Comparing poetry and prose-based exercises in vocabulary learning by Iranian EFL students

Bamshad Hekmatshoartabari
Yasouj University, Iran
Bizhan Hekmatshoar Tabari
Ayandegan University, Iran
Masoumeh Diyanati
Yasouj University, Iran

This study investigated the value of poetry-based exercises for tertiary level EFL students' vocabulary learning. To this end, 100 general English students majoring in different disciplines at an institute of higher education participated in the study. They were assigned into experimental and control groups of 50. The experimental group received teaching through poem and the control group through prose exercises. The two groups were given a pre-test and a post-test, with results analysed using Levene's test and one-way ANCOVA. In addition, the experimental (poem) group members were interviewed to examine their attitudes toward the program. There was a significant difference in terms of vocabulary learning between those learners who were treated with poetry-based teaching material and those who were not. Interview findings also indicated a positive attitude toward poetry-based vocabulary learning.
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Authors: Bamshad Hekmatshoartabari is an Assistant Professor of English Language and Literature, at the Department of English, Faculty of Humanities Science, Yasouj University, Yasouj, Iran. His fields of interest are literature and language, literature and language teaching, and cultural/religious studies. ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0000-3551-1124 Email: b.hekmat@yu.ac.ir Bizhan Hekmatshoar Tabari is an Assistant Professor of EFL, at Ayandegan University, Tonekabon, Iran. He has also been the head of the English Department of the Institute for more than ten years. His fields of interests are language teaching, literature, linguistics, and cultural studies. ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1393-6417 Email: bizhan_hekmat@aihe.ac.ir Masoumeh Diyanati is an Assistant Professor of Linguistics at the Department of English Language, Faculty of Humanities Science, Yasouj University, Yasouj, Iran. Her fields of interests are linguistics, language teaching and cultural studies. ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7065-0955 Email: m.diyanati@yu.ac.ir Please cite as: Hekmatshoartabari, B., Hekmatshoar Tabari, B. & Diyanati, M. (2026). Comparing poetry and prose-based exercises in vocabulary learning by Iranian EFL students. Issues in Educational Research, 36(1), 99-118. http://www.iier.org.au/iier36/hekmatshoartabari.pdf