Teaching Vocabulary Using Games: A Case Study of ELT

Classroom at 7th Grade Students of Secondary School

Mikhael Misa
Faculty of Educational Science, Universitas Timor, East Nusa Tenggara (Kupang-NTT) – Indonesia
misamikhael@gmail.com

Abstract Keywords
vocabulary teaching; using
The purpose of this study was to determine the effectiveness of
using games to teach vocabulary. To determine the effectiveness of games; ELT Classroom
researchers comparing learning outcomes using conventional
methods with learning outcomes using games. The method used
was experimental research which consisted of an experimental
group and a control class consisting of 20 students each in the
seventh grade of Middle School. The four types of tests are
multiple-choice, word matching, and true-fall tests. To analyze the
data, the researcher used the Standard Deviation. Calculation of t-
score is 132 > 0.44. Compared to the t-table, the t-score is higher.
Thus, this shows that there is effectiveness in teaching vocabulary
by using games. As a result, using games to teach vocabulary can
improve students' vocabulary mastery. This proves that students'
mastery of teaching vocabulary using games is significant.
Developing student success requires a good partnership, between
the teacher and the students themselves.

I. Introduction

One of the very basic elements of learning English is vocabulary. Moreover, it is

important for language teaching and learning. Furthermore, of all the components of
language, vocabulary is the most important. People automatically perform better in many
areas when they have a large vocabulary. They may also be more confident in their ability
to use it. Therefore, students should study seriously because they will have difficulty with
their English skills without strong vocabulary and study techniques.
Teaching vocabulary is more than just presenting new words. It also includes the
choice of which term to use to indicate how often a speaker of the language uses it. In
addition, strong language acquisition helps learners to express their thoughts clearly. The
most important skill that students should learn is vocabulary (Alqahtani, 2015). Without
good vocabulary mastery, the intended meaning or message will not be well-received
(Khan et al., 2018; Olinghouse & Wilson, 2013). Therefore, teachers should be able to
develop students' vocabulary skills in addition to teaching grammar. Teachers should use
creative teaching methods to help students improve their vocabulary. Although research
(Sinhaneti & Kyaw, 2012) has shown that the translation method is less effective than
other approaches in improving students' vocabulary skills, teachers continue to use it. The
translation technique is only used to assist students in remembering the terminology.
According to Nation (2013), students are considered to have high vocabulary skills if they
can spell, pronounce, understand, and use a word correctly in its context. In addition, it is
important to start teaching vocabulary in elementary schools as soon as possible. Teachers
should also understand that teaching vocabulary to elementary school students is different
from teaching vocabulary to adults (Cahyati & Madya, 2019; Habibi & Sofwan, 2015;
Juhana, 2014). This is because primary-school-age children differ from adult learners in
______________________________________________________________
DOI: https://doi.org/10.33258/birci.v5i2.5745 17748
 Budapest International Research and Critics Institute-Journal (BIRCI-Journal)
Volume 5, No 2, May 2022, Page: 17748-17757
e-ISSN: 2615-3076 (Online), p-ISSN: 2615-1715 (Print)
www.bircu-journal.com/index.php/birci
email: birci.journal@gmail.com
many ways. Children prefer to learn through interactive media such as movies, games,
music, and physical activities such as dancing and singing in elementary school (Biesaga,
2017; Nabhan, 2019; Permana, 2020; Smith et al., 2016; Ulfa, 2018; Vitasmoro et al.,
2019). Students will be able to understand reading material, and other people's
conversations, respond, speak clearly, and write about various themes by having a stock
vocabulary. Students will not be able to contribute to the conversation, communicate some
ideas, or provide information if they do not understand the meaning of the words used to
address them.
Teachers can use games to help build a meaningful and practical context for the
language. Students can participate fully and receptively in the whole teaching and learning
process through games. To do this, students must be able to understand what is said or
written by the teacher or others and be able to express their opinions or provide
information orally or in writing.
Teaching vocabulary by using games has an important role for teachers and high
school students. First, as students, they have a strong and good motivation to deepen their
English. Second, they easily accept English because they learn by playing games, which is
currently growing and developing in Indonesia. Third, teaching English vocabulary by
using games can help teachers in the teaching and learning process.
Several relevant studies as input from this case study. There are several card games,
such as those using the idea of a one-size-fits-all model (Mertler, 2013), which allows
players to fully immerse themselves in the kind of learning that encourages recognition and
memory (Kusuma et al., 2017). And one as a form of entertainment and art. This card
game is also used as a technique to improve grammar and vocabulary, two important
linguistic elements of writing ability. Effective vocabulary learning can be facilitated by
game-based learning (Bakhsh, 2016; Derakhshan & Khatir, 2015; Wu, 2018). Students are
engaged and enthusiastic about learning grammar when games are included (Cam et al.,
2017).
The students' English vocabulary mastery is very low, as evidenced by the students'
lack of understanding of English. In addition to learning many terms, students also need to
remember them. For children to learn and master multiple languages, the teacher in this
situation must be very intelligent. For students to understand, the teacher must use the
media to teach, whether it is a textbook or anything that can help in the learning process.
Due to the use of learning media, learning is more interesting and students' understanding
of what is being taught is higher.

