Laughter is the Best Medicine : Eliciting Vocabulary from Comical Texts Among ESL Secondary Learners in a Rural School
SMK Raja Lope Nor Rashid, Malaysia
ABSTRACT
This longitudinal study addresses the issues of the less highlighted vocabulary teaching in the context of low-performing ESL secondary learners in a rural school in Tanjung Piandang, Perak. Due to heavy emphasis on conventional writing and traditional grammar rules, vocabulary teaching is then becoming less put forth despite its significance in language learning. This study therefore observes whether students vocabulary can be enhanced using a discovery learning method as well as to evaluate its effectiveness through students’ writing. Thirty-four students are given a pre-test of forty multi-choice questions of linear and non- linear text. After eight weeks of interval teaching sessions where students read through comical articles, a post test of the same set of questions is carried out to examine their semantic understanding. The findings indicate that out of thirty-four candidates, twenty six candidates show improvement in their semantic understanding of the questions given while seven candidates obtain lesser marks than that of their pre-test leaving one candidate with no difference. An interview session is then executed to further probe the reasons behind such findings. This study also recommends that each of the teaching and learning session be incorporated with vocabulary teaching slot to help with students’ language learning.
KEYWORDS
Discovery Learning Method, ESL Learners, Semantic, Students’ Language Performance, Vocabulary Teaching