Teaching English Using Digital Flashcards to Improve Grammar Skills of Junior High School Students

English Language Education Department, Faculty of Language Education, Universitas Muhammadiyah Yogyakarta, Indonesia

^* Corresponding author: jackie.murt@umy.ac.id

Abstract

Although digital flashcards are popular among English teachers, initiatives to actually measure the differences before and after using digital flashcards for teaching were relatively scarce. The study aims to investigate the statistical differences between two groups taught using digital flashcards. The design of this study is quantitative, and the method is experimental, involving 52 students at a junior high school. The students were grouped into experimental (N=26) and control (N=26) groups. The data were collected by conducting a pre-test and post-test, giving both groups 25 grammar questions on each test. The experimental group was taught English grammar using digital and printed flashcards, while the other was not. The test scores of the respondents from the two groups were analyzed using a statistical program and Microsoft Excel. The results of this study show that there is a statistically significant difference between the experimental and the control groups. The data also show that the mean of the experimental group was 68.31, and the control group’s mean was 52.46. A t-test was conducted to answer the research question. The computation results showed a statistically significant difference between the experimental and control groups. It means that the alternative hypothesis is accepted. Compared to the control group, using flashcards in teaching grammar is more effective. It is recommended that English teachers could utilize flashcards, both digital and printed, to improve students’ grammar skills.