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15 YEARS OF RESEARCH ON TEACHING
ENGLISH VOCABULARY TO CHILDREN: A
SCOPUS-BASED REVIEW
15 AÑOS DE INVESTIGACIÓN SOBRE LA ENSEÑANZA DE
VOCABULARIO EN INGLÉS A NIÑOS: UNA REVISIÓN
BASADA EN SCOPUS
Alexandra Novozhenina
Universidad Católica Luis Amigo, Colombia
Yesika Alejandra Jimenez Carmona
Universidad Católica Luis Amigo, Colombia
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.37811/cl_rcm.v9i1.16590
15 years of Research on Teaching English Vocabulary to Children: A
Scopus-based Review
Alexandra Novozhenina1
alexandra.novozheninano@amigo.edu.co
https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0639-8243
Foreign Languages Program, Universidad
Católica Luis Amigo, Manizales, Colombia
Yesika Alejandra Jimenez Carmona
yesika.jimenezca@amigo.edu.co
https://orcid.org/0009-0005-6689-3651
Foreign Languages Program, Universidad
Católica Luis Amigo, Manizales, Colombia
ABSTRACT
Learning vocabulary at the early stages of EFL education is crucial, as it impacts students’ future
performance and success. As a result, educators of young learners have a significant responsibility to
deliver effective vocabulary instruction. However, the syllabi of EFL pre-service programs often fail to
address this aspect, leading to somewhat limited training. Furthermore, primary school teachers in many
countries do not hold English-teaching degrees, which results in a lack of well-structured EFL
instruction. The present literature review aimed to address this problem by analyzing sixty documents
from the Scopus database dating from 2010 to 2024 and reporting the most important findings and
conclusions. Key topics were identified and discussed, such as teaching vocabulary through technology,
reading, music, games, and TPR, as well as explicit instruction, L1 use, and the teacher factor, among
others. Additionally, the infographics summarizing the general findings were also presented. The article
culminates with conclusions and suggestions for future research directions. This paper is an important
source for both teachers, who can use it as a guide for their classroom practices, and researchers, who
can analyze the possibilities for future research on the topic.
Keywords: vocabulary instruction, young learners, EFL, teaching methodology, education
1
Autor principal
Correspondencia: alexandra.novozheninano@amigo.edu.co
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15 años de Investigación sobre la Enseñanza de Vocabulario en Inglés a
Niños: Una Revisión Basada en Scopus
RESUMEN
El aprendizaje de vocabulario en las primeras etapas de la educación en inglés como lengua extranjera
(EFL) es fundamental, ya que influye en el desempeño y éxito futuro de los estudiantes. Como resultado,
los docentes de niños tienen una gran responsabilidad en la enseñanza efectiva del vocabulario. Sin
embargo, los programas de formación inicial en EFL suelen no abordar este aspecto de manera
adecuada, lo que genera una capacitación limitada. Además, en muchos países, los docentes de
educación primaria no poseen títulos específicos en enseñanza del inglés, lo que conlleva una instrucción
poco estructurada en EFL. La presente revisión de literatura tiene como objetivo abordar este problema
mediante el análisis de sesenta documentos extraídos de la base de datos Scopus, publicados entre 2010
y 2024, y presentar los hallazgos y conclusiones más relevantes. Se identificaron y discutieron temas
clave como la enseñanza del vocabulario a través de la tecnología, la lectura, la música, los juegos y el
enfoque TPR, así como la instrucción explícita, el uso de la L1 y el papel del docente, entre otros.
Asimismo, se presentaron infografías que resumen los hallazgos generales. El artículo concluye con
reflexiones finales y sugerencias para futuras líneas de investigación. Este estudio representa una fuente
valiosa tanto para los docentes, quienes pueden utilizarlo como guía en sus prácticas en el aula, como
para los investigadores, quienes pueden explorar nuevas posibilidades de estudio en este ámbito.
Palabras clave: enseñanza de vocabulario, niños, EFL, metodología de enseñanza, educación
Artículo recibido 10 enero 2025
Aceptado para publicación: 17 febrero 2025
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INTRODUCTION
In 2022, an impressive 99% of primary school students in several countries around the world were
learning English as a Foreign Language (EFL) (Eurostat, 2024), placing the teaching of English to
children at the forefront of research in the EFL field. One of the key factors in young leaners’ EFL
education is the acquisition of vocabulary, as it serves as the foundation and affects their future success
in many skills, for example, reading comprehension (Hessel & Murphy, 2019; Jalongo & Sobolak,
2011), and might even predict their further overall performance in school (Gillanders et al., 2014).
