CHAPTER II : THEORITICAL FRAMEWORK
B. Theoretical Framework
This theoretical framework helped the researcher to answer the research question. Those are the definition of vocabulary, types of vocabulary, part of vocabulary, difficulties in learning vocabulary, and solving in difficulties in learning vocabulary.
1. Definition of vocabulary
Vocabulary is the collection of words that people knows. In learning vocabulary was not only learning about the words and how to use the vocabulary in the correct usage. According to Hatch and Brown say, vocabulary is a set of words with meanings and definitions to someone express in language and used in communication.19 In learning vocabulary it is important in developing their English such as understanding words and meaning.
Vocabulary was central in language and the importance to typical language learner.20 Vocabulary was very important to students it is more important than grammar to communicating.21 Vocabulary was one of the most important things in language because in learning language we must
19Hatch and Brown. Vocabulary, Semantic and Language Education (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1995), 1.
20Ninuk Indriyani.Vocabulary and Reading Comprehension (Lexically-Based Language Teaching Module), ( Jember: STAIN Jember Press, 2013), 19.
21 Gower,Philips,and Walters, Teaching Pratice Handbook , 142.
understand about vocabulary. In daily activities, vocabulary was very important to communicate with each other.
Vocabulary was one of elements in language which need to be mastered. If students master in vocabulary they can easily improving language skills such as a speaking, listening, reading, and writing. Learning these four skills must understand about vocabulary. According Richard and Renandya vocabulary said a basic aspect of mastering language and to specifying how students understand about vocabulary and how students speak language well.22
From the definition and statements above, it can be concluded that vocabulary is very important to people to communicating in learning English.
As it is the most important element in learning language.
2. The Types of Vocabulary
According Hiebert and Kamil, There were two types of vocabulary such as receptive vocabulary and productive vocabulary.23
a. Receptive Vocabulary
Receptive vocabulary was collected of words that a person can use when writing or listening. Receptive vocabulary was knew a word that
22 Richard and Renandya, Methodology in Language Teaching, 225.
23 Hiebert and Kamil, Teaching and Learning Vocabulary (London: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates publisher,2005), 3.
involves being able to recognize them when it is heard or when it seen or when choose grammatical patterns. There was word that well-known, familiar and often used. Receptive vocabulary usually words that are often heard and used in daily activities.
b. Productive Vocabulary
Productive vocabulary was collected of words that used rarely heard words or did not familiar to our ears. Usually, there are words that an individual did not use directly without plan. Productive vocabulary was knew a word involved being able pronounce the word, how to write and spell in word, and how to use it grammatical pattern which usually express an action or experience.
In addition, Roget explains that vocabulary also divided two terms, there were:24
a. Active vocabulary
Active Vocabulary was word that are already known, understood, and used in language. Active vocabulary was words that can be used appropriately by the learners in speaking or writing. In active vocabulary the students have difficulty in practice it. They must know how to pronounce it well, and must know about the understood about collocation
24Roget.S.The New Thesaurus. American. FW Media.P.1038
and connotation. This type was usually used in speaking and writing skill as a speech.
b. Passive Vocabulary
Passive vocabulary was word that we have already known and understood in context reading or listening. Passive vocabulary consisted of the words that are understood when they read and listen.
While, Collier explained that there are many types of vocabulary such as25:
a. General Vocabulary
General vocabulary was the word commonly used in daily conversation or the words the students read in magazines, newspaper, and books.
b. Technical Vocabularies
Technical vocabulary is the word the students find into special subjects. For the examples, the books were history and medicine.
For the explanation above it can be summarized that they are some types of vocabulary. There were such as productive vocabulary and receptive vocabulary. While, According was by other researchers, Roget and Collier said types of vocabulary such as active vocabulary and passive
25 Collier and Macmillan. The Key English Vocabulary (New York: A Division of the Macmillan Company, 1997), 64.
vocabulary and general vocabulary and technical vocabulary. The types of vocabulary are very important to know in learning vocabulary.
The researcher found out at the classroom that the teacher used active vocabulary and passive vocabulary in learning process. The teacher taught about how to speak and write in vocabulary and how to know read and listen at vocabulary with the students in learning vocabulary.
