Pretest and Posttest Results

In order to understand the effectiveness of computer-assisted teaching in vocabulary learning a statistical analysis of pretest and posttest scores of the students in the control and experimental groups were examined and compared in this section. In the pretest results of conventional class (Control group), only 6% (2 out of 35) of participants were in the pass score range (over 60 points).

The majority of pretest scores were in the score range of 30 to 39 points. In total 19 students (54%) in the Control group were in the low-proficiency range.

Meanwhile, three students’ proficiency level was considered to be too low (20 to 29) to justify the conclusion that they had acquired any vocabulary. This result indicated that there was not a satisfactory pretest result where conventional teaching alone was used. The pretest scores in the conventional group are shown in Table 6 and Figure 3.

Table 6 Conventional group pretest score distribution Pretest Score Number of People Percentage

20 – 29 points 3 9％

30 - 39 points 19 54％

40 - 49 points 7 20％

50 - 59 points 4 11％

60 - 69 points 2 6％

Total 35 100%

Conventional Group Pre-test Score Distribution

19

7

4

3 2

0 5 10 15 20

Number of People

20 - 29 point 30 - 39 point 40 - 49 point 50 - 59 point 60 - 69 point

Figure 3 Conventional group pretest score distribution

In the posttest results of the conventional group a greater proportion (23 out of 35) of the participants was in the pass category (over 60 points). Comparing with the pretest where only 2 were successful the majority 23 (65%) of participants’ posttest score was in the range 60 to 69 points which indicated the course’s effectiveness. Nevertheless, there was still one participant in the lowest vocabulary acquisition score range which meant that there was still room for improvement. The posttest scores of the conventional group are shown in Table 7 and Figure 4.

Table 7 Conventional group posttest score distribution Posttest Score Number of People Percentage

30 - 39 points 1 3％

Conventional Group Post-test Score Distribution

1

Figure 4 Conventional group posttest score distribution

Only 6 participants (17%) passed the pretest in the CAI group. Similar to the pretest results of the traditional group, the majority of pretest scores in the CAI group were in the range of 30 to 39 points. In total 13 students (37%) in the CAI classroom were in the low-proficiency range. Meanwhile, two of the student’s proficiency level was considered to be too low (20 to 29 points) to justify consideration as having acquired any acceptable vocabulary level. The pretest scores of the CAI group are shown in Table 8 and Figure 5.

Table 8 CAI group pretest score distribution

Pretest Score Number of People Percentage

20 - 29 points 2 6％

CAI Group Pre-test Score Distribution

2

The posttest results of the CAI Group were very strong. 24 participants achieved over 60 points. 24 students passed the posttest compared with only 6 having passed the pre-test. The largest proportion (34%) of participants’

posttest results was in the category of 60 to 69 points. This shows a great improvement in those who had access to the CAI course. Nevertheless one participant still only achieved a result in the range of 30 to 39 points. This suggests that there is room for improvement even in the CAI environment.

Comparing the CAI posttest with conventional posttest, the largest proportion of results was in the 60 to 69 points range in both. Similarly 1 student from each group was in the lowest range (30-39). Twenty-three (23) participants in the conventional group passed the posttest as against twenty-four (24) in the CAI group. However, two students from the CAI group achieved the highest results possible (80-89 points) whereas not one from the conventional group was in that range. The posttest results of the CAI group are shown in Table 9 and Figure 6.

Table 9 CAI group posttest score distribution

Post-test Number of People Proportion

30 - 39 points 1 3%

40 - 49 points 5 14%

50 - 59 points 5 14%

60 - 69 points 12 34%

70 - 79 points 10 29%

80 - 89 points 2 6%

Total 35 100%

Post-test Score Distribution in CAI Class

Figure 6 CAI group posttest score ddistribution

In addition, a further evaluation of results based on gender was carried out.

This is shown in Table 10.

Table 10 Pretest and posttest score distribution according to gender

Group Mean Progress Score

Control

In Table 10, we see that in the Control group male students achieved considerably higher results (up 24.84 points) from pretest to posttest. Female students also made more progress in the posttest performance (up16.77 points).

Interestingly male students in the Control group made greater progress than female students.

In contrast in the Experimental group female students made the more significant progress (up 22.50 points). While male students also achieved great progress in the posttest performance (up 16.47 points) the improvement was less than that of female students.

In addition, female students in the Experimental group performed better than the female students in the Control group in their posttest (65.89 points vs.

56.71 points). In contrast, male students in the Control group performed slightly better than the male students in Experimental group in their posttest (64.28 points vs. 60.76 points).

On the whole, the posttest mean scores of both groups were higher than the pretest demonstrating the effectiveness of the CAI approach. In the Control group the post test results were up on average 20.91 points on the pre-test. In the Experimental group the mean improvement was 19.57 points from test to test. Ironically the rate of improvement in the Control group was marginally better from test to test than that of the Experimental group but the rate was such as to lead to the conclusion that traditional teaching and CAI teaching were almost equally effective in increasing students’ vocabulary ability. In terms of pass rate, so-called course success rate, there was also no significant difference between the two groups (Conventional 23: CAI 24). The comparison of the pretest and posttest mean scores in the respective conventional and CAI groups is shown in Figure 7.

43.83

60.60

39.69

63.40

0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70

Mean Pre-test Score Mean Pos-test Score

Face-to-Face CAI

Figure 7 Comparison of pretest and posttest mean scores