Introduction:
Language learning is of prime importance in almost every walk of life.
Without sufficient vocabulary, one faces difficulty in the expression of
views. A lot of work has been done to devise different novel and
interesting teaching methodologies to improve vocabulary. Use of
literature in language teaching has been appreciated by a lot of
researchers especially by Maibodi (2008) and Vaughnetal (2004). Nasreen
(2010) further strengthens this view by saying that “short-stories”
will create a marked difference while teaching language to build
vocabulary.
Pakistani school students are taught English from the very first class
but most of graduates are unable to use English fluently and correctly
which is the result of rote-learning system. To cope with this
situation, a number of changes are being introduced in the field of
education which is quite evident from the conversion of Urdu medium
schools into English Medium by Government of Pakistan. Waqas (2011)
further supports it by saying that Punjab government has felt the
importance of English language by making it a compulsory subject from
class one. Government teachers are regularly trained to teach English
efficiently. Present study is designed to do a comparative analysis of
rural and urban students regarding vocabulary enhancement through short
stories. It was hypothesized for the present study that short stories
will prove to be an effective tool in vocabulary enhancement of both
rural and urban students. It was also to be tested that for which group
this methodology was more suitable. Moreover, it is an effort to reduce
tension and anxiety among students as it is really useful not only for
teachers but also for students, parents and policy makers to use new
techniques in language teaching.