Integration of Asynchronous and Synchronous Gameplay to Improve Pupils’ Vocabulary

Abstract

It has been many years since the influence of British colonial in Malaysia that English becomes a compulsory subject to be taught in the classroom. It’s a phenomenon nowadays to teach English to young learners. However, it is found that using conventional methods in the classroom is not suitable for Alpha generation as they tend to feel bored easily. To equip the Alpha generation with fun learning, 21st-century learning or PAK21 approach is implemented in the school so that it can produce pupils with higher creative thinking and pupils with better human values. It is also formulated in the second wave of Malaysia Education Blueprint 2013-2025. Teaching a primary school pupil at an urban school is tough as pupils in the urban school are moving forward in a blink of eyes and they are more exposed to the latest digital trending compared to a rural school. However, despite the exposure, pupils still face several problems while learning English language. Hence, this paper reviews asynchronous and synchronous gameplay as the practical tools for teaching vocabularies to pupils. This paper deals with a literature review of teaching English vocabulary to young learners using integrated asynchronous and synchronous gameplays. This paper will also discuss the importance of using gameplay in teaching vocabulary, why is it important to blend both gameplays and how the approaches help in teaching and learning vocabulary. Lastly, this paper discusses the challenges face by teachers when implementing integration of asynchronous and synchronous gameplay to teach vocabulary to young learners.