Undercover Game to Improve English Vocabulary Mastery: Indonesian Private English Course Learners’ Perspectives

Abstract

This study was the continuation of a classroom action research (CAR) study on the use of Undercover Game to improve the vocabulary mastery of eight Indonesian private English course learners. This previous study revealed that despite the use of the game could visibly make learners learn vocabulary in a fun way, the comparison of pre-tests and post-test results suggested that the game could not sufficiently improve the learners’ vocabulary mastery. Because this finding warranted further investigations and considering the scarcity of research studies investigating the game for vocabulary learning, the present study was conducted to investigate learners’ perspectives on the use of the game for vocabulary learning. Four learners of the eight learners involved in the previous CAR study were randomly selected for semi-structured interviews. The interview results were analysed by using thematic analysis and two themes were found. First, four learners stated that Undercover Game was a fun learning media for learning vocabulary. Second, Undercover Game influenced learners’ ability to learn pronunciation and parts of speech of new words. The result of this study suggested that teachers consider the use of the Undercover Game in large-scale classes. These findings suggested the positive effects of using the game for vocabulary learning.