Therefore, vocabulary development should be tackled during the early stages of education (Saidi et al.,
2015), and the quality of its instruction becomes fundamental (Sylvester et al., 2014).
Despite the widely-accepted fact that pre-school and primary school teachers need to be well-equipped
with knowledge and techniques regarding vocabulary instruction (Jalongo & Sobolak, 2011), education
systems in many countries face difficulties at this front. For example, a number of educators lack
training and preparation on how to teach vocabulary to children (De Mejia, 2009; Correa & Gonzalez,
2016) because many of them hold only general vocational degrees which did not prepare them to teach
English. Furthermore, for a long time in the history of the EFL teaching-learning process vocabulary
instruction had been overlooked by both scholars and practitioners (Qureshi et al., 2023).
The present literature review has analyzed academic papers about teaching vocabulary to young learners
that have been published in the Scopus database in the last fifteen years - from 2010 to 2024. Scopus
was selected for this study as it is considered a trustworthy research database (Baas et al., 2020), while
the time frame was defined due to important processes happening around the globe in 2010. For instance,
the British Council published a study stating that in 2009-2011 both Europe and the rest of the world
have experienced rapid changes – changes that have brought about the need to offer more support to
children’s language processes in order to provide them with essential tools for the future (Enever et al.,
2011). In addition to that, the urge for changes at the edge of the second decade of the 21st century was
also perceived in some South American countries, such as Colombia that announced 2010 as the onset
of the second stage of its Bilingual Program placing the emphasis on young learner’s education so as to
ensure the country’s L2 competence (Ministerio de Educación Nacional, 2005). Therefore, this review
chose the beginning of the second decade of the present century as its starting point.
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After careful revision, sixty documents, most of which came from Asia, North America and Europe,
were included in the current study. First of all, the results were analyzed for general information: annual
publications, publications by author, journal, country/territory and document type. Afterwards, the
documents were grouped into clusters according to their main focus, which shaped the way the present
article was divided into sections. Thereafter, an analysis of the findings, conclusions and future research
suggestions was conducted, and the results were reported in this paper. Overall, it was found that
vocabulary can be taught to children in a variety of ways. Using technology, reading, music, games and
Total Physical Response were the most recurrent classroom strategies reported in the publications that
made part of this review. Apart from that, there were numerous documents that approached the topic
from different perspectives, such as explicit vs implicit instruction, use of L1, teacher factor, and some
stand-alone studies of specific methodologies. Finally, distinct suggestions for future research were
identified and reported in this paper.
Problem Statement
The research problem that inspired the present study is rooted in several factors. First, pre-service
teachers around the world often fail to receive training on how to teach vocabulary to children. Second,
a number of primary school teachers often hold vocational, non-EFL degrees, which results in
inadequate vocabulary instruction. Moreover, teaching vocabulary to children has been an under-
researched area in the EFL field. Therefore, there is an evident need in a comprehensive study that can
provide guidance to both educators and researchers.
Research Objective
Taking into consideration the above-mentioned lacunae regarding the lack of teacher training and gaps
in research, the present literature review aims to provide an overview of the research on teaching EFL
vocabulary to children done in the last 15 years thus ensuring that educators and researchers worldwide
can find relevant information in one paper.
Research Questions
The research questions guiding this study are as follows:
• What can be highlighted about the research of teaching EFL vocabulary to children in the last
15 years?
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• What relevant aspects should be taken into account when teaching EFL vocabulary to
children?
• What pedagogical strategies can be implemented to teach EFL vocabulary to children?
Significance of the Study
This comprehensive literature review in the field of vocabulary instruction for children is extremely
relevant and useful for researchers, educators and pre-service teachers as it informs them on the advances
on the topic.
METHODOLOGY
The methodology of the present study can be divided into two phases: the first phase included the initial
bibliographic search and thorough selection of the pertinent documents, and the second phase consisted
in the analysis of the clusters, or topics, found within the final list of bibliographic material. The first
phase was conducted in the Scopus database and intended to look for publications related to the topic of
teaching English vocabulary to young learners. The study aimed to analyze the literature in the last 15
years, and, therefore, the interval of the search was set between the years 2010 and 2024. The query
field chosen was “Title, abstract, keywords” and the keywords used were primarily as follows:
vocabulary, teaching, English, young learners, and their synonyms. The table below summarizes the
first phase of the study.
