Despite numerous actions taken by the government sectors in uplifting the standard of education by introducing Education for all, in primary schools, there are emerging areas of concern that require urgent attention, particularly on acquiring English language vocabulary at the early years. Vocabulary is fundamental in any language as it is a key feature in order to make oneself understood. Limited knowledge of vocabulary hinders acquisition of English language as the students particularly faced obstacles in remembering and retrieving the words learnt, lack of opportunities in practicing English and use of rote memorisation strategies in vocabulary acquisition. Thus, this paper discusses a part of a study which aimed to identify the vocabulary knowledge on adjectives, nouns and verbs among a group of 36 Year 5 primary school students who sit for an adapted version of the Vocabulary Levels Test of Nation (1983). The findings indicate that 58 % which was 21 students had low vocabulary knowledge on nouns and 72% (26 students) on verbs. However, 50% (18 students) of the participants’ vocabulary on adjectives were in the intermediate level. Hence, the findings provide some insight for English teachers or educators, parents and students themselves to know in depth of the level of the students’ English vocabulary. Thus, it is vital for future researchers in implementing suitable strategies for vocabulary acquisition after determining the students’ vocabulary level among the Year 5 primary school students in Malaysia for successful language acquisition.
Mokhtar, A. A. (2010). Achieving Native-like English Lexical Knowledge: The Non-native Story. Journal of Language Teaching and Research, 1(4), 343-352.
Bano, J., Jabeen, Z. & Qutoshi, S. B. (2018). Perceptions of Teachers about the Role of Parents in Developing Reading Habits of Children to Improve their Academic Performance in Schools. Journal of Education and Educational Development, 5(1), 42. doi:10.22555/joeed.v5i1.1445
Boey, C. C. M., Omar, A. & Phillips, J. A. (2003). Correlation among academic performance, recurrent abdominal pain and other factors in year-6 urban primary-school children in Malaysia. Journal of Paediatrics and Child Health, 39(5): 352–357. doi:10.1046/j.1440-1754.2003.00173.x
Cambridge Dictionary Online. (2019a). Vocabulary. Retrieved from https://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/vocabulary
Cambridge Dictionary Online. (2019b). Part of speech- meaning. Cambridge University Press. doi:10.4000/mandenkan.560
Cambridge Dictionary Online. (2019c). Nouns. Cambridge University Press. Retrieved from https://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/noun?q=nouns
Cambridge Dictionary Online. (2019d). Verbs. Cambridge University Press. Retrieved from https://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/verb?q=verbs
Gobel, P., Thang, S. M., Sidhu, G. K., Oon, S. I. & Chan, Y. F. (2013). Attributions to success and failure in English language learning: A comparative study of urban and rural undergraduates in Malaysia. Asian Social Science, 9(2), 53–62. doi:10.5539/ass.v9n2p53
Goforth, C. (2015). Using and Interpreting Cronbach’s Alpha. University of Virginia Library. Retrieved from https://data.library.virginia.edu/using-and-interpreting-cronbachs-alpha/
Haspelmath, M. (2001). Word Classes and Parts of Speech. International Encyclopedia of the Social & Behavioral Sciences, 16538–16545. doi:10.1016/B0-08-043076-7/02959-4
Hiew, W. (2012). English Language Teaching And Learning Issues In Malaysia: Learners’ Perceptions Via Facebook Dialogue Journal. Journal of Arts, Science & Commerce, 3(1), 11–19.
Kameli, S. & Baki, R. B. (2013). The impact of vocabulary knowledge level on EFL reading comprehension. International Journal of Applied Linguistics and English Literature, 2(1), 85–89. doi:10.7575/ijalel.v.2n.1p.85
Leaver, B., Ehrman, M., & Shekhtman, B. (2015). Achieving success in second language acquisition. Achieving Success in Second Language Acquisition, 1–265. doi:10.1017/CBO9780511610431
Masuwai, A., Tajudin, N. M., & Saad, N. S. (2016). Evaluating the face and content validity of a Teaching and Learning Guiding Principles Instrument (TLGPI): A perspective study of Malaysian Teacher Educators. Malaysian Journal of Society and Space, 12(3), 11-21.
Mohajan, H. (2017). Two Criteria for Good Measurements in Research: Validity and Reliability. Annals of Spiru Haret University, 17(3), 58-82.
Nasir, N. F. W. M., Manan, N. A. A. & Azizan, N. (2017). Examining the Relationship Between Vocabulary Knowledge and General. Journal of Social Sciences and Humanities, 1(11), 15–22. doi:10.1017/CBO9781107415324.004
Oluwatayo, J. A. (2012) Validity and reliability issues in educational research. Journal of Educational and Social Research, 2(2), 391-400.
Razali, W. N., Amin, N. M., Kudus, N. V., Musa, M. K., Teknologi, U., Cawangan, M. & Pinang, P. (2017). Using Card Game to Improve Vocabulary Retention: A Preliminary Study Article Information. International Academic Research Journal of Social Science, 3(1), 2017–2047.
Dollah, R. A., & Shah, P. M. (2016). A comparison between vocabulary learning strategies employed by urban and rural schools students. Journal of Education and Social Sciences 4, 114–121.
Sabit, A., & Hadi, A. (2017). Significance of Vocabulary in Achieving Efficient Learning. American Scientific Research Journal for Engineering, Technology and Sciences (ASRJETS), 29(1), 271–285.
Schmitt, N., Schmitt, D., & Clapham, C. (2001). Developing and exploring the behaviour of two new versions
In-Text Citation: (Wang & Yamat, 2019)
To Cite this Article: Wang, F., & Yamat, H. (2019). Identifying English Vocabulary Levels of Malaysia Year 5 Primary School Students. International Journal of Academic Research in Business and Social Sciences, 9(12), 62–76.
Copyright: © 2019 The Author(s)
Published by Human Resource Management Academic Research Society (www.hrmars.com)
This article is published under the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY 4.0) license. Anyone may reproduce, distribute, translate and create derivative works of this article (for both commercial and non-commercial purposes), subject to full attribution to the original publication and authors. The full terms of this license may be seen at: http://creativecommons.org/licences/by/4.0/legalcode
