Introduction

Background of the Study

English has been considered as an essential language to be learnt in order

to meet the communication needs in this globalization era. As stated in

standard of content by Kemendikbud 2013, the teaching of foreign language,

specifically English, is aimed to develop students’ ability to communicate with

world society. Therefore, it is taught in different kind of grade levels. The

teaching includes the teaching of the four skills, listening, speaking, reading,

and writing and each of the micro skills.

Bakhsh (2016) stated that vocabulary is fundamental to learn any

language. With these vocabulary words, pupils are able to read and understand

a reading passage in their textbook. However, it was undeniable that the pupils

were demotivated and they were unable remember the spelling and meaning of

the words learned. As asserted by Lim, Yunus and Amin (2017), the academic

performance and dominant use of mother-tongue language had undeniably

limited the pupils’ experience in learning English and thus, affected their

vocabulary exposure.

Vocabulary is one of crucial aspects to support those skills. As stated by

Richards and Renandya (2002), vocabulary is a core component of language

proficiency and provides much of the basis of how well learners speak, listen,

and write. The vocabulary mastery will affect someone’s ability in using the

language either in spoken or written form. In listening skill, to be able to

understand someone utterance, people should know what the meaning of

words and sentences being said. Therefore, they know the intention of the

utterance and are able to react either through action or answer it using

spoken utterance, which here, they have to use words to do that.

As stated also by Wilkins in Thornbury (2002), “Without grammar very

little can be conveyed, without vocabulary nothing can be conveyed.” It tells us

that if someone wants to be able to convey meaning they need vocabulary.

Although someone has known sentence structure but if he/she does not

mastery vocabulary, he/she will remain unable to say or write anything and

the grammar knowledge will be useless. Thus, by improving the vocabulary, it

will be a basic for someone to communicate what is in their mind using the

targeted language.

Based on the background of the study, the researchers want to use an

action research study by using Weekly Oral and Written (WOW) Strategy to

solve the problems that occurred in the class. In addition, the researchers are

interested in conducting this action research to determine its effectiveness in

enhancing the Vocabulary Skills among Students.

Statement of the Problem

The researcher anchored the Intervention on the use of the Frayer Model.

This instructional strategy promotes critical thinking and helps students to

identify and understand unfamiliar vocabulary. The Frayer Model draws on a

student’s prior knowledge to build connections among new concepts and

creates a visual reference by which students learn to compare attributes and

examples.

The researchers perceived that the learners’ vocabulary difficulty was

caused by the following situation and activity:

1. Lack of reading exercise or not fond of reading

2. The unexpected worldwide COVID19 crises which give rise to online

learning as an alternative way of teaching-learning to aid continuous

education.

Based on the preliminary study that was conducted, during the

researchers first week of demo teaching, the researchers found out that some

students did not answer the questions knowing that they did not understand

about the text because it contained unfamiliar words that should be clearly

explained to them. Consequently, they preferred to keep silent during the

lesson. As an aid to the learners’ vocabulary difficulty, the researchers

generate solution to enhance the learners’ vocabulary skills through the use

of Weekly Oral and Written (WOW) strategy among Grade 8-Jacinto Class of

Mambajao National High School.

Objectives of the Study

Weekly Oral and Written (WOW) strategy among Grade 8-Jacinto Class

of Mambajao National High School contains the specific objectives of the

research:

1. To improve the vocabulary skills of the students; and

2. To know whether teaching vocabulary skills using Weekly Oral and

Written (WOW) Strategy is effective in enhancing students’ vocabulary

skills.

Significance of the Study

This research was expected to provide significant contribution

practically. This research served three practical significances in teaching and

learning vocabulary were:

Significance for the students. After this research, the researcher extremely

expected that all of the students would be able to have more vocabulary and

become more interested in learning vocabulary.

Significance for the school. By this research, the researcher hoped that it

could help the school to solve some problems in the school related to the use

of method in teaching vocabulary especially in developing students’

vocabulary.

