The Impact of Using Emoji and Emoticon to Enhance Iraqi EFL Students` in

Vocabulary Acquisition at Intermediate School

Samiya Mohammed Razoqey Al-aajam

University of Diyala- College of Basic Education

Email : samia_m.alaajem@yahoo.com

ABSTRACT

This study aims at investigating the impact of using emoji and emoticon to enhance Iraqi

EFL students` in vocabulary acquisition at intermediate school. To achieve the aim of the present

study, the following hypothesis has been put: There are no statistically significant differences at

(á≤0.05) between the mean scores of the experimental group who is taught vocabulary

acquisition according to the emoji and emoticon, and that of the control group who is taught

according to the traditional way in the post test of vocabulary acquisition. The present study is

limited to the 2nd intermediate school female students in Fatemat Al-Zahraa Intermediate School

for girls in Baaquba City for the academic year 2018-2019. The sample of the study was (87)

female students , 42 students as the experimental group and 45 as the control group. Then, it is

ensured that the two groups are equal through a statistical manipulation of a number of variables

such as age, parents’ education, achievement scores in English at the previous year, and

achievement scores in the pretest. Pretest & posttest are designed and the validity of the tests and

the lesson plan has been obtained by exposing them to jury members in the fields of EFL and

linguistics. The reliability of the test has been secured by using Kuder Richardson-20 Formula

(0.87). Statistical analysis of data achieved through the test indicates that there are statistically

significant differences between the mean scores of the two groups and in favour of the

experimental group in the post test.

The researcher has concluded that using emoji and emoticon has motivated the students,

aroused their interest and increased their participation in the vocabulary acquisition activities ,

make students more confident, independent and motivated and this reflects their abilities to do

better. And using such icons consolidates the relationships among the learners and between

learners and their teachers, creates an atmosphere of intimacy. Boredom on the side of the

learners can be broken in this way.

Key words: emoji and emoticon , vocabulary acquisition

Introduction

Vocabulary plays important role in language learning. Vocabulary is also an essential skill

for learning to read, speak, write and listen. Without sufficient vocabulary, people cannot

communicate and express their feeling both in form of spoken and written effectively. The more

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people master vocabulary the more they can speak, write, read and listen as they want. Wilkins

in Thornbury (2004: 13) states that without grammar very little can be conveyed, without

vocabulary nothing can be conveyed. It means that even someone has good grammar but it will

be useless if they do not know many vocabularies. In addition, it is supported by Ur (1996: 60)

that vocabulary is one of important things to be taught in learning foreign language because it

will be impossible to speak up without variety of words.

According to linguist, David Crystal (2012), “… young people are reading and writing more

than I ever did at their age, but they are doing it using their computers and mobile phones. The

mobile is central, and will become even more so as time goes by.” Emojis and emoticons are

symbols depicting facial expressions and objects and are now widely recognized among users.

These characters are a substitute for nonverbal cues. These animated gifs, pictures, and smiley

faces available in for the instant messaging program to enhance and personalize the user

experience (PC Mag, 2016). However, one easily integrated text-based communication tool

designed to enhance nonverbal mediated interaction is the emoticon (Lo, 2008:13). "We've

shown in past studies that emojis are very easy for kids to understand,"(Swaney-Stueve

:2018)said. "Regardless of the country where they live and the language they speak, kids

understand what the emoji mean. Also, unlike some of the existing analysis scales that use

cartoon faces, emojis don't look like a specific gender or have features that only apply to a

specific culture." The use of Emoji on the Internet rapidly increased in recent years. The

ideograms and smileys enabled users express their emotions more easily the text in electronic

messages and web pages. Emoji such as “Face with Tears of Joy” have changed the way we

communicate on the social networks and microblogging services. People often use them when it

is more difficult to describe their expressions only with words. A single Emoji character may

enhance the expressivity of a text message. A name of a city has no sentiment value when it is

posted alone. However, if the user used an Emoji along with this name, the text may have a

sentiment value. For example, a smiling face Emoji character can express someone’s positive

