MAXIMISING LEARNING THROUGH WALKING VOCABULARIES

Abstract

This study examined the learning of vocabulary through repetition among Form 3 students in a rural school in Kota Marudu, Sabah. Forty students who were poor in English language proficiency participated in the study. In the study, a task related to writing simple paragraphs about the story Dr Jekyll and Mr. Hyde was selected as a case to check on the repetition technique. This task was selected because students faced problems in giving proper responses due to limited vocabulary. Each of the participants was instructed to put on a tag which consisted a word with its’ grammatical function. Therefore, there were 40 students with 40 different words. These words revolved around the story of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. The words were changed weekly over a period of one month. Students wore their tag to school every day, regardless of being in the classroom or outside the class. Their teachers and friends were welcomed to ask them about the meaning of their words. Moreover, the teacher spent at least 10 minutes of every English lesson to test their understanding of the words. The findings of the study suggest that the repetition of vocabulary helped the students to attain the desired vocabulary, especially with passive and poor language learners.