The Use of Gesticulation to Improve Esl Learner’s Understanding of Content Words in Writing
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.37134/ajelp.vol10.2.3.2022Keywords:
content words, gesticulation, narrative writingAbstract
The present study aims to evaluate the effects of gesticulation on English as Second Language (ESL) learners’ understanding of content words in narrative writing. A mixed-method approach involving quantitative and qualitative data collection method was utilized in this study. Pre-test and post-test were used to collect quantitative data and interviews were used to collect qualitative data. This study was conducted among 40 Year Five students who struggled to write a narrative essay with suitable content words. They were chosen using convenience sampling and divided into twenty students in experimental and control groups respectively. Content words for three themes of narrative writing were taught using gesticulation for the experimental group, while the control group was taught content words using the traditional method of teaching. The pre-test and post-test data were analysed using an independent T-test whereas the interview data were analysed thematically. The findings showed that there are significant differences in the level of the learner’s understanding of content words in narrative writing based on pre-test and post-test results of the experimental group. The learners’ performance in narrative writing showed improvement in the post-test of experimental group. Moreover, the findings from the interview revealed that the learners have positive perceptions in using gesticulation to understand content words that helped them in narrative writing. The study implicates that the use of gesticulation can enhance the learners’ understanding of content words that improve their narrative writing.
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Copyright (c) 2022 Noor Alhusna Madzlan, Rebecca Mary Sartho, Mazlin Mohamed Mokhtar
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