The Role of Vocabulary Enrichment Nomenclatures in Enhancing the Vocabulary Development (Tier I) of Kindergarten Pupils in Malusak Elementary School

Abstract

INTRODUCTION

Keen vocabulary is vital in the development of reading skills. As a kindergarten teacher, the researcher has frequently observed that most of her learners showed incompetent vocabulary. Throughout the day to day interactions with the children during learning experiences, it has been quite a challenge to go on with the lessons while seeing that her learners need reinforcement in vocabulary development. The researcher had also noted that many of them were not familiar with the localized things around their environment. The researcher believes that storytelling and learning activities will not suffice to maximize the vocabulary skills of the children. Further, the pre-test of Philippine Informal Reading Inventory in 2017 found out that only 13% of the total school population can comprehend. This led the researcher to use vocabulary enrichment nomenclatures to enhance the learners’ vocabulary development for her Kindergarten pupils. The North American Montessori Center (2008) said Vocabulary Enrichment Nomenclatures are very useful in building vocabulary. The researcher believes that the use of Vocabulary Enrichment Nomenclatures may positively affect the development of learners' reading skills.

METHODS

This study used the descriptive-experimental method of research. She purposely chose the 32 kindergarten learners in Malusak Elementary School as the respondents of the study. They were given a pre-test using the Vocabulary Enrichment Nomenclatures (TIER I) to determine the average result of their vocabulary development. They were then presented the vocabulary enrichment nomenclatures and were given post-test after the intervention period of almost two months. A post-test was given to determine if there were any significant changes in their level of vocabulary development.

RESULTS

The mean scores of the pre-test of the control and experimental groups of 37.88 and 36.66 respectively show that it their vocabulary development must be enhanced. The mean scores of the pretest of the control and experimental groups of 38.18 and 50.5 respectively show that the scores of the experimental group are higher than the control group. Dahlgren, (2008) in her stand on the Reading First National Conference emphasized the study of Moats (2001) that children in kindergarten may have huge discrepancies in oral language development and this gap between language -advanced and language -delayed. The controlled group attained a t value of 2.08 which is lower than the critical value of 2.131 at .05 probability which does not show a significant change in the vocabulary development of the learners who belong to the control group. It led the researcher to accept her first null hypothesis. The t-value of 9.91 which is greater than the critical value of 2.131 (.05 probability) with the degrees of freedom of 15 shows a significant difference between the pretest and post-test scores of the experimental group. The t-test score indicated that the use of Vocabulary Enrichment Nomenclatures has brought significant changes to the vocabulary development of the kindergarten learners in the experimental group. It led the researcher to reject her second null hypothesis. Gilford (2016), stated that vocabulary is an important part of everyday life and is often linked with verbal intelligence. It was further emphasized by the research of Marzano, et. al. (2005), which explains that vocabulary usage directly relates with intelligence, ability to grasp new concepts, and learning potential. The t value of 3.88 which is greater than the p value of 0.00535 with the degrees of freedom of 30 shows a significant difference between the and post-test scores of the experimental and control groups. The t-test score indicates that the use of Vocabulary Enrichment Nomenclatures has brought significant changes to the vocabulary development of the kindergarten learners in the experimental group. These RESULTS mean rejecting the third hypothesis.

DISCUSSIONS

This vocabulary development can be reached through childhood by getting along with the child's curiosity. These vocabulary nomenclatures express that children need continuous exposure to various forms of language through spoken language, experiences, or pictures using their senses to be able to maximize their vocabulary development. Moreover, repetitive exercises help the children to improve their retention and familiarity over those new nomenclatures that were introduced to them.