Beyond Traditional Vocabulary Learning: The Effectiveness of Gamified Audiobooks for Junior High School EFL Students
Year: 2026
Type: article
Study design: Clinical Trial
Abstract: This study investigates the effectiveness of using audiobooks combined with game to improve English vocabulary mastery in junior high school students. A one-group pre-test and post-test pre-experimental design was employed. The research involved 30 eighth-grade students from an Islamic junior high school in Indonesia. Before the intervention, a pre-test was administered, revealing a low initial vocabulary mastery with an average score of 12.50. The treatment involved six sessions of vocabulary learning using audiobooks and interactive Wordwall games. The vocabulary taught during the treatment included nouns, verbs, adjectives, adverbs, pronouns, prepositions, conjunctions, and interjections. Following the treatment, a post-test was conducted, and the average score significantly increased to 16.87. The Wilcoxon ranks test showed a statistically significant effect (Sig. 0.000 < 0.05), indicating that the null hypothesis was rejected and the alternative hypothesis was accepted. The results demonstrate that the combined use of audiobooks and game is a useful and effective medium for enhancing students' English vocabulary mastery. This method provides an interactive and engaging learning experience, improving student confidence and comprehension. This research contributes to the development of technology-based learning methods for foreign language education
Institution: Universitas La Tansa Mashiro
Language: English
Subfield: Education
Field: Social Sciences
Domain: Social Sciences
SDG: Quality education
Open Access status: diamond
OpenAlex ID: W7219633384