1

TEACHING ENGLISH VOCABULARY TO YOUNG LEARNERS

USING ANIMALS DOMINO KIDS CARDS GAMES (A Pre-Experimental Study at the First Grade of an Elementary School in Parongpong Subdistrict,

West Bandung Regency)

Siti Yuliah

Jurusan Bahasa Inggris – Politeknik Negeri Bandung

siti.yuliah@polban.ac.id

Abstract

It had been found in many schools that teachers use games activities as their teaching

media. The students really appreciate any kind of activities which provide excitement and

fun. It will be easy to understand and practice of English. The writer chooses games as the

simple illustrated media to facilitate students‟ technique of learning, as we know that

children learn while playing games because it is easy to be understood and comprehended

by students. This experimental research aims to investigate the use of Animals Domino

Kids Cards Games in teaching English vocabulary to young learners. Teaching English

vocabulary to young learners has been widely investigated by using various media;

however, some of the research results are significant and some of them are not. In this

regard, Animals Domino Kids Cards Games is used to investigate the learners‟ mastery of

vocabulary, because the learners are motivated to learn English with something new and

involve them to be physically active. This research focuses on the alternative hypothesis:

there is a significant difference in students‟ vocabulary mastery before and after being

taught by using Animals Domino Kids Cards Games. Twenty students of the first grade of

a private elementary school in Parongpong Subdistrict were involved in this research. This

research employed one group pretest – posttest design to gain the data. The data from both

tests was analyzed by comparing one sample t-test with computer program SPSS 15.0. The

data showed that the level of significance was 0.000 with the value of α is 0.5. The result of

the research showed that teaching English vocabulary by using Animals Domino Kids

Cards Games is significant to enhance the students‟ mastery of vocabulary.

Key words: Vocabulary, TEYL, Animals Domino Kids Cards Games

Introduction

In Indonesia, English is the first foreign language taught to the students of

elementary schools. In learning English, it is better to start as early as possible because

before the age of nine, the child‟s brain seems particularly well suited for language

learning. This is in line with what Brewster and Ellis (2003: 3) state that one reason for

starting to learn a foreign language several years earlier (at age six or nine) is because

young children learn languages better and more easily than older children (Brewster and

Ellis, 2003: 1). Mackey (1969: 120) states that it is popularly assumed that the younger a

person starts a second or foreign language, the better.

Children come to an English lesson with expectations about what they are going to

do and achieve. If they do not get what they have expected in the English lesson, they are

                               

POLBAN

2

disappointed. The dissappointment can cause them to lose interest. In order to avoid such a

condition, games can be used to excite children‟s interest. Children seem to become

absorbed in playing games which are appropriate for their stage of development and

linguistic level. Playing the game gives children a feeling of satisfaction as well as an

opportunity to improve their skills, including linguistic skills.

Teaching vocabulary, such as the names of animals, colours, months, food,

occupations, hobbies, numbers, etc., needs frequent revision. One way of revising

vocabulary quickly and easily is through games, and because they are more enjoyable, the

students remember things better.

Language games can be used successfully in language teaching because a good

language games is a wonderful way to break the routine of classroom drills, and because it

provides fun and relaxation while remaining very much within the framework of language

learning, and may even reinforce that learning.

Games in Language Learning

Language learning is hard work. One must make an effort to understand, to repeat

accurately, to manipulate newly understood language and to use the whole range of known

language in conversation or written composition. Effort is required at every moment and

must be maintained over a long period of time. Games help and encourage many learners

to sustain their interest and work.

Games also help the teacher to create context in which the language is useful and

meaningful. The learners want to take part and in order to do so must understand what

others are saying or have written, and they must speak or write in order to express their

own point of view or give information.

Games are not only motivating and fun but can also provide excellent practice for

improving pronunciation, vocabulary, grammar and the four language skills (Brewster and

Ellis, 2003: 172). Games can be found to give practice in all the language skills (listening,

speaking, reading, and writing), in all the stages of the teaching or learning sequence

(presentation, repetition, recombination and free use of language) and for many types of

communication (e.g. encouraging, criticising, agreeing, explaining, etc.).

Why use games?

A game is defined as any fun activity which gives young learners the opportunity to

practise the foreign language in a relaxed and enjoyable way (Martin, 1995:1 as cited in

                               

POLBAN

3

Brewster and Ellis, 2003: 172). Games may be simple and require very little planning or

may need quite a bit of preparation and the use of special materials, such as dice, boards, or

picture, word or sentence cards. Some games are competitive, with teams and individuals

working towards being the „winner‟. Other games are cooperative, where teams or pairs

work together to achieve a common goal, such as drawing a picture or solving a puzzle.