feeling towards the city. In contrast, using the angry face Emoji along with some brand name

may reveal negative feelings towards the brand. An Emoji character can give a deeper meaning

in a sympathy post. A study published in the Social Neuroscience journal showed that human

brain reacts to Emoticons (a simpler form of Emoji) as real faces. Dr. Owen Churches, from the

school of psychology at Flinders University, has found that Emoticons have become more

important than we assumed. It appears that we now react to them in the same way as we would to

a real human face. In November 2015, Oxford Dictionaries Word of the Year was chosen to be

an Emoji character which is known as “Face with Tears of Joy for the first time ever. This came

after the wide usage for this Emoji character on the Internet, especially on social networks.

The Problem and Its Ssignificance

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Vocabulary plays an essential role in learning languages. A large body of research has been

accomplished to provide overwhelming evidence that a substantial amount of vocabulary

development occurs as a result of incidental (unplanned or indirect learning) encounters with

language. Recently, researchers have become more interested in vocabulary acquisition and there

has been a renewed interest in the nature of vocabulary and its role in learning and teaching.

According to Gatti (2004: 3), finds that most students in Iraqi classrooms spent many years

studying English grammar, but they still cannot speak English fluent. Iraqi teacher did not pay

much attention to the vocabulary acquisition and they paid even less attention to testing

vocabulary. The only way they tested the students was translation of a list of Arabic words into

English. The student always learned an amount of words and wrote the test but they did not

know many of the words after several days. Consequently, the students were always better at

grammar than at vocabulary because the teachers devoted much more time to it in their lessons

(AL-khazaly,2013:3). Grammar is a part of a language. No doubt, knowing the grammar can

help us speak and write correctly. However, more importantly, one needs to have good

vocabulary knowledge to speak and write in a good way. Many studies have shown that

vocabulary knowledge and background knowledge can help students read and comprehend

better. The more vocabulary students know, the better they can decode and understand what they

read. Iraqi students face a problem in vocabulary acquisition which they have learned in that they

lack some crucial techniques which enable them to retain the material easily. In fact, their

vocabulary achievement is not up to the standard (Al-Bazzaz ,2005: 1).

Aims

The present study aims at investigating the impact of using emoji and emoticon to enhance

Iraqi EFL students` in vocabulary acquisition at intermediate school.

Hypothesis

It is hypothesized that there is no statistically significant differences at (á≤0.05) between

the mean scores of the experimental group who is taught vocabulary acquisition according to

emoji and emoticon and that of the control group who is taught vocabulary acquisition

according to the traditional way, in the post test .

Value of the Study

The present study is hoped to be of some values because:

1. It may provide EFL teachers with solutions for enhancing vocabulary effectively and may

appeal them to practice emoji and emoticon technique in the classroom.

2. It may help learners use emoji and emoticon technique to master and enhance vocabulary.

3. It may help students to overcome problems that they face in acquiring and conveying meaning

of vocabulary though communication.

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Limits

It is limited to:

1- Use emoji and emoticon technique.

2- The 2nd intermediate school female students in Fatemat Al-Zahraa Intermediate School

for girls in Baaquba City for the academic year 2017-2018.

Definitions of Basic Term mojis : Oxford dictionary defined it as “A small digital image or

icon used to express an idea, emotion, etc., in electronic communication and originated in the

1990's from the Japanese words for e 'picture' + moji 'letter, character'.”

Emoticon: Merriam Webster (2014:3) defined it as “a group of keyboard characters, that

typically represents a facial expression or suggests an attitude or emotion and that is used

especially in computerized communications (as e-mail)”. In 2015, Merriam Webster added

“Emoji” to their unabridged dictionary.

Vocabulary: Ur (1994: 60) defines vocabulary as the words we teach in the foreign language. In

addition, Brown (2001: 377) views vocabulary items as a boring list of words that must be

defined and memorized by the students, lexical forms are seen in their central role in

contextualized, meaningful language. Richard in Schmitt (1997: 241) also states that knowing a

word meaning knowing how often it occurs, the company it keeps, its appropriateness in

different situations, its syntactic behavior, its underlying form and derivations, its word

associations, and its semantic features.