3. Part of Vocabulary
There were two parts of based on Brown. They were the major classes of vocabulary and the minor classes of vocabulary.26
The major classes of vocabulary are:
a. Noun
Nouns are word to explain about person, place, animal, and thing such as teacher, Jakarta, and book.
There are many types of nouns are:
1) Proper Noun
Proper noun was used to describe the names of specific people, places, or things. In using proper nouns must use capital letters.
2) Common Noun
Common noun it used to describe to a person, place, or thing in a general. In common noun was usually written in a capital letter only when it begins a sentence.
26 Hatch and Brown, Vocabulary, Semantic and Language Education, 218.
3) Concrete Noun
Concrete noun it used to names thing, animal, and person which can recognize by the senses of sight, taste, hearing, or smell. A concrete noun is real word opposite to abstract noun.
4) Abstract Noun
Abstract noun is a noun names anything which you cannot see it for real but you can feel it. Such were feeling happy or sad.
5) Countable Noun
Countable noun was a noun with both a singular and plural.
The singular can used the article a, an, or one. The plural can used the article s or es. For example: a book and two books.
6) Uncountable Noun
Uncountable noun it used for things that we cannot count using numbers. Such were liquids, powders, or gases.
7) Collective Noun
Collective noun it used to express the name a group consists of more than one such as peoples, animals, and things.
8) Compound Noun
Compound noun is word consisted of combination of two words.
9) Gerund
Gerund was a verb that was added with verb-ing and function in noun.
b. Adjective
Adjective was a word that is used to describe a noun. Adjective is usually placed after noun such as diligent, beautiful, and handsome. There are many kinds of adjectives, such as:
1) Adjective of quality
Adjective of quality is an adjective to explain about cheap, heavy, god, etc.
2) Adjective of quantity
Adjective of quantity is an adjective to explain about number of object.
3) Adjective of numbers
Adjective of numbers were divided into three kinds of numeral adjective there are definite adjectives of number, indefinite adjectives, and distributive adjectives of number.
4) Demonstrative adjective
Demonstrative adjective is an adjective to indicate an object.
5) Distributive adjective
Distributive adjective is an adjective that used to denote an object.
6) Interrogative adjective
Interrogative adjective was asked for something.
7) Possessive adjective
Possessive adjective was an adjective that showed possession.
For the examples: my, his, your, etc.
8) Exclamatory adjectives
Exclamatory adjectives are a word that gave opinion using adjectives.
9) Emphatic adjectives: own and very.
c. Verb
Verb was a word to explain about action, activity, and condition such as study, read, and sad. There were many kinds of verb such as27:
1) Auxiliary verb
Auxiliary verb was word that used to help clarify the main verb. In auxiliary verb such as be, having, do and the modal shall, will, etc.
27Ninuk Indriyani. Vocabulary and Reading Comprehension (Lexically-Based Language Teaching Module, 19.
2) Verb phrase
Verb phrase was a group of words that consisted of two or more words.
3) Transitive verb
Transitive verb is a verb that requires an object as a complement.
4) Intransitive verb
Intransitive verb is a verb that does not requires as a complement.
5) Linking verb
Linking verb was a type of connecting verb and word to connect the subject with the complement.
6) Ordinary verb
They were two kinds of ordinary verb there are regular verbs and irregular verbs.
d. Adverb
Adverb was a word that describes about place, time, manner, cause or degree to adverb. There were many kinds adverb such as28 :
1) Adverbs of time
An adverb of time was explained about time (when).
28 Raymond Murphy,English Grammar in Use (New York:Cambridge University Press,1985), 192
2) Adverbs of place
Adverb of place is explained about place (Where).
3) Adverbs of manner
Adverbs of manner was showed how to activity or event (how).
The Minor Classes of vocabulary were:
a. Preposition
Preposition was words that used before noun, and pronoun such as at, on, in, etc. Preposition was gave additional information about the position, direction, and time.
For example: I go to school in the morning b. Interjection
Interjection was words that spoken spontaneously to express feelings or emotion. Interjection is usually followed by a comma or exclamation mark or question mark.
c. Pronoun
Pronoun was word that is used instead of noun or noun phrases.
In this pronouns consisted such as he, her, me, mine, your, etc.
d. Conjunction
Conjunction was used to connected words, phrases, and sentences such as and, but, or, so, etc.
e. Article
Article is word that functioned to complete a phrase and clause in a sentence. In the articles there were many 3 such as the, a, and an.
