Use of Interactive Media to Improve Understanding of English Language for Children

This study to identify the use of Interactive Media Technology in Teaching and Learning English in preschool. The objective of using Interactive Media Technology to enhance children’s understanding of English language among preschool children. This is an experimental study that involved children’s activities in learning English language through two different methods of teaching and different group, conventional method and using Interactive Media Technology . A total of 40 preschool children divided into Treatment Group (20 children) and Control Group (20 children) in private preschool in Hulu Selangor, Selangor. The results showed the scores for the Treatment Group was higher than the Control Group. The results presented that the use of Interactive Media Technology in Teaching and Learning to enhance understanding of English language for children. The use of Interactive Media gave learning experiences that captivated them till the end of learning. Children are very interested in using Interactive Media Technology. This method is very suitable to use in preschool classes for all the topics especially learning English language.


Introduction
In current situation most children are exposed to the use of ICT at home and preschools. In order to inline with this, teaching of the teacher must be in line with the children's existing level of knowledge. If the teacher does not apply computer in teaching and learning, then the teacher's teaching process will be tedious, unpleasant and boring for the children (Johnston, 2019). One of the skills teacher need to know, they must know how to use the latest technology and to promote it in order to optimize teaching and learning processes. The use the latest technology is included in English class to fulfill the current situation that needs fun of learning English in classroom (Mamat et al., 2020;Darwish et al., 2020). Several issues and factors have been identified in previous research such as preschoolers' weaknesses in understanding English subject due to the teachers' teaching and learning methods, and the use of teaching materials or tools is less efficient and is not relevant to the subject being taught.

Problem Statements and Literature Review
Children's competence and understanding of English are often the problems for preschool teachers, so teachers need to choose teaching methods that are fun and effective for their children such as using creative ways of digital technologies to connect young children's school and home lives (Gillen & Kucirkova, 2018). The use of teaching materials that are less efficient and not relevant to the subject being taught as well as the large number of children in a classroom, resulted in less interaction between children and teachers. This causes children to become less active because they do not understand what they are learning (Mamat et al, 2020).
There is also a study on interactive multimedia that focused more on animations in software run by Umar et al. (2011) at two schools in Rawang with 11 respondents. The findings showed that 100% of the students liked what they saw and showed interest, curiosity and motivation as well as being able to follow the lessons and activities presented using specially designed animation techniques. The research support the use of multimedia technology such as Interactive Media in early childhood education has many benefits for children and even for teachers to support the teaching process, for example, using multimedia in explanation of the body is more effective in the classroom (Bentley, 2018). The findings of a study by Majid et al. (2012) conducted at three government and private preschools in Kuala Terengganu district found that children and teachers of preschool reacted positively to the effectiveness of multimedia use in the classroom.
This study deals with the use of interactive media to assess students' achievement in reading and comprehension using two different methods: multimedia and traditional methods. A study was conducted on 52 students at a government primary school in Brunei Muara. This finding is in line with a study conducted by Auzar (2012) on 86 1st-grade students in primary schools in New Pekan also showed that the use of computers through reading learning software showed significant effectiveness compared to traditional reading learning. The use of software in reading learning has also improved students' reading skill. This proves that the effectiveness of multimedia use undeniable gives impact on teaching and learning (TL) especially involving children.
Meanwhile, Nusir et al. (2012) conducted a study on the impact of multimedia use on elementary school children in a primary school in Jordan found that the use of multimedia in teaching had a positive effect on children's focus. The results of the study also showed that there is an improvement in children's learning skills as well as motivating them to learn through the graphics and animations as well as educational games in the multimedia software.
A study has also been conducted on 30 preschool children in Sepang, Selangor, that found children to enjoy using interactive materials (Mamat& Asong, 2014) that children always interested to do activities that involve information technology. Inline with this, according to Mamat et al (2020) the study about interactive multimedia technology for improving child's language learning. The results showed the mean post-test scores for the treatment group was higher than the control group and the mean post-test scores for the treatment group was higher than the control group. Results showed that the use of Interactive Multimedia Technology in Teaching and Learning to enhance understanding of English preschoolers. This finding supported by Eristi & Bellet (2010) conducted a study on a group of Turkish primary school children in Norway also found that interactive learning effectiveness helped children to better understand their lessons than ever before. The 17 pupils also said learning using interactive media was more effective and enjoyable, while helping students to overcome their weaknesses in terms of vocabulary and self-esteem. This study aims to see how the use of Interactive Media can improve preschoolers' English comprehension and to see how children's behaviour changes in terms of their involvement in teaching and learning English subject in two different group of children.

Objectives
There are the objectives in this study: • To identify an increase in preschoolers' understanding of English subject through learning activities using the Interactive Media such as CDs, Youtube and Mobile Phone Application via the topics of Myself; • To identify an increase in preschoolers' understanding of English subject through learning activities using the Interactive Media such as CDs, Youtube and Mobile Phone Application via the topics of Fruits; • To identify an increase in preschoolers' understanding of English subject through learning activities using the Interactive Media such as CDs, Youtube and Mobile Phone Application via the topics of Animals; • To identify an increase in preschoolers' understanding of English subject through learning activities using the Interactive Media such as CDs, Youtube and Mobile Phone Application via the topics of Transportation; and • To identify changes in children's behaviour in terms of their involvement in learning activities using the English Interactive Multimedia CD YouTube and Mobile Phone Application compared to conventional methods. Treatment group observation results

