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Chapter 1
INTRODUCTION
Children learn new vocabulary with great agility and speed, but their learning is
dependent on the range of words they are exposed to. Being a second language, English in
whatever level gets by in school and social transactions regardless of structural slips.
at all. If the culprits of poor English, which means below standard English, include
educational fixtures such as the socio-cultural tolerance of English, bilingual education and
the status of English as a second language, then concerned individuals should pick up the
cudgels to restore English at a respectable level. Certainly, culprits cannot exclude non-
English teachers from English teachers, nor educational managers and textbook writers.
For Go (2005), the guiltiest party would be the students who refuse to learn by
deterioration of English among our students who sooner or later become professionals as
teachers of English.
on errors in English. He argued based on his findings that the concept of language is
unclear.
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He focused his concern only with the deviations from the standard use of English
language. His study also found out that English language learners encounter errors in
learning the language especially in grammar, vocabulary and reading comprehension areas.
Alvaera, et al. (2009), in their research, believed that the insignificant relationship
of teaching approach with student achievement suggests that there is inefficiency or poor
quality of teaching in the public schools. Ghrib’s (2004) findings on the speaking
difficulties highlight that among the reasons, pronunciation ranked third, following
vocabulary and meaning and grammar, which, in fact, are closely related to verbalizing
one’s thoughts.
The National Reading Panel’s (NICHD, 2001) data that having students encounter
vocabulary words often, and in various ways, can have a significant effect on the
finding, it does have direct implications for instruction. Students should not only repeat
vocabulary terms while learning them, but they should also learn words that frequently
appear in many texts and contexts (to reinforce the retention of these words’ meanings and
Ideal vocabulary instruction will also have effects that carry over and benefit
students in the reading of materials that is new to them. Such instruction includes words
that students encounter frequently in language usage. Biemiller (2003) stated that “children
need this body of familiar words so that they can read new and even advanced text”.
words” and it can also mean “words that a reader recognizes in print” (Beck, McKeown,
& Kucan, 2008). Although these meanings are easy to grasp, delving into them a little
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deeper exposes some complexities. There may be gradations of word knowledge that range
from no knowledge to “rich decontextualized knowledge of a word” (p. 792), and to what
To help address these important issues, literacy experts generally agree that a
necessary. Specific components include (a) providing students with direct instruction of
keywords and word-learning strategies, (b) exposing students to extensive and vocabulary-
rich reading, and (c) creating an environment that encourages students to develop a “word
consciousness,” described as interest in and curiosity about words (Graves, 2006; Yopp &
Yopp, 2007).
The single greatest reason that vocabulary and word-skill development is important
vocabulary, which is word knowledge used with texts that are valued in school (Brozo &
Simpson, 2007) or the words “necessary to learn and talk about academic subjects”
are extensive and date back to the mid-1940s. Subsequent studies (Snow, Tabors,
Nicholson, & Kurland, 1995) confirm similar findings for very young children and go so
predictor of students’ reading comprehension in later years. Some experts claim the
relationship holds as much as four years later (Wagner et al., 1997), whereas others believe
it may extend to high school years (Cunningham & Stanovich, 1997). The strong
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relationship between vocabulary knowledge and reading comprehension is reaffirmed by
the RAND Reading Study Group (2002) and leads other researchers to emphasize this
significance for content texts that expose students to new and specialized words (Harmon,
Hedrick, & Wood, 2005). In sum, students need general and specialized word knowledge
The studies conducted by Brians (2006) and Ghrib’s (2004) directly indicated that
vocabulary was one of the difficulties of the students. Similarly, the present research will
tackle vocabulary skills as the main variable and will explore the effectiveness of an
activity set in improving the skills of the students. On the other hand, the work of Alvaera,
et al. (2009) focused on the relationship of teaching approach with student achievement.
The present research will not try to establish relationship between vocabulary skills and
teaching performance.
In the San Julian Elementary School, many students have not developed the genuine
desire to be good English speakers. As per the first periodic test, results indicated that
“beginning” as per the K to 12 grading system in their test scores. Meanwhile, their average
grades for the first quarter indicate that they had “approaching proficiency” performance.