Table 1 Bibliographic search summary
Database
Scopus
Query period
2010-2024
Document type
Article, book chapter, review, conference paper
Query field
Title, abstract, keywords
Keywords
(vocabulary OR lexicon OR words) AND (English or EFL) AND
(young learners OR children OR primary) AND teaching
Preliminary results
107
Final results
61
The second phase began with analyzing the general information about the publications, such as their
origin, authorship, and annual publications, among others. After that, grouping the documents according
to their emphases took place. Consequently, they were analyzed for the most important findings and
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conclusions, as well as for the suggestions for further research. The obtained information was then
organized into sections and subsections of the present article.
RESULTS
The present section introduces the results obtained from the first phase of the study and analyzes them
in terms of annual publications, publications per country/territory, types of documents, publications per
author as well as per journal. The final figure of this section shows the distribution of the clusters
encountered in the publications that make part of this study and, consequently, defines the order of the
following sections of this literature review.
Figure 1 Annual publications
Figure 1 illustrates the temporal evolution of documents published within the last 15 years, focusing on
the theme of teaching vocabulary to young learners. An overarching observation reveals significant
fluctuations in the annual publication figures over this examined timeframe. During the time spans of
2010-2012, 2014-2016, 2020-2021, and 2022-2023, a notable decline in the number of papers published
is evident. Conversely, the intervals spanning 2012-2014, 2016-2019, and 2021-2022 are characterized
by growth in publications. Noteworthy is the fact that the year 2020 emerged as the pinnacle in terms of
article production, registering ten (10) publications. In contrast, the years 2012 and 2016 are marked by
only one published paper each, underscoring the fluctuating nature of scholarly contributions to this
specific topic.
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Figure 2 Publications per country/territory
As per the data presented in Figure 2, depicting the distribution of articles published by country, the
United States emerges as the foremost contributor, with thirteen (13) published documents on the subject
of teaching English vocabulary to children. Taiwan and Turkey secure the second position, each offering
six (6) valuable contributions to this field, followed by five (5) papers from the United Kingdom. Hong
Kong and Spain occupy the fourth spot, with both countries presenting four (4) articles, thereby sharing
this standing. Lastly, Canada, China, Germany, and Indonesia collectively occupy the final position with
a total of three published papers per country.
Furthermore, it is evident from the data portrayed in Figure 2 that Asia leads the geographic distribution
with the highest number of articles, amounting to twenty-two (22) publications. Following closely,
North America holds the second position with eighteen (18) articles. Europe secures the third position
in this regional distribution, accounting for a total of twelve (12) papers. This analysis underscores the
prominence of North America and Asia as pivotal contributors to the scholarly discourse on the topic,
with Europe following suit in the global landscape of research output.
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Figure 3 Publication types
Figure 3 delineates the categorization of documents that feature in the current study. It can be seen that
a predominant share of the literature pertaining to the pedagogy of teaching English vocabulary to young
learners is encapsulated within the realm of articles, which account for a substantial 81.8% of the
document corpus. In addition, 12.1% of the titles included in this study manifest themselves as
conference papers. Reviews and book chapters, albeit a smaller proportion, make up 3% the included
documents each.
Figure 4 Publications by author
Figure 4 demonstrates the distribution of documents based on their respective authors. A discernible
pattern emerges wherein seven authors, namely Castro, D.C., Chen N.S., Chow, B.W.Y., Coyle, Y.,
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Hui, A.N.N., Lee, J.H., Matsuzoe, S., and Tanaka, F., have each authored and published two papers,
thus occupying the forefront of this scholarly contribution. Conversely, the remaining authors featured
in the chart have each contributed a single paper to the corpus of literature in question.
Figure 5 Distribution of clusters
Last but not least, Figure 5 shows how the clusters were distributed in the present study. The Technology
cluster is the most numerous as it includes 23,3% of the articles reviewed. It is followed by Games and
Stand-alone studies that accounted for 11,7% of the articles each. Implicit/explicit instruction and
Reading occupy the third position at 10% each. The rest of the clusters – L1/L2 instruction, Music,
Teacher factor, and TPR – were represented by 8,3% of all the articles each.
DISCUSSION
The present section of the article discusses the clusters identified among all the sixty documents included
in the study. First of all, the clusters were divided into General Issues and Pedagogical Strategies, the
former including general perspectives on how vocabulary should be taught to children, and the latter
encompassing papers that give instructions on what pedagogical strategies should be used in the
classroom for an effective learning to take place.
