Enlightening vocabulary learning through educational websites
Authors: Becerra Coba Karen Mabel , Iza Pazmiño Sarah Jacqueline , Jordán Buenaño Cristina del Rocío , Encalada Trujillo Edgar Guadia 
Published: October 2023

Introducción

The web is a great medium of communication and is well suited to shorter documents with lots of links. The Web is not good for very long documents that need to present an ever-evolving argument. Some of the Internet technologies for the development and use of Websites are grouped in Web 2.0 tools. Which are a set of interaction mechanisms with visitors to a website where programmers offer new services on the sites, achieving greater interactivity to enable the formation of virtual communities. Educaplay is a platform for the creation of multimedia educational activities, characterized by attractive and professional results. Is aimed at creating a community of users with a vocation to learn and teach while having fun. The platform provides various possibilities for teaching professionals to install their own online educational space on the platform, where everyone can take classes to another level of participation. In addition, this application allows teachers to create different types of multimedia and interactive activities with educational orientation, through different scenarios such as Riddles, Complete, Crossword, Dialogue, Dictation, Order letters, Order words, Test.

Objetivos

To identify the importance of Educational Websites (Educaplay) for teaching vocabulary.

Método

The research was important to take into account and consider the different types of resources such as technical, technological, and human. Technical resources, books, articles, and online theses from the Universidad Técnica de Ambato repository, among others, were used to obtain the necessary information and guide the research. On the other hand, to apply the first variable were used some technological resources like computers, smartphones, and Educational websites (Educaplay). Then, to measure the second variable the Reading and Writing Part of Flyers Cambridge exam was chosen . Finally, in terms of human resources, there were 22 students from Unidad Educativa Sagrada Familia in 9th grade “A” of EGB, of which 12 students were women and 10 were men. This research was also based on a qualitative approach. It was qualitative because a series of interventions and observation techniques were carried out on the Educational Websites (Educaplay) and the influence on vocabulary teaching.

Principales resultados

The test that was applied consists of 3 parts. The first part comprised a dialogue between two people in which students completed multiple selection questions. The second part was about a gap-fill activity in which students chose an appropriate word to complete sentences. The third part featured a variety of sentences in which students had to read and choose the appropriate word that defines it. The rubric used allowed the students to obtain a score of 2.5 out of 2.5 points, for parts 1 and 2, on the other hand, in part 3 the students were able to obtain a score of 5 points. The student could obtain a maximum score of 10 points at the end of the test. For the analysis and interpretation of the results, a series of tables and graphs were prepared, which allowed a better understanding. These tables show the average result of each part that was evaluated in both the pre-test and the post-test.

Conclusiones

The use of this educational website (Educaplay) contributed to the development of abilities and skills, achieving a better understanding of vocabulary. The vocabulary level of students was reflected in the pre-test (A2 Flyers) taken at the beginning of the process. The overall percentage obtained was 5.23 out of 10 points which means that they had a medium level. This evidenced that the students had shortcomings in their vocabulary, they could not identify the meaning of some words that were unknown to them and that at their level they should have known. The results of the post-test were obtained to later infer that the use of educational websites for the English language had a significant impact on student’s learning. The percentage that students obtained was 9.59. As it can be seen, the score was high and that means that they improved their vocabulary level. Therefore, the use of educational websites is an important factor in the development of vocabulary skills in students.