4. Students Difficulties in Learning Vocabulary
As foreign language, vocabulary was very important language in world especially for students. The students had difficulties in learning vocabulary. In the process of learning vocabulary mastery did not spontaneous. It needs many time and long process in learning vocabulary to achieve the goal in learning language.
Thonbury Said there were some factors why students have difficulties in learning vocabulary, there are such as29 :
a. Pronunciation
Pronunciation was the way in which language or particular word or sound is spoken. In learning English pronunciation was more difficult to learn. Usually, the students have difficulty in pronouncing in vocabulary because they are confusing to pronounce word and they forget how to spell the words. For the examples, how to pronounce the word easy not easi but.
eze. The students usually have difficulty pronouncing.
b. Spelling
Spelling was the ability to spell a word that consisted of several letters correctly. In spell the sound not some. Many students have some
29Scott Thonbury, How to Teach Vocabulary, 27.
mistakes how to spell or pronounce the words. They did not like read a dictionary how to spell the words. For example, the students usually have difficulty in spelling words and they did not understand how to read the alphabet correctly.
c. Length and complexity
Long word was very difficult to learn the language. A sentence that has long words with complexity makes students confused because they unfamiliarity in these words. The main reason was that students did not memorize vocabulary. For example, the students did not understand the length and complexity of word because they still have difficulty memorizing vocabulary.
d. Grammar
Problem in grammar was very much. In learning grammar, the students should know and understand about 16 tenses. This caused students difficulty in vocabulary because they did not understand about grammar.
For example, differentiating drink (V1) and drank (V2). The students did not understand the usage simple present tense and past tense.
e. Meaning
When two words overlap in meaning, the students will be confused because it has two meanings. For example, you make breakfast and make an appointment, but you did the housework and did a questionnaire. This example made students difficulty in learning vocabulary.
f. Range, connotation and idiomatic
Range, connotation, and idiomatic were difficult for students to understand about learn vocabulary. In range usually very wide range for example thin. Many synonyms thin as a skinny, and slim. In connotation, they have difficulty in understand about connotation. In idiomatic, the students have difficulty to understand because idiomatic was series of words that have one meaning.
While Gower, Philips, and Walter said there were many kind factor students‟ difficulties in learning vocabularies as follow30:
a. Similarity to L1 ( First Language)
The vocabulary was part difficulty item in learning language. This problem vocabulary item was often depends on how similar item in the form and meaning to the students first language. So, they have difficulty to distinguish similarity of meaning.
b. Similarity to English words already known
Some students have understood and know the recognized word. But, many similarities of words in English makes students have difficulty in understand the same words. For examples: friendly and unfriendly
30Gower,Philips,and Walters, Teaching Pratice Handbook , 143.
c. Connotation
Connotation was very important in learning vocabulary because in learning vocabulary the students must understand the additional meaning.
They have difficulty in distinguish a word. For example: skinny and slim.
d. Spelling and pronunciation
Spelling and pronunciation was problem that many students experienced. The students have difficulty pronounced in vocabulary because they were confused to pronounce word and they forget how to spell the words. In spelling, the sound did not some. They did not like read dictionary and practice it. For examples: beg, bag, back, and bug.
e. Multi-words items
In lexical item may consist of more than one word, as a compound noun or a phrasal verb. In phrasal verb was very difficult for learner of English because they were consisted of simple words (prepositions or adverb). For the example, tennis shoes and put someone. The students have difficulty learning multi-word items.
f. Collocation
Collocation is two or more words in English that are located side by side. The students have difficult in learning collocation. They must understand about some word in side by side.
g. Appropriate use
Appropriate use was a problem in learning vocabulary. Some words and expressions limited used in particular context. The students have difficult in appropriate use. They must know about the word and phrase.
Lynne Cameron added there were many kinds to overcome student difficulties in learning vocabulary.31 As follow:
a. Pronunciation
Pronunciation is the way in which a particular person pronounces the word of a language. The students were difficult to pronounce vocabulary. They were not able to identify the pronunciation of the sounds like vowel, consonant, or diphthong of the words. In learning pronunciation, there is a sound difference between Indonesian and English.
