English Readability Guessing Vocabulary Meaning from Context of Fourth-Year Student in the English for International Communication Major
Tarika Juntranuch1 and Pateemoh Vaheng2
: 1 bj0706@hotmail.co.th, 2Infinity122@hotmail.co.th
Faculty of Science and Technology, Rajamangala University of Technology Srivijaya
Abstract
The purpose of this study was 1) to study English readability by guess vocabulary meaning from context of fourth-year student in the English for International Communication Major 2) to study the ability of guessing vocabulary meaning of fourth-year student in the English for International Communication Major of Faculty of Science and Technology, Rajamangala University of Technology Srivijaya. The research participants of the study were comprised of 20 fourth-year student. The study was conducted in the second semester of academic year 2013. The research instruments posttest, focused on using English reading by guessing vocabulary meaning from context and attempted to address the following question: Can guessing vocabulary meaning from context of English for International Communication students. The research tools included context pre and post test. The data were analyzed with the use of percentage. The results revealed that the post test percentage was higher than the pre test percentage of the students. The students improve English readability guessing vocabulary meaning from context. Furthermore, the study showed that this guessing vocabulary meaning could improve the students to better to read English, made the students feel easier than translate every word.
Keywords: readability, guessing vocabulary, context, Fourth-Year Student in the English for International Communication.
Introduction
English language very important because is an international language. At soon, Thailand will be ASEAN, so English very important. Every skills such as writing, reading, speaking and listening should be learn. Specially, readability is very important to learn. From time to time people have wondered why English reading is important. There are seems so many other things to do with one’s time. English reading is important for a variety reasons. Reading is fundamental to function in today’s society. There are many students who can not read English well enough to understand the instructions on books, newspaper etc. Reading is important because we discover new things. Books, magazines and even the Internet are great learning tools which require the ability to read and understand what is read.
“If language structures make up the skeleton of language, then it is vocabulary that provides the vital organs and the flesh”(Harmer,1991:153). Vocabulary is certainly important in English language. In comprehension of a text, vocabulary is vitally needed. The linguist David Wilkins (1972:111) stressed the important of vocabulary: “Without grammar very little can be conveyed, without vocabulary nothing can be conveyed”. Limited vocabulary knowledge prevents students from understanding a text. As Steven Stahl (1999) puts it, “Vocabulary knowledge is knowledge; the knowledge of a word not only implies a definition, but also implies how that word fits into the world. Vocabulary knowledge is not something that can ever be fully mastered; it is something that expands and deepens over the course of a lifetime. Instruction in vocabulary involves far more than looking up words in a dictionary and using the words in sentence”.
For many reasons, this study aimed to understand text faster than open dictionary in readability English for International Communication at Faculty of Science and Technology, Rajamangala University of Technology Srivijaya in investigate the effects of guessing vocabulary meaning from context to better readability and faster to read and understand. Specially, the study aimed to address the following a question:
Can we guessing vocabulary meaning from context of fourth-year English for International Communication?
Method
Participants
Participants were 20 English for International communication students studying in the fourth year of faculty of Science and Technology, Rajamangala University of Technology Srivijaya in the second semester of academic year 2013. The research instruments pre and post test with 10 items each, focused on using English reading by guessing vocabulary meaning from context and attempted to address the following question: Can guessing vocabulary meaning from context. The research tools included context pre and post test.
Data collection and analysis
The data were analyzed with the use of percentage, average and standard deviation. Procedures both tests were piloted with fourth year students majoring in English for International communication students at Faculty of Science and Technology, Rajamangala University of Technology Srivijaya and they were checked by experts for correctness before actual use in the experiment. Twenty Participants were asked to write the pretest and finally the posttest.
Results
Table 1 showed the pretest-posttest scores of 20 students majoring in English for International Communication