THE EFFECT OF KAHOOT! BASED VOCABULARY LEARNING TOOL ON VOCABULARY MASTERY AND MOTIVATION

Muhammad Taroqi, Alfan Zuhairi, Kurniasih Kurniasih

Abstract


Vocabulary mastery is central to EFL learning, yet conventional instruction is often perceived as repetitive and demotivating. Gamified platforms such as Kahoot! have therefore gained increasing attention as an alternative instructional tool. However, few studies have simultaneously examined its effects on both vocabulary mastery and learning motivation, particularly within Islamic senior high schools. This study aimed to investigate the effect of Kahoot! based instruction on eleventh-grade students' vocabulary mastery and learning motivation, encompassing both intrinsic and extrinsic dimensions, as conceptualized in Self-Determination Theory, relative to conventional instruction. A quasi-experimental design with a non-equivalent control group was employed, involving 60 eleventh-grade students at an Islamic senior high school, divided equally into experimental and control groups (n = 30 each). Data were collected through a 50-item vocabulary test and a 35-item motivation questionnaire, then analyzed using the Mann-Whitney U Test. Results revealed no statistically significant differences between groups in vocabulary mastery (p = .297) or extrinsic motivation (p = .636). However, a significant difference emerged in intrinsic motivation (p = .004), with the control group scoring higher than the experimental group. This finding suggests that Kahoot!'s competitive features, particularly its countdown timer and public leaderboard, may have prompted students toward rapid guessing over deep cognitive processing while inducing performance pressure that undermined their sense of autonomy and competence. These results indicate that instructional design quality and meaningful learning activities exert greater influence on learning outcomes than the choice of instructional media alone, positioning Kahoot! as a supplementary rather than primary vocabulary-teaching tool.

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