Theoretical Background

Emoji and Emoticons

Though emoticons may have been present as early as the 1880’s in the form of

typographical art (HuffPost, 2013; Lee, 2009), one of the first accounts of modern emoticon

usage was documented on a 1982 Carnegie Mellon University online bulletin system. It was

suggested that the sideways smiley-face could be used to demonstrate humor and prevent

arguments (Fahlman, 2012). Emoticons have since grown in popularity: Yahoo surveyed 40,000

instant-messenger users and found that 82% used emoticons (Yahoo, 2007).

Emoji versus Emoticon

There are five major differences between emojis and emoticons: additional values

downloaded or provided by a company; are not rotated 90 degrees; have more facial cues such as

eye brows, skin tone, and teeth; the standard color is yellow with variations to depict certain

emotions and ethnicities (e.g. using the color red symbolizes anger); and are enclosed within a

circle. Due to these five differences, emojis might be more noticeable than emoticons (Ganster,

Eimler, & Nicole, 2012). When used in CMC, emojis more strongly influenced the perception of

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commitment compared with emoticons (Ibid.,p.3). They also found emojis did in fact exert a

strong influence on receiver’s personal mood and the perception of the writer's commitment.

These graphical representations of human facial features, characters, actions, and objects help to

fill the void from the lack of nonverbal communication cues in teaching.

Emoticon Functions

It is necessary to explain how emoticons function. This review outlines the social and

utilitarian purposes of emoticons according to four complementary themes present within the

literature: emoticons (a) affect interactions positively; (b) influence message meanings; (c)

manage impressions; and lastly (d) supplement nonverbal (Adams, 2013:3). Each of these four

categories is elaborated on to highlight the important role emoticons play in creating meaningful

text-based dialogues. First, a variety of studies have identified the ways in which emoticons (a)

affect interactions positively. For example, emails featuring emoticons have been associated with

more favorable sender impressions (Byron & Baldridge, 2007:5). Participants have indicated that

they like senders more, believe senders like them more, and perceive significantly more

immediacy, affection, similarity, and depth when messages feature emoticons (Yoo, 2007:11).

Within chat settings, partners utilizing emoticons were perceived to be more extroverted,

friendly, and agreeable (Fullwood & Martino, 2007:1).

Although composed of neutral punctuation marks, emoticons clearly play an affirmative role in

mediated interactions: they help express ideas, share understandings, demonstrate feelings ,

strengthen messages, provide humor (Derks, Bos, & Grumbkow, 2008:2), add personality and

clarity , express playfulness, demonstrate group belonging, and show creativity (Boldea &

Norley, 2008:9).

Social Information Processing Theory(SIP)

Social Information Processing (SIP) theory is useful in explaining how and why emoticons

improve text-based communication. This theory acknowledges that though CMC may suffer

from reduced cues, other strategies can be used to provide supplemental indicators (Walther,

1992:16). In particular, online users have designed and implemented creative text-based

strategies such as action-simulators, emoticons, strategic exclamation points, and abbreviations

to function as emotive and descriptive devices. Though these strategies may require additional

time and consideration to implement, when sufficient time is given, mediated messages can be

just as meaningful as face-to-face interactions.

Expectancy Violation Theory (EV)

Emoticons cannot simply be explained in terms of SIP theory. There may be additional

processes at work that affect perceptions toward their usages. While SIP theory provides a

foundation to explain how emoticons work as creative and strategic mediated interaction tools,

the extant research suggests that emoticons are more complicated. As an example, though

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emoticons are generally accepted during socially-related interactions, they are not as often

utilized or expected during task-related messages (Derks, Bos, & Grumbkow 2007:5). As a

result, perceptions toward emoticons may be mediated by Expectancy Violation (EV) theory.

According to EV theory, behaviors are enacted in ways that typically conform to social

norms. As such, communication often adheres to standard and expected behavioral guidelines.

