FACTORS THAT INFLUENCE CHILDREN’S VOCABULARY DEVELOPMENT

Preface

The study has been done at Tadika Kampung Ketoyong. Four samples, children between 4 to 6

years old have been taken for this study. The researchers try to investigate factors that influence

vocabulary development in the children between the age of 4 and 6 years old. Two methods have

been used for the data collections. The methods for data collection are interview and observation.

It is found that age, institutional, familial and environmental factors influence children’s

vocabulary development. It is suggested that parents and teachers be taught how to promote

healthy emotion and disposition among the children. It is also suggested that bigger samples

should be used to provide with sufficient data for a more reliable generalization if a further study

are to be carried out.

Introduction

Childhood is one of the important phases in one’s life. In the phase, they learn and absorb new

things from their surroundings and people around them. This includes the vocabulary that they

acquire. However, the difference in the development of vocabulary in children shows that there

are certain factors that influence the acquisition and perception of meanings of word in them.

Thus, there is a need to study these factors as this will be helpful for their parents and teacher to
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promote children for a healthy disposition and emotion. Hence, the study aims to investigate

factors that influence children’s vocabulary development.

Literature review

From toddlers through high school students, differences in vocabulary knowledge exist among

learners from different ability and socioeconomic groups. Children enter kindergarten with

“meaningful differences” in early language and literacy experiences (i.e. skills, exposure,

opportunities) (Hart & Risley, 1995). The meaningful differences might be caused by factors

such as parental skills and the environment that they are exposed to at home. This makes the

children to have different capacity of semantics perception of things when they enter

kindergarten.

According to Biemiller (2001) twenty-five percent of children with the smallest

vocabularies acquire approximately 1.6 root words a day (approximately 4,000 root words

meanings) while some acquire fewer meanings by the end of second grade. This is further

reflected by the findings of the study by Myers (2009) which are as follows:

Age Language development

• Knows names of familiar animals

• Names common objects in picture books or magazines
48 months • Knows one or more colors
• Demonstrates understanding of over and under
• Much repetition of words, phrases, syllables, and even sounds
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 • Can use many descriptive words spontaneously-both adjectives and adverbs
• Has number concepts of 4 or more
• Should be able to define common objects in terms of use (hat, shoe, chair)
60 months • Should know his age
• Should have simple time concepts: morning, afternoon, night, day, later,
after, while
• Tomorrow, yesterday, today
6 years • Speech should be completely intelligible and socially useful
old • Should be able to tell one a rather connected story about a picture, seeing
relationships between objects and happenings

Most of the studies only focus on the vocabularies that children get in the kindergarten. There are

not many studies being carried out to study the factors that influence the development of

vocabularies in children especially in Malaysian setting. Thus there is a need for a study to be

carried out about children’s vocabulary development in Malaysian setting.

Statement of Problem

Past researches have shown that children’s vocabulary develops stage by stage. Children begin to

develop their language skills the minute they are born. As they progress through the stages of

infancy into toddlers, their vocabulary development grows at a rapid pace. Ultimately, children

go through four stages of vocabulary development, not counting the preverbal stage. By the end

of the fourth stage, they will have developed their main vocabulary skills (Reed, 2009). However

from our observation, we found that some children develop their vocabulary faster than the

others. It is believed that there are certain factors that influence the rate of vocabulary

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development in the children. Thus, the study tries to investigate factors that influence children’s

vocabulary development.

Data Collection

Subjects
The sample of the study is comprised of four kindergarten students. The particulars of the
students are as follows:

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Student Particulars
Name: Muhammad Abqary
Age: 4 years old
Father’s occupation: Taxi driver
Mother’s occupation: Housewife

Name: Arif Firman

Age: 5 years old
Father’s occupation: Lorry Driver
Mother’s occupation: Working at Proton

Name: Tevayani
Age: 6 years old
Father’s occupation: Working at Bank Rakyat
Mother’s occupation: Housewife
Name: Ahmad Hakimi Irfan
Age: 6 years old
Father’s occupation: Working at Proton
Mother’s occupation: Sells nasi lemak

Methods

The data for the study is collected by using two methods which are interview and observation

during their learning session in the class. The questions that were asked during the interview are

as follows:

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Children’s Background (The questions were asked in Bahasa Malaysia)

• What is your name?