Being an English teacher, the researcher takes into consideration the attention that should
be given to the low-performing students who registered the lowest performances in test
scores and quarterly grades. His observations and experiences with the students suggest
that their performance in written tests, quality of their outputs, and performance during
class discussions are affected by their ability to use English vocabulary. These premises
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prompted the researcher to conduct this action research which aims to address the
have been introduced into the field to teach vocabulary. Moreover, Nation (2001) makes
clear that vocabulary learning strategies are one part of language learning strategies which
in turn are part of general learning strategies. As well, Oxford (1990) observes that
language learning strategies encourage greater overall self-direction for learners. Self-
directed learners are independent learners who are able to assume responsibility for their
own learning and gradually gaining confidence, involvement and proficiency. Thus,
students need training in the vocabulary learning strategies they need most. Research has
shown that many learners do use more strategies to learn vocabulary, especially when
Yet Schmitt (1997) claims that they are mostly inclined to use basic vocabulary
learning strategies. This in turn makes strategy instruction an essential part of any foreign
strategies could be very useful in supporting teachers to plan their lessons more effectively
and give guidance to students in adopting successful strategies. Over the decades, many
researchers have made an effort not only to classify, but also gather, these strategies in
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towards recognition of the importance of lexical competence within second and /or foreign
national literacy rates are not keeping up with increasing demands for competence in
literacy skills (Britto et al., 2006). The goal of reading instruction is for children to become
comprehend text. Explicitly teaching children to use comprehension strategies has been
shown to improve text comprehension. Explicitly teaching word meanings has also been
proficiency on standardized assessments that evaluate what children know and can do with
grade level text, in addition to jobs that require sophisticated knowledge to complete job
earlier than when children reach the upper elementary grades. In conjunction with
instruction (NRP, 2000). Like comprehension instruction for children in primary grades,
vocabulary instruction has not received attention the way other reading instructional
methods have (Biemiller & Slonim, 2001), despite its influence on reading comprehension.
Readers must understand words in order to comprehend text. Some interventions with
children in both primary and elementary grades have shown that vocabulary instruction
increases word knowledge (Biemiller, 1999; Brett et al., 1996; Coyne et al., 2004).
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Traditional methods of instruction, such as copying definitions from a dictionary or
meanings also contributes little to text comprehension (Beck & McKeown, 1991; Nagy,
1988). Several effective methods have been developed for teaching word meanings and,
more importantly, for promoting deeper understanding of words. Direct instruction of word
meanings and word learning from storybooks will be discussed in the following sections.
that vocabulary instruction should include more than definitions in order to improve
meanings (McKeown, 1993). Beck, McKeown, and Kucan (2002)argue that the teachers
consideration in choosing words should be “the nature of the words themselves.” They
suggest that words “should be selected from the portion of word stock that comprises
sophisticated words of high utility for mature language users and that are characteristic of
significantly revised over the last decade and current academic thinking is very much at
odds with much classroom and textbook practice. Far from being an element which is
merely incidental to language learning, current thinking advocates that vocabulary may be
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generative grammar, the Minimalist Program (Chomsky, 1995), the differences between
languages are seen to be mainly lexical in nature and this leads Cook (1998) to suggest that
The properties of the lexical items shape the sentence rather than lexical items being
slotted into pre-existent structures. The task the language learner faces, therefore, is
principally one of learning the vocabulary of the foreign language. The acquisition of
parameters. This approach is reflected in the Lexical Learning Hypothesis (Ellis, 1997)
One of the outcomes of the recent academic interest in vocabulary has been the
development of ways for describing and testing vocabulary knowledge, which are both
produced so the growth of a foreign language lexicon over the course of learning can be
consistently strong and has been recognized as a contributing factor for academic success
through studies going back to the 1920s (NICHD Report of the National Reading Panel
2000; RAND Reading Study Group 2002; Whipple 1925). It is both a major component of
a language development program for students who are learning English as another
language (Nation 2001) and a major stumbling block for those learning how to talk, write,
and read in the language used in schools and books (Cummins 2000; Scarcella, 2002).
