Topic
Lack of vocabulary in English language among the 8th standard students.
My induction practice was done in MRSV H.S Mazhuvannoor. I was assigned to teach English in 8th standard. The students were very curious and obediently attended all my classes. They gave positive responses to all my questions. After the class I gave them a short essay question related to my topic. But unfortunately they couldn’t do it well. This made me realise that they have ideas in their mind but doesn’t have much vocabulary reproduce it effectively to the paper. The findings showed that the students still faced the problems related to vocabulary learning. Vocabulary knowledge is a focal part of the language. Almost all the students have difficulties in pronouncing the words, how to write and spell ,the different grammatical form of a word known as inflections was one of causes of students difficulties in learning vocabulary. This made first difficult for them to express themselves in English languages. Students lost their confidence in English because of this lack of vocabulary. It reflects in their examinations and grades. This vocabulary problems leads to in their impaired readings, writing and communication skills, low vocabulary knowledge causes serious problems to its learner which will be severe problematic issue for a learning process. This lack of vocabulary might become the reason for lot practical problems in their academic as well as professional life and there for must be resolved immediately.
STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM
Lack of ability among the eight standard students of MRSV high school mazhuvannoor in expressing their ideas in English language due to exiguous vocabulary.
DEFINITIONS OF TERMS USED
English :-Related to Engalnd, Its people of language
Pronunciation :- The way in which the sound articulate
Vocabulary :- The body of words used in a particular language
DIAGNOSING THE PROBlEM
When I finished the whole lesson and its activities I gave them a simple short essay question which aimed their creative writing. The students couldn’t answer it well. When I asked them to respond in their mother tongue, they responded well. This made me realise that, they have ideas and they doesn’t have enough vocabulary to express their concept or ideas. Lack of vocabulary leads to lack of confidence.Through further interaction with my students I understood that this was due to lack of basic reading and writing habits. They didn’t really know how to pronounce a simple word accurately and how to frame a simple sentence correctly.
ACTION HYPOTHESIS
Teacher evaluate the problems and identify the possible causes of the problem.
Lack of basic reading habits
Complexity of word knowledge
Lack of communication
Lack of confidence
Lack of exposure to language.
Limitaton of sources of information about words.
HYPOTHESIS FORMULATED IN THIS ACTION RESEARCH
Provide simple books for students to encourage their reading habits. This can improve their language skills as well as their vocabulary.
Conduct simple games sessions discussions competitions to increase the confidence level of the students.
ACTION PLAN
SAMPLE: To conduct the action research, sample was taken from MRSV H.S Mazhuvannoor. The learner who were part of this were students from class 8 A.
DURATIONOF THE STUDY
The whole process of identification of issue till the submission of report on the same lasted for about four weeks. It was done from November to December 2022. It all started after posing the questions from the chapter taught to the children. The problem identified and a pre-test was conducted to confirm. Thereafter actin hypothesis was executed.
DESIGN OF THE STUDY
The action research is designed to address the issue of lack of vocabulary to express matters( both reading and writing) in English language by students of class 8A OF MRSV H.S Mazhuvannoor.
The major cause for this which I identified were lack of reading habit, lack of confidence, lack of exposure to English language etc…All the students are the volcanoes of ideas and concepts but as a language student they are barren because of lack of vocabulary.
I therefore decided to take certain steps to improve the vocabulary of of students in English language. For this small reading corner and games were introduced.
PRE-TEST
The problems were identified by chance through one of my class test. To coform this a pre-test aws conducted. A questionnaire is distributed to about 15 learners of class 8A. These students were randomly selected and their responses were collected.
1. Are you able to understand things by reading?
2. Are you able to express yourself in English?
3. Are you felt any kind of shyness infront of the mob?
4. Are you confident while writing in English
5. Are you confident while speaking in English?
6. Do you find difficulty in using appropriate words?
Only 5 out of 15 were confident enough in speaking in English language. This shows lack of confidence and lack of vocabulary.
ACTION PROGRAMME
On the basis of hypothesis that was formulated certain actions were undertaken which include;
Basic lessons were given to increase vocabulary. Here, spelling meaning, opposites, synonyms, plurals etc were discussed.
Conducted small entertainment programmes and games related to words and language to improve their vocabulary and confidence level.
Students are encouraged to do small talks,debates and reading test to motivate them
This action programme was implemented and a post test also done.
POST-TEST
After proper execution of action programme, a post test was conducted using another questionnaire.
Now I have the habit of reading books.
Now I can comprehend the meaning.
Now I am improved in reading fluently.
Now I feel confident while reading and writing.
Now I am confident while talking to others.
I have improved in spelling words.
My writing style has improved.
In this test, the learners gave me positive responses and it help the children to express themselves better and a disciplined academic growth reflected in their studies. This made the attitude of students better and they became more confident and it increased the achievement rate of students.
ANALYSIS AND INTEPRETATION
My school induction period at MRSV H.S teaches many things and it help me a lot to learn the practical side of students psychology. This days also helped me to identify the difficulties facing by students proficiency in English language depends on the knowledge of its vocabulary. Students with low vocabulary knowledge show weak academic performance in learning especially in linguistics and literature. They were unable to construct a simple sentence in English without any mistakes. The confident level was low and they refused to use English for communication and entertainment purposes. English marginalised to the academic purposes in for those children.
After implementing the action plan, the result was very much shocking for me and a lot of positive changes happened within the learners. Now they are confidently facing the audience and trying to follow the direct method. They could now understand that why English called as global language.
To its contribution, this study emphasize the importance of learning the English vocabulary draws students attention towards it, highlights the problems encountered by students and raises their awareness of the vocabulary.
Vocabulary knowledge is the single most important factor contributing to reading comprehension. Vocabulary learning research with students with learning disabilities over the last three months has repeatedly reported that teachers should provide students with explicit vocabulary instruction, repeated exposure to new words in activities such as discussions and writing and uses strategies to help determine word meaning independently.
SUGGESTIONS AND RECOMMENTATIONS
Major suggestions are:
Make sure they encounter a new word many times.
Provide explicit vocabulary instruction related to each text they read.
Help them recognize and use meaning morphemes
Help them develop deliberate strategies for learning words.
Encourage persistence and recognize success
Help them in the use of new words in discussion and in writing.
CONCLUSION
Action Research is an attempt to solve problems and improve the professional practices in their own. It involves systematic observations and data collections. Action research provides a framework that guides the energies of teachers toward a better understanding of why, when and how students become better learners.
Vocabulary development is a process of acquiring new words to use in daily life and more specifically the basis for learning any language vocabulary development focuses on helping students.
Action research was a time consuming process however the result after action plan is very much satisfying. The overall development of their confidence level make me happy.
