Improving ESL First Graders’ Vocabulary Through Dialogic Teaching

Abstract

This study investigates how dialogic teaching; a method based on open, thoughtful conversations between teachers and students affects vocabulary development and phonological awareness in first-grade ESL learners in Pakistan. The focus was on understanding whether this interactive approach could help students improve their English language skills, particularly those with varying levels of vocabulary proficiency (low, average, high) and phonological awareness. The research involved 60 first-graders from a private school in Lahore. The school was selected because its student population reflects a wide mix of social and cultural backgrounds, similar to what is found in both public and private schools across the region. To explore the effects of dialogic teaching, the study used a quasi-experimental design. Students were divided into two groups: one experienced dialogic teaching, while the other followed a traditional instructional approach. Before the teaching began, students took a series of pre-tests, including measures of receptive and expressive vocabulary both general and course-book-based as well as a phonological awareness test. After the intervention period, the same tests were used again to see how much students had improved to make sure the results were fair and not skewed by initial differences between the groups, an Analysis of Covariance (ANCOVA) was applied. The findings were encouraging: students in the dialogic teaching group showed significantly greater improvement in both vocabulary and phonological awareness than those in the control group. Importantly, the gains were consistent across both boys and girls, suggesting that dialogic teaching can be a powerful tool for boosting language skills in early ESL education.