Significance for the teachers. The researcher also hoped that this research

could help teacher to enhance students’ achievement especially on vocabulary

as well as become an alternative method for English teacher in teaching

vocabulary.
 Literature Review
Concept of Vocabulary

Vocabulary is an important aspect in English language learning. It is the

component that connects the four skills which are listening, speaking, reading

and writing skill. In order to communicate well in the target language, pupils

need to have enough number of words and they need to know how to apply

them. Undoubtedly, it is a challenging task for English language teachers to

equip primary pupils with adequate vocabulary even though many teaching

strategies have been used to assist them in learning vocabulary (Yunus et al.,

2020).

The Use of Vocabulary

According to Indriyani and Sugirin (2019), vocabulary is imperative to

be acquired by the learners. Recent studies in second and foreign language

acquisition emphasised that non-native speakers need a good foundation of

vocabulary knowledge in order to become successful English language users

(Viera, 2016). Within the Malaysian context, the teaching and learning process

of vocabulary in English language begins as early as Primary 1 and onwards

to Primary 6 (Ministry of Education, 2017).

Based on researcher’s preliminary observation in SMP Negeri 3

Sungguminasa (November 18th, 2016), the researcher found that there were

still many students who had some problems in learning English. One of the

problems was the students lack of vocabulary because teachers just gave list
of vocabulary to students and ask them to memorize the vocabulary, which

made the students did not have an interest and felt bored in learning process.

Altyari (2017) considers that the Saudi students’ weak linguistic

performance in English reflects their deficient vocabulary knowledge. The

researcher points out two compelling facts that contribute to poor vocabulary

uptake and lexical insufficiency by the Saudi students in public high schools.

The participants included thirty-five students from different educational levels

and nine male Saudi teachers of English as a foreign language (EFL) at

intermediate and secondary schools.

In Oxford Advance Learner’s Dictionary, vocabulary defines as follow:

a. All words that a person knows or uses.

b. All words in a particular language.

c. The words that people use when they are talking about a particular

subject.

d. A list of words with their meanings, especially in a book for learning

a foreign language.

The Importance of Learning Vocabulary

Vocabulary learning is very important for people who learn English both

as foreign language and as second language. Tozcu and Coady (2004: 473)

point out learning vocabulary is an important aspect of language two and

foreign language acquisition and academic achievement and is vital to reading

comprehension and 13Yang Zhihong, Learning words. English Teaching

Forum.Vol.38. No.3 July 2000 proficiency, to which it is closely linked14.

Moreover, Heubener (1965: 88) states that learning of vocabulary is based on

the formation of specific habits. Since this involves the association of symbols

and their meaning, it is clear that an enrichment of the meaning of the word is

as important as its frequent repetition.

Written and Oral Strategy

According to, Sinatra, R., Zygouris-Coe, V., & Dasinger, S. (2011). “The

process of acquiring and using words in oral and written contexts is a life-long

learning process that begins quite critically during the early years. Knowledge

of vocabulary meanings affects children’s abilities to understand and use

words appropriately during the language acts of listening, speaking, reading,

and writing. Such knowledge influences the complexities and nuances of

children’s thinking, how they communicate in the oral and written languages,

and how well they will understand printed texts.

Concept of Frayer Model

Rosenbaum, C. (2001). A word map for middle school: A tool for effective

vocabulary instruction. Journal of Adolescent & Adult Literacy. The Frayer Model is a

graphic organizer for building student vocabulary. This technique requires students

to define target vocabulary and apply their knowledge by generating examples and

non-examples, giving characteristics, and/or drawing a picture to illustrate the

meaning of the word. This information is placed on a chart that is divided into four

sections to provide a visual representation for students.

Scope and Delimitation

There were many ways to teach vocabulary and it is not possible for the

writer to tell all of the techniques. So, the writer makes limitation as follows:

1. The study will apply the Weekly Oral and Written (WOW) Strategy in

increasing vocabulary skills to the needed students.

2. This study focuses on the improvement of student’s active vocabulary

ability.

