Morphemic analysis instruction in developing students’ English vocabulary

Abstract

The purpose of this study were: 1) to investigate the learners’ background knowledge of English vocabulary; 2) to investigate the effectiveness of morphemic analysis instruction (MAI) in developing students’ English vocabulary; and 3) to investigated the relationship between students’ English vocabulary knowledge and vocabulary size. A morphemic analysis test, a vocabulary level test and the treatment of morphemic analysis lesson were used as the instruments of this study. Subjects were 61 of second-year vocational students majoring in Business Computer at Rajamangala University of Technology Srivijaya, Rattaphum College, Songkhla Province. The data gathered from the tests were analyzed by Statistical Packages for the Social Sciences (SPSS) using the series of T-tests and Pearson’s Correlation Coefficient. The findings showed that 1) learners were at a low level of English vocabulary background knowledge; 2) the morphemic analysis instruction could enhance the learners’ knowledge of English vocabulary and showed a significantly difference at 0.05 levels; and 3) regarding the subjects’ vocabulary size, the highest mean score was shown at the 1000-word level whereas the lowest mean score was found at the 5000-word level. When separated into two groups of high and low vocabulary achievers, among high vocabulary achievers, a significant correlation was found between the 1000-word levels. On the contrary, a correlation was not found among the low vocabulary achievers.