Using Animated Videos to Enhance Vocabulary Learning at the Noble Private Technical Institute (NPTI) in Northern Iraq/Erbil

Round 1

Reviewer 1 Report

Please see my comments in the text that I'll upload

Comments for author File: Comments.pdf

Author Response

Dear reviewer, thanks a lot for the time and work you put in to review our article.  I have uploaded the same manuscript word you put your comments on and answered you on it, while, if you want to check the corrections from your comments you may kindly have a look at the main manuscript with the track change that has been uploaded.

Author Response File: Author Response.pdf

Reviewer 2 Report

This study aims to explore the efficacy of animated videos in enhancing English vocabulary learning.

To test the main hypothesis which is whether students who are taught using animated videos achieve significant improvements in their mastering of the vocabulary or in their learning outcome the authors conduct an experimental study with 40 students. Students are divided randomly into experimental and control groups. A pre-test and a post-test are conducted to measure learning gains and students’ perceptions are obtained through a questionnaire.

 

Regarding the related literature, I think that the paper does not give a clear picture of the new knowledge that this research brings when compared with other similar research efforts that have been conducted in the past and how this study builds on the existing body of literature.

 

By having a brief look at the related literature one can find out that there is a rather large body of literature that examines the efficacy of animated videos in English vocabulary learning that is not examined in the paper and therefore the literature review can be improved. Some studies try to address similar research questions with research methods that are different from the current study (qualitative & quantitative methods) but there are also experimental studies (even Ph.D. theses) that follow a similar methodology.  Some examples are given below:

 

Studies that use different methods than those used in the current study (e.g. qualitative and quantitative methods such as  document analysis, interviews, observations, surveys, etc.)

• AHADAH, N. (2018). TEACHING STUDENTS’VOCABULARY BY USING ANIMATION VIDEO (A Descriptive Research at the Fourth Grade Students of MI Zumrotul Wildan Ngabul Jepara in Academic Year 2017/2018) (Doctoral dissertation, UNISNU Jepara).
• Boushah Azzarouali, A. (2019). Animation as an educational tool to learn English vocabulary in a Catalan Primary School.
• Chrisdianto, L., & Prasetyarini, A. (2021). THE USE OF ANIMATION LEARNING VIDEO IN TEACHING VOCABULARY TO YOUNG LEARNERS DURING PANDEMIC COVID-19 QUARANTINE IN SD MUHAMMADIYAH JATIYOSO ACADEMIC YEAR 2020/2021 (Doctoral dissertation, Universitas Muhammadiyah Surakarta).
• Dina, A. A. (2021). The Effect Of Using Animation Video On Students’ Vocabulary Mastery In 9th Grade Of Junior High School 1 Camplong Sampang(Doctoral dissertation, Institut Agama Islam Negeri Madura).

http://etheses.iainmadura.ac.id/2802/

• Hikmah, S. D. (2021). The Use of Animation Video for Vocabulary Mastery. English Education: English Journal for Teaching and Learning, 9(02), 151-162.

http://194.31.53.129/index.php/EEJ/article/viewFile/4804/3191

• Julianingrum, R. D. (2021). Developing Animation Video as Supplementary Media in Learning English Vocabulary for Young Learners (Doctoral dissertation, UNJA).
• Lathifah, R., & Muhammad, R. N. (2022). Students’ Perception on Vocabulary Development Using Video Animation Animaker during Online Learning Covid-19 Pandemic. Journal of English Teaching, Literature, and Applied Linguistics, 6(1), 41-46.
• Permatasari, L., Hikmah, S., & Rahmawati, E. (2019, September). THE USE OF 2D COMPUTER ANIMATION VIDEO TO IMPROVE STUDENTS’VOCABULARY MASTERY AT THE SEVENTH GRADE OF SMPN 2 PANDEGLANG (A collaborative Classroom Action Research). In PROCEEDING AISELT (Annual International Seminar on English Language Teaching) (Vol. 3, No. 3).
• Rahayu, S., Ahmad, Y. B., & Kamil, A. B. (2021). Exploring Student’s Engagement in Learning Vocabulary Through Animation Videos. Edumaspul: Jurnal Pendidikan, 5(2), 776-781.https://ummaspul.e-journal.id/maspuljr/article/view/1855
• Silfia, L., Rusli, T. I., & Nasrullah, R. (2018). Teaching vocabulary to young learners by using animation video. Metacommunication: Journal of Communication Studies, 3(1).
• Siregar, A. S. B., Tobing, E. G. L., & Fitri, N. R. (2021). Developing of Teaching Materials: Using Animation Media to Learning English Vocabulary for Early Childhood. ETDC: Indonesian Journal of Research and Educational Review, 1(1), 9-16.
• Wahyuni, S. (2019). The Use of Animaton Video in Contextual Teaching to Improve Students’ Vocabulary Mastery at SMPN 1 Watang Pulu (Doctoral dissertation, IAIN Parepare).

