Using Whatsapp in Teaching Vocabulary: A Case Study from Palestine

Abstract

essaging applications have become well-known among 21st-century students worldwide and in Palestine in particular. These applications are useful in teaching and learning all disciplines and English in particular. This study has sought to find out the effect of using the WhatsApp application in enriching primary school students’ vocabulary. To this end, a 20 sixth-grade students (10 males and 10 females) from Al-Omariya Private Schools, Nablus were selected as a study sample. Since the research adopted one-group design method, a pre-test was administered to assess the student's level in vocabulary knowledge and to ensure their homogeneity. After that, the students in the experimental group received vocabulary instructions and a teacher's pedagogy through WhatsApp messages, which included pictures, texts and videos, three days a week for two months. A post-test was administered to the experimental group to measure the effect of using WhatsApp instructions on their vocabulary knowledge and gender as well. The results revealed that using WhatsApp had a significant effect on the improvement of the student's vocabulary knowledge. They also showed that there were differences in the effect of using WhatsApp in teaching vocabulary between males and females in favor of males. In light of these findings, the researchers suggest using WhatsApp messaging in other private and government schools.
 This study contributed to raising the awareness of students, teachers and curriculum designers of the importance of utilizing WhatsApp in teaching and learning. It also contributed to introducing students to new strategies and techniques for learning English vocabulary in a new environment that promotes students’ motivation and enhances autonomous learning whenever and wherever they want according to their pace. The study may also participate in introducing foreign researchers to the reality and capacities of the Palestinian educational context that may lead to mutual collaboration in future.