Yet, not all interactions proceed within expected parameters and EV theory seeks to explain

reactions caused by expectancy violations (Burgoon & Jones, 1976:78). To illustrate, it may be

expected for a student to see an emoticon in an email from a peer, but it may be unexpected for a

student to see an emoticon in an email from a teacher. This may be due in part to generational

differences. When expectations are violated, the behavior can be perceived as either positive or

negative depending on whether the message receiver likes the violation or not. Expectancy

violations can also contribute to feelings of confusion and uncertainty. Given the potential for

emoticons to appear as unexpected additions to task-related messages, it is crucial to consider

how the EV theory may interact with perceptions of emoticon usages.

The Aspects of Vocabulary

There are several aspects of lexis that need to be taken into account when teaching vocabulary.

As cited in Flohr (2008:65)

a. Boundaries between conceptual meanings: knowing not only what lexis refers to, but also

where the boundaries are that separate it from words of related meaning (e.g. cup, mug, and

bowl)

b. Polysemy: distinguishing between the various meaning of a single word form with several and

closely related meanings (head: of a person, of a pin, of an organization).

c. Homonymy: distinguishing between the various meaning of a single word form which has

several meanings which are not closely related (e.g. a file: used to put papers in or a tool).

d. Homophony: understanding words that have the same pronunciation but different spellings

and meanings (e.g. flour, flower).

e. Synonymy: distinguishing between the different shades of meaning that synonymous words

have (e.g. extends, increase, expand).

f. Affective meaning: distinguishing between the attitudinal and emotional factors (denotation

and connotation), which depend on the speakers attitude or the situation. A Socio-cultural

association of lexical items is another important factor.

g. Style, register, dialect: Being able to distinguish between different levels of formality, the

effect of different contexts and topics, as well as differences in geographical variation.

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h. Translation: awareness of certain differences and similarities between the native and the

foreign language (e.g. false cognates).

i. Grammar of vocabulary: learning the rules that enable students to build up different forms of

the word or even different words from that word (e.g. sleep, slept, sleeping; able, unable;

disability).

j. Pronunciation: ability to recognize and reproduce items in speech.

Methodology and Procedures

The Experimental Design

It is necessary to choose an appropriate design to determine whether or not the obtained

results will be valid, objective and accurate. The experimental design applied in the present study

to achieve its aim is the pre-test-post-test non-equivalent groups design. Morever, Krysik and

Finn (2013: 23) argue that this type of experimental design is one of the most commonly used

quasi-experimental designs in educational research.

This design does reduce the threat of assignment bias. A pre-test was applied before the

administration of the experimental and control treatments, whereas a post-test is applied at the

end of the treatment period. The purpose of the pre-test was to allow the researcher to assess

whether the two groups are equivalent on the dependent measure or variable before the treatment

is given to them (See Table 1).

Table (1) the Experimental Design

Test Treatment Test Groups

Post-test Emoji and Emoticons technique Pre-test Experiment group

Post-test Traditional technique Pre-test Control group

Population and Sample

The population of the study consists of all the 2nd intermediate graders at the governmental

schools in Diyala /Iraq enrolled in the second semester of the academic year (2017- 2018). A

sample of (87) female students is chosen from Fatemat Al-Zahraa Intermediate School for girls

in Baaquba City. The sections have been chosen randomly.This school has two sections, section

A and section B. The students are randomly distributed into these sections. Section A includes

(44) students, while section B includes (48) students. The total number is (92) students. Section

A is selected as the experimental group (EG) and section B as the control group (CG).Two

students from A and three from B have been excluded from the experiment because they are

already previous year repeaters. The repeaters are kept in their classes during the period of the

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experiment. Thus the final number of the sample subjects is (87) students; (42) students in (EG)

and (45) students in (CG). Furthermore, the sample is chosen from the same school to be

equivalent in the social, cultural, economic and academic levels.

Table (2) The Number of Sample before and after Excluding the Repeaters

Group Section No. Repeaters Final no.