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Riankamol (2008) investigated English vocabulary learning strategies adopted by
English gifted students of Triam Udomsuksa School in the first semesterof the academic
year 2008. The subjects were twenty seven students who was studying in English gifted
program at Triam Udomsuksa School. The purpose of the survey is to find most and least
frequently used vocabulary learning strategies usedby the English gifted students. An
instrument used in this survey study was a 25-item questionnaire adapted from Schmitt’s
taxonomy for vocabulary learning strategies. The data was analyzed by using frequency,
percentages, and means. The mean score indicated that the use of Metacognitive strategies
are most frequently used by English gifted students who are considered high proficient
students in English. And the least frequently used vocabulary strategy was “I learn words
students in primary grades who are adequate decoders, but non-proficient comprehenders.
Vygotsky’s theory of learning and development, Pearson and Gallagher’s gradual release
of reading served as theoretical guides for this study. A pretest-posttest design was
employed. Second and third grade students (N = 60) in two groups received 32 sessions
Talk, and students in the strategies-focused group received instruction similar to reciprocal
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teaching. A series of analyses of covariance revealed no statistically significant differences
of the measures.
(2003) conducted a study to identify the major reading, cognitive, and linguistic skills that
Comprehensive Assessment Test (FCAT) at third, seventh, and tenth grades. Two hundred
participants were administered tests that measurea variety of reading, language, and
cognitive skills. Results indicated that in third grade, reading fluency was the dominant
factor in explaining variability in test performance. In seventh grade, reading fluency and
The authors quantitatively reviewed 67 studies and 216 effect sizes to better understand the
impact of training on word learning. Results indicated an overall effect size of .88,
Moderator analyses reported greater effects for trained adults in providing the treatment,
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combined pedagogical strategies that included explicit and implicit instruction, and author-
children were significantly more likely to benefit from vocabulary intervention than those
students also at risk and poor. These results indicate that although they might improve oral
language skills, vocabulary interventions are not sufficiently powerful to close the gap—
the test performance of the Grade VI pupils in Science 6. Pre-test and post-test results
showed that majority of the pupils were “poor” in their test performance in Science 6. The
post-test results of the Grade VI pupils showed that on general, majority of the pupils
progressed in their test performance. The computed t (0.40667) being less than the critical
value for t (1.66) at df = 96 for a one-tailed (directional) t-test with a α = 0.05 suggested
that the module-based review sessions are effective in improving the test performance of
The researcher (Gamboa, 2015) proposed the use of a learning material to improve
the reading comprehension of Grade 8 students. Results revealed that show that there is a
significant difference between the pre-test scores (M = 9.779, SD = 3.4.239) and the post-
test scores (M = 27.307, SD = 7.175) of the students in the reading comprehension skill
test; t(139) = -28.420, p = 0.000. These results suggest that the students perform much
better in the post-test than that of the pre-test. Thus, the program use of the learning material
is very much effective in improving the reading comprehension skills of the students as
substantiated by a very high negative mean difference (MD = -17.529). This finding points
out that the use of the learning material contributed to the improvement in reading
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comprehension skills of the Grade 8 students. The learning material covered eight (8) skills
which were selected by the researcher based on the least-learned skills in English 8 as
Conceptual Framework
It described the level of vocabulary skills of the Grade 4 students with the use of a
50-item pre-test which covered 9 vocabulary skills. The researcher also attempted to
experimental groups.
The research involved a total of fifty-six (56) Grade 4 students where twenty eight
(28) belonged to the control group while the remaining 28 composed the experimental
group. The study made use of a fifty-item pre-test and post-test and an activity set which
1. How may the level of vocabulary skills of the Grade 4 students described?
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2. Is there a significant difference in the performance between control and
experimental groups?
Research Hypothesis
Aside from the research questions, the researcher also tested the following null
1. There is no significant difference between the pretest results of the control and
experimental groups.
2. There is no significant difference between the pretest and posttest results of the
experimental group.
3. There is no significant difference between the posttest results of the control and
experimental groups.
The conduct and findings of the study are hoped to benefit the following
individuals:
The students would be benefited from the result of this study through the skills they
would attain with the help of the prepared activity set in vocabulary development. As a
result of learning vocabulary development skills, they would improve in their performance
in English.