8,30%
10%
8,30%
11,70%
23,30%
10%
11,70%
8,30%
8,30%
L1/L2 instruction Implicit/Explicit instruction Teacher factor
Stand-alone Technology Reading
Games Music TPR
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Teaching Vocabulary to Young Learners: General Issues
The General Issues category is represented by 38.3% of documents included in the current literature
review. They report a variety of issues related to teaching vocabulary to young learners and tackle this
topic from different angles.
Use of Native Language in Vocabulary Instruction for Children. One general question within the
topic of vocabulary instruction for young learners is whether or not teachers should use L1 in order to
facilitate understanding of the new words, and it accounted for 8,3% of all the articles. Quite often,
teachers’ practices regarding this issue are defined by their institutions that can have policies permitting
or restricting the use of young students’ first language. Nevertheless, according to multiple studies,
turning to L1 proves to be beneficial for the learners. A study by Lugo-Neris et al. observed “additional
benefits to using Spanish expansions in vocabulary instruction” (2010, p. 314). It was found that children
could enhance both receptive knowledge of vocabulary and their use of expressive definitions as a result
of Spanish bridging. Furthermore, a research report by Mendéz et al. (2015) concluded that children that
received bilingual instruction had much higher results than students who received English-only
instruction. The same conclusion was made in a study done in African township schools (Stoffelsma,
2019), in which it was affirmed that the use of L1 helped students establish the “form-meaning linkage”
(p.8). Similarly, Song and Lee (2019) found that even if the change to L1 was brief, vocabulary
acquisition was more successful two weeks after the study. And finally, an interesting conclusion was
made by Lee and Macaro (2013) who studied the effect of using L1 in vocabulary instruction in different
age groups and revealed that the younger the students, the more beneficial it was to provide explanations
in their native language.
Implicit vs Explicit Vocabulary Teaching. Another frequent dilemma that English teachers encounter
is whether to teach vocabulary to children in an implicit or explicit way, which was represented by 10%
of the documents reviewed. According to several authors, the latter proves to be more beneficial for
students. In different studies with primary school children, it was found that explicit and active
vocabulary instruction is preferred as it enhances students’ lexical competence (Gomes-Koban et al.,
2017; Westgate & Hughes, 2018) as well as develops both receptive and expressive vocabulary (Yeung
et al., 2020). Likewise, a research project in a primary school in England concluded that in order to
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effectively promote vocabulary learning, teachers should use explicit vocabulary instruction that will
allow learners to be actively engaged in class (Dixon et al., 2020). Apart from the fact that lexis
instruction should be explicit, it is also important for teachers to ensure an active engaging environment
(Jalongo & Sobolak, 2011) in which students will have repeated opportunities to see how new words
are used in varied contexts thus securing long-term retention (Stoffelsma, 2019).
Teacher Factor in Teaching Vocabulary to Children. In addition to focusing on the best
methodological practices for effective vocabulary learning, some research projects also pay attention to
teachers’ profiles and preparation regarding this topic, totaling 8,3% of the articles. For example, a study
by Chan et al. (2022), which was done with Northern California preschool teachers, revealed a
connection between the multilingual backgrounds of the instructors and the lexical strategies that they
implemented with dual-language learners. Several documents reported issues related to the preparation
that teachers receive in terms of vocabulary instruction. For instance, a research done in South-African
township schools concluded that the support that teachers received regarding strategies on teaching
vocabulary to children was limited (Stoffelsma, 2019). Contrasted to that, a study conducted by
Westgate and Hughes (2018) reported a project in which in-service teachers from a small group of
schools worked together in order to “define relevant aims and objectives and to include a range of
appropriate approaches in their teaching” (p.587) focusing specifically on vocabulary instruction. In
addition, the research by Strauss and Bipath (2020) suggested that pre-service English language teachers
should be equipped with vocabulary learning strategies and techniques for future practice. Remarkable,
teachers’ perceptions regarding the topic were not always consistent with their classroom practices, as
found by Bedilu and Degefu (2023). It can be concluded that the opportunities for teachers to learn about
vocabulary teaching to children vary a lot across the contexts. However, the importance of supporting
educators in this topic cannot be underestimated.
Stand-Alone Studies. The present sub-section copmrises 11% of the documents and encompasses the
studies that reported different approaches towards teaching vocabulary to young learners. Although each
approach was represented by only one document, it was important to highlight the conclusions made in
each of them. For instance, Ulbricht (2023) reported that gestures with semantic relation to word items
could lead to their long-term memorization. Apart from that, dialogic teaching of first-graders facilitated
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a significant increment in expressive lexical knowledge as shown in the study by Chow et al. (2021).
