Project Based Learning as Social Strategy in Enhancing Students’ Vocabulary

Vocabulary IntroductionMalaysia is a multicultural country with different races that speak different languages.The people are of bilingual or multilingual.They use more than one language besides their language accents or dialects.Azmi (2013) indicated Malay was declared as the official language after the announcement of National Language Act in 1967.The objective of the implementation of National Language Act is to uphold Malay as the national language that could promote unification among different races.English is a second language in Malaysia and it is widely used throughout the country besides Malay language.The language is considered as a benchmark for the development of the nation.Despite of its status as the second language in Malaysia, Wang & Xu (2018) mentioned English is crucial as the use of the language internationally.English has been taught in schools either in primary or in secondary schools.There are four language skills that students need to focus on such as listening, speaking, reading and writing.The Ministry of Education (MOE) has introduced a few policies and programmes to be implemented at schools to strengthen English.According to Yamat, Umar & Mahmood (2014), one of the main policy introduced by the MOE is the Upholding the Malay Language and Strengthening the English Language (MBMMBI) policy.In addition, to strengthen English as a compulsory subject at schools, the Ministry of Education ( 2010) laid an alignment to the Common Framework of Reference for Language (CEFR) which emphasizes on students' English proficiency and the competencies of the English teachers.The English Language Education Roadmap seems to be holistic as it caters both students and teachers to ensure the success of the implementation.They need to achieve the required proficiency level that suits to the international standards.The evaluation of CEFR is based on positive evaluation of 'can do' descriptors according to the global scale.Subsequently, the performance of the students is evaluated base on the descriptors.It was supported by Uri & Abd Aziz (2017) who mentioned that the Common European Framework of Reference (CEFR) was applied whereby language proficiency skills are measured based on CEFR descriptors.Nevertheless, majority of students' achievement in English examination and spoken language are still weak.Eventually, without adequate vocabulary, it is difficult for the students to learn English.According to Alqahtani (2015) communication is impossible without sufficient vocabulary.It was also mentioned by Sener (2015), it is crucial to have broad vocabulary as to understand the messages conveyed either verbally or in writing.The lack of vocabulary makes the students demotivated to learn the language.As a second language, vocabulary is necessary for the students to master the language and it is important for the students to acquire ample vocabulary in order for them to accomplish the four main skills of listening, speaking, reading and writing in ESL lesson.Behbahani (2016) states vocabulary is vital in learning English as a tool of communication.According to him, the most suitable learning strategy should be selected to enhance students' vocabulary acquisition.Thus, teachers will have to select the best strategy to assist the students to acquire vast vocabulary to enable them to improve their language skills.