 

Experimental studies

• Aridha, A. Y. The use of animation video in improving vocabulary of the second grade student of SMP Negeri 6 Watampone. In PROCEEDINGS OF THE 65th TEFLIN INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE (Vol. 65, No. 01). https://ojs.unm.ac.id/teflin65/article/view/6247
• Awad, R. R. (2013). The Effect of Using Animation in Teaching English Vocabulary for 3rd Graders in Gaza Governmental School(Doctoral dissertation, Batch2). http://dstore.alazhar.edu.ps/xmlui/handle/123456789/1931
• Dzebeq, S. A., & Gunawan, A. (2020). The use of animation video on tenth-grade students’ vocabulary achievement. TRANS-KATA: Journal of Language, Literature, Culture and Education, 1(1), 7-13. https://ejournal.transbahasa.co.id/index.php/jllce/article/view/4
• HIKMAYANTI, R. (2020). THE EFFECT OF NATURAL APPROACH USING ANIMATION VIDEO AS A MEDIA IN IMPROVING STUDENTS’VOCABULARY MASTERY (AN EXPERIMENTAL RESEARCH AT THE EIGHTH GRADE STUDENTS OF SMP N 1 TAHUNAN IN ACADEMIC YEARS 2019/2020)(Doctoral dissertation, UNISNU Jepara). http://eprints.unisnu.ac.id/id/eprint/340/
• Marpaung, M. S. (2021). ANIMATION AND VIDEO IN IMPROVING OPEN WORDS VOCABULARY. Ekspresi Seni: Jurnal Ilmu Pengetahuan dan Karya Seni, 23(2), 503-514. https://tojdel.net/journals/tojdel/articles/v10i01/v10i01-06.pdf
• Mubarok, A. F., Sundari, S., & Wahjuningsih, E. (2017). The Effect of Using Animation Video on the Eight Grade Students’ Vocabulary Achievement at SMPN 5 Jember. FKIP e-PROCEEDING. http://jurnal.unej.ac.id/index.php/fkip-epro/article/view/4286
• Nanda, D. S., & Sugiono, S. (2020). THE EFFECT OF ANIMATION VIDEOS ON YOUNG LEARNERS VOCABULARY AT GRADE 4 IN SDN 2 PALAPA BANDAR LAMPUNG. BEYOND LINGUISTIKA (Journal of Linguistics and Language Education), 3(1). http://jurnal.ubl.ac.id/index.php/bl/article/view/2435
• Rabiyatmoko, M. (2016). The Effectiveness of Using Animation Video” Tangled” in Teaching Vocabulary at the Tenth Grade of SMK Ma‟ arif 1 Kebumen in the Academic Year of 2015/2016(Doctoral dissertation, PBI- FKIP).http://repository.umpwr.ac.id:8080/handle/123456789/2794
• SYAFRİZAL, S., MASRUPİ, M., & MAULUDAH, İ. (2019). The Impact of Experiential Learning Method and Vocabulary Mastery Toward Indonesian Students' Reading Comprehension Through Animation Video. Journal for the Education of Gifted Young Scientists, 7(3), 449-458. https://dergipark.org.tr/en/pub/jegys/issue/48637/531412
• Vitasmoro, P., Chandra, A. I., & Jatmiko, J. (2019). Improving Student’s English Vocabulary Mastery through Animation Cartoon. vol, 363, 505-509.
• Yawiloeng, R. (2020). Second Language Vocabulary Learning from Viewing Video in an EFL Classroom. English Language Teaching, 13(7), 76-87. https://eric.ed.gov/?id=EJ1259584
• ZELAMUTIA, U. (2019). THE INFLUENCE OF ANIMATION MOVIE TOWARDS STUDENTS’VOCABULARY MASTERY AT THE FIRST SEMESTER OF SEVENTH GRADE OF SMP TAMAN SISWA BANDAR LAMPUNG IN THE ACADEMIC YEAR 2018/2019(Doctoral dissertation, UIN Raden Intan Lampung). http://repository.radenintan.ac.id/6117/1/SKRIPSI%20UMI%20ZELAMUTIA.pdf