Definition of Terms

The researcher operationally defined the following terms to provide the

readers a clearer understanding of the study

Vocabulary. The fundamental requirement and through vocabulary we can

communicate our ideas, emotion and the desires.

Skills. The competence individual is something to do in practical.

Student vocabulary. The competence is ability individual for expressing idea,

emotion and the desires in form communicate.

Frayer Model. The anchored model in the study as a basis of their own made

strategy.
 CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORK

The Frayer Model is useful for students that must learn the critical

vocabulary necessary for academic success in their content area classroom.

You would not use the Frayer Model to define common words like “pool” or

“house”- unless you are working with English Language Learners that need

support learning common words. In other classroom settings, however, you

should choose vocabulary words, concepts, or topics that require a deep

understanding to fully engage in the course content. Plan for a vocabulary

notebook, binder, or notecard container for students to store their Frayer

Models- they can draw their own into a notebook, or you can provide printouts

to students to work on and then store. Keeping their completed Frayer Models

will allow students to quickly review and practice their concepts in the future,

deepening their understanding.

WRITTEN
WEEKLY ORAL (EXAMPLE
(DEFINITION) (UNFAMILIAR SENTENCE)
WORD/S)
 METHODOLOGY

The research design in this study was Classroom Action Research (CAR).

The goal of this research was to enhance the student’s vocabulary in the

classroom. The treatment which was used in this research was Weekly Oral

and Written (WOW) strategy. The subjects were only 20 students who consist

of 10 males, and 10 females’ students at eight grade of junior high schools in

Mambajao National High School.

Specifically, it aimed to find answer to the following question:

1. What vocabulary level the students belong after the intervention of

Weekly Oral and Written (WOW) Strategy?

2. Is there a significant difference in Students’ Vocabulary Skills after using

the WOW strategy?

Hypotheses

The following hypotheses were hereby provided in the light of identifying

the usefulness of the WOW Strategy in enhancing the Vocabulary skills of the

Grade-8 Jacinto students.

1. Students’ vocabulary level after the intervention of WOW Strategy was

excellent.

2. Ha (Alternative hypothesis). There is significant difference in enhancing

vocabulary skills after the intervention of WOW Strategy.

Ho: (Null Hypothesis). There is no significant difference in enhancing

vocabulary skills after the intervention of WOW Strategy.

 There were four steps in this study: planning, acting, observing, and

reflecting. In planning, the researcher prepared all things that were needed in

doing the study start from preliminary study until the end of the study. The

researcher also managed the time and determined about how many meetings

that he needed in doing that study.

In Acting, the researcher was charged to do the treatment. The treatment

here meant the researcher applied the strategy that they wanted to use in

solving the problem which occurred in the class. The researcher used Weekly

Oral and Written Strategy (WOW) Strategy simply researchers gave short

reading handouts to the learners every week. These handouts include some

unfamiliar words that the learners will encounter while reading. In addition,

these handouts are used by the researchers to evaluate the reading ability of

the learners every week which serves as the oral strategy while the written

strategy is conducted as a form of quiz where the learners give the meaning of

the unfamiliar words they encounter in the handouts that they have read.

In reflecting, the researcher analyzed all the data and compared all of

them to get the findings from this study. Pre-test was given to the students

before they got the treatment, while the post-test was given after all the

treatment was done. The purposes of all activities above were to know the

enhancement of the student’s vocabulary skills by using the Weekly Oral and

Written (WOW) Strategy.

 To analyze the data, the researcher collected the data using some

instruments such as: pre and posttest which meant that the researcher

compares between the result of, pre-test and posttest using the Paired Sample

T-test to know the significance difference. And to the level of vocabulary skills

among students was analyze through the Criterion Reference Assessment

(CRA) tool.

Participants

The participants of the study were the 20 Grade 8 Jacinto students who

were enrolled in the school year 2021-2022of the limited face to face of

Mambajao National High School. They are the batch 1 students consists of 10

males and 10 females from Lumad, Quipasa residency.

