Author(s): Dennishe S. Tumulak

Abstract: This research examined the effectiveness of Student Teams -Achievement Divisions (STAD) in increasing the vocabulary learning process of the international students taking the Vocabulary Builder course at the Center of English Language Studies in the Lapu-Lapu Cebu International College. It was aimed to measure the learners’ performance before and after the adoption of the STAD strategy and to examine their experiences in using the approach during classroom activities. The study method consisted of a one-group experimental model with a qualitative investigation. A vocabulary test was created by the researcher to measure the learning objectives and a focus group discussion provided rich data about the perceptions, attitudes, and the challenges faced by the students in relation to STAD. A one-group experimental design was utilized to test 30 B1-level students from Japan, Taiwan, and Korea who participated in four weeks of STAD-based instruction involving whole-class teaching, team study, individual quizzes, and team recognition. The results showed that STAD implementation positively influenced vocabulary acquisition and encouraged greater participation when compared to traditional instruction design. Students had indicated that group work helped them develop a feeling of cooperation, enhanced confidence, and caused peer-to-peer support, which helped them to understand and remember newly learned lexical matters better. The positive experiences highlighted by the focus-group data were effective teamwork, increased motivation and exchange of perspectives; however, such problems as unequivalent contribution of the group members were observed. The experiment found that STAD is a good approach to use when enhancing learning vocabulary in multicultural EFL, and suggests using it in vocabulary instruction.

Keywords: Cooperative learning, EFL learners, International students, Student Teams–Achievement Divisions (STAD), Vocabulary acquisition

Article Info: Received: 19 Oct 2025; Received in revised form: 18 Nov 2025; Accepted: 22 Nov 2025; Available online: 29 Nov 2025

DOI: 10.22161/ijels.106.32