 

There are also some related research papers mentioned by the authors of the study that also use experiments to address the efficiently of animated videos in enhancing English vocabulary (e.g., Abdo [27]), but even then it is not clear how the current paper contributes to this research.

 

Therefore, I believe that it is vital for the authors to present clearly the contribution of this paper and specifically how it contributes to the similar experimental studies that have been conducted in the past.

 

Regarding the experimental design I believe that the methodology followed is clear.

However, the use of chi-square needs to be justified given that the dependent variable of the study is a scale variable (points in an English quiz).

In my opinion, it would be more appropriate to use a paired-samples t-test in order to compare the pre-test group with each of the post-test groups. Moreover, it is also suggested to conduct an independent-samples t-test for the two post-test groups to examine differences between the two groups.

Furthermore, I think that the detailed information given about the score of every participant in Table 1 and Table 2 does not add any significant information to the paper (apart from the Mean, Lowest, and Highest scores).

If the authors decide to keep these Tables, then maybe it would be more appropriate to present in some way how the same participants performed in the pre and post-test and in which group they ended up (e.g., how did participant 1 perform in the pre and post-test, and in which group was he/she placed).    

Moreover, if all post-test participants answered the questionnaire (the six Likert-type questions in Table 4), independent samples-t-tests could also be conducted for the two post groups for each questionnaire variable as long as the assumptions of the t-test are confirmed. Otherwise, a non-parametric Mann-Whitney U-test needs to be used.

 

I also think that more information should be given regarding the experiment settings (e.g., place, duration, etc.) and about the pre and post-tests (how were these different?).

 

 

 

Issues regarding spelling, grammar, etc.

 

Phrase

Page2. The phrase “3. When compared to students taught without animation, how do they perform?” should be reconsidered.  (maybe when students taught with animation are compared to students taught without animation, how do they perform).

 

Page 3. Achieving excellent mystery (rather than mastery)

……..in enabling comprehension of reading and  mystery of new vocabularies.

The word mystery is used instead of mastery in few other instances as well.

 

Page 6. In this research study, animations were developed specifically  (the phrase should be reconsidered….maybe animations where specifically developed for the purposes of the study.)

 

Page 9. Table 1. No of participants (The word number of participants is not appropriate. Maybe participant ID or Participant No)

Page 12. Although, findings shows that some people are either auditory or visual learner. (something is missing from this sentence)

Author Response

Thank you very much for reviewing our article. The response to your comments has been uploaded.

Author Response File: Author Response.pdf

Reviewer 3 Report

The article is well written but includes paragraphs that are redundant and do not provide information about the research, so we suggest that the authors consider deleting lines 197-202; 204-210; 235-240; 241-244; 298-305; 306-310; 335-340; 373; 380-382; 392 and 466-469.

They should write the acronym NPTI at the beginning of the document (line 34) and not on line 261.

Also, do not repeat the institution in line 267-268.

In section 2.7 (Ethical Considerations), indicate why they did not consider applying the experimental treatment (animated videos) to the control group after the experiment in order for that group to benefit from the learning gains.

In section 3, write the results first and then lines 357-369.

The table on line 370 is not numbered, it is not mentioned in the text and the table footnote does not match the data in the table.

Table 1 should be table 2 and following tables.

On line 377 write the acronym NPTI.

In the methodology indicate what the animated videos consisted of (length of time, language level, learning objectives, etc.).