Research Question
What is the effectiveness of teaching vocabulary by using games?

II. Review of Literature

Some are relevant to current vocabulary investigation using games (Utku &
Dolgunsöz, 2018) investigated how digital games were used by Aghlara and Tamjid at the
Islamic University of Azad, Iran, to promote vocabulary learning in Iranian children. This
study looks at vocabulary retention in foreign language acquisition. For the experimental
group, appropriate digital games were used, whereas no digital games were used in the
control group, which included 40 participants aged six to seven years. The fact that the
average scores of children in the experimental group performed much better than those in
the control group suggests that using digital games to teach children English vocabulary
has a beneficial impact. Besides that, (Alrajhi, 2020) investigated the perceptions of

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English learners to show how bachelor's degree programs in English and translation at
Saudi public universities use video games as a medium to encourage English language
learning. 101 Arabic-speaking English majors were asked to complete an online survey
with 29 questions posed by 101 Arabic-speaking students. Thus, the skills and education of
English majors can effectively enable them to assess, assess, and evaluate the many
learning environments they encounter for L2, including play environments. Compared to
non-English majors, they are therefore able to provide more accurate and detailed
comments based on their experience.
Moreover, (Kayaalt, 2018) studied a research review on vocabulary learning to show
how online games are used by English at Khoja Akhmet Yassawi University. Along with
the development of the internet, games in the form of online simulations with quantitative
and qualitative metrics for vocabulary mastery from Iran, Turkey, and China began to
appear. As a result, using online games to teach language is more effective for acquiring
vocabulary than memorizing. Success, however, depends on gender. When playing online
games to acquire vocabulary, male students performed better than female students.
Education and skills are the main keys in gaining social status in community life
(Lubis et al, 2019). In addition (Khan et al., 2018) investigate ways to improve the social
skills of poor children to show how Saudi Arabian schools use educational video games.
By evaluating poverty levels using pre-post measurements Twenty poor kindergarteners
who were five years old and did not own an iPad were randomly selected from one of the
public schools in the city of Riyadh (56 schools for girls) to take part in this study. Ten of
them were allowed to play instructional video games for the first time using Android iPad
to improve their social skills. In addition to (Nguyen & Terry, 2017) also examines
vocabulary learning to show how students at Bac Lieu University in Vietnam who are not
majoring in English use games effectively. 580 freshmen without English as their major
will take a test and fill out a questionnaire to see how their vocabulary learning improves
during the experiment. As a result, games produce settings aimed at language
development. The more they use the language, the more proficient they become. They then
gain better knowledge and see improvement in their academic performance.
The researcher would like to present some brief explanations related to these
theories.

