The Effect of Using “Hello English” Application Towards Vocabulary Achievement of Indonesian Efl Learners

Abstract

In the early stage of English language learning, EFL learners need to learn vocabulary. It is based on the idea that achievement in learning a foreign language is dependent on mastery of the person's vocabulary (Alqahtani, 2015). As a result, a lack of vocabulary knowledge makes it difficult for EFL learners to understand the meaning of words and English sentences, as well as to communicate clearly in English. It is in line with some of the difficulties that the learners in this research context encounter, one of which is they have difficulty understanding English sentences due to their lack of vocabulary. Accordingly, learning vocabulary becomes essential for EFL learners to successfully understand and use English. Nowadays, numerous mobile applications can be used in learning English vocabulary. Additionally, incorporating technology into the learning process enables learners to access a wider range of materials, practice directly, and collaborate as well as communicate with other learners (Wahjuningsih, 2018). One of the mobile applications that can assist learners in learning English vocabulary is “Hello English” application which has a variety of features such as lessons, games, challenges, and other useful features. Therefore, there were several studies have shown that the use of “Hello English” application has a positive impact on the learners’ achievement in learning English (Vesselinov & Grego (2017); Ismiati & Kurniawan (2019); Nutriyanto (2020); Fajriani (2020); Syafryadin et. al. (2021); Ginting (2021)). Thus, the researcher considered using “Hello English” application in teaching English vocabulary to the learners in this present research. To investigate whether there was a significant positive effect of using “Hello English” application on the learners’ vocabulary achievement or not, quasi experimental research with post-test only design was used. The reason was because the researcher could not randomly select one by one learners to choose who used the application and who did not. This research’s population consisted of all the eighth-grade learners at one of the junior high schools in Kebumen, Central Java during the 2023/2024 academic year. Meanwhile, the sample of this research was determined based on the results of the learners’ homogeneity test scores analysis by using Levene’s Test in the SPSS 26 computing system. The result showed that the population of this research was homogeneous, hence cluster random sampling through a lottery was used to determine the experimental and the control groups. As a result, VIIIH was chosen as the experimental group and VIIIE was the control group, with each group including 32 learners. During the vocabulary teaching and learning process, the experimental group received treatment by using “Hello English” application. Meanwhile, the control group was taught vocabulary using the “repeat after me” method as the English teacher usually implements. The data for this research were collected from the learners’ vocabulary post test scores after the treatment to assess the vocabulary achievement of the learners in the experimental and the control groups. Then, the researcher used an independent sample t-test in the SPSS 26 program to determine whether there was a significant difference in scores between both of the groups or not. From the result of the t-test formula analysis, it was known that the significant value (2-tailed) was 0.037 which means that it was lower than the alpha significance (0.05). It indicated that there was a significant difference between the scores of the learners in the experimental group and the control group. The result also showed that the mean scores of the experimental group (82.19) were higher than the control group (75.50). Aside from that, the learners in the experimental group were more active and enthusiastic in learning the vocabulary materials than those in the control group. It was showed by their asking questions about the materials and eagerly answered the exercises in the “lesson” feature because they were motivated by the coin rewards if they can answer correctly. Thus, the hypothesis was accepted in which “there is a significant positive effect of using “Hello English” application towards the vocabulary achievement of the eight grade learners.” According to the result above, it proved that the use of “Hello English” application provides a significant positive effect on the learners’ vocabulary achievement. Consequently, it is suggested for the English teacher to use “Hello English” application as a media in the process of teaching and learning vocabulary because the application can assist learners in understanding the material better through the explanation and the practice questions provided. Meanwhile, the future researchers is expected to use this research result as additional information in conducting a further research on the use of “Hello English” application to teach vocabulary. The future researchers can focus on different vocabulary types such as determiners, preposition, and others. They also can do the treatments longer. The future researchers should acknowledge that this research encountered some issues, including the time required to set up the learners’ account to access “Hello English” application and the Wi-Fi connectivity at the research location. Thus, the future researchers must be aware of these issues to do better research.