Table 1: Number of respondents

The School Male Female Total number of

(District) respondents

Grade 8-Jacinto 10 10 20

Total 20
Data Collection Before Action Plan is Implemented

Before the intervention was implemented, a pre-test was conducted to

the respondents.

Table 2 is the given activity/quiz.

Items Vocabularies/Unfamiliar Words Choices

1 Stroll-Peter took a stroll in to the woods A. Hunting
B. walk
2 Gasped- Elizabeth gasped as she saw the A. Sudden inhale
picture. B. No breathe
3 Burrs-He was able to take away the burrs A. Soft edge
attached to his clothing. B. Rough edge
4 Cloth- I need a good quality of cloth. A. Fabric
B. Paper
5 Crochet- Anna has a crochet swimsuit. A. Made of plants
B. made of yarn
6 Velvet- Mother made my skirt from velvet. A. Soft fabric
B. Rough fabric
7 Clung- It clung well to another side. A. Far away
B. Hold on tightly
8 Motion- The car is in motion as it slide down A. Stay put
the hill. B. Moving/movement
9 Convenient- The new mall is convenient in our A. Fitting in well
neighborhood. B. Bad sight
10 Invention- Scientists have different invention. A. Imagination
B. Creation
11 Vast- The Sahara is a vast desert. A. Great in size
B. Small in size
12 Tundra- Few plants grow in tundra regions. A. wet and warm regions
B. dry and cold treeless regions
13 Inhabit- Few people inhabit the region. A. Visitors
B. Live in or occupy
14 Frigid- During winter, the weather is so frigid. A. Very cold
B. Very hot
15 Intense- The glare of the sunlight reflected on A. Extreme force or strength
the snow is intense. B. Weak force
16 Ocular- People must protect their eyes from A. Ears or hearing
the strong light to prevent ocular damage. B. Eyes or vision
17 Cunning- Animals of dry and warm places A. Showing skills or strength
must be cunning to survive. B. Showing weakness
18 Shrewd- only shrewd, clever animals escape A. Showing sharp judgement
from their enemies. B. Showing no judgement
19 Fiercely- Two animals are fighting fiercely. A. Extreme action or aggressive
manner
B. Weak force and friendly manner
20 Prey- fish is a cat's prey. A. Food
B. Entertainment
 Scores of the Pre-test
Scores Percentage

80
70
60
50
40
30
20
10
0
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20

Figure 1. The score of the Pre-test

The result showed above that the student pre-test scores were below the

passing grade, the lowest score gain 0 which constituent to 0% and the highest

score garner only 70% which means students got low scores of the quiz which

also gained failed percentage. Thus, this implement that there is a need to

make an intervention to enhance the vocabulary skills among Grade 8 Jacinto

Class of Mambajao National High School.

Action Plan

The researchers employed their own devise strategy called the Weekly

Oral and Written (WOW) Strategy among Grade-8 Jacinto Class. This Strategy

is a one-week motivational procedure used to enhance vocabularies skills of

students. It is composed of two positive strengthening activities to motivate

the learners in partaking the said intervention. This technique is based on the

Incentive Theory of Motivation that implies learners can be inspired using

 extrinsic factors and claims that learners can be driven to join the activities if

they garner rewards (Lumen, 2018). The two research instruments, mainly the

pre-test, post-test were used to collect data. All of the data collected were

tabulated and analyzed descriptively.

The WOW Strategy follows the following procedures:

.
Weekly Oral and Enhancing
Pre-test
SilBronzeGold Medal Written (WOW) Students’ Posttest
Awardees (Top 5 Strategy Own Design Medals
Highest Score) Ability in (Top 10 Highest
(handouts are given) Score)
Vocabulary
Skills
Diagram 1. WOW Strategy

The figure shows that the Weekly Oral and Written (WOW) Strategy,

enhanced students vocabulary skills in which they engaged in activities that

will be given to them thus, they will successfully improve their vocabulary

skills. According to M Sukri Afkharul Huda, et,al of the Universitas Islam

Malang; Indonesia, giving rewards or prizes is a way that must be applied. This

is so that students are motivated to get them and can compete in goodness.

