The Effectiveness of Word Wall Pictures in Enhancing Vocabulary Mastery of Autistic Students at SLBN 1 Enrekang

Abstract

Vocabulary mastery plays a crucial role in language acquisition, particularly for students with autism who often experience communication difficulties and limited language development. This study aimed to investigate the effectiveness of word wall pictures in improving the vocabulary mastery of autistic students at Sekolah Luar Biasa Negeri 1 Enrekang. This study employed a pre-experimental design using a one-group pretest-posttest approach. The participants were three fourth-grade autistic students selected through purposive sampling. Data were collected using multiple-choice vocabulary tests administered before and after the treatment. The treatment consisted of six instructional sessions using word wall pictures as visual learning media. The findings revealed a substantial improvement in students’ vocabulary achievement. The mean score increased from 53.33 in the pretest to 91.00 in the posttest. Furthermore, the t-test value (4.797) exceeded the t-table value (4.303) at the 0.05 significance level with two degrees of freedom, indicating a statistically significant difference between pretest and posttest scores. These findings suggest that word wall pictures effectively enhance vocabulary mastery among autistic students by providing meaningful visual support and increasing learning engagement.