Effects of WhatsApp as Vocabulary Instructional Tool for Distance Learning among Tertiary Students

Abstract

The reality of Malaysia is no longer the same after COVID-19. Most of the sectors were affected due to pandemic, and that includes the education field. Therefore, the Malaysian government imposed the Movement Control Order (MCO) to curb the pandemic, which eventually disrupted the teaching and learning process. The psychical distancing has altered the traditional classroom meetings to distance learning or online learning using electronic tools. Mobile phones can be utilized to conduct e-learning because teachers can communicate with their students through text messaging applications. The use of the instant messaging application has become popular among teenagers nowadays. Therefore, the current study attempts to examine the effects of WhatsApp as an instructional tool without having a physical meeting with the students. A quasi-experimental study was conducted for six (6) weeks among 33 undergraduates Psychology students from a private university. Before receiving instruction through WhatsApp, the students undertook a vocabulary pre-test and took a post-test at the end of week six (6). The paired sample t-test analysis revealed that the use of WhatsApp had significantly improved students’ knowledge. It is clear now that WhatsApp is an effective instructional tool for online learning and should be utilised efficiently during critical times like COVID-19