Using Art as a Pedagogical Tool for Improving English Vocabulary Learning among 5th Graders
Yolanda de Jesus Pineda Herrera, Miriam Eucevia Troya Sánchez
Abstract
The teaching of the English language is of great importance for elementary school children; however, the traditional methods used for teaching vocabulary have made it difficult for students to acquire new knowledge. The objective of this study is to evaluate the effectiveness of art as pedagogical tool for improving English vocabulary learning in fifth grade students of a public institution in the city of Loja, Ecuador. A quantitative method was used, with the use pre-test and post-test and a questionnaire was implemented at the end of the intervention to gather data on the students’ perceptions of the use of the art as a pedagogical tool to improve the participants’ vocabulary. The data obtained in these evaluations revealed a positive increase in vocabulary, going from a pretest of 4.77/10 to 9.02/10 (p < 0.001) in the post-test in the dimensions related to use, form and meaning. On the satisfaction level, most students perceived the arts activities as beneficial. The findings show that the implementation of art-based activities has a positive impact on English language vocabulary acquisition, demonstrating by paired t-test a statistically significant difference between pretest and posttest results. Therefore, it is recommended that educators integrate arts activities into English vocabulary instruction and conduct further research to validate these results in broader contexts.