Additionally, the definition method implemented by Gomes-Koban et al. (2017) proved to have a
positive effect on teaching word meanings to third-grade students from low socio-economic
backgrounds. Similarly, reciprocal teaching enabled the experimental group of first-grade children to
acquire a higher number of words than the control group (Mandel et al., 2013). Park et al. (2019)
confirmed the positive effect of cooking tasks on young learners’ vocabulary acquisition thanks to the
enjoyable environment. The same year, a similar conclusion was made by Damara et al. (2019) who
affirmed that painting was an appropriate means to teach new words to very young children as it
provided comfortable atmosphere. Last but not least, Hu (2012) studied the effect of fast-mapping on
learning new lexicon and concluded that it enhanced the immediate retention of vocabulary but not the
long-term one.
Teaching Vocabulary to Young Learners: Pedagogical Strategies
The Pedagogical Strategies category included the clusters of articles that described how, or through
what media, English vocabulary should be taught to children.
Teaching Vocabulary to Children through Technology. As compared to the other sections of this
literature review, the use of technology for teaching vocabulary to children is represented by the second
highest percentage of articles, namely 23,3%. This can probably be explained by the fact that technology
has become an essential part of our lives and, consequently, of the classroom practices. It is also
important to highlight that there is a great variety of technological tools whose effect on young learners’
vocabulary has been researched. The list includes mobile applications, text-based online chats, e-books,
robots, augmented reality, digital games and other technology-mediated activities.
On the whole, technology has proven to be an effective tool in helping young learners acquire new
vocabulary. A study by Coyle and Prieto (2017), which explored the effect of synchronous computer-
mediated communication (SCMC) on children’s language development, revealed that SCMC ensured
longer vocabulary retention, helped students notice gaps in their lexical knowledge and encouraged them
to fill those gaps. Another research, conducted by Wood et al. (2018) with kindergarten and first-grade
children whose native language was Spanish, confirmed the effectiveness of using e-books to increase
students’ vocabulary. Furthermore, digital games (Aghlara and Tamjid, 2011; Foster et al., 2018) and
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augmented reality (Demirdag et al., 2024; Topu et al., 2024) had both proved to be powerful instruments
in teaching English vocabulary to children.
In addition to exploring the general effect of various technological aids on young students’ vocabulary
learning, several studies examined more specific topics. For instance, Jayasinghe et al. (2021) used a
mobile application to teach basic lexis to children aged 8-10 in Sri Lanka and concluded that the tool
was effective for participants to learn three categories of words: homophones, synonyms and antonyms.
Moreover, a research by Tlili et al. (2021) showed that using collaborative educational games with
learning analytics increased children’s motivation towards learning vocabulary in English. Another
study, which was done by Moratelli and Dejarnette (2014) in an urban elementary school, rendered the
use of incorporated clicker response system technology valuable when implementing vocabulary review
sessions. Furthermore, a research project conducted in Turkey by Kurt (2021) revealed that technology-
mediated tasks resulted in students’ “self-perceived higher ability in English, enhanced self-efficacy
beliefs in technology use positive attitudes towards technology mediated tasks” (p.327). Nevertheless,
the same study revealed that although the group of participants that used technology mediated tasks had
higher results in vocabulary acquisition than the group using traditional assignments, the difference was
not significant.
Four articles particularly stand out due to the high level of innovation as they both used robots to help
children learn vocabulary. The study by Lai et al. (2021) showed that a companion robot was successful
in “drilling and practicing English vocabulary in listening and speaking” after being evaluated by both
“e-learning experts and experienced teachers”. (abstract). Another research by Matsuzoe and Tanaka
(2013) validated the use of robots for both lexis acquisition and higher motivation towards learning. In
addition to that, a further study conducted by Matsuzoe et al. (2014) compared two types of robots whose
task was to promote the learning of English words in a group of pre-school children and concluded that
the autonomous care-receiving robot (CRR) was more successful that the expert robot. Last but not least,
an R&T System (robots (R) and tangible objects (T)) utilized in an action research by Cheng et al. (2024)
impacted fourth-graders’ vocabulary performance in a positive way.