Methodology
The experimental study involved 40 preschool children divided into two groups. A total of 40 preschool children divided into Treatment Group (20 children) and Control Group (20 children). The duration of the study was 5 weeks and two teachers taught the two groups to study the title; 'Myself', 'Animals', 'Fruits' and 'Transportation'. A total of 20 respondents were tested by teaching method using interactive media and 20 respondents were tested using conventional teaching method. The material used in this study is the Interactive Media CDs and Youtube that focuses on the four topics contained in the preschool theme. Observations were also carried out and data were collected for analysis using SPSS 22.0 (Mamat, et al., 2018)

Results
The findings of this study explained based on observations. The Interactive MediaTechnology used in this study that focuses on the four topics contained in the preschool theme. The first objective is to identify an increase in preschoolers' understanding of English subjects through learning activities using the Interactive Multimedia by title Myself, Fruits, Animals dan Transportation.  Table 1 shows the analysis of improved children's understanding of the A classroom of teaching and learning through the use of Interactive Media Technology compared to the classroom of C who followed teaching and learning through conventional methods. A total of 20 respondents were tested by teaching method using Multimedia and 20 respondents were tested using conventional teaching method.
For the Myself topic, A class respondents show 80% achievement compared to C class respondents which is only 56%, there is an increase of 22% for A class respondents. For Fruits topic, A class respondents show a 16% increase where the score is 75% compared to C class respondents, which is only 59%. Meanwhile, A class respondents score 73% compared to just 37% of C class respondents with a 36% increase over the Animals topic. The last tested topic was Transportation which also show an increase of 34% where A class respondent gain 74.8% compared to respondents from C class which is only 40%. It is generally possible to conclude that the four topics taught using the Interactive Multimedia CD, YouTube and Mobile Phone Application method can improve children's' English comprehension based on the results obtained through the study. Objective of Study: Identify changes in children's behaviour in terms of their involvement in learning activities using the English Interactive Multimedia CD, YouTube and Mobile Phone Application compared to conventional methods. Treatment group observation results:

i-CD, YouTube and Mobile Phone Application-Multimedia Interactive can attract children to learn (Statement 1).
Based on the observations, it was found that children in the treatment group who were taught using the Interactive Media had learning experiences through learning that captivates them to the end of learning. Kids are very interested in the software on the Interactive CD, YouTube and Mobile Phone Application.

ii-The pictures and videos in the Interactive Multimedia CD, YouTube and Mobile Phone Application help children to understand the subject being taught more quickly (Statement 2).
The second statement shows a positive picture of the observation made. The teaching sessions for these four topics are very helpful for children to understand what they are learning more quickly. Children can answer the questions in the activity and perform well in each teaching and learning session using Interactive CD, YouTube and Mobile Phone Application.

iii-Children do not get tired of learning using the Interactive Multimedia CD, YouTube and Application (Statement 3).
The third statement refers to the behaviour observed when children are learning using the Interactive Multimedia CD, YouTube and Mobile Phone Application. The answers also showed children through learning that is not boring. It is evident that throughout the learning for all the titles the children enjoy and participated in their activities. This behaviour is also driven by a more conducive and comfortable environment than in the classroom.

Discussion
Based on the findings, it is clear that the children in the treatment group far outperformed the control group. The difference in achievement of the four topics taught clearly showed that using Media Interactive can improve English comprehension compared to conventional teaching. Elements of the software have been found to be extremely helpful in stimulating their thinking of learning new things. This finding is in line with the findings of Majid et al. (2012); Bentley (2018) where it is stated that multimedia-assisted learning methods enhance interest and preschool children's learning performance.
This statement is also reinforced by the opinion of Mamat and Asong (2014) who stated that the use of ICT in children is now a priority and helps support their learning. In addition, children are more easily drawn to and influenced by technological materials because they are colourful and attractive in accordance with their nature. Based on this observation, children are more likely to understand what teachers are teaching using Interactive Media than children who are learning in a conventional way. This finding is consistent with the findings of a study by Majid et al., (2012); Mamat et al (2019;2020) that preschoolers understand what they have learned using multimedia. This understanding of learning is assessed through the activities and training provided in the software.
The use of Interactive Media gave learning experiences that captivated them till the end of learning. Kids are very interested in the software on the Interactive Media. This method is very suitable to use in preschool classes for all the topics selected. This finding is in line with the findings of Majid et al. (2012), who stated that the elements of graphic design, text, color and sound enable children to pay close attention to learning as well as to their syllabus that meets the interest of children. Children enjoy the lessons and participate actively in their activities when the teachers are using interactive media. The findings of this study supported the results of the study by Umar, et al., (2011) and Gillen & Kucirkova (2018) where the majority of children found that graphics and animations were interesting and kept their focus on learning materials.

Conclusion
In conclusion, the findings revealed that learning English through the use of Interactive Media Technology can enhance children's understanding while stimulating their interest in learning these topics and creating a fun learning environment. The implication of this study, the use of Interactive Media Technology give a huge result for children development, such as the impact of ability to explore and enquiry; make children become active in learning. At the same time this research contributes to the theory and gives a new input to teachers that using media in teaching and learning activities in preschool. Hence, the teaching will be more effective. Overall, this study also proved that learning methods using Media Interactive Technology such as CDs and YouTube are effective in changing children's behaviour by increasing their interest and motivation, and improving the English language performance of preschool children. The findings from this study suggested that the use of Interactive Media Technology should be used more frequently by preschool teachers so that children can learn English more effectively and pay more attention to the teaching and learning processes and enhance it at home with media technology via YouTube and mobile phone application. For the future research, this topic should be focus on the development of children from nursery and preschool in cognitive development toward application of media technology in learning.