Using Hot Seat Game to Improve Pupils’ English Vocabulary Mastery

Abstract

Malaysian pupils generally have been introduced to English language since pre-school level. However, the pupils still have a problem of lack of English vocabulary which hinders them from being proficient in the language. Teachers need to try different teaching strategies that can enrich pupils’ English vocabulary. Thus, the research’s objective was to determine whether teaching vocabulary by using hot seat game can improve the pupils’ vocabulary mastery. This action research involved 26 Year 3 pupils in a rural area primary school in Pahang. Data for this study was collected quantitative and qualitatively through vocabulary pre and post-tests, observation and semi-structured interviews. The mean of the pupils’ score in Cycle 1 was 65.8 in the pre-test and went up to 77.1 in the post-test. During Cycle 2, the mean of the pupils’ score was 75.2 in the pre-test and increased to 81.2 in the post-test. Therefore, it can be concluded that hot seat game was able to improve English vocabulary mastery of the Year 3 pupils after only two months of implementation. For further researches, a longer research’s duration and more frequent use of hot seat game are advised as it might shows a better result in pupils’ English vocabulary mastery.