Junior High School English Teachers’ Perception on Games-Based English Vocabulary Teaching

Abstract

Learning English is becoming increasingly important in Indonesia, as stated in the Indonesian language curriculum now, Kurikulum Merdeka (Freedom Curriculum), which emphasizes that teaching English includes four skills: listening, speaking, reading, and writing. To increase students' interest and motivation in learning English, teachers need to find creative ways to teach the language. One potential solution to creating meaningful learning is through the use of games. Games can help students remember learning experiences and improve their vocabulary skills. This research focuses on exploring teachers' perspectives on the use of games in vocabulary teaching. A case study approach was used to collect data from junior high school teachers in Indonesia. The findings of this research indicate that in the process of teaching English vocabulary, games can improve several things significantly. For example, when student involvement and participation in the vocabulary learning process are high, students become more enthusiastic about learning English vocabulary, increasing their understanding and retention of the vocabulary. Moreover, implementing games also makes teachers more enjoyable and enthusiastic about teaching English vocabulary material. This phenomenon has led pre- service teachers to develop strategies to handle student silence in the classroom. Therefore, the researcher investigated pre-service teachers' strategy to handle students' silence. To achieve the research objectives, this research uses a descriptive case study as the research method. In addition, there are three participants involved in this study, they were junior high school English teachers in Tasikmalaya, Indonesia who had used games as a media in their teaching English vocabulary process. The data collection technique used in this research is the semi structured interview. The researcher used thematic analysis of the participant interview transcripts to analyze the data. The findings of this research indicate that in the process of teaching English vocabulary, games can improve several things significantly. For example, when student involvement and participation in the vocabulary learning process are high, students become more enthusiastic about learning English vocabulary, increasing their understanding and retention of the vocabulary. Moreover, implementing games also makes teachers more enjoyable and enthusiastic about teaching English vocabulary material.