The parents would also benefited by the result of this research by providing them a
clear line of communication regarding their child’s performance in school. With their
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The research would also provide substantial information to language teachers to
focus more on the vocabulary skills of the students. They may also develop activity sets
The study also hopes to provide the school administrator with additional research-
based data from which he/she could base decisions on instituting school-based policies in
The future researchers would also find this material a reference in conducting
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Chapter 2
METHODOLOGY
Research Design
The descriptive-experimental method of research was used in the study. With the
descriptive method, the nature of a situation existed at the time of the study and explore
the causes of a particular phenomenon can be described. The study was descriptive because
Sources of Data
A total of fifty-six (56) Grade 4 students where twenty-eight (28) belonged to the
control group while the remaining 28 composed the experimental group were involved in
the study. In the conduct of the study, the researcher used two (2) instruments, the 50-item
9 vocabulary skills based on learning competencies where the Grade 4 students are
unsatisfactory as evidenced by the results of their First Quarter Final Written Examination.
Following the objective type of test, it has been face-validated by the English teacher and
school head of the school. Items needing modification were either revised or changed.
Based on the identified skills where students are unsatisfactory, an Activity Set in
Vocabulary Development has been prepared by the researcher. Said set is composed of
group of activities for each of the 9 vocabulary skills included. The activities were lifted
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and other references which are relevant and suited to the skills developed and to the level
of the students. The material was proofread and edited by the English teachers and school
head of the school. Suggestions, corrections and modifications were integrated into the
The draft of the action research was subjected to editing in both technical and
content aspects initially by the school head. It was further shown to three (3) of the
colleagues of the researcher for suggestions and comments. They were composed of an
After acceptance of conduct has been secured, the researcher reported to the school
head for the formal conduct of the experiment. The parents of the students were informed
administering the 50-item pre-test. A 10-day intervention followed which involved the 28
students under the experimental group and where the teacher used the activity set covering
9 vocabulary skills. The other 18 students under control group were taught the 9 vocabulary
skills handled by the Remedial Reading teacher. The researcher administered the posttest
The following statistical treatments were used per objective of the action research:
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The students’ performances were classified within their group employing the
Cumulative PPlot Method to normalize the scores. Thereinafter, z-test was used to decide
Said technique in classifying the performance level of the students was first used
by the researcher in his action research on students’ reading comprehension (Arce, 2014).
Independent sample t-test, preliminary F-test for variances of the pretest result, and
paired-sample t-test were used to establish the effectiveness of the activity set in vocabulary
development.
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Chapter 4
The level of vocabulary skills of the 28 students in the control group is presented
in Table 2.
Table 2 shows the levels of vocabulary skills of the 28 students under control group.
It could be gleaned from the data in the table that 24 or 85.71% scored 5 to 16, thus under
the category “below average”. This shows that majority of the students have “below
average” vocabulary skills as per their pre-test scores. This figure is corroborated by the
quality of their written outputs being done on daily basis where in general, they had
“unsatisfactory” scores. The teacher generally notes that the students cannot even translate
into English many English words, thus unsatisfactory answers in the comprehension
questions, say in the short stories being tackled. In addition, the students also have low
confidence and self-esteem during class discussions and recitations. When asked, the
students revealed that they “have the idea in their mind but have hard time expressing such
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A total of 3 or 10.71% registered scores from 17 to 29, thus have “average”
vocabulary skills. In the documentary analysis conducted, these students have “proficient”
academic grades and as observed by the teacher, have average class standing.
One (1) of the students had “poor” pre-test score. As per observations, this student
can hardly understand English words, thus have unsatisfactory written outputs and do not
In general, the average mean of 10.93 suggests that the students have registered
“Below Average” pre-test scores. This shows that generally, the students in the control
group have below average vocabulary skills as shown by the pre-test scores.