Brewster and Ellis (2003: 173) has summarized the advantages of using games as

follows:

1. Games add variety to the range of learning situations.

2. Games change the pace of a lesson and help to pupils‟ motivation.

3. Games „lighten‟ more formal teaching and can help to renew pupils‟ energy.

4. Games provide „hidden‟ practice of specific language patterns, vocabulary and

pronunciation.

5. Games can help to improve attention span, concentration, memory, listening skills and

reading skills.

6. Pupils are encouraged to participate; shy learners can be motivated to speak.

7. Games increase pupil-pupil communication which provides fluency practice and

reduces the domination of the class by the teacher.

8. This helps create a fun atmosphere and reduces the distance between teacher and

pupils.

9. Games can help reveal areas of weakness and the need for further language.

10. Games can help to motivate and improve writing skills by providing a real audience

context and purpose.

The importance of vocabulary

A good mastery of vocabulary helps the learners to express their ideas precisely. By

having many stocks of word learners will be able to comprehend the reading materials,

catch other talking, give response, speak fluently and write some kind of topics. On the

contrary, if the learners do not recognize the meaning of the words use by those who

address them, they will be unable to participate in conversation, unable to express some

ideas, or unable to ask for information.

Considering the importance of vocabulary role in learning foreign language, the

mastery of this element should be ensured and developed. Otherwise, the vocabulary

mastery of the children will be limited and as a consequence of it is that they will find

difficulties in learning the skills of the language.

                               

POLBAN

4

Although a considerable amount of vocabulary learning is associated with primary

language learning in early years, the acquisition of most the vocabulary characteristic of an

educated adult occur during the years of schooling, and infects one of the primary tasks of

the school as far as language learning in concerned, as to teach vocabulary.

Teaching English vocabulary using games

Vocabulary is the total number of words in a language (Hornby, 1995: 1331).

Vocabulary is an important part to mastery English well. According to Pigeat‟s theory, a

child at the age of 7 – 10 years is always interesting in recognizing and knowing new

words, he stands to repeat new words, so that he will memorize them.

In teaching and learning English vocabulary, the teachers should consider the five

essential steps in vocabulary learning, as suggested by Hatch and Brown (1995: 372)

which has recited by Cameron (2001 : 84). The five steps in vocabulary learning are as

follows: 1) having sources for encountering new words; 2) getting a clear image, whether

visual or auditory for the forms of new words; 3) learning the meaning of new words; 4)

making a strong memory connection between the forms and the meaning of the words; and

5) using the words. From the five steps of vocabulary learning strategies of the learners,

the learners have strong focus on new words, a clear image, meaning of words, making

strong a memory connection, and using the words. In this regard, based on that learning

strategies of the learners above, the teachers have to conduct their teaching vocabulary by

using these five essential strategies of the learners to learn vocabulary. And the teachers

should have a variety of techniques to teach vocabulary.

In teaching children, a teacher has to use performance to teach vocabulary to them

because the children in literacy level are performance, it means children learn language

with accompanying action / scaffolding. In this level, a teacher can use media. Related to

the techniques of teaching vocabulary, Nation (1990: 51) as cited in Cameron (2001: 85)

listed several basic techniques of explaining the meaning of new words which can be used

in the young learner classroom. Nation (1990) listed the techniques as follows: 1) By

demonstration or pictures such as using an object, using a cut-out picture, using gesture,

performing an action, photographs, drawings or diagrams on the board, and pictures from

the books, TV, video or computer; 2) By verbal explanation, including analytical

definition, putting the new word in a defining context, and translating into another

language. In this regard, the game has the same characteristics in demonstrating the picture

and performing action.

                               

POLBAN

5

The basic aims of vocabulary games are to develop the student‟s vocabulary,

perhaps by extending his/her vocabulary or perhaps by giving him/her practice in using

what he/she already knows receptively, and also there will be the additional aim of adding

an element of fun, relaxation and enjoyment to the lesson. Sometimes the fun element will

be the main aim, and the teacher is not fussy about which area of language is being

practised (Wallace, 1982: 104).

Language games have become more widely used probably for two main reasons:

1. Games can increase in emphasis on the importance of motivation, and of the

appropriate kind of positive affective atmosphere in the classroom.

2. Games can increase in emphasis on the importance of „real‟ communication. If a game

is working properly, it very often supplies a genuine desire to communicate in the

target language, even within the artificial confines of the classroom.