• How old are you?

• What is your favourite food?

• What is your favourite cartoon?

• How does it look like?

• What is your favourite colour?

• What is favourite game?

• What is your father’s name?

• What is your father’s occupation?

• What is your mother’s name?

• What is mother’s occupation?

• In the future, what would you like to be? (Teacher, Doctor, Lawyer etc)

Besides questions regarding their background, the researchers also used a stimulus (a picture –

refer to Appendix A) to observe the vocabulary that they have in English Language. The

questions that were asked are as follows:

• What animal is this?

• What does the animal eat?

• Do you like rabbit? Why?

• Do you have ant pets at home?

• Do you take care of it? (bath, food, walk etc)

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The researchers also observed the children during their learning session. Among the things that

were observed are their interactions with their friends and the teacher.

Discussions/Findings

Data from the interview

From the interview that was carried out, the researchers found all of the children except

Muhammad Abqary know the concept of colours, numbers, shapes, name of animal and fruits in

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English language. They also understand researchers’ questions in English although sometimes

the researchers need to help their understanding using Bahasa Malaysia. The children acquire the

vocabularies of colours, numbers, shapes, name of animals and fruits in English language from

the learning sessions that were carried out by the teacher in the kindergarten.

From the interview, the researcher also found that all of the children know about

occupations and the importance of money. However, they also know how the money is spent.

This is shown as follows:

Dialogue 1
Researcher: Ayah Abqary kerja apa?
Abqary: Bawa kereta!
Hakimi: Ayah dia dia kerja teksi.
Researcher: Kerja teksi banyak tak dapat duit?
All: Banyak!
Researcher: Dah dapat duit, duit tu kita guna buat apa?
Arif: Beli mainan.
Hakimi: Beli la apa-apa yang patut!
Researcher: Apa yang patut? Apa dia “apa-apa yang patut tu”?
Arif: Kerusi ke, meja ke.
Hakimi: Ala, kalau ada duit apa-apa pun boleh beli. Makanan boleh, mainan,
Researcher: Teva, ayah Teva kalau ada duit beli apa?
Tevayani: Maggi

Dialogue 2
Hakimi: Saya punya duit raya dapat RM100
Researcher: Pastu duit simpan kat mana?
Hakimi: Saya nak beli PS6 (Playstation 6)
Arif: Saya nak simpan dalam akaun bank
Researcher: Akaun bank apa?
Hakimi and Arif: Bank Rakyat!
Researcher: Tevayani dapat duit raya tak?
Tevayani: Dapat (shy)
Researcher: Dapat berapa?
Tevayani: RM 100

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Researcher: Siapa yang bagi?
Tevayani: Cikgu
Hakimi: Cikgu, dia bukan dapat RM 100. Dia dapat RM 1 je. Dia kata nak mengarut.
Researcher: Abqary dapat duit raya tak?
Abqary: Dapat!
Researcher: Dapat? Berapa?
Abqary: (no answer)
Researcher: Dapat duit warna apa?
Abqary: Warna biru, merah.

From the first dialogue between the researcher and the children, it is clear that they grasp the

concept of money from their observation of how their parents use the money. While, Dialogue 2

shows that some of the children’s parents teach their child to keep their money for savings.

Based on the finding, the researchers believe that parents also play an important role in

children’s vocabulary development. Besides the conceptions of money, they are also exposed to

certain occupations by their parents. This somehow influences them and makes them set certain

ambition to be working in certain fields that interest them. This is evident in the following

dialogue:

Researcher: Oh. Bila besar nanti Hakimi nak jadi apa?