Shown in Table 3 is the classification of the pre-test scores of the students under
Table 3 shows the levels of vocabulary skills of the experimental group prior to the
use of the activity set in vocabulary development. A fifty-item test covering 9 skills in
vocabulary was administered to the students. Data show that 22 or 78.57% of the 28
students were “below average”, scoring 5 to 16. This figure shows that a large majority of
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According to the documentary analysis conducted by the researcher, it was revealed
that these students also attained unsatisfactory academic grades in the first and second
quarters. It was also found out that majority of these students belonged to Grade 4 section
B, where majority of the students incur behavioral and discipline problems and have
Being their English teacher, the researcher also supports this figure by their
performance in their daily and final written outputs where many of the students prefer to
pass incomplete works and copy from their classmates. In a usual class scenario where the
teacher assigns outputs to be done, students keep on asking their teacher and classmates
for English translations of their sentences or statements before writing it into their
notebooks. As per observations, aside from the fact that the students had the difficulty of
verbalizing their thoughts in English, they also have problems in Filipino where they even
misspell and misuse the words. In the interviews, the students claimed that they lacked
support from their parents and preferred to play at times supposedly intended for them to
make their outputs and assignments at home. Because of the weak study habits of these
students, some of them were described by their teachers as troublesome and effortless in
improving themselves.
These students belonged to Grade 4-B where students are generally registering average
academic performance, as per observations of their class advisers. Although not performing
that very well, these students have generally “approaching proficiency” grades in the first
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The rest of the data show that scoring from 0-4, 2 or 7.14% of the students were
“poor”. The students’ academic performance in the first two quarters corroborate with this
findings where they registered unsatisfactory, even failing grades. The teacher argues that
their serious problem in their studies could be traced to their inability of understanding
English vocabulary which hinder them from understanding their daily lessons not only in
English, considering the fact that majority of the learning areas are taught in English. Their
adviser further claimed that the students’ parents were “uncooperative and lacked support
to their children’s school activities” such that they failed to attend general and homeroom
The table further shows that none of the students scored “outstanding” and“above
average” scores. This indicates that the Grade 9 students under the experimental group
were not able to attain a level of vocabulary skills sufficient for them to have satisfactory
reading skills and comprehension. The average score of 11.39 suggests that in general, the
In general, both groups have pre-test means registering at “below average” levels
(control=10.93; experimental=11.39).
To establish the effectiveness of the the activity set in improving the vocabulary
skills of the Grade 4 students, the post-test scores of the students in the experimental group
were classified.
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Meanwhile, t-tests were employed to establish the significant difference in the
performance between control and experimental groups. Table 4 shows the levels of
Table 4 shows the levels of vocabulary skills of the students as indicated by their
post-test scores. A total of 16 or 57% of the 28 students registered “average” scores from
17 to 29. This shows that majority of the students registered improved scores considering
the fact that in their pre-test, only 4 of them had “average” scores. The data gathered also
shows that from 22 or 79%, the number of students who registered “below average” scores
lowered to 12 or 43%. As indicated by their pre and post-test scores, students improved
from below average to average. Meanwhile, two students who had “poor” scores in thge
pre-test were able to at least attain “below average” scores. These figures show that
considering the number of students who improved from poor to average, the use of the
activity set in improving the vocabulary skills of the students is effective as shown by a
This following portion presents the computed data aimed at establishing the
significant difference in the performance between control and experimental groups, thus
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showing the effectiveness of the activity set in improving the vocabulary skills of the
between the pretest result of the experimental and control group. Result of the preliminary
F-test for Two-Samples for Variances suggest that the groups have unequal variances (see
Table 5. t-test Between the Pretest Result of the Experimental and Control Groups
The result of the statistical test suggest that there is no significant difference
between the mean pretest score of the experimental group (n = 28, m = 11.393) and the
control group (n = 28, m = 10.929) since the probability value p is not less than 0.05. Thus,
the null hypothesis that there is no significant difference between the pretest results of the
control and experimental groups is accepted. This implies that the two groups are have the
same level of vocabulary skills at the baseline and prior to the use of the activity set in
It could therefore be implied that both groups have the same level of entry
To further show the effectiveness of the activity set in improving the vocabulary
skills of the Grade 4 students, paired-sample t-test was used to determine if there is a
significant difference between the mean pretest and post-test scores of the experimental
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Table 5. Paired-Sample t-test Between the Mean Pretest and Post-test Scores of the
Experimental Group
The data in Table 6 suggest that there is a significant difference between the mean
pretest score (m = 11.393) and the mean post test score (m = 16.96400) of the experimental
group since the probability value p (0.000) is less than 0.05. Based from the computed
data, the null hypothesis that there is no significant difference between the pretest and post-
test results of the experimental group is rejected. This leads to an inference that the use of
the activity set is effective in improving the vocabulary skills of the Grade 4 students in the
This further shows that the students registered significant improvement post-test
scores after the 2-week remedial sessions with the use of the activity set in vocabulary
development. This agrees with the number of students improving from poor to below
To further determine the effectiveness of the activity set, the mean post test scores
of the experimental and control group were compared. The statistical difference of the
mean post test score of the group was computed using the independent samples t-test. The
preliminary F-test suggests that the two groups have was assumed with equal variances
(Appedix B). The result of the statistical test was shown in Table 7.
