Open AccessEnglish Remedial Instruction to Enhance Low-Achieving Students’ Vocabulary
Author(s) -
Jia-Yiing Ho
Publication year - 2016
Publication title -
issues in language studies
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
ISSN - 2180-2726
DOI - 10.33736/ils.1629.2016
Subject(s) - remedial education , vocabulary , mathematics education , psychology , test (biology) , christian ministry , class (philosophy) , pedagogy , medical education , computer science , linguistics , medicine , paleontology , philosophy , theology , artificial intelligence , biology
This study examines the extent to which using an English Remedial Instruction Course enhances the vocabulary of Form 3 Malaysian students at a rural school in Sarawak, Malaysia. The research questions addressed were: (1) What are the teachers’ beliefs, assumptions and knowledge (BAK) in regards to teaching remedial students?; (2) Is there a significant difference in vocabulary competency between pre- and post-test mean score for those who underwent the English remedial instruction course in an ESL classroom and the control group?; and (3) What are the students’ feedback regarding the use of remedial instruction in their ESL classroom? The vocabulary chosen for the study was taken from the Ministry of Education Malaysia Form 3 English Textbook Word List, mostly consisting of the common words used in the students’ daily lives. An 8-week remedial instruction course which employed a variety of teaching theory-based activities was designed as the intervention process for the study. Thirty students (experimental group) were chosen from an English language Form 3 low-achieving class to undergo the course while another 30 students (controlled group) underwent the traditional chalk-and-talk and memorisation learning method. Pre-test and post-test statistical results of the students showed there were significant differences using Remedial Instruction enhance the learners’ vocabulary. Learners’ perceptions regarding the English Remedial Instruction course yielded positive responses as gathered through the feedback survey. Educational policy makers could thus improvise workshops and seminars based on these data-proven remedial instruction activities.