Using Songs to Improve Vocabulary Among Year 3 Learners in A Suburban School in Sabah

Abstract

Since vocabulary is the fundamental building block of a language, learning it has become crucial in order to become fluent in that language. However, most learners struggle to master vocabulary. This problem has made it challenging for learners to communicate clearly in person and in writing as well as to thoroughly comprehend a book. Using songs for learning vocabulary has been very effective and popular nowadays. Different studies revealed that songs are beneficial in vocabulary learning because they enhance learners’ ability to memorise words, improve their communicative skills and also to enhance their motivation. The mixed-methodology approach is used for this case study. It aims to explore how songs help improve primary school learner’s vocabulary acquisition and also how the use of songs help increase learners’ motivation in learning English as a second language. There are 35 Year 3 learners of a suburban school in Papar, Sabah involved in this case study. Data were collected by using a pre and post-test, interview and a questionnaire to evaluate and measure the effectiveness of songs in vocabulary learning. This study is proposed to create awareness of the benefits using songs in order to make learning and teaching new vocabulary more effective. The main findings have shown that the results from the pre-test and post-test have a significant difference where the learners’ marks in the post-test were higher than the pre-test. Thus, the findings depicted that the use of songs can improve the learners’ vocabulary effectively.