Junior high school notions on effectiveness of poems in vocabulary development

Abstract

This qualitative research study focused on the junior high school students` notion on effectiveness of poems in vocabulary development. The participants of the study were the thirty (30) purposively selected students in the three (3) secondary schools in the 1st District of Capiz. An unstructured interview guide was utilized to gather data on the notions of the junior high school Grade 9 students. Thematic analysis was employed to extract themes from the participants. The result showed that poems improved and developed the students` vocabulary, writing and speaking skills, sparked students love of literature and enhanced their language usage. The use of poems also brings inspiration to boost students` creativeness. Furthermore, data revealed that poems help students learn new words and give relatable experiences to them so to become eager in learning. Likewise, students learned and developed their macro skills and academic skills that includes critical thinking skills, learning skills and creativity skills. On the other hand, the challenges that students encountered while reading poems were their difficulty in understanding in reading poems and the contextualization of the meaning and message of the poems. The themes that have been extracted in the contextualization of the meaning and message of the poems were non relatable stories, plot and content. Moreover, it was found out that their familiarization of foreign words in poems widen their variety of vocabulary. Compendium of foreign words found in the book of English 9 was designed.