The reason of choosing games as technique for teaching children in the class

time is that games make learning fun, so children are willing to be participants and they are

not just there because they have to be. Children like to play and fun and the students will

not be bored. This statement is similar to Lewis (1999) as cited in Mei and Jing (2000)

that games are fun and children like to play them and games add variation to a lesson and

increase motivation by providing a plausible incentive to use the target language. Further

Lewis (1999) strengthen by Huyen & Nga (2003) said that for many children between four

and twelve years old, especially the youngest, language learning will not be the key

motivational factor, but games can provide this stimulus. Because of that, games can be

effective techniques in teaching vocabulary to young learners. Many games that can be

applied for teaching and learning language from traditional games up to modern ones.

Some researches had been conducted by Mei & Jing (2000) and Huyen & Nga,

(2003), but they do not mention the specific games. Mei & Jing (2000) found that through

playing games in EFL class, students can learn English as the way children learn their

mother tongue without being aware of that they are studying and without stress; they are

motivated to learn longer. Moreover, Huyen & Nga (2003) found that learning vocabulary

through games is one effective and interesting way which can be applied in any

classrooms. The results of this research suggest that using games in learning language is

not only for merely fun, but more importantly, for the useful practice and review of

language lesson, thus leading to the goal of improving learners' communicative

competence. Therefore, one of the effective ways to teach English to young learners is by

using games.

                               

POLBAN

6

Based on the advantages of using games in teaching vocabulary (see Huyen & Nga,

2003) that learning vocabulary through games is effective, then this research is conducted.

However, in this research, the techniques are really different from the previous one. The

use of Animals Domino Kids Cards Games has not been widely investigated to find the

effectiveness of this media. The media of Animals Domino Kids Cards Games is made in

German invented by Gator Tots (2007) (see appendix 2). These cards are a classic kids‟

domino game with fun animals domino pieces. These cards consist of 30 cards; each card

is divided into two parts with different picture of animals. And each card has their own

couple of picture that should be matched each other. The rule of playing is not really

different from the games of domino card used by adult. There must be 5 up to 6 persons

that should be involved in the games. The learners have to match the cards to each other by

saying the animals in the cards. The winner will be determined by someone who has not

got card anymore in her or his hand. And the last the winner will be scored by the teacher

on the board.

Research Methods

The design of the research is quantitative. Since the research was investigated

through an experimental, one group pretest – posttest design was employed (Hatch &

Farhady, 1981) by delivering a research question. The research question is “Is there any

significant difference in students‟ vocabulary mastery before and after being taught by

using Animals Domino Kids Cards Games?” This research used purposive sampling to

the class (see Fraenkel & Wallen, 2008: 99) because there is only one class of the second

grade in that elementary school. Accordingly, the researcher assumed that purposive

sampling is appropriate for this research.

Research Site and Participants

This research was conducted in one of private elementary schools in Parongpong

Subdistrict, West Bandung Regency. The reason of choosing this school because this

school is one of the elementary schools which implements teaching English to young

learners (EYL) from the first grade up to the sixth grade. The participants involved in this

research were taken from the second grader of this school, and the total number of the

students is 20 consisting of 13 female students and 7 male students. The researcher chose

the second grade because the second grade is the most appropriate level to use this game.

And it because the researcher assumed that this game needs to involve physical activities

                               

POLBAN

7

and thinking process. In addition, it is assumed that this game will be interesting for the

second grade of elementary school.

Data collection techniques

The data were collected by administering pretest and posttest to get the participants‟ score.

The pretest was administered to check the students‟ vocabulary mastery before the

treatment or teaching them using Animals Domino Kids Cards Games. The posttest was

administered to check the students‟ vocabulary mastery after the treatment or teaching

them using Animals Domino Kids Cards Games. So, from this test, the researcher knew

whether the students made the improvement after the teaching learning process using

Animals Domino Kids Cards Games or not. The treatment was administered 3 meetings

and each meeting consisted of 35 minutes. To measure the validity of the test, the test is

closely associated to the syllabus material that portray animal vocabulary. The test consists

of 10 multiple choices that consist of pictures of animals that have the same picture in the

Animals Domino Kids Cards Games (see Appendix 1). At first, the participants do the pre-

test than they play the Animal Domino Kids Cards Games in a group of four. Each group

plays the same card and the winner will be scored in the board by the teacher. And the

winner of the games from each group will play the same games from another group until

the class has one winner. After that, the posttest is done to the learners. The posttest is

similar to the pretest that has been given in the class before teaching and learning process.

Then, the result of pretest and posttest are analyzed by using SPSS 15.0.

Data analysis

The data was collected from the pretest and the posttest results. The data from the

pretest and the posttest results was then analyzed quantitatively by using one sample T-test

formula (Hatch and Farhady, 1981) by comparing t-observed and t-table by using the

computer program SPSS 15.0 with the level of significant 0.05. The scores of the pretest

and the posttest can be seen in appendix 3.

