The Effect of Using Scratch Applications in Learning Vocabulary on Low-Achievement Elementary School Students

Abstract

This study aims to investigate the effects of integrating Scratch programming into vocabulary teaching for low-achieving elementary school students, as well as explore the students' feedback regarding the benefits and challenges of using Scratch. The study involved two elementary school students, 6th-grade and 4th-grade respectively. The older student had an intellectual disability, while the other student did not exhibit any symptoms. The study utilized a questionnaire, pre-test, and post-test to collect quantitative data. The first step involved collecting quantitative data on the participant’s perceptions of the relationship between Scratch and vocabulary skills. Next, the researcher taught narrative teaching to follow them to remember basic 300 Elementary school vocabulary. Additionally, the teacher requires them to complete a pre-test based on the basic 300 Elementary school vocabulary from the textbook. Finally, the researcher used Scratch programming to teach students to review the same vocabulary, while the participants operated the programming by themselves in class. In the end, students completed the Scratch vocabulary programming, all participants would do the post-test from the basic 300 vocabulary test. The results of the study showed that using Scratch may have a significant effect on the students' listening, reading, and speaking skills. Furthermore, the questionnaire revealed that the participants may have a positive attitude towards using Scratch to motivate their participation, found the platform easy to use, and were willing to try new computer programming. The researcher suggested that the teacher should follow up correctly to help the low-achieving student achieve better results with Scratch. Based on these findings, the study recommends using applications such as Scratches’ image or operation function can increase low-achievement students’ learning English vocabulary results.

Keywords

Scratch, vocabulary, elementary school students, low-achievement