Lines 403-404 move them to methodology, analysis of results.

Consider deleting figure 2 as it repeats information from tables 1-2.

Remove parentheses in line 440.

In conclusion, add what is new about this study compared to previous studies by Aldera or Arrogante or Amin.

Also, indicate in discussion the advantages and disadvantages of learning through animated videos in learning English.

Consider including in limitations the short duration of the treatment, one session, and the possibility of applying the treatment throughout the school year.

References 14 and 36 must be correctly referenced.

Finally, in references, remove capital letters in some of them (26, 30, 36 and 38).

Author Response

Thank you very much for reviewing our article. The response to your comments and suggestions has been uploaded.

Author Response File: Author Response.pdf

Round 2

Reviewer 1 Report

In the revised article from the beginning, the authors have changed the terminology and used the term animated movies instead of animated videos. After half of the article, however, they return to the term animated videos. I think they have to decide and keep the same term throughout their text.

Lines 509-510 in the text should change as what is written does not agree with the results in Table 4. Neutral does not agree

In Figure 2 (p. 14) the authors should present the mean score of each group in the pre-test. Then one can clearly see the difference between the two teams in the post-test !!!

Comments for author File: Comments.pdf

Author Response

The file has been uploaded

Author Response File: Author Response.pdf

Reviewer 2 Report

I think the authors have performed thorough grammatical editing to improve the readability of the paper.

However, I don’t believe that the main problems of the paper that have been mentioned in my review have been dealt with.

As I have mentioned there is a body of literature that examines the efficacy of animation videos in English vocabulary learning and it is not clear how this paper differs or how it contributes to the previous research and especially to research that follows a similar methodology (i.e. true experiments). In my initial review, I have provided many examples (e.g. Dzebeq, S. A., & Gunawan, A. (2020)).  So, I believe that the contribution of the paper continues to be unclear.

As far as the statistical tests are concerned, I still don’t understand why chi-square tests are used since the dependent variable is a scale variable. As far as I know, chi-square tests are suitable for categorical variables. The pre and post-test points are not categorical variables.  The authors have removed the term chi-test but the chi-square test is the statistical test that is used (Table 3).

 

Furthermore, there are still a few grammatical errors

e.g. protests (line 561), No of the participants in Table 3 (instead of participant number), animated animations in line 90 (I don’t think this is an appropriate term).

 

Also, in tables 2 and 3 it is not clear how each participant performed on both tests.

It would also be clearer if one table is used depicting the subgroups with and without the use of animation, and the students' performance in the pre-and post-test.

 

Author Response

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Author Response File: Author Response.pdf

Round 3

Reviewer 2 Report

The paper has been improved in some aspects but not iam feeling again that the contribution is not clear at least in the paper. 

The authors mention in their cover letter that the paper differs from other similar studies because it concerns a different population, and country and the age of the participants is different. It is true that most of the studies found in literature concern primary school students while this study is carried out with University students. Thus the authors can emphasize this in order to show that this research contributes somehow to the existing body of literature. Animated videos have proven to be efficient for enhancing English vocabulary in many studies. So the authors have to clearly state how this work contributes to the existing body of literature. 

Concerning the statistical test used I still think that the T-tests are appropriate for this case (paired sample t-test as I mentioned in my first review). A lot of similar examples can be found in statistical guides and also in similar experimental research studies. 

In any case, t-tests could also be carried out and that doesn't require much effort.  

 

 

 

Author Response

The file has  been attached

Author Response File: Author Response.pdf

Round 4

Reviewer 2 Report

Dear authors

My recommendations regarding the statistical tests were the following:

"It is more appropriate to use a paired-samples t-test in order to compare the pre-test group with each of the post-test groups. Moreover, it is also suggested to conduct an independent-samples t-test for the two post-test groups to examine differences between the two groups."

Although a t-test is carried out (only for the experimental group though) as mentioned in the paper the results are not properly interpreted and reported.

The results can be reported in APA style.  There are many examples on the web. Please have a look at the following link

https://guides.library.lincoln.ac.uk/c.php?g=110730&p=4638032

Author Response

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