EG A 44 2 42

CG B 48 3 45

Teaching Material

The teaching material consisted of:

1- Unit two ( vocabulary: adjectives and its opposites )

2- Unit three: The weather (Island experiment)

The Students' Achievement on the Pretest

An independent t-test formula has been used to compare the mean scores of the EG and

CG on the pretest. As shown in Table (4), the mean score of the CG was 32.231, whereas the

mean score of the EG was 30.769. The calculated t-value was found to be 0.341 at 79 degree of

freedom and 0.05 level of significance, which indicates that there are no statistically significant

differences between the achievements of the two groups in the pretest. This confirms that the

participants assigned to EG and CG are not initially different but homogeneous.

Table (3) The Mean, Standard Deviation and T-value of the Subject`s achievement on the

Pretest.

Validity of the Tests

Validity means that the test should measure what it is supposed to measure (Brown, 2004:

26). Okoli (2000:144) claims that face validity of the test means that a measure looks as if it is

Group No. M SD df T-value Level of

significance Calculated Tabulated

EG 42 30.769 20.743 79 0.341 2.00

0.05

CG 45 32.231 22.363

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measuring what it purposed to measure. In order to ensure face and content validity of the tests,

they were exposed to a jury of university and secondary school teaching staff members. The jury

agreed that the tests were valid in their face and content

Reliability

Next to validity, that is reliability which is concerned with stability of scores of the same

individuals. Thus, reliability can be defined as the degree of consistency between two measures

of the same test. It is the consistency with which a set of test scores measure what they are

supposed to measure ( Mehrens and Lehmann, 1991:249 ).So, if the scores of the subjects are

stable and consistent, the test is reliable; but if the scores tend to fluctuate for one reason or

another, then the test is unreliable ( Lado,1961:330 ).

The reliability coefficient of the test has been computed by Alpha – Cranbach formula, where

the reliability coefficient is found out to be 0.934 .

The Experiment Application

The experiment started on 3rd November, 2018 and ended on 4th January, 2019. The

experiment lasted for (8) weeks. The lessons were arranged for both groups. The same

instructional material was chosen for both groups, whereas the students have got equal learning

opportunities. In other words, the students of the two groups have the same conditions except in

one aspect namely: the use of Emoji and Emoticons technique for teaching vocabulary

acquisition for the EG, whereas the traditional technique is used with the CG. The researcher

prepared typical plans; one for the experimental group which is constructed according to Emoji

and Emoticons technique, and the second one for the control group which is adopted from the

teacher`s guide of (Iraq opportunities , 2nd intermediate , book 6). And the researcher discussed

the lesson plans with the teachers of English in the intermediate school in which the experiment

was conducted, and with experts in teaching EFL. The procedure for data collection was divided

into the following three main phases: the preparation stage, the implementation stage, and the

post stage.

* Preparation stage: : In this stage the teacher poses initial questions, and games to prepare the

students for the lesson. The teacher helps students to recall information from their own

experience to link the previously learnt material with the new subject matter. This step is very

essential to arouse student’s attention and help in bridging the gap in learning by activating

student’s prior knowledge and in taking the new material .The researcher used such kind of

teaching phases in order to estimate and judge how much vocabulary repertoire students had got

in their previous years about the content area. In the preparation phase of the lesson, the

researcher found out, often through brainstorming or a concrete experience, what students

already knew about the vocabulary in the content area to be presented and practiced.

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*Implementation stage.

1- Teacher Provides data: (in warming-up stage), the teacher helps students activate their prior

knowledge and that helps in preparing them for the new one.

2- Teacher revises previous vocabulary and structure.

3-Teacher plays Emojicone CD to present new vocabulary (picture and sound).

4-Students repeat (pronounce) the vocabulary correctly.

5- Students imitate the vocabulary and structure.

Post stage: in this stage researcher have two phases the first one, is the evaluation .In the

evaluation phase of the lesson, students check the level of their performance so that they can gain

an understanding of what they have learned. Evaluation activities can be individual, cooperative,

or teacher-directed. Thus, the aim of this stage is to make students self-confident and completely

understand and use the selected vocabulary in natural English. The second phase is the

expansion. In the expansion phase of the lesson, students are given a variety of opportunities to

think about the new vocabulary repertoire they have learned, integrate them into their existing

knowledge frameworks, make real world application, and continue to develop academic

language. This phase also provides the opportunity to exercise vocabulary acquisition through

using certain technique.

