Comparison of story-based and game-based vocabulary teaching in secondary school English lessons

Abstract

The aim of the study is to investigate the effects of the story-based and game-based vocabulary teaching methods on learning the English equivalents of Turkish words, using these English words in sentences and writing these English words correctly. It was also aimed to investigate the effects of these methods on English reading comprehension skills of the students. Pre-test - post-test without control group experimental design was used in the study. The study design consisted of two groups as the Group Story and the Group Game. An achievement test prepared by the researchers was applied to both groups as a pre-test at the beginning of the research and as a post-test at the end of the research. The study was conducted in the 5th grades of a secondary school in the 2nd term of the 2014-2015 academic year. The study group consisted of 54 students, 27 students in the Group Story and 27 students in the Group Game. The study was completed in 8 weeks in total, 40 minutes per week. There was a significant difference between the pre-test and the post-test scores of each group. No significant difference was found between the mean scores of the pre-test - post-test difference scores of the two groups. In conclusion, it is possible to say that both the story-based and game-based vocabulary teaching methods are efficient in vocabulary teaching in secondary school English lessons.