So, they have problem in vocabulary especially pronunciation.
b. Spelling
Spelling is the ability to spell a word that consisted of several letters correctly. Spelling is the act of forming words correctly from individual letter or the way that a word is spelt. The students have difficult in spelling.
The students did not know how to spell the words in vocabulary. They felt difficulty to spell it. The students did not memorize alphabet especially in spelling a words. The students still have wrong in spelling words.
31Lynne Cameron, Teaching Languages to Young Learners. (UK: Cambridge University Press, 2001), 78
c. Grammar
Grammar is an important in learning language. Grammar was a pattern or structure of the sentence. Grammar will help learners to understand the meaning of sentence. The students had difficult in learning grammar. The students confused to different verb 1 and verb 2. They have difficulty make a sentence. They didn‟t understand it. So, they have difficulties in grammar of vocabulary.
d. Meaning
Meaning is a form of knowledge that has the meaning of language in communication activities. The students had problem difficulty to meaning words. It could be caused by the students who did not know the meaning of word. If the students know more about meaning, they would be easy to understand the meaning in vocabulary.
The Problem was not from the students but also from the teacher.
There was Problem in teaching material. Teaching material was very important to help the students to understand about material. The teacher must give interesting teaching method and make the learning situation enjoy and comfortable so they did not feel bored and make them interesting in learning. Secondly, teaching media. Teaching media was very important to motivate the students to study and to help teacher in transferring about
material in students.32 The teacher must have teaching media if the teacher do not have teaching media the students find it difficult to understand the material.
5. Solving the Difficulty in Learning Vocabulary
The students still have difficulty learning the vocabulary. The teacher must overcome in teaching. So, the students can understand vocabulary. Paul Nation Said there was some strategies to overcome the difficulties in learning vocabulary as follows:33
a. Keep the teaching simple and clear
The teacher must provide an explanation that is easy for students to understand about material. Not only that, the teacher made some methods so that the students can understand easily. The method used must be easy and creative so that it can inspire students‟ enthusiasm and give a students‟
motivation.
b. Brainstorming before new activity
Brainstorming was recollecting the material that has been explained in the previous material. Brainstorming was aimed for students to help remembering material and to overcome the difficulties in learning vocabulary. The teacher must give brainstorming before the teacher
32Imron Safari,”A Study On Students‟ Difficulities In Learning Vocabulary”, 25.
33Paul Nation, Teaching Vocabulary.(Victoria university of Welllington: Cambridge University Press, 2001), 150.
continued in next level. If the students understand the material in learning vocabulary so the teacher can continue to the next material.
c. Use both oral and written presentation
The teacher must give understand to students by using oral and written presentation. Oral and written presentation was very important to students because it can improve students‟ knowledge through oral and written presentation. The teacher was asked students to come forward and explain the material orally and written at class. This method can help the students to increase knowledge in learning vocabulary.
d. Give most attention to words that are already partly known
The teacher has given more knowledge to students about words that are already known. For example, the teacher taught about the different between present and past tense. The teacher explained how to change the verb present to past tense.
e. Every single word is worth to learn
The teacher must give motivation to students memorize in vocabulary. Vocabulary was very important because the students always remember in learning vocabulary they have learned. If the students were understood and memorize in vocabulary, the teacher can learn for easier.
f. Teach student to open dictionaries
Dictionary was collection in several meaning words and to provide information in vocabulary as the bank of words. The teacher must ask to
students to open a dictionary in learning activities actually in learning vocabulary. If the students often open and read dictionaries so it will increase students in learning vocabulary.
g. Deep processing of vocabulary items
Deep processing was information that functions to saw how far the cognitive level or personal level. The teacher must give strengthening knowledge the students to involved use of words in a meaningful context, grouping words with characteristic, linking verbs in daily activity.
While Gower, Philips, and Walter Said there were many kinds the solve students‟ difficulties in learning vocabularies as follow:34
a. Type of lesson
The teacher provided an understanding for students to distinguish development and remembering vocabulary. The students learn and use some of vocabulary item.
b. Receptive and productive use
The teacher must give pay attention to use of receptive and productive vocabulary. Whether it is by the context that has been presented or the students can use it.
c. Lexical Syllabus
The teacher must consider in vocabulary item from the easiest to the most difficult level. For example, the teacher taught the easy word
34Gower, Philips, and Walters,Teaching Pratice Handbook , 145.