1. Pre-test Medalist

On the first week pre-test

was administered, the learners

who excelled were given the

bronze, silver and gold medal.

The researchers administered a short program to give awards those who

excelled. This kind of strategy motivated the learners to study hard.

2. Intervention

Facilitators let the students read the given

handouts given, 5 students per day to consume

the 20 students (Mon to Thu) then every Friday

the schedule quiz to enhance student’s

vocabularies.

3. Post-Test

After the intervention, posttest was administered, and students are

ready to take the quiz. The same process of the pre-test, new unfamiliar words

in a sentence, and in a multiple choice they need to choose the correct meaning

of the given word. The researchers administered a short program where

everyone receives their Certificate of Participation and top 10 received

researchers own made medal.

Data Collection after Action Plan is Implemented

Table 3. The posttest activity/quiz given.

Items Vocabularies/Unfamiliar Words Choices

1 Terror- The Russia government ruled by A. Good
terror people B. Scary
2 Firm- The man is firm of his decision. A. Very sure
B. Not sure
3 Dawn- In the first light of dawn he start to A. Evening
walk. B. Morning
4 Journey- The mouse began his journey. A. Travel
B. Stay
5 Narrow- the pathway is very narrow. A. Fat
B. slim/fitted
6 Velvet- Mother made my skirt from velvet. A. Soft fabric
B. Rough fabric
7 Clung- It clung well to another side. A. Far away
B. Hold on tightly
8 Motion- The car is in motion as it slide A. Stay put
down the hill. B. Moving/movement
9 Convenient- The new mall is convenient in A. Fitting in well
our neighborhood. B. Bad sight
10 Invention- Scientists have different A. Imagination
invention. B. Creation
11 Vast- The Sahara is a vast desert. A. Great in size
B. Small in size
12 Tundra- Few plants grow in tundra regions. A. wet and warm regions
B. dry and cold treeless regions
13 Inhabit- Few people inhabit the region. A. Visitors
B. Live in or occupy
14 Frigid- During winter, the weather is so A. Very cold
frigid. B. Very hot
15 Intense- The glare of the sunlight reflected A. Extreme force or strength
on the snow is intense. B. Weak force
16 Contentment- Having a good partner gives A. Missing
me contentment. B. Satisfaction
17 Overwhelmed- Bea is overwhelmed with A. High feeling
happiness. B. Low feeling
18 Frightened- Kaye is frightened by the snake. A. Very scared
B. Very happy
19 Bloodied- The victim is bloodied due to A. Bathing in water
many stab wound. B. Bathing in blood
20 Bruised- Alex bruised himself yesterday A. Small wounds
after the accident. B. Small dirt’s
 Scores of the Posttest
Scores Percentage

100

90

80

70

60

50

40

30

20

10

0
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20

Figure 2. The scores of the Posttest

The result showed above that the student posttest scores increased and

almost all students could reach the passing grade. The lowest score gained 5

constituents to 25% and the highest score garner 19 which constituents to

95% which meant that the intervention had almost been achieved. Thus, the

implementation of WOW Strategy enhanced the Vocabulary skills among Grade

8 Jacinto Class of Mambajao National High School.

Findings and Discussion

This part explains the findings with analysis and interpretations of the pre

and posttest scores of the students.

Problem 1. What vocabulary level that the students belong after the

intervention of Weekly Oral and Written (WOW) Strategy?

After identifying the students’ scores, the scores were then analyzed and

placed with reference to the Criterion Referenced Assessment (CRA). The CRA was

first introduced in the United Stated in 1960s as a demand in determining the

grade of a learner against a set of qualities or criteria, without reference to other

individuals’ achievement (Hambleton & Li, 2014; Lok, McNaught & Young, 2016).

Students with test scores of 80 to 100 were categorized as Excellent and

had successfully attained the highest level of vocabulary comprehension, followed

by the test scores from 65 to 79 in the Good level, 50 to 64 in the Satisfactory level

and 40 to 49 achieving Minimum level. Lastly, the scores from 0 to 39 indicated

Failure and the lowest level of vocabulary comprehension.