The pre-test & the posttest and its Scoring Scheme

To make sure that the samples are equivalent in their previous English language`s

achievement. A pre achievement test has been applied. The results of the subjects are recorded

and statistically analyzed using T-test. The test is given 100 marks distributed as follows:

Table (4) the Analytical Scoring Scheme for Vocabulary Acquisition

Remembering

20 marks

understanding

20 marks

Applying

20 marks

Analyzing

20 marks

Creating

20 marks

Total

Recall or retrieve

previous learned

information.

Comprehending

the meaning,

translation,

interpolation, and

interpretation of

instructions and

problems. State a

problem in one's

Use a concept in a

new situation or

unprompted use of

an abstraction.

Applies what was

learned in the

classroom into

novel situations in

Separates material

or concepts into

component parts

so that its

organizational

structure may be

understood.

Distinguishes

between facts and

Builds a structure

or pattern from

diverse elements.

Put parts together

to form a whole,

with emphasis on

creating a new

meaning or

100

marks

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own words. the work place inferences structure..

Construction of the Achievement Post-Test

Achievement tests are similar to progress tests but they are given at the end of the course.

The content of both progress and achievement tests is generally based on the course syllabus or

the course textbook, (Alderson et al., 1995: 286). The aim of the achievement test in the

present study is to investigate the impact of using emoji and emoticon on the learners of the

experimental group vocabulary acquisition achievement as compared with that of the control

group subjects who were exposed to emoji and emoticon. Many resources in designing the test

relying on researchers own experience, they have reviewed the related literature, checked the

opinions of supervisors and experienced teachers.

Table (5) Comparison of Post-Test Achievement Scores of the Learners in the Experiment

and the Control Groups

Table (5) shows the mean and the standard deviation of each group in English previous

learning. The results’ analysis indicates that there are statistically significant differences between

the experimental and the control groups at (0.05) level.

Results

As shown in Table (5), the mean score of the experimental group in the post- test is 35.109

and that of the control group is 33.001. Using the t-test for two independent samples, it is found

that the computed t-value is 3.879 which is higher than the t-table value 2.00, with a degree of

freedom of 79 and a level of significance of 0.05 . This means that there is a statistically

significant difference between the two mean scores and in favour of the experimental group. It

follows that the aim of the study has been achieved and that the null hypothesis is rejected. Thus,

an alternative hypothesis is adopted which says that there is a statistically significant difference

between the experimental group, who is taught according to emoji and emoticon activities and

the control group who is taught according to the traditional method on students' vocabulary

acquisition as show in table (5) .

Group No. M SD df T-value Level of

significance Calculated Tabulated

EG 42 35.109 24.345 79 3.879 2.00

0.05

CG 45 33.001 21.265

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Conclusions

In the light of the results obtained, the following conclusions can be drawn:

1. Iraqi secondary school students can be considered rather poor when it comes to

vocabulary knowledge, as shown in their achievement in the pre-test.

2. The traditional techniques used in teaching vocabulary in Iraqi secondary classes are

effective, as the results of the control group had shown on the pre-test and the post-tests.

However, the technique employed by the researcher, was proven to be more fruitful and

effective in promoting the students’ vocabulary acquisition.

There are several great reasons for using Emoji as vocabulary acquisition prompts:

3. Since Emoji are images, they can be used with students of any age, language, or reading

ability.

4. They can provide a wide range of ideas since each student will have their own

interpretations of the pictures.

5. Emoji are very popular with students, so they will likely have familiarity with the images.

6. They are fun! And vocabulary acquisition should be fun. And learning should be fun.

And school should be fun.

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Appendix

A- Pre-test

Q 1\ Choose the best word to represent the emoticon that found in the following text.(20 M)

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Q2\Write the word that gives the opposite meaning. (20 Ms.)

