DIGITAL-VISUAL DISCOVERY LEARNING IN PRIMARY MATHEMATICS: IMPLICATIONS FOR TEACHING ENGLISH TO YOUNG LEARNERS

Abstract

Digital-visual media and discovery-oriented learning can create active and multimodal classroom experiences that are potentially relevant across subject areas, including Teaching English to Young Learners (TEYL). This Classroom Action Research investigated the implementation of Discovery Learning assisted by digital-visual media with 26 fourth-grade students at SD Negeri 5 Tikala during the 2025/2026 academic year. The intervention was conducted in primary mathematics and consisted of two cycles, each involving three meetings. Data were collected through teacher and student activity observations, a learning-interest questionnaire, and classroom documentation. The findings showed a clear improvement across cycles. Learning-interest mastery increased from 69.2% in Cycle I to 84.6% in Cycle II, student activity rose from 64.3% to 92.9%, and teacher activity increased from 70.3% to 95.3%. These results indicate that the combination of guided discovery and digital-visual support was associated with stronger engagement and interest in the observed primary classroom. Because the intervention was conducted in mathematics, the study does not provide direct evidence of English-language gains. Instead, it discusses transferable pedagogical implications for TEYL, particularly the use of visual scaffolding, guided noticing, collaborative exploration, vocabulary support, and multimodal input. Future classroom action research should test these principles directly in young learners' English vocabulary, reading, listening, and speaking lessons.