Teaching Vocabulary to Children through Reading. The section about the role of reading in teaching
vocabulary to children is represented by the third highest percentage of sources: 10% of the papers
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included in the present literature review were related to the topic. In addition to that, two of the articles
included here reported studies about the effect of using drama on young learners’ vocabulary
development. However, due to the fact that drama originates from reading, it was decided to include
them in the present section.
Generally, authors agree on the positive impact of reading on children’s learning of new vocabulary.
For instance, Gutierrez Arvizu (2020) conducted a study using narratives to enhance elementary
students’ lexical knowledge and concluded that narratives, on the whole, contributed to the enhancement
of vocabulary because “stories provide a natural context for language input” (p.115). Moreover, not only
did the students learn new vocabulary, but they were also able to retain it later on. Likewise, Mishra and
Satpathy (2020), who did a research about folk narratives with young learners, found that the repeated
occurrences of the same words made this genre highly effective for strengthening newly acquired
vocabulary. Furthermore, Deacon et al. (2019) identified that “independent reading offers children
opportunities to learn the spellings and meanings of words” (p.56). Authentic storybook reading was
also proved to be beneficial for children to acquire new vocabulary (Rokita-Jaśkow, 2015). Finally, in
regards to the use of drama, Demircioǧlu (2010) determined that it had a positive impact on young
learners’ vocabulary development as it ensured long-term retention of the lexis as well as provided
intellectual and emotional context for new words. Likewise, Ting (2013) concluded that the element of
drama had a positive impact on new words acquisition by young learners.
Teaching Vocabulary to Children through Games. First of all, it is important to highlight that some
studies included in the present literature review combined the use of technology and games, for instance,
when using computer games. Therefore, when deciding whether those studies should be considered as
part of the section Teaching vocabulary through games or Teaching vocabulary through technology, the
emphases of the papers were analyzed. If the paper focused more on the game element, it was
categorized as part of the present section. However, if the attention was drawn to the technological
component, the article was considered part of the section dedicated to the use of technology. As a result,
Teaching vocabulary to children through games is constituted by one of the lowest percentages of
publications – 11,7%. One important aspect that can be traced throughout multiple studies is the fact
that games increase children’s engagement and interest towards English classes (Saleh & Ahmed
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Althaqafi, 2022; Wei & Wang, 2022; Naderiheshi, 2022; Lucht & Heidig, 2013). A possible explanation
is that games facilitate “a relaxed and stress-free atmosphere” (Naderiheshi, 2022, p.16) thus lowering
the affective filter and allowing learners to “be more energetic and delighted” (p.16). Furthermore,
games have the potential not only to motivate individual children, but also benefit the whole-class
engagement (Lucht & Heidig, 2013) as well as foster young learners’ self-confidence (Naderiheshi,
2022).
Apart from enhancing the overall atmosphere in the classroom, games are also reported to facilitate
young learners' vocabulary learning. Saleh and Ahmed Althaqafi (2022) found that kindergarten
students’ absorption and retention of vocabulary improved when games were used. A similar conclusion
was made by Wei and Wang (2022), who stated that games “enhanced the efficiency and quality of
children’s learning” (p.178), and by Tayeh et al. (2024) and Strauss and Bipath (2020), who concluded
that play-based learning facilitated vocabulary learning. Likewise, the study done by Lucht and Heidig
(2013) concluded that games resulted in “increased assimilation” (p.767) of vocabulary knowledge. All
the above-mentioned phenomena can be explained by the fact that games give children a chance to learn
new words in a “meaningful and useful way” (Naderiheshi, 2022, p.17) as well as to see how words are
used in the real context (Saleh & Ahmed Althaqafi, 2022). Moreover, vocabulary is purposefully
emphasized during game dynamics (Naderiheshi, 2022, p.16) thus drawing students’ attention to it. As
opposed to the majority of the above-mentioned findings, only one study, which researched the impact
of using a digital game called HOPSCOTCH on young learners’ vocabulary, revealed that there was no
difference in the number of new words that students remembered and spelled correctly when comparing
the results of the experiment group and the control group which followed teacher-centered instruction
(Lucht & Heidig, 2013).
Nevertheless, games also reportedly bring negative effects to children’s classrooms. For instance, a
noticeable problem created by the use of games is the fact that the classroom atmosphere might get
chaotic and disorganized, and teachers might lose the control of time (Naderiheshi, 2022). As a
consequence, students tend to switch to the first language, which reverses the initial intention of
increasing the use of vocabulary in L2. In the same paper, Naderiheshi (2022) argues that teachers may
also underestimate the power of games as they consider them time-fillers rather than useful teaching
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tools. The author takes it further to state that games might even cause serious consequences such as
anxiety and depression in children. Therefore, it can be concluded that in order to use games effectively,
teachers must plan them carefully and ensure successful classroom management.