1-sad: ………… 6. Never: ------------

2-shy: …………… 7. New --------------------

3-seal: ………. 8. Woman: -----------

4-tidy: ………….. 9. Friend: ----------------

5-quickly: ……. 10. Cold: ------------

Q3\ Answer the question. (20 Ms)

Q4\ Underline the odd one out word. (20 Ms.)

1- Portuguese Iraqi France Hungarian

2- tennis football basketball market

3- black yellow red read

4- read learn drink write

5- stormy usually rainy windy

6- aunt sister cousin queen

7- monkey ink penguin ox

8- legs stomach chin apple

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9- suburb weather village town

10- year week family hours

Q5\ Write the number of the item using the choices between the brackets.

(20 Ms.)

(a- book b-swimming c-head d-building e-broken f-reading g- changeable

h-boy I-work j-piece k-children)

1- Have you got a.............. of paper ?

2- In spring, there are sunny days and rainy days. It's very ………...

3- Noor's mobile phone is........... .Can she calls with yours?

4- She likes ……… books and magazines.

5- Who is the ...... with the black shirt?

6- Tariq never goes............. He can't swim.

7- My neighbors have got four …………

8- Your book is that ....... over there.

9- He loves that........... .It’s got amazing windows.

10- Your friend sits next to her and helps her with her..........

B- Posttest

Q 1\ Choose the best word to represent the emoticon that found in the following

text.(20Ms.)

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Q2\ Complete the text with the missing words. using the choices between the brackets(shy ,

high, talk , speak , expensive , watching , studies, aunt , buys , quiet , garage , , stories ,

brilliant , shopping ,says , intelligent, dictionaries , teaches , mechanic ,cheap) . (20 Ms)

My brother is--------- and sometimes he is--------. He likes reading and writing e-mails. He is

very--------- and he always gets--------marks. He -------------every evening. At the weekend, he

goes--------- with my mother. She---------- him new books and CDs. The books are----------but

the CDs are-----------. I like to go with my uncle. He is a---------and he works in a big----------. I

usually----------- about school ,when I am at home. I love----------- films and I go to bed early.

We go to school at half past seven. My----------is our teacher. She---------good English. She ----

--------us English and she has many-----------. She tells us lovely ----------. She is very-----------.

She---------that we are good at English.

Q3\ Change a letter. (20Ms.)

Each picture illustrates a common word. Change one letter of each word to produce the

name of an animal.

Example ax ox

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Q4 \ Homophones (sound-alikes) are words that sound alike but are spelled differently with

different meanings.(20Ms.)

Read the questions below and fill in with the correct answer.

Example: Is the top of the mountain a peek or a peak?

The correct is peak.

1.Does a dog have a tail or tale? __________

2.Which are surrounded by water, aisles or isles? ___________

3.If you were sad, would you shed tears or tiers? ____________

4.Would a telephone wring or ring? __________

5.The king’s rain or reign lasted 30 years. __________

6.I couldn’t bear or bare to sit through that play again. __________

7.Despite all of our yelling, he still couldn’t hear or here us. _________

8.The rose or rows is the only flower Paula liked. ________

9.Do windows have pains or panes? ___________

10.We missed or mist our train by 30 minutes. __

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Q5\ Match the words with the definitions on the right. To get you started, we have done one

for you. (8Ms.)

1. Actor A. An educated person who isn’t feeling well.

2. Bore B. The standard number of lips assigned to each person.

3. Hospital C. What a man gets after his funeral.

4. Screens D. A place where people who are run down wind up.

5. Praise E. An invention for keeping flies in the house.

6. Illiterate F. A person who tries to be everything but himself.

7. Tulips G. A sick bird.

8. Illegal H. A person who has nothing to say and insists on saying it

) ( 6 Ms. with their synonyms from the list B . AMatch the words from the list -A\ 6Q

B- Complete the table with the phrases below .( 6 Ms. )

A traveler \ an old man tells a traveler about his past \ outside a restaurant \ a village in the

Himalayas \ late evening \ a restaurant owner

Places Time People Events

B A

Suitable

bother

Old and torn

think twice

Lovely

Crazy

Boring

Damage

Hesitated

Lunatic

Rag

Nuisance

Proper

Pleasant

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C- A Model Lesson Plan for the Experimental Group

Grade level : 2nd intermediate class

Time and Length of Period : 40 Minutes

Goal: A) A collection of vocabulary items (VIs) chosen from the textbook about adjectives ,

weather, gender .

