PENGGUNAAN PERMAINAN TEKA-TEKI DALAM MENINGKATKAN KOSAKATA SISWA KELAS VIII DI SMP NEGERI 19 PALU

This study aims to examine whether the Riddle Game can increase the vocabulary
of eighth-grade students at SMP Negeri 19 Palu. This research was conducted
because it was discovered that students fear making mistakes and have difficulty
understanding meaning, using words, and spelling them. Students feel bored when
learning from textbooks and only listening to the teacher's explanations. The
research used a quasi-experimental design with two groups. The population was
103 students from 4 classes at SMP Negeri 19 Palu. The sample comprised two
classes: class VIII A as the experimental group and class VIII B as the control
group. Vocabulary tests consisting of multiple-choice, categorization, spelling
words, and sentence correction items were used as instruments for both pre-test
and post-test. Data analysis used the Mann-Whitney U test to test differences
between groups and the Wilcoxon Signed-Rank test to determine changes within
each group. The results show that the experimental group achieved a higher post-
test mean score, from (32.72) to (72.76), compared to the control group with a score
from (36.42) to (47.38), with a significant difference between both groups (p <
0.05). These findings indicate that the Riddle Game significantly increases eighth-
grade students' vocabulary at SMP Negeri 19 Palu.