The role of active vocabulary in the development of the reading comprehension of diploma-level technical students

Abstract

This study investigates the role of active vocabulary development activities on the improvement of English reading comprehension of diploma-level technical students at Rajamangala Institute of Technology (RIT), Tak Campus. The subjects of the study were 60 diploma-level technical students at RIT, Tak Campus, divided into two groups of thirty students in each. The control group received reading instruction with the focus on content questions and answers whereas the experimental group emphasized active vocabulary development activities. An English achievement test and two different questionnaires were employed as the research instruments. The scores obtained from the pre-test and post-test of both groups were analyzed to compare the reading achievement of the students who received each different teaching methods. The opinions and attitudes toward the instructional treatments were interpreted from the rating-scale questionnaires given to each group. The results of the study demonstrated that there was a significant difference between the mean scores obtained from the pre-test and those from the post-test of both groups. The mean scores of the post-test gained by the students in the experimental group who received reading instruction with the emphasis on active vocabulary development were significantly higher than those from the students in the control group who were taught reading with content questions and answers as a main focus. Further, the results indicated that the students from high, moderate, and low reading ability categories in the experimental group improved significantly in their reading comprehension though the students in the lower ability category tended to improve more than those in the higher reading ability category. Finally, the results of rating-scale questionnaires indicated that students had more positive attitudes toward emphasis on active vocabulary development exercises than toward focus on content questions and answers.;