Assessing English vocabulary and enhancing young English as a Foreign Language (EFL) learners’ motivation through games, songs, and stories

Abstract

In Taiwan, English was only officially taught at the secondary and tertiary levels before 2001. Since 2001, English courses have been formally incorporated into the curriculum in primary schools. Research on teaching and assessing English in primary school education is relatively new compared with research on other levels of education in Taiwan. The present study investigated the degree to which games, songs, and stories helped increase primary school pupils' English vocabulary size and encouraged learning in an intensive English course. It also explored how different test techniques influenced pupils' performance on a vocabulary test. Seventy-two primary school pupils participated in the study. The results showed that games, songs, and stories had a positive effect on learning and increasing the pupils' English vocabulary. In the vocabulary test, the pupils in higher grades outperformed those in lower grades and performed differently in terms of test techniques.