2.1 Vocabulary
The ability of second language learners to communicate effectively is generally seen
as highly dependent on their vocabulary development. (Meyer & Schmitt, 2002) highlights
that lexical knowledge is essential for communicative competence and second language
learning when considering the importance of vocabulary acquisition. Therefore, the
relationship between vocabulary knowledge and linguistic practice is characterized by
Nation (2001) as complementary: Language use is made possible by vocabulary ability and
vice versa. Vocabulary knowledge grows as a result of language use.
Every day, both on and off-campus, the value of words is described. The highest
performing children in the class have the most extensive vocabulary. Researchers like
(Barron et al., 2017; Olinghouse & Wilson, 2013; Susanto & Ab Halim, 2016; Tellier,
2008) have recognized that learning vocabulary is essential for the proficient use of a
foreign language and plays an important role in the creation of coherent spoken and written
texts. Learning vocabulary is essential for developing all language skills, including
speaking, listening, reading, and writing (Nation, 2001). A language learner will not be
able to use the structures and functions they may have learned for comprehensible
communication without a large vocabulary, according to Alqahtani (2015), who also

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argues that developing an adequate vocabulary is necessary for the successful use of a
foreign language. According to some studies, vocabulary knowledge is the single biggest
barrier that second language readers have to overcome because they rely so heavily on it
(Alqahtani, 2015).

2.2 Game
The term "game" has come to denote an activity that is fun and interesting, often
difficult, and in which students play and usually engage with other people. Moreover, it
assists the teacher in creating a relevant and practical context for the language. You cannot
learn a language and then use it. Only through actual use can it be taught. Their study of
second language learning, (Krashen, 1989) identified four main implications for second
language teaching: the better the input, the more comprehension aids it offers, the more
speaking and listening practice, and the less stress and boredom. The following four ideas
refer to game-based teaching and learning. Games are powerful tools for language learning
and should be used at every level of the process (Tuan & Doan, 2010). Games provide a
fun element to any language education, give students goals to aim for and require them to
follow rules. A book on language learning through game-based learning has been edited
and for that (Reinder, 2012), a supporter of game-based learning for language acquisition,
participated. Reinders (2012) investigated the pedagogical potential of game-based
learning and its benefits for language acquisition along with 18 other subject matter
specialists. Students are forced to be actively involved in their studies while interacting
with language, peers, and subject matter through games. Levine (2006) also notes the fact
that games, more than books, movies, or music, force students to make choices, an
important part of learning.

2.3 Teaching Using Games

Teaching using games is used to enhance language learners in their studies. They
maintain effort and attention while entertaining the class. Learners speak before, during,
and after the play in an environment where meaningful communication is fostered (Inman
et al., 2010). This environment helps in developing understandable input, including what
they understand when they read and listen (Krashen, 1989), and understandable output,
including writing and speaking (Swain, 1993). Moreover, when language education
becomes serious and emotionless, games help (Drakhshan & Khatir, 2015). Especially if
the games are played in small groups, they help reduce their shyness and trepidation
(Master, Doan, 2012). In addition, games can combine speaking, writing, listening, and
reading—four language skills (Simpson, 2015). While playing the game, students take an
active part, encouraging student-centered activities. Small group activities can help
children practice polite disapproval, asking for help, and cooperating with others. They
promote collaboration, friendship, competition, and turn-taking. According to Kismullah
(2019), games combine multiple intelligences, including kinesthetic cognitive, visual
intelligence, and interpersonal intelligence while playing with other people and sketching.

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 III. Research Method

This section describes the research design. It includes information about study
participants, data collection, and data analysis and procedures.

3.1 Research Design

This study uses a quantitative approach. The research design used in this study was
an experiment in the form of a pre-experimental design with a pre-test and post-test group
design. In this study, the sample used for the experimental and control classes consisted of
20 students each in the seventh grade which was the pre-test and post-test experimental
group for the control class. Researchers gave a pre-test to students, to determine their
ability of students before getting treatment, after that the researchers gave treatment
students, then a post-test was conducted to determine whether or not there was an effect
after treatment.

