Journal of Applied Linguistics and Language Learning 2018, 4(1): 1-5 DOI: 10.5923/j.jalll.20180401.01 The Comparative Effect of Tea-Party Strategy on Extroverted and Introverted EFL Learners’ Vocabulary Achievement Farzaneh Javidan, Mehrdad Rezaee * Department of Foreign Languages, Central Tehran Branch, Islamic Azad University, Tehran, Iran Abstract The present study was conducted to examine the effect of tea-party strategy on introverted and extroverted EFL learners' vocabulary achievement. In order to accomplish the objective of the study an Eysenck Personality Inventory (EPI) test was administered to 90 female learners, this test categorized them into two subgroups (47 extroverted and 43 introverted); Then a Preliminary English Test (PET) was administrated to these 90 participants and 60 participants (30 introverted, 30 extroverted) were selected for the study. A piloted vocabulary researcher-made test was also administered as the pretest and posttest. To test the null hypothesis, two paired sample t-test and one independent t-test were conducted and the null hypothesis was rejected. This study revealed the significant advantage of using tea-party technique to improve the level of language proficiency of both extroverted and introverted learners. Furthermore, the results showed that the extroverted group outperformed the introverted group in learning vocabulary. Keywords Tea-party strategy, Extroversion, Introversion, Vocabulary knowledge 1. Introduction No one can underestimate the important role of vocabulary in learning a language. “If you spend most of your time studying grammar, your English will not improve very much. you will see most improvement if you learn more words and more expressions. You can say very little with grammar, but you can say almost anything with words!” (Thornbury, 2002). The strong relationship between vocabulary knowledge and reading comprehension has been determined and shown in both L1 (e.g., Anderson & Freebody, 1981; Beck et al., 1987; Nagy & Anderson, 1984) and L2 (August & Shanahan, 2006; Carlo et al., 2004; Carlo, August & Snow, 2005; Wagner et al., 2007). Given this relationship, EFL teachers need to adopt appropriate strategies to help learners learn as much vocabulary as possible from the reading materials in a text. One technique which can be employed in this regard is collaborative learning. Collaborative learning involves an educational method which is concerned with learners' collective attempts at different levels to achieve a common goal (Bruner, 1985). As Johnson and Johnson (1994) maintain, the findings of studies show that learners in collaborative teams can achieve their * Corresponding author: Mehr351@yahoo.com (Mehrdad Rezaee) Published online at http://journal.sapub.org/jalll Copyright © 2018 Scientific & Academic Publishing. All Rights Reserved goals at more advanced levels of thought, performing better in term of information retention compared to individuals who work individually. In fact, engaging in shared learning, students are provided with an opportunity to enter discussion with their peers, assuming responsibility for their own learning. According to Tino & Pusser (2006) when students are working in groups, they will be a part of a community whereby everyone will lend support to one another. This will provide the academic and social support in learning that students need. Seng (2006) found that collaborative learning would increase the chances of academic success. It is also found that when there are fun and interesting communicative activity in the classroom, the students enjoyed working in groups (Seng, 2006). As a pre-reading strategy, the “tea-party activity” involving Reading, Writing and Rising Up by Linda Christensen (2000) who characterized it as an activity which instigates the lackluster readers to read. Christensen suggests that teachers and learners use an appealing passage from the novel or writing a small narrative from the perspective of one of the characters. She makes it clear that her purpose is to make reading intriguing, posing questions for the purpose of making learners familiar with the characters prior to engaging in reading. “Through using the first person for the characters, learners can get into the character’s head more easily” (Christensen, 2000). In the same vein, Jim Burke (2007) asserts that learners need to react to texts in writing. According to Burke (2007), learners enhance their reading skill through focusing on specific sections of the text. This