Comparison: Youtube Incorporated with Class Flow and Big Book to Improve Reading Skills among ESL Learners

Abstract

To encourage young ESL learners to involve with any reading materials on their own, it is crucial to use Big Book approach in early literacy. Children need a rich language and conceptual knowledge base, a broad and deep vocabulary, and verbal reasoning abilities to understand messages that are conveyed through print to become a skilled reader. Code-related skills in phonological awareness, repertoire of highly familiar words and alphabetic principle must be developed to make sure it is easily recognized. The Alpha Generation or the digital natives may have different perspectives towards this approach. Hence, another approach needed to put into practice. Therefore, an action research was conducted in the ESL classrooms to compare Big Book approach and digital storytelling via YouTube. This study involved a total number of one hundred participants of Year 1, Year 2 and Year 5 ESL learners from two primary schools in Sandakan, Sabah, Malaysia and Bintulu, Sarawak, Malaysia respectively. Naturalistic observations and contingency table examined participant's attitude towards the approaches, also paired sample t-test as research instruments. The research data showed that digital storytelling via YouTube and Class Flow application as its platform had covered language skills and contributed significantly by fostering pupils' interest in English reading and improving pupils' proficiency. Hence, it is a critical stage to develop and enhance creative and innovative tool in teaching and learning processes to fit these alpha generations.