The Effect of Charade Technique on Seventh-Grade Students' Oral Vocabulary at SMPN 7 Tarakan
Abstract Seventh-grade students learning English as a foreign language often encounter challenges in retaining and using vocabulary orally, which may be attributed to limited exposure, unfamiliarity with vocabulary, and low speaking confidence. This study investigates the impact of the charade technique on students' oral vocabulary and determines which aspect of oral vocabulary shows the most improvement after the intervention. A pre-experimental one-group pretest-posttest design was utilized, involving 18 Grade VII students at SMPN 7 Tarakan who completed all study phases. Data were collected using oral vocabulary tests that assessed pronunciation, meaning retention, and oral vocabulary retrieval. Analytical methods included descriptive statistics, inter-rater reliability assessment, N-Gain analysis, normality testing, and the Wilcoxon signed-rank test. Results indicated a significant difference between pretest and posttest scores (p 0.001), with a mean N-Gain value of 0.544, representing moderate improvement. Pronunciation exhibited the greatest improvement (from 2.75 to 4.25), followed by meaning retention (from 2.28 to 3.64), while oral vocabulary retrieval showed the least improvement (from 1.94 to 2.92). These findings indicate that the charade technique may facilitate the development of oral vocabulary, potentially through active participation and repeated exposure to vocabulary in meaningful contexts. However, the research design does not allow for strong causal inferences. Therefore, the charade technique may be considered a viable alternative for oral vocabulary instruction among junior secondary students learning English as a foreign language.