Teaching Vocabulary to Children through Music. Teaching vocabulary to children through music
was another section comprised of 8.3% papers. After analyzing the articles related to the present section,
it was concluded that the data could be divided into three main categories: teachers’ perception towards
using music to teach vocabulary to children, students’ response to the strategy, and the effectiveness of
songs as a tool to increase young learners’ lexical knowledge. Regarding the first category, it can be
stated that, overall, teachers consider that songs are effective for increasing students’ lexical knowledge
(Nguyen and Nguyen, 2020). First of all, Nguyen and Nguyen (2020) came to the conclusion that 68%
of educators believed that songs triggered children’s attention towards a topic. Moreover, the same study
revealed that 98.7% of teachers believed that music helped young learners to retain previously learned
words, 94.7% considered songs a beneficial tool for vocabulary revision, and 73.3% affirmed that songs
allowed children to increase their lexical input (Nguyen & Nguyen, 2020). Another advantage of using
songs as perceived by teachers is allowing students to “identify word meaning in context” (Nguyen &
Nguyen, 2020, p.2680). Furthermore, Al-Smadi (2020) stated that songs were especially powerful in
regards to children’s motivation. Finally, and probably most importantly, songs have proven to enhance
young learners’ acquisition of new words in multiple studies. An important characteristic of songs that
spoke in favor of using them in an ELT setting was their “linguistic richness” (Aras, 2024, p.29). Al-
Smadi (2020) affirmed that songs provided children with contexts in which they could find
uncomplicated structures that might become ingrained in their memory. Chen (2020) stated that familiar
melodies facilitated vocabulary learning and highlighted “ ‘chanting’ and ‘music video with caption’
methods being the most effective and lead to immediate and prolonged learning” (p.377). Furthermore,
Coyle and Gomez Garcia (2014) concluded that songs promoted the growth of young learners’ receptive
vocabulary; however, they also argued that songs had a poor effect on productive knowledge in the
majority of children.
Teaching Vocabulary to Children through Total Physical Response (TPR). Articles that reported
the use of TPR in teaching vocabulary to young learners accounted for 8.3% out of the total of the
pág. 9659
analyzed papers. Nevertheless, they reported important conclusions that will be described in this section.
First and foremost, it is agreed that TPR is effective for children to learn vocabulary. A study conducted
in Iran by Yusuf et al. (2017) with very young children (or in other words, toddlers) proved TPR to be
beneficial to teach them commands in English. Furthermore, Limperatou and Zorbas (2024) found that
TPR was effective in increasing EFL young learners’ vocabulary knowledge, and Çimen and Çeşme
(2022) also proved it to show better results than the Communicative Language Teaching (CLT).
Apart from that, TPR is well-perceived by both teachers and students of primary schools as a method to
learn vocabulary in English (Liu and Chen, 2021). Hu (2000, as cited in Liu and Chen, 2021) stated that
TPR encouraged students’ enthusiasm towards learning the language, which could be explained by the
fact that this method “not only mobilizes the students' senses, exercising their body, but also make their
thinking more sensitive” (Liu and Chen, 2021, p.1256). Additionally, according to Astutik et al. (2019)
children might also have a positive attitude towards TPR because they “learn through observing actions
as well as by performing the actions themselves” (p.94) as well as because they feel less anxious when
this method is applied (Çimen and Çeşme, 2022). Finally, Pacheco et al. (2022) concluded that dancing,
being part of TPR, motivated young learners to learn new words.
CONCLUSIONS
The present study analyzed sixty documents from the Scopus database pertaining to the subject of
teaching vocabulary to young learners. It was found that throughout the last 15 years there has been
consistent contribution to the topic which has mainly originated in Asia, North America and Europe.
This finding reveals a gap in research about vocabulary instruction to children in the countries of South
America and Africa. Some prominent clusters were grouped as Pedagogical Strategies and included
teaching vocabulary to young learners through music, reading, games, technology and TPR.
Furthermore, other clusters were categorized as General Issues and analyzed the topic from different
angles, such as explicit vs implicit instruction, use of L1 vs L2, and teacher factor. Additionally, several
stand-alone papers reported different approaches towards teaching new words to children.
