Review of EFL Learners’ Perceptions of Vocabulary Intervention within Test Validity and Implications for Interdisciplinary Language Education

The study outlined in this article examines empirical findings on EFL students’ opinions about using interventions for enhancing language learning; it focuses particularly on testing as a means for determining whether or not learning is effective and its importance in developing interdisciplinary connections between education and teaching foreign languages. Multiple sources were used (quantitative and qualitative studies using quasi-experimental design) to identify how EFL students perceive explicit and technologic enhancements (e.g., games) of vocabulary training, as being beneficial to their ability to learn new words and participate actively in their studies. However, it was found that there is still a disconnect between teaching and testing for academic vocabulary specifically around issues of construct validity, cultural bias, or authenticity of a given test. By integrating student opinion, test design and educational outcome, this paper presents a case for combining the methods of teaching with valid, fair assessment practices. The implications for this paper suggest that when educators incorporate the views of students, as well as well-established testing practices, into their teaching, they will have greater success both in improving students' acquisition of vocabulary as well as producing more effective educational outcomes (e.g., higher levels of academic engagement).