THE EFFECT OF PUPPET-BASED INSTRUCTION ON ENGLISH ACADEMIC ACHIEVEMENTS, ATTITUDES AND RETENTION OF 2ND GRADE YOUNG LEARNERS

Abstract

The aim of this study is to examine the effect of puppet-based instruction on English academic achievement, learning attitudes, and retention levels of 2nd grade primary school students. A quasi-experimental model with a pre-test post-test control group was used to conduct the study. The Smiley Face Language Attitude Scale developed by Çelik (2015) and the Academic Achievement Test developed by the researcher were used as data collection tools. The study was conducted with 2nd grade students in two different classes at Hatice Karslıgil Primary School in ġahinbey district center of Gaziantep province in the 2022/2023 academic year. Since the classes were randomly assigned by the school administration at the beginning of the year, the experimental and control groups were determined by using random assignment. There were 60 students in the study, 30 students from class 3/D, the experimental group, and 30 students from class 3/F, the control group. The study lasted eight weeks in total. At the beginning of the study, the Smiley Face Language Attitude Scale was administered to the experimental and control groups as a pre-test. During a four weeks period, the experimental group was taught English with puppets whereas the control group was taught English using traditional methods. At the end of four weeks, the same attitude scale was applied to the students as a post-test. In addition, the Academic Achievement Test prepared by the researcher was applied as an immediate post-test. After a 3-week period, the same Academic Achievement Test was distributed to the students as a retention test. The data obtained from the research were analyzed using the SPSS (Statistical Package for Social Sciences) program. The Mann-Whitney U test was applied to the collected data to reveal the differentiation of academic achievement and attitudes of the students according to their groups (experimental/control). The Wilcoxon Signed Ranks test was applied to reveal the differentiation between the attitude scale pre-test and post test of each group and the differentiation in the achievement test post-test and retention test. At the same time, the Mann-Whitney U test was used to determine the differentiation of the attitude scale post-test scores of the experimental group students according to gender. According to the findings obtained from the study, it can be concluded that the activities carried out within the scope of teaching English with puppets positively affect students' academic achievement, learning attitudes towards English, and retention skills