Development of an instructional game for English critical reading for high school students

Abstract

The purpose of this study is to develop an instructional game concerning an English Critical Reading course as a supplementary tool for the traditional classroom. The achievements of students learning to read is assessed. The opinions of the experimental groups towards the game are also investigated. The samples of this study consist of 60 volunteer students studying Mathayom 5 at Mahidolwittayanusorn School, Nakornpathom Province. The study was conducted during the first semester of the 2000 academic year. The research design involves two groups, an experimental and a control group. Each group consists of 30 students. Both groups are taught the regular English Critical Reading course by the researcher. Only the experimental group is assigned to play the instructional game as a supplementary practice. The game to supplement English Critical Reading is done once a week during their spare time for 4 weeks. The research instruments employed are a multiple-choice English comprehension reading test and a questionnaire. The test is used as a pretest and post-test for both groups. The scores of pretest and post-test were analyzed by using SPSS for windows. The questionnaire is administered to only the experimental group after the experimental supplementary practice to examine their opinions and attitudes towards the Instructional Game on English Critical Reading. After using the game as a supplementary practice, the results show that the mean scores on English comprehension reading test obtained from the experimental group were significantly higher than that from the control group. In addition, all the questionnaires completed by the students in the experimental group indicate that they had positive attitudes towards this developed computer game. They are able to use the game easily and their knowledge in English reading increased.