English academic vocabulary of dual language programme and non-dual language programme secondary school pupils in Selangor / Wong Ek Ying

• Main Author: Wong, Ek Ying
• Format: Thesis
• Published: 2020
• Subjects: LB1603 Secondary Education. High schools; P Philology. Linguistics
• Online Access: http://studentsrepo.um.edu.my/15110/1/Wong_Ek_Ying.pdf; http://studentsrepo.um.edu.my/15110/2/Wong_Ek_Ying.pdf; http://studentsrepo.um.edu.my/15110/

Content and Language Integrated Learning (CLIL) is regarded as a fertile ground for target language acquisition. However, there is a growing skepticism towards the novelty of CLIL due to various methodological flaws in the past studies. The purpose of this study is to investigate if CLIL approach truly contributes to English academic vocabulary learning when three confounding factors: selection effect, total English instruction hours and extramural English exposure are controlled. This study employs cross-sectional research design using both quantitative and qualitative data collection methods by comparing the academic vocabulary performance between secondary students in two different learning environments — regular mainstream classes and Dual Language Program (DLP), along with an interview with a DLP teacher to add depth to the overall analysis. This study involves 72 Form 2 and Form 4 students from two schools in Selangor. The results of Academic Word List (AWL) test are analyzed using independent t-tests; it is shown that there is no significant difference between DLP and non-DLP students. In other words, DLP students do not outperform non-DLP. However, it is note-worthy that the DLP group manages to stay on par with senior non-DLP students who are two years older, showing that DLP has yet to live up to its full potential. Issues hampering DLP students from reaping the full benefits of CLIL and implications of the study are therefore discussed. Although DLP does not exhibit impressive outcome in this study, the researcher is optimistic of its endeavor in Malaysia because if implemented properly, DLP is believed to have a lot more to offer, especially in academic language learning.