Hakimi: Proton.
Researcher: Proton tu buat apa?
Hakimi: Bekerja. Waktu rehat balik rumah.
Researcher: Oh. Arif pulak nak kerja apa nanti?
Arif: Kerja polis.
Researcher: Sebab apa nak kerja polis?
Arif: Nak tangkap orang.
Researcher: Tangkap orang apa?
Arif: Tangkap orang jahat.
Researcher: Orang jahat buat apa?
Arif: Curi beg orang.
Researcher: Teva nanti nak jadi apa?
Tevayani: Tutor, UPSI.
Researcher: Tutor tu apa?
Tevayani: Mengajar
Researcher: Abqary nanti nak jd apa?

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Abqary: Bawak kereta.

On the other hand, the dialogues also picture the different level of vocabulary

development in the children. It is found that Muhammad Abqary, who is 4 years old, lacks the

vocabulary that hinders him from speaking fluently compared to the other children. The finding

shows that age is also one of the factors that influence vocabulary development in children.

The children also talked about few television programme that they like to watch. This

includes cartoons like Ben10, Upin dan Ipin, and Malay drama series like Jangan Pandang

Belakang and Nur Kasih. They also repeated the word that is common in the cartoon series like

“Betul, betul, betul!” which they imitate from the cartoon Upin dan Ipin. Besides, the children

also acquire words like steering, monster, PS3, PES6 and Counterstrike (name of a Playstation

game) from the Playstation game that they play at home. This proves that mass media provides

opportunities for the children to learn new things and enhance their vocabulary development.

It is also found that one of the children in the classroom curse using words like “babi”

and “anak anjing” during the observation. The teacher then scolded him and warned him not to

do it again. When he was asked about the person that he learn the cursing words from, he replied

by saying that he heard it from his friends. This finding shows that children also learn words

from people around them. They sometimes say certain word without realizing how bad the words

are.

Conclusion

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The level of vocabulary development of healthy toddlers in the samples is on the high side. It can

be concluded that there are four factors that influence the development of children’s vocabulary.

This includes institutional (the place where the children studies), parental (the children’s

parents), age and environmental (mass media and friends) factors. It is suggested that

kindergarten teachers and parents should pay attention to the toddlers' language development.

The toddlers' parents and caregivers should be taught how to interact with and talk to their

children and how to promote children to develop healthy disposition and emotion.

Since the study only involves a small number samples, the findings cannot be generalized

to all children outside the kindergarten. Thus, bigger sample is needed to provide with sufficient

data if any further study are to be carried out.

Appendices

Appendix A

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Appendix B

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Verbatim of the Interview.

The part where the children talk about computer games and television programmes is lost due to
virus infection. Thus, the verbatim of the part cannot be presented in this report.

Part 1

Researcher: What is your name?