B) Simple present questions.

Behavioral Objectives : At the end of the lesson, the students will be able to:

1. Understand what is meant by emoji and Emoji cone technique and to use it successfully.

2. Show their understanding of the VIs concerning personality and their understanding of

simple present questions.

3. . Deduce the meaning & the opposites of some words.

4. Read the text and answer the comprehension questions.

5. Skim for gist or general impression of text or graphics.

6. Talk about personalities and interests.

Materials

1- Student`s book,

2- Flash cards with Emoji and emoticon,

3- Blackboard and chalk,

4- Sheets and pencils,

5- Data show for presenting a film about “Hammurabi”

Procedures:

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The researcher, before starting read and express the topic she should imposed some rules in

order to facilitate cooperative skills, individual accountability and democracy in the management

of the groups. Examples of these rules

The researcher here divides the lesson into five phases: preparation, presentation, practice,

evaluation, and explanation activities. The researcher uses the following sequence

a. Preparation:

Time: 5 minutes

The researcher uses such kind of teaching phases in order to estimate and judge how much

vocabulary repertoire students had got in their previous years about the content area. In the

preparation phase of the lesson, the researcher finds out, often through brainstorming or a

concrete experience, what students already know about the vocabulary in the content area to be

presented and practiced. The researcher presents a quick summary and an idea of the importance

of the topic and begins activating the student’s background knowledge by asking them to present

questions by themselves through the following questions:

-What is the meaning of the words “active”, “friendly”, “honest” or “intelligent”?

-Do I want to learn to store and retrieve such types of VIs in order to use them later in

communication with other?

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b. Presentation:

Time: 10 minutes

In the presentation phase of the lesson, the VIs are presented and explained to students in the

target language. The researcher makes sure that students understand the new vocabulary so that

they will be able to practise it meaningfully in the next phase of the lesson. The researcher asks

his students to write the new vocabulary like a list or semantic mapping shape in their notebook

as preparation for the next lesson to write their own comment.

-The researcher writes on the board a group of questions about the present simple tense, he reads

them and explains how to form a question in this tense.

C. Practice:

Time: 10 minutes

The practice phase of the lesson is learner-centered, as students engage in activities to

practise the new vocabulary they were exposed to in the presentation phase. The researcher acts

as facilitator in helping students assimilate the new vocabulary into real life situations using

simple and natural English. The students are asked to practice some activities that involve pair

work or individual work, e.g., a certain student introduces himself to a peer, another student is

asked to analyze his personality depending on the selected vocabulary in order to estimate the

entire understanding and use of the selected vocabulary.

The teacher can also ask a student to give the meaning of the word “outgoing”, and ask

another to give the opposite, “shy”, or the word “lazy” and give its opposite, “hard-working”,

etc.

- The researcher assigns some students to make questions about the present simple tense.

d. Evaluation:

Time: 10 minutes

In the evaluation phase of the lesson, students check the level of their performance so that

they can gain an understanding of what they have learned. Evaluation activities can be

individual, cooperative, or teacher-directed. Thus, the aim of this stage is to make students self-

confident and completely understand and use the selected vocabulary in natural English.

e. Expansion:

Time: 5 minutes

In the expansion phase of the lesson, students are given a variety of opportunities to think

about the new vocabulary repertoire they have learned, integrate them into their existing

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knowledge frameworks, make real world application, and continue to develop academic

language.

- Students are asked to do some exercises in class using group work, and they are required to do

homework about the simple present tense in order to consolidate their memorization of the topic.

New vocabulary with emojis (the researcher use it in the class )

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