Corpus linguistics is an emerging interdisciplinary field at the intersection of contemporary linguistics and computer science. As a research tool, corpus linguistics has attracted the attention of language teaching researchers. Corpora contain a large amount of rich and authentic language resources, and due to their unique advantages in aiding language learning, they have been widely applied in English teaching in recent years. This study addresses the efficiency of such a teaching model in enhancing vocabulary ability among university students. Two university classes, each comprising 48 students with equivalent Gaokao scores, participated in a 10-week experimental study under uniform teaching conditions. An independent samples t-test on pre-and post-test scores revealed that the experimental group exhibited a statistically significant increase in vocabulary (Sig = 0.000), outstripping the control group’s improvement. These findings suggest that corpus-assisted techniques can enrich students’ vocabulary competencies. Subsequently, this study not only corroborates the effectiveness of corpus-assisted vocabulary teaching models but also provides a new approach to vocabulary teaching in higher education.