Hakimi: Saya tau cakap ni... My name is Hakimi.
Researcher: Oh. Hakimi. Yang ni? (pointing to second boy)
Arif: Arif.
Researcher: What is your name? (asking the girl)
Tevayani: Tevayani.
Researcher: How old are you?
Hakimi: I am six years old.
Researcher: How old are you?
Arif: Lima
Researcher: How old are you?
Tevayani: Enam.
Researcher: Enam apa dalam Bahasa Inggeris?
Tevayani: Six.
Hakimi: Kalau nak cakap dua ringgit, two ringgit.
Researcher: Kalau tiga?
Hakimi: Three ringgit.
Researcher: Ok. Cikgu nak tunjuk gambar ni. Cikgu nak tanya dalam Bahasa Inggeris.
Boleh tak?
(They answer: Boleh.)
Researcher: What is in this picture?
(They answer: Rabbit.)
Researcher: Ok. What colour is the rabbit?
Hakimi: White.
Researcher: What colour is the rabbit?
Arif: White.
Researcher: What colour is the rabbit?
Tevayani: Biru.
Researcher: Teva kata biru. Betul ke biru? Is it blue?
Hakimi: Tapi biru ni cair sikit.
Researcher: So the colour is blue. What is this?
Arif: Oren.
Researcher: Betul ke oren?
Tevayani: Oren.
Researcher: Pasti?
Hakimi: Oren.
Researcher: Ok. The colour is orange. What is that?
Tevayani: Green.
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Researcher: Ok. The other colour is green. But what is this thing? Sayur apa?
Hakimi: Carrot.
Researcher: Yes. It is a carrot and rabbit. What does rabbit eat?
Arif: Biru.
Hakimi: Arnab makan biru?
Researcher: Arnab makan apa?
Tevayani: Carrot.
Researcher: Yes. Selain carrot rabbit makan apa lagi?
Hakimi: Sayur-sayuran.
Arif: Buah-buahan.
Researcher: Buah-buahan dalam Bahasa Inggeris panggil apa?
Arif: Sayur-sayuran.
Researcher: Bukan. Sayur-sayuran dalam Bahasa Inggeris apa? Ve... ge...
Tevayani: Vegetable.
Researcher: Ha... Teva tau. Kalau buah apa dalam Bahasa Inggeris?
Arif: Vegetable.
Researcher: Bukan. Vegetable sayur. Buah kita panggil apa?
Arif: Fruit.
Researcher: Hakimi, what are the fruits that you know?
Hakimi: Oren.
Arif: Nenas.
Researcher: Ok. What do we call nenas in English? Nenas kita panggil apa dalam
Bahasa Inggeris?
Arif: Nenas. Pisang.
Researcher: Pisang kita panggil apa dalm Bahasa Inggeris?
Arif: Cempedak.
Researcher: Itu dah buah lain. Kita panggil pisang apa dalam Bahasa Inggeris? Ba...
Hakimi: Banana.
Researcher: What colour is the banana?
Hakimi: Yellow.
Arif: Yellow.
Hakimi: Saya cakap dulu yellow.
Researcher: Teva, pisang warna apa?
Tevayani: Putih.
Researcher: Yang mana satu putih? Bila kita buang...
Arif: Kulit dia.
Researcher: Yes. Bila kita buang kulit dia jadi putih. Whta do we call putih in English?
Hakimi: White.
Researcher: Yes. Do we have green banana?
Arif: Ada.
Researcher: Kamu suka makan apa?
Hakimi: Popia. Sedap...
Arif: Saya tak suka makan.
Tevayani: Carrot.
Researcher: Hakimi, do you like carrot? Tau tak like?
Hakimi: Tak.

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Researcher: Like tu suka. Do you like carrot?
Hakimi: Yes.
Researcher: Do you eat carrot? Eat tu apa?
Hakimi: Suka.
Researcher: Bukan. Cikgu cakap apa tadi eat?
Arif: Makan.
Researcher: Ya. Makan. Do you eat carrot?
Arif: Makan.
Hakimi: Saya suka makan carrot.

Part 2

Researcher: Sapa ada bela kucing kat rumah?

Tevayani: Tak ada.
Arif: Dulu abang arif ada bela burung tapi burung tu dah mati.
Researcher: Oh. Burung dalam Bahasa Inggeris kita panggil apa?
Arif: Bird.
Researcher: Ha... Bird. Bird kat rumah Arif kaler apa?
Arif: Kaler pink. Dengan hijau.
Researcher: Hijau apa dalam Bahasa Inggeris?
Hakimi: Green.
Researcher: Hakimi ada ble binatang tak kat rumah?
Hakimi: Tak ada. Ada kucing saya ingat nak bela tapi mak saya tak bagi sebab
nanti takut dia berak dalam rumah. Saya ingat nak beli sangkar kucing tapi
duit mak saya x cukup.
Researcher: Sebab apa tak cukup duit?
Arif: Sebab mak dia simpan duit.
Researcher: Sebab apa dia simpan duit?
Arif: Sebab nak beli barang.
Hakimi: Saya punya duit raya dapat RM100
Researcher: Pastu duit simpan kat mana?
Hakimi: Saya nak beli PS6 (Playstation 6)
Arif: Saya nak simpan dalam akaun bank
Researcher: Akaun bank apa?
Hakimi and Arif: Bank Rakyat!
Researcher: Tevayani dapat duit raya tak?
Tevayani: Dapat (shy)
Researcher: Dapat berapa?
Tevayani: RM 100
Researcher: Siapa yang bagi?
Tevayani: Cikgu
Hakimi: Cikgu, dia bukan dapat RM 100. Dia dapat RM 1 je. Dia kata nak mengarut.
Researcher: Abqary dapat duit raya tak?
Abqary: Dapat!
Researcher: Dapat? Berapa?
Abqary: (no answer)