Table 3: Criterion Referenced Assessment (CRA)

Score Grade Descriptor

16– 20 80-100 Excellent PASS

11-15 65-79 Good PASS

6-10 50-64 Satisfactory PASS

1-5 40-49 Achieve Minimum Level (Adequate) PASS

0 0-39 Below Minimum Level (Poor) FAIL

Pre-Test CRA Post-Test CRA Descriptor
14 PASS 18 PASS Excellent
13 PASS 15 PASS Good
13 PASS 17 PASS Excellent
12 PASS 16 PASS Excellent
12 PASS 19 PASS Excellent
11 PASS 11 PASS Good
11 PASS 12 PASS Good
11 PASS 11 PASS Good
10 PASS 16 PASS Excellent
9 PASS 10 PASS satisfactory
8 PASS 15 PASS Good
7 PASS 16 PASS Excellent
7 PASS 16 PASS Excellent
4 PASS 11 PASS Good
3 PASS 6 PASS satisfactory
3 PASS 16 PASS Excellent
3 PASS 7 PASS satisfactory
3 PASS 6 PASS satisfactory
2 PASS 5 PASS Adequate
0 FAIL 5 PASS Adequate

Based on the student’s posttest results, the highest total counts of

grades garner 8 counts wherein it belongs to the Excellent level, followed by

Good Level with 6 counts, 4 counts for Satisfactory and 2 counts for Adequate

level. This implies that the vocabulary level of Grade 8 Jacinto students after

the WOW Strategy is in Excellent level.

Problem 2. Is there a significant difference in Students’ Vocabulary Skills after

using the WOW strategy?

Table 1

Test of significant mean difference between scores in Pre-test and Post-test

Mean p-
Section SD Decision Remark
Score value*
Reject the There is a significant mean
Pre-test 7 4.83
<0.003 null difference between the scores in
Post-test 12.15 4.53 hypothesis the Pre-test and Post-test.
*Tested at 𝛼=0.05

Table 1 shows the test of significant mean difference between scores in

the two test results using Paired Samples T-test. The scores of students in pre-

test is lower than those scores in post-test (MeanPre-test = 7, SDPre-test= 4.83,

MeanPost-test= 12.15, SDPost-test =4.53, p<0.003).

The P-value of 0.003 is less than 0.05 level of significance, so therefore

we can say that the scores of pre-test and post-test have significant difference

and that the mean scores in post-test is significantly higher than in the pre-

test scores. Since the post-test scores are higher after conducting the

interventions, we can further conclude that interventions are really effective.

 CONCLUSIONS

Based on the research findings, the conclusion can be drawn as

follows:

1. The use of Weekly Oral and Written Strategy” had positive

impact in enhancing students’ vocabulary skills, from the
results of the pretest highest score only belong to Good level to
posttest highest score belong to Excellent level;

2. It shows that using Weekly Oral and Written Strategy can

enhance students’ vocabulary skills and it can be effective
strategy in teaching English. It helped students to memorize
vocabulary easier, made them enjoy and motivated them in
teaching learning process. It also created competition and
cooperation in teaching learning process.
3. (NA) There is significant difference and that the mean scores in post-

test is significantly higher than in the pre-test scores. Since the

post-test scores are higher after conducting the interventions, we

can further conclude that interventions are really effective.

4. (HO) There is no significant difference in enhancing vocabulary

skills after the intervention of WOW Strategy.

 Recommendations

Based on the above conclusions, the following recommendations was

formulated:

1. Department of Education may implement the full face to face

class to enhance the Student’s Vocabulary skills.

2. The school administration, particularly in the English department

may create monthly literary activities like essays and journalism

3. Teachers who teach vocabularies in reading texts should apply

Weekly Oral and Written Strategy those strategies can help
students easily to understand the content of the texts.

4. Future studies may conduct action research as soon as possible.

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