning English and to find out their opinions about Kahoot!. The study was conducted with university students and the vocabulary learning levels of students were assessed. A total of 61 students composed of a control group (N25) and an experimental group (N36) participated in the study. An achievement test which was applied as a pilot test to a similar group was prepared to determine students' vocabulary levels of the related vocabulary items. The test was applied to the control and experimental groups as pre-test, and it was found that the two groups were equal in terms of their success in the target vocabulary. An attitude scale towards English course which was prepared by Aydoslu (2005) was applied along with the pre-test. In the application process, Kahoot! vocabulary quizzes were applied in the experimental group throughout six weeks in addition to the usual process of the course and the courses were carried out in the usual process in the control group using the course book. After the application process, the achievement test and the same attitude scale were applied to the students in both groups as post-test. After the application process, semi-structured interviews including open-ended questions were carried out with twelve students, who volunteered from the experimental group, in order to find out their opinions about the process. The results of the achievement test and attitude scale were analyzed using statistical package program, and the interviews were reviewed using content analysis. Thus, this study was carried out via mixed method which includes quantitative and qualitative methods. According to the results of the study, it was found that using Kahoot! in teaching English vocabulary contributed very little to the students' achievements. However, according to the results of interviews, students have positive attitudes towards using Kahoot! in English lectures and support using it. Also, students expressed that they have problems in retention of words and Kahoot! helps them remember words. In conclusion, it could be suggested that Kahoot! could be used in teaching vocabulary items in the target language, and more comprehensive studies could be carried out in this field.