Deepa Muet

KOLEJ TINGKATAN ENAM HAJI ZAINUL ABIDIN
ACTION RESEARCH
IMPROVING VOCABULARY WITH DICTIONARY
NAME OF RESEACHERS
1) CHARLENE ODELIA FRANCIS
2) MEROSHENY A/P PARTHIBAN
3) KIROSHA PRIYA A/P THIAGARAJAN
4) DEEPA A/P ANJANATHAN
5) SAISWARI A/P RAGAVAN
Class: 6RK4
TABLE OF CONTENT
NO CONTENT PAGE
1 ACKNOWLEDGEMENT 3
2 ABSTRACT 4
3 REFLECTION OF PAST EXPERIENCE 5
4 STUDY FOCUS 5
5 OBJECTIVE 5
MAIN OBJETIVE
SPECIFIC OBJETIVE
6 TARGET GROUP 6
7 IMPLEMENTATION OF THE RESEARCH 6
8 FINDINGS 7
9 CONCLUSION 9
10 SUGGESTIONS FOR FUTURE RESEARCH 9

Acknowledgement
We would like to express our heartfelt appreciation to Pn Florence Tan for her
invaluable and constructive suggestions during the planning and development of this
research. Her willingness to give her time so generously has been very much
appreciated.
ABSTRACT
This research was conducted to overcome problems in vocabulary which was

faced by 10 students of 6RK4. A pre-test was conducted before this
programme began. The results obtained from this test shows that the students
have difficulties understanding the meaning of words. The main focus is to
improve the students’ vocabulary level. By using a dictionary to assist them in
understanding the meaning and definition better, this eventually motivates
them to learn and to practice self-learning to improve their range of vocabulary.
This directly helps them to improve their understanding of the reading
comprehension passages and improve their scores in MUET.
1.0 REFLECTION OF PAST EXPERIENCE :
The students who come into Form 6 have a limited vocabulary and thus find it
a challenge to answer the questions related to the reading comprehension
passages. They have poor dictionary skills and rarely refer to the dictionary too.
As a result, they find it difficult to score in MUET Paper 3.
Using dictionary eventually motivates them to learn and to practice

self-learning to broaden their vocabulary. This directly helps them to improve
their understanding of the reading comprehension passages and improve their
scores.
2.0 STUDY FOCUS :
The researchers have analysed some of the students’ vocabulary level and it
seems that the students were at average level. This programme is devised to
boost the students’ vocabulary. It introduces different themes and vocabulary
related to the themes. Eight sets of quizzes are distributed over eight days.
Each quiz takes half an hour to complete. Students answer the quiz questions
using their dictionary to learn the meaning of new words. The researchers will
analyse the findings in a post-test to determine the success of this programme.
3.0 OBJECTIVE :
3.1 Main Objective:

To help students to score well in MUET reading comprehension questions
3.2 Specific Objective:

 To boost the vocabulary of the students.
 To motivate students to use the dictionary to look up definitions and

meanings.
 To cultivate self-learning through the use of the dictionary

4.0 Target Group
10 students from 6RK4 took part in this research. They are all 18 years old and
have taken their SPM 1119 English paper.
5.0 Implementation of the Research
A group of ten volunteers took part in this research. The research kicked off
with a pre-test. Students answered 20 vocabulary questions in the pre-test.
The pre-test was carried out without using the dictionary.
After the pre-test, one set of vocabulary quiz was given to the students to
answer. The quiz took place for two weeks from 15 October to 22 October
2018. Students were given 30 minutes for each quiz. In this quiz, students are
encouraged to use their e-dictionary to look up definitions and meanings of the
words that they do not understand.
After completing a total of 10 sets of vocabulary quizzes, a post-test was

carried out on 25 October 2018. This test was conducted without using the
e-dictionary.
6.0 FINDINGS
Participant Pre-test Post-test Percentage of

increment (%)
A 10 18 40
B 8 14 30
C 9 15 30
D 6 13 35
E 10 20 50
F 6 16 50
G 5 14 45
H 9 17 40
I 14 19 25
J 11 19 40
RESULTS OF PRE-TEST AND POST-TEST
19
A
11
19
B
14
17
C
9
14
D
5
16
E
6
20
F
10
13
G
6
15
H
9
14
I
8
18
J
10
0 5 10 15 20 25
POST-TEST PRE-TEST
Based on the graph, we can observe that the marks for the pre-test were low.
However, the post-test showed an improvement for each participant.
From the findings, the highest percentage of increment is 50% which is obtained by
two participants while the lowest percentage of increment is 25% which is obtained by
one participant. Besides that, three participants have scored same percentage of
increment which is 40%. Based on the pre-test and post-test , participants E and F
improved drastically by scoring 10 marks higher.
7.0 Conclusion
Conclusively, it is proved that using dictionary is effective for students to

boost their vocabulary. This motivates adult learners to cultivate
self-learning.
8.0 Suggestions for future research

This method can be applied for the teaching of grammar. To boost students’ competence in
grammar, Google Search can be used instead of the dictionary. Teachers are encouraged to
implement this in the class and find out the effectiveness of this programme on the teaching
and learning of grammar.
8.0 Bibliography
http://www.ascd.org/publications/books/113040/chapters/What-Does-the
-Research-Say-About-Vocabulary%C2%A2.aspx
http://reading.uoregon.edu/big_ideas/voc/voc_what.php
https://quizlet.com/12825484/research-vocabulary-flash-cards/

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KOLEJ TINGKATAN ENAM HAJI ZAINUL ABIDIN

IMPROVING VOCABULARY WITH DICTIONARY

3 REFLECTION OF PAST EXPERIENCE 5

7 IMPLEMENTATION OF THE RESEARCH 6

10 SUGGESTIONS FOR FUTURE RESEARCH 9

This research was conducted to overcome problems in vocabulary which was

Using dictionary eventually motivates them to learn and to practice

2.0 STUDY FOCUS :

3.1 Main Objective:

3.2 Specific Objective:

 To motivate students to use the dictionary to look up definitions and

 To cultivate self-learning through the use of the dictionary

5.0 Implementation of the Research

After completing a total of 10 sets of vocabulary quizzes, a post-test was

Participant Pre-test Post-test Percentage of

Conclusively, it is proved that using dictionary is effective for students to

8.0 Suggestions for future research

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