Project-Based News-Anchoring Tasks to Improve Vocabulary and Pronunciation in EFL Speaking:  Evidence from an Indonesian Senior High School

Nurdevi Bte Abdul; Sujarwo Sujarwo; Nina Ariani; Achmad Basir; Nunung Anugrawati

doi:10.35445/alishlah.v18i2.9563

Project-Based News-Anchoring Tasks to Improve Vocabulary and Pronunciation in EFL Speaking: Evidence from an Indonesian Senior High School

Nurdevi Bte Abdul, Sujarwo Sujarwo, Nina Ariani, Achmad Basir, Nunung Anugrawati

Abstract

Speaking accuracy remains a major challenge for Indonesian EFL learners, particularly in vocabulary use and pronunciation. This study investigated whether project-based learning through news-anchoring tasks was associated with improvements in students’ vocabulary and pronunciation accuracy in EFL speaking.A quantitative pre-experimental one-group pretest–posttest design was employed. The participants were 30 eleventh-grade students from SMAN 3 Bulukumba, Indonesia, selected through total sampling. Students completed an oral speaking pretest before receiving four 90-minute sessions of project-based news-anchoring activities. During the intervention, students selected news topics, prepared short news scripts, practiced vocabulary and pronunciation, and delivered news presentations. A posttest was administered after the intervention. Students’ speaking performances were assessed using vocabulary and pronunciation rubrics. The data were analyzed using descriptive statistics and paired-samples t-tests.The findings showed improvement in both assessed aspects of speaking accuracy. The mean vocabulary score increased from 41.25 in the pretest to 59.71 in the posttest, while the mean pronunciation score increased from 48.88 to 61.04. Paired-samples t-test results indicated statistically significant differences between pretest and posttest scores for vocabulary, t(29) = -8.439, p < .001, and pronunciation, t(29) = -4.771, p < .001.Project-based news-anchoring tasks appear to provide meaningful opportunities for students to practice topic-related vocabulary and pronunciation in a communicative context. However, because this study used a single-group design without a control group, the findings should be interpreted as evidence of potential improvement rather than definitive causal effectiveness.

Keywords

project based learning; news-anchoring tasks; EFL speaking accuracy; pronunciation; vocabulary

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DOI: https://doi.org/10.35445/alishlah.v18i2.9563