Bridging the English Vocabulary Gap of Grade 8 - Generosity Students through Word - in a - Box Strategy

Abstract

INTRODUCTION

The MasayaIntegrated National High School is a secondary public school in a second-class municipality in the Philippines. The 2016-2017 Philippine Informal Reading Inventory (PHIL-IRI) pre-test results revealed that 50% of the total enrolled students have low reading skills which were co-related to poor English vocabulary skills. This is despite having English as one of the core subjects in the Philippine Education system. The study explored how incorporating new learning strategies, such as the "Word-in-a-Box", into regular teaching method could help improve students' English competencies and assessed how other factors could affect students' learning performance.

METHODS

A need-based assessment was conducted to determine students' learning gap. Based on the results of the assessment, an implementation strategy was formulated with activities collaboratively done by the English teachers and students. The study pilot-tested 50 students from the Grade 8 Generosity Section and the program was implemented during the 1st grading period. To establish a change in students' performance, pre-test and post-test questionnaires were administered. Every morning from Monday to Friday, 10 minutes were devoted for the "Word-in-a-Box" activity where a "word" card with meaning, including its antonyms, synonyms, and sample sentence, is used for discussion.

RESULTS

After three months of implementing the "Word-in-a-Box" intervention, the results of the study showed a positive relationship between the introduction of learning strategy and the students' performance. Comparing the results of pre-test and post-test, it showed a significant change in the students' scores. Students' mean score has doubled, implying an improvement in learning and increased performance in vocabulary development. The students' score sheets showed that most of the students are consistently perfect in the review tests. There was also an increased level of interaction between teacher and students and increased level of participation among students during sessions. The study also showed that students' school performance and attendance are affected by other external factors such as financial problems, family issues, and bad weather.

DISCUSSIONS

Introducing creative and engaging learning strategies and tools, such as "Word-in-a-Box", help improve students' learning absorption. With increased vocabulary, students perform better in class and participate more during discussions. The school continues to implement it and other complementary activities to sustain students' learning and consider expanding the implementation to other levels and sections to improve the school's overall standing on PHIL-IRI.