On the whole, teaching EFL vocabulary to children is a multi-dimensional topic that might pose a
number of challenges for teachers as there is a wide range of factors to be considered. First of all,
multiple researchers agree that explicit teaching of vocabulary is more effective than implicit. Second,
pág. 9660
using L1 when introducing new words to students brings more benefits than using only L2. In addition
to that, pre-service teachers must receive training on vocabulary teaching strategies. Furthermore,
vocabulary instruction should take different forms in the classroom in order to approach the learning
process from different perspectives; in order to do so, teachers can make use of technology, music,
literature, games and TPR. Overall, it can be said that vocabulary can be taught to children through
numerous ways that captivate their attention and are appropriate for their age, abilities and interests. In
order to learn new words successfully, children should be actively engaged in lessons, and teachers, in
turn, need to have enough preparation and training regarding the topic. Finally, more research is needed
into young learners’ teaching-learning of vocabulary due to its paramount importance for children’s
development of English as well as their future academic success.
Limitations
The present study chose to work with the Scopus database due to its trustworthiness (Baas et al., 2020).
Nevertheless, the researchers consider that at the same time using only Scopus could have been a
limitation as it might not have considered publications that are not included in this database.
Future Research
The following table provides possible lines for future research within the topic of teaching vocabulary
to young learners. The lines are divided according to the main sections of the present literature review.
Table 2 Future Lines of Research
Ulbricht, N.J. (2023)
Further studies regarding the results of student and teacher gestures in classroom
interactions.
More research about sensorimotor experiences in the teaching-learning process.
Chan, M., Buttiler, M.
B., Yang, F., Yang, J.,
Uchikoshi, Y., & Zhou,
Q. (2022)
Research about teachers’ training on the Dual Language Learners demographic.
More studies on the effect of bilingualism on students’ performance in preschool
and school years.
Tribushinina, E.,
Dubinkina-Elgart, E.,
Rabkina, N. (2020)
Research about the amount of English outside of the classroom and its impact on
learning by children with Developmental Language Disorder.
Studies regarding the effect of explicit foreign language learning by children with
Developmental Language Disorder.
Future studies about EFL tests directly addressing the topics covered during the
English lessons.
Dixon, C., Thomson, J.,
& Fricke, S. (2020)
Implement an explicit vocabulary teaching intervention with a larger sample of
children.
Compare the efficacy of explicit vocabulary teaching with EAL and non-EAL
children with low-level vocabulary knowledge.
pág. 9661
Further studies on whether explicit vocabulary teaching can be implemented in
small groups and by teaching assistants (or other paraprofessionals).
Hwang, K., & Yim, S.
Y. (2019)
Further studies investigating students’ preference for NESTs can produce useful
implications to establish an effective localized ELT model.
Lugo-Neris, M.J.,
Jackson, C.W.,
Goldstein, H. (2010)
Explore ways of enhancing vocabulary knowledge of children with low language
skills.
Wood, C., Fitton, L.,
Petscher, Y.,
Rodriguez, E.,
Sunderman, G., Lim, T.
(2018)
Examine teachers’ perspective on young students’ vocabulary learning.
Evaluate young learners’ initial L1 vocabulary to determine the impact of e-book
vocabulary instruction on participants with different proficiency levels.
Arikan, A., Taraf, H.U.
(2010)
Further research into the use of authentic animated cartoons in improving
students’ language skills and aspects.
Tlili, A., Hattab, S.,
Essalmi, F., Chen, N.-
S., Huang, R., Kinshuk,
Chang, M., Burgos, D.
(2021)
Future research on improving the game functions and exploring options for mobile
applications.
Demircioǧlu, Ş. (2010)
Further research on the theory and practical implementation of drama.
Saleh, A. M., & Ahmed
Althaqafi, A. S. (2022)
Implement and evaluate educational games for a longer period of time.
Explore the role of the teacher in educational games.
Naderiheshi, A. (2022)
More research about games and their usage.
Al-Smadi, M. H. (2020)
Further research on the types of activities used with songs.
Nguyen, T.C., Nguyen,
H.B. (2020)
Further research regarding alternative ways to maximize young learners’
vocabulary learning.
Liu, S., Chen, S. (2021)
Research on application of TPR in primary schools.
As it can be seen, the topic of teaching EFL vocabulary to children offers a wide range of issues to be
researched that span across multiple clusters of the present study. Researchers worldwide can use this
list in order to define the scope of their studies thus contributing to the field and helping educators from
different countries to ensure quality EFL vocabulary instruction.
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