Effectiveness of PreModified Comprehensible Input to the Vocabulary Competence of Grade 10 Students

Abstract

INTRODUCTION

Vocabulary is a crucial component for the success of second language acquisition for it forms the core for the proficiency along the five language macro-skills such as reading, listening, writing, viewing and speaking. In the Philippine context, the National Achievement Test conducted on March 2012 shows that defining words through context clues ranked fourth in the Ten Least Learned Skills of the students. Students have exhibited difficulty in executing the skill due to poor vocabulary ability and skills.

METHODS

The study utilized 60 Grade 10 students randomly assigned as the experimental and control group. The instruments used in the study were a teacher-made test , a learning plan conducted to both groups and texts which were given during the reading session (traditional input for the control group and premodified comprehensible input for the experimental group). Before the experimentation, a uniform pretest was administered to both groups. For one week, the control group was taught using the traditional input while the experimental group was subjected to the premodified comprehensible input. After the treatments, both groups took a uniform posttest.

RESULTS

Both groups garnered a mean falling under "slightly effective" during the pretest. This indicates that both groups have the same baseline level prior to the experimentation with regards to vocabulary competence. Using the t-test of difference for correlated means, both groups manifested a significant difference on their performance in the pretest and the posttest. This means that there was an improvement in the performance of the students after the treatments, whether traditional or using premodified comprehensible input. Using t-test of difference for uncorrelated means on the posttest results, it was found out that there is a significant difference between the two groups. The experimental group garnered the greatest mean gain of 41.67 against 28.11 of the control group.

DISCUSSIONS

The use of premodified comprehensible inputs show more promise in terms of vocabulary competence. It allows learner to provide attention to unfamiliar words which can get lost from a reader's attention without textual enhancements. The use of textual modifications such as bold facing and underlining directs the student's attention in giving meaning to these unfamiliar words in order to have a complete sense of the text. The provision of definition gives means for the learners to fill in the gaps to their own vocabulary capacity.