Table 7. Independent Sample t-test Between the Mean Post test Scores of the
Experimental and Control Groups
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The data suggest that there is a significant difference between the mean post-test
score of the experimental group (n = 28, m = 16.964) and the control group (n = 28, m =
Thus, the null hypothesis that there is no significant difference between the posttest
results of the control and experimental groups is rejected. This suggests that the
performance of the experimental group is higher than that of the control group. The mean
gain score of 2.500 suggests that the the use of the activity set helped the Grade 4 students
use of the activity set in vocabulary development as shown by the computed data could be
As per observations of the researcher, the activities included per skill helped the
students develop vocabulary skills necessary for them to improve their reading skills. The
students were able to relate into the activities because such were based from DepED-
prescribed materials. Some activities were also lifted from materials fit to the learning
levels of the students, thus further improving their study and reading habits. As for instance,
assignments were also given to students where they have to read stories and answer the
With the purpose of closely looking at the progress of the students, the regular
remedial classes where the activity set was used also contributed to the improvements
registered the the students. The observations conducted by the school head and suggestions
of the English teachers also gave the teacher-researcher better ideas in employing strategies
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As shown by the number of students who improved in their vocabulary skills and t-test of
the pre and post-test scores, the use of the activity set in improving the vocabulary skills
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Chapter 4
The pre-test scores of the control group, a total of 24 or 85.71% scored 5 to 16, thus
under the category “below average” while 3 or 10.71% registered scores from 17 to 29,
thus have “average” vocabulary skills. The pre-test scores of the experimental group
reveals that a total of 22 or 78.57% of the 28 students were “below average”, scoring 5 to
16. Scoring from 17-29, 4 or 14.29% of the students are categorized as “average” while 2
Post-test results of the experimental group show that total of 16 or 57% of the 28
students registered “average” scores from 17 to 29. From 22 or 79%, the number of students
The t-test between the pretest result of the experimental and control groups reveals
that there is no significant difference between the mean pretest score of the experimental
group (n = 28, m = 11.393) and the control group (n = 28, m = 10.929) since the probability
value p is not less than 0.05. Thus, the null hypothesis that there is no significant difference
between the pretest results of the control and experimental groups is accepted. The paired-
sample t-test between the mean pretest and post-test scores of the experimental group
suggest that there is a significant difference between the mean pretest score (m = 11.393)
and the mean post test score (m = 16.96400) of the experimental group since the probability
value p (0.000) is less than 0.05. Based from the computed data, the null hypothesis that
there is no significant difference between the pretest and posttest results of the experimental
group is rejected. The independent sample t-test between the mean post test scores of the
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experimental and control groups suggest that there is a significant difference between the
mean posttest score of the experimental group (n = 28, m = 16.964) and the control group
(n = 28, m = 14.464) since the probability value p (0.009) is less than 0.05. Thus, the null
hypothesis that there is no significant difference between the posttest results of the control
Conclusions
The following conclusions were formulated on the basis of the findings of the study.
1. Majority of the students in the control group performed on below average while. In
like manner, majority of the students in the experimental group performed on below
average.
2. Post-test results of the experimental group show that majority performed on the
average.
3. Based on the t-test between the pretest result of the experimental and control
groups, it could be inferred that both group of students have the same level of
vocabulary skills prior to the use of the activity set. Meanwhile, the paired-sample
t-test between the mean pretest and post-test scores of the experimental and
independent sample t-test between the mean post test scores of the experimental
and control groups suggest generally suggest that the use of the activity set in
vocabulary skills..
Recommendations
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On the basis of the findings and conclusions of the study, the following
(SLAC) sessions.
3. A copy of this action research may be provided to the Division Office for evaluation
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