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Researcher: Dapat duit warna apa?
Abqary: Warna biru, merah.
Hakimi: Ayah saya punya handset nokia jugak. Tapi ayah saya punya handset tu
bukannya canggih.
Researcher: Oh. Kamera ada tak?
Hakimi: Ada.
Researcher: Oh. Cikgu ada ajar nyanyi tak?
Hakimi: Ada.
Researcher: Nyanyi lagu apa?
Hakimi: Negaraku.
Arif: Negeri Perak. Tadika Kemas.
Researcher: Lagu orang putih ada tak? English?
Arif: Tak ada.
Hakimi: Ada.
Researcher: Twinkle twinkle little star?
(They answer: Ada.)
Researcher: Sapa tau nyanyi?
(They sing wrongly...)
Researcher: Kalau lagu Negaraku?
(They sing...)
Researcher: Ok. Ayah Teva nama apa?
Tevayani: Kannan.
Researcher: Ayah arif nama apa?
Arif: Raimi.
Researcher: Ayah Hakimi?
Hakimi: Firdaus.
Researcher: Ayah Hakimi kerja apa?
Hakimi: Proton.
Researcher: Ayah Arif keja apa?
Arif: Bawak lori ais.
Researcher: Ayah Teva kerja apa?
Tevayani: Bank Rakyat.
Researcher: Ayah Abqary kerja apa?
Abqary: Proton. Bawak kereta.
Researcher: Banyak tak dapat duit?
Abqary: Banyak.
Researcher: Duit dah banyak lepas tu beli apa?
Arif: Beli mainan la...
(They laugh...)
Researcher: Mak Hakimi nama apa?
Hakimi: Lizawati.
Researcher: Mak kerja tak?
Hakimi: Kerja jual nasi lemak dengan aiskrim.
Researcher: Mak Arif kerja apa?
Arif: Murni. Kerja proton.
Researcher: Mak Teva nama apa?

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Tevayani: Kamala.
Researcher: Kerja apa?
Tevayani: Kerja rumah.
Researcher: Oh. Suri rumah. Mak Abqary nama apa?
Abqary: Nama mama.
Researcher: Oh. Mama... Mak Abqary kerja apa?
Abqary: Masak.
Researcher: Oh. Bila besar nanti Hakimi nak jadi apa?
Hakimi: Proton.
Researcher: Proton tu buat apa?
Hakimi: Bekerja. Waktu rehat balik rumah.
Researcher: Oh. Arif pulak nak kerja apa nanti?
Arif: Kerja polis.
Researcher: Sebab apa nak kerja polis?
Arif: Nak tangkap orang.
Researcher: Tangkap orang apa?
Arif: Tangkap orang jahat.
Researcher: Orang jahat buat apa?
Arif: Curi beg orang.
Researcher: Teva nanti nak jadi apa?
Tevayani: Tutor, UPSI.
Researcher: Abqary nanti nak jd apa?
Abqary: Bawak kereta.

References

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Hart, B., & Risley, T. (1995). Meaningful Differences. Baltimore: Brookes Publishing Co.

Biemiller, A. (2001). Teaching Vocabulary: Early, direct, and sequential. The American

Educator, 25(1), 24-28.

Myers, R. 2009. Language Development In Children. Retrieved from

http://www.childdevelopmentinfo.com/development/language_development.shtml at 8.30

p.m. on 26th September 2009.

Reed, J. 2009. Vocabulary Development in Toddlers & Infants. Retrieved from

http://www.ehow.com/about_4812271_vocabulary-development-toddlers-infants.html at

8.30 p.m. on 26th September 2009.

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