Vocabulary retention is a fundamental challenge in teaching English as a Foreign
Language (EFL), especially for young learners in elementary school who are highly
dependent on structured classroom teaching. Traditional teaching methods that rely on
a single mode have proven inadequate in supporting meaningful and long-lasting
vocabulary learning. This study investigates the role of multimodal resources in
improving vocabulary retention among fifth-grade students learning English as a
Foreign Language (EFL) and identifies the types of multimodal resources used by
English teachers. A qualitative descriptive approach was used in this study. based on
data collected through classroom observations and interviews at SD Muhammadiyah 8
in Banjarmasin. The research findings indicate that multimodal resources play four key
roles in supporting vocabulary retention: (1) as a bridge to meaning, helping students
connect vocabulary to the intended objects without relying on translations; (2) as a
means of meaningful repetition, providing repeated exposure through various
modalities; (3) as a trigger for vocabulary recall, facilitating students’ ability to
recognize and recall words they have learned, and (4) as an increased engagement,
creating an active and enjoyable learning environment. Teachers were found to utilize
four categories of multimodal resources: visual (pictures and facial expressions),
auditory (speech, songs, and audio recordings), kinesthetic (body movements and
movement-guessing games), and written resources (vocabulary notebooks). Among
these resources, written and visual resources were the most consistently used and the
most effective, while songs proved to be more effective than audio recordings alone.
This study concluded that the simultaneous integration of various modalities resulted
in significantly stronger vocabulary retention than the use of a single modality alone,
in line with the Cognitive Theory of Multimedia Learning and the Dual-Coding
Theory.