Pairing Words with Pictures: A Quasi-Experimental Test of Dual Coding Theory for Vocabulary Learning among Young Iraqi EFL Learners

Abstract

Young foreign-language learners in resource-limited classrooms often acquire new words through repetition and translation alone, a practice linked to shallow processing and rapid forgetting. Drawing on Dual Coding Theory (DCT), which holds that memory is strengthened when verbal and visual information are encoded together, this study tested whether a low-cost, paper-based program built around word-image pairings could improve vocabulary outcomes for fifth-grade Iraqi EFL pupils. Using a quasi-experimental, non-equivalent control-group design, 69 female pupils from a government primary school in Al-Najaf (2025–2026 academic year) were divided into an experimental group (n = 33), taught 360 curriculum words through twenty-eight dual-coded sessions, and a control group (n = 36), taught the same content through standard instruction. Three equivalent twenty-item tests administered before instruction, immediately after, and again seven weeks later for the experimental group only showed acceptable to excellent reliability (KR-20 = .72 to .87). The experimental group's vocabulary gains substantially exceeded those of the control group, t(67) = 4.58, p < .001, Cohen's d = 2.89, and these gains held steady rather than fading over the seven-week interval, t(32) = -0.97, p = .338. Together, the results indicate that combining images with words is a practical and effective way to build durable vocabulary knowledge in a primary EFL setting with few technological resources, and they add Iraqi-context evidence to the DCT literature. The article discusses classroom, curricular, and teacher-training implications, along with directions for future work.