Results and Discussions

The result of the data analysis using the computer program SPSS 15.0 can be

described as follows:

                               

POLBAN

8

Table 1. Data Statistics

One-Sample Statistics

20 79,50 20,641 4,615

20 84,00 20,365 4,554

Pretest

Posttest

N Mean Std. Dev iat ion

Std. Error

Mean

The table above showed that the mean of the pretest score is 79.50. The mean of the post-

test score is 84.00. The standard deviation for the pretest is 20.64 and for the posttest is

20.36. The number of participants for each test (N) was 20.

Table 2. The Result of Pretest-Posttest Analysis

One-Sample Test

17,225 19 ,000 79,500 69,84 89,16

18,446 19 ,000 84,000 74,47 93,53

Pretest

Posttest

t df Sig. (2-tailed)

Mean

Dif f erence Lower Upper

95% Conf idence

Interv al of the

Dif f erence

Test Value = 0

Based on the table above, the data was calculated with the one sample t-test of the

pretest and the posttest. The t-observed for pretest is 17.22 with df = 19 , the level of

significance 0.000 with value α = 0.05 with two tailed. However, the posttest has t-

observed 18.44, df is 19 with two tailed test 0.000. The mean of the posttest is 84.00 with

95 % Confidence of Interval of the Difference. In this regard, the significance value is

0.000 and the value of α is 0,05; it means that the value of significance (sig=0.000) is less

than the value of α =0.05. In this case, the Ho is rejected and H1 is accepted. It means that

teaching vocabulary by using Animal Domino Kids Cards Games is significant to enhance

the students‟ mastery of vocabulary. In other words, the treatment is effective.

It can be inferred that the results from the data calculated by using SPSS 15.0

showed that the level of significance of 0,000 with df = 19 is less than the α value of 0.05.

It indicates that Ho is rejected whereas H1 is accepted. It means that the hypothesis

addressed by this research is accepted, so “there is a significant difference in students‟

mastery of vocabulary before and after being taught by using Animal Domino Kids Cards

Games. In this regard, this research is also relevant to the previous ones investigated by

                               

POLBAN

9

Mei & Jing (2000) and Huyen and Nga (2003); however, they did them qualitatively.

The result of the research found that teaching English vocabulary by using games is

effective to enhance the students‟ vocabulary mastery.

Conclusion

In this research the researcher used Animal Domino Kids Cards Games in teaching

vocabulary, in the hope that this game would enhance the students‟ mastery of vocabulary.

From the result of the research, it can be concluded that teaching English vocabulary by

using Animal Domino Kids Cards Games can enhance the students‟ mastery of vocabulary

and give a better result, so this game is effective to be used in teaching English vocabulary

– effective in stimulating students‟ interests and involvement. Motivation and students‟

interaction in the classroom are greatly improved by the use of games. The result found

with the level of significance is 0,000 and with the value of α is 0.05 by using SPSS 15.0

indicated that the alternative hypothesis (H1) is accepted. It means that there is a

significant difference in students‟ vocabulary mastery before and after being taught by

using Animal Domino Kids Cards Games.

                               

POLBAN

10

References

Brewster, Ellis, Girard. 2002. The Primary English Teacher’s Guide. England: Pearson

Education Limited.

Cameron, L .2001. Teaching Languages to Young Learners. United Kingdom: Cambridge

University Press.

Fraenkel, J. R. & Wallen, N. E. 2008. How to Design and Evaluate Research in Education.

Seventh Ed. New York: McGraw-Hill Inc.

GatorTots. 2007. Tile Matching Games. Http://www. KIDS%20TILE%20GAMES.htm

Hatch and Brown. 1995. Vocabulary, Semantics, and Language Education. Cambridge:

Cambridge University Press.

Hatch & Farhady.1981. Research Design and Statistics for Applied Linguistics. London:

Newbury House Publishers, Inc.

Hornby, A. 1995.“Oxford Advanced Learner‟s Dictionary of Current English“. Oxford

University Press.

Huyen & Nga, 2003. Learning Vocabulary Through Games. Asian EFL Journal.

December 2003

Lewis, G., & Bedson, G. (1999). Games for children. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

Mei, Y.Y. and Yu-Jing, J. 2000. “Using Games in an EFL Class for Children”. Daejin

University ELT Research Paper. Fall, 2000.

Narimawati, U. and Munandar, D. 2008. Teknik Sampling: Teori dan Praktik dengan

Menggunakan SPSS 15. Yogyakarta: Penerbit Gaya Media.

Nation, P.1990. Teaching and Learning Vocabulary. New York: Heinly and Heinly.

                               

POLBAN