Learning medical terminology in an ESP medical course

Abstract This quasi-experimental study investigated the efficacy of two distinct approaches for vocabulary learning, namely vocabulary notebooks and word lists, specifically in the context of learning medical terms. Sixty first-year undergraduate EFL students enrolled in an English for Specific Purposes (ESP) medical course were recruited and divided equally into three groups: one group received guidance on using and maintaining vocabulary notebooks to learn 50 target terms, one group was instructed in the use of word lists to study the same 50 target words, and the control group did not undergo any intervention. The results indicate that both treatment approaches yielded significant advancements in vocabulary learning from pretests to posttests. However, the vocabulary notebook group demonstrated significantly superior performance in long-term effectiveness compared with the word list group. The findings imply that both approaches should be incorporated in a medical ESP curriculum.