TEACHING VOCABULARY USING LANGUAGE GAMES: A CASE STUDY OF YEAR SIX LEARNERS

Traditionally vocabulary teaching had been incorporated into reading, writing, speaking and listening. Limited time and the need to complete the year six syllabus before the UPSR examination. Learners are introduced to new words through exercises or by finding out meanings of words from the dictionary. To supplement these strategies and to create an interest towards learning vocabulary language games could be incorporated. Young learners can learn language through play. Games are fun and children like to play. Lewis (1999 ) Games add variation to a lesson and increase motivation by providing a plausible incentive to use the target language. For children between four to twelve years old games provide the motivation toward language learning. vocabulary plays an important role in the four skills which is listening, speaking, reading and writing. Common mistakes done by the pupils are: a. b. c. d. Unable to use appropriate vocabulary when writing and speaking. No self-confidence to speak in English as they are afraid to make mistakes. Trying to learn new vocabulary by memorizing or by guessing the meaning of words. Lack in reading, speaking and writing in English. (practice makes perfect)

Objectives of this study This study hopes to increase pupils proficiency in the English language thus upgrading the percentage of pupils to do well in the UPSR examination. This study for the duration of two months will involve 34 pupils (6 Cekap ) from Sekolah Kebangsaan Kelana Jaya 1 an urban school in Kelana Jaya., Petaling Jaya. The researcher will introduce vocabulary according to the year 6 syllabus by using Language games. This research is a qualitative case study, which seeks to examine how language games assist Year Six ESL learners develop their vocabulary. . The qualitative case study methodology has been employed to further understand how language games facilitate the learning of vocabulary in the Malaysian primary school context. Robson (1993) defines case study methodology as a strategy for doing research that involves an empirical investigation of a particular contemporary phenomenon in its real life context, using multiple source of evidence (p.52). in addition, this

approach enables the researcher to investigate learners perceptions and expectations, which may not be reflected through the qualitative methods. This research study has opened my eyes to the many techniques that could be used to teach vocabulary. This study provides teachers some ideas on how to teach vocabulary using language games. It is hoped that this study will be beneficial to English teachers in their effort to make the teaching of vocabulary effective and meaningful. The learning of vocabulary can become more interesting and enjoyable for learners if teachers were to adopt some of the strategies highlighted in this study. This study does not in any way disregards traditional approaches but to vary the techniques and strategies so that learners are not bored. The study provided insights into the teaching of language in a classroom situation. This experience will certainly prove to be valuable for the English language teaching profession