3.2 Study Participants

Participants are groups that are of interest to researchers, groups that researchers
want to generalize their research results. The population has at least one characteristic that
distinguishes it from other groups. In this study, researchers took the seventh-grade
students of SMP Maubesi, East Nusa Tenggara Province, which amounted to 112 students
as the population. And this is a very important step in conducting a research study showing
that the goodness of sampling determines the generalizability of the results. In other words,
the extent to which the selected sample represents the population is the extent to which the
results are generalized. In this study, the researcher took a random sample consisting of 40
students and divided it into two groups, one for the control group consisting of 20 students
and the other for the experimental group consisting of 20 students. 20 students. The tests
used in this study were Multiple Choice (MC), Matching Words (MW), and True – False
(TF). This is to answer the effect of using games in teaching vocabulary.

3.3 Data Collection and Analysis Procedure

This research will be conducted in a classroom consisting of three stages. First, a pre-
test was given to measure students' mastery of learning vocabulary before using the game.
Second, the study started an experiment in which games were used previously and others
were not. Third, a post-test was given to determine whether teaching vocabulary using
games was effective. The test questions measure students' knowledge and understanding of
vocabulary in several ways, including 1) Examining student work. 2) Word activities are
intended to determine students' ability to combine words into two parts: (1) Understanding
the meaning of words, (2) Understanding ideas, (3) Organizing ideas, and (4) Interpreting
ideas. And to analyze the data, the researcher wanted to know the average difference
between the two groups' control and experiment at the level of P  0,05 had used the t-
test.

IV. Results and Discussion

To get the data needed, the researcher took a sample of seventh grades students in
Secondary School. The researcher described the importance of games in improving
students' vocabulary mastery in teaching by using games. To measure students' vocabulary
in teaching vocabulary by using games, the researcher gave tests to the control and
experimental classes. The analysis and discussion are based on data consisting of scores for

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each test item. The researcher presented the number of correct answers as the basis for the
analysis which was shown on the graph in the next type.

Based on this tabulation, a total score of X1 = 183 was obtained. It was obtained
from the number of correct answers divided by the number of questions for each student
individually. Figure 1 shows that there are 580 (97%) correct answers, and 20 (57%)
incorrect answers. And now, it shows the control and experimental class scores on graph 2
below:

To find out whether it is statistically significant or not, we need to test it. The method
used to determine the significance of teaching or not is to use games. And now, it shows
the control and experimental class scores and standard deviation on graph 3 below:

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 Based on the required data, the researcher looked for the number D = 118. It was
obtained from the number of X1 minus X2 for each test item. While the total score D2 =
708. It is obtained from the sum of D2 multiplied by D.
From these data, it is known that the t-score obtained from the t-test is 132 to
determine the significance of the score obtained from the calculation. This score should be
compared with the score obtained from the t-table. To find the t-table value is (1) knowing
the number of research subjects, and (2) examining the t-table in the table using a
significance level of 0.05. From this procedure, the researcher found that the r-table score
was 0.44.
The conclusion is 132 > 0.44. T-score is higher than the t-table. Thus, the t-score is
higher. This means that the effectiveness of using games in teaching vocabulary helps
students to understand and memorize vocabulary. This implies that teaching vocabulary by
using games is more effective to be applied in teaching vocabulary, especially for students
based on this finding.

V. Conclusion

This study collects the effectiveness of teaching vocabulary by using games. The
findings show that using games effectively increases students' vocabulary. The t value is
calculated using the formula 132 > 0.44. T-score exceeds t-table. As a result, it was proven
that using games to teach vocabulary was successful. This shows that the t-test is higher
than the t-table. As a result, teaching vocabulary by using games can affect the vocabulary
mastery of students in the seventh grade of Secondary School. This proves that students'
mastery of teaching vocabulary using games is significant.

Suggestion
Based on the results obtained from this study, it is highly recommended that
vocabulary teaching using games be used in various schools throughout Indonesia.
Training and dissemination of the benefits of using games are needed so that teachers do
not feel unfamiliar with this learning approach.

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