DEVELOPING THE DREAM GAME FOR THE TEACHING OF ENGLISH READING TO THE 5TH GRADE ELEMENTARY SCHOOLS CHILDREN USING THEME-BASED APPROACH

Abstract

The aims of thesis research were to find out about the learning needs of grade 5th elementary schools children, to develop a teaching aid named “DREAM GAME” as the modification of Monopoly board game and to find out the appropriateness of the products for teaching English reading. This study was a Research and Development (R & D) study. The subjects of this research were grade 5th elementary schools children of English Saturday Club (ESC) in Dawung, Gunungkidul, Yogyakarta. This research was conducted following Gall, Gall and Borg (2003) and combined with Masuhara’s model in Tomlinson (1998). The steps were conducting needs analysis, designing the course grid, developing the first draft of the products, getting the expert judgment, and revising and producing the final product. The data were in the form of qualitative data and also supported by quantitative data. The qualitative data were collected through needs analysis and observation. Meanwhile, quantitative data were gained through questionnaire and expert judgment. The data were analyzed qualitatively and quantitatively. The result of the research was a DREAM GAME board game for teaching of English reading for grade 5 of elementary school. The result of the needs analysis showed that the children had positive attitude towards English and wanted to learn through playing games. Based on the needs analysis, the board game was developed as teaching aid of English reading which facilitated the characteristic of the children. The themes of the board game were jobs and occupations that were related to the children’s daily life. The DREAM GAME consisted of a game board, the job description cards, the mystery cards, the chance cards, the stars, the dots, a guide book, and a dice.  The result of the expert judgment showed that the products fell into “Very Good” category as the mean value of all aspects of the developed materials was 3.38. The product was appropriate for teaching English reading for grade 5 of elementary school.

Keywords:      Board game, Educational Game, Teaching aid, teaching of English reading, Elementary School