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IMPROVING STUDENTS’ VOCABULARY MASTERY
USING EXPERIENTIAL LEARNING
(A Classroom Action Research on the Sixth Grade of SDN
Banaran 01 in the Academic Year of 2009/2010)
THESIS
By
IKE ANISA S890306018
Submitted to Fulfill One of the Requirements for Getting the Graduate Degree of Education in English
ENGLISH EDUCATION DEPARTMENT GRADUATE SCHOOL
SEBELAS MARET UNIVERSITY SURAKARTA
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APPROVAL
IMPROVING STUDENTS’ VOCABULARY MASTERY
USING EXPERIENTIAL LEARNING
(A Classroom Action Research on the Sixth Grade of SDN Banaran
01 in the Academic Year of 2009/2010)
IKE ANISA S890306018
This thesis has been approved to be examined by the Board of Thesis Examiners of the English Department, Graduate School of Sebelas Maret University, Surakarta on April 4th, 2011.
Consultant 1 Consultant II
Dr. Ngadiso, M.Pd Dr. Abdul Asib, M.Pd.
NIP. 19621231 198803 1 009 NIP. 19520307 198003 1 005
The Head of English Education of Graduate School Sebelas Maret University of Surakarta
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Pronouncement
This is to certify that I myself write this thesis entitled “Improving Students’ Vocabulary Mastery Using Experiential Learning (A Classroom Action Research on the Sixth Grade of SDN Banaran 01 in the Academic Year of 2009/2010)”.
It is not a plagiarism or made by others. Anything related to others’ work is written in quotation, the source that is listed on bibliography.
If then this pronouncement proves incorrect, I am ready to accept academic punishment, including the withdrawal or cancellation of my academic degree.
Surakarta, ………….2011
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Abstract
Ike Anisa. S890306018. IMPROVING STUDENTS’ VOCABULARY MASTERY USING EXPERIENTIAL LEARNING (A Classroom Action Research on the Sixth Grade of SDN Banaran 01 in the Academic Year of 2009/2010). Thesis, Surakarta. English Education Department, Graduate School, Sebelas Maret University. 2011. The Supervisors: (I) Dr. Ngadiso, M.Pd; (II) Dr. Abdul Asib, M.Pd.
This research was conducted because of the low vocabulary mastery of the sixth grade students of SDN Banaran 01 Grogol Sukoharjo in the academic year 2009/2010. The research is aimed at finding out (1) whether the experiential learning method can improve students’ vocabulary mastery; (2) what happens in class when the teacher applies the experiential learning method.
The researcher conducted a classroom action research. The action research was conducted in two cycles. Each cycle consisted of six steps: identifying the problem, planning the action, implementing the action, observing and monitoring the action, reflecting and evaluating the result of the observation, and revising the plan. There are two types of data in the research, namely the numerical and non numerical data which were collected by observation, interview, questionnaire, and test. The numerical data were analyzed using descriptive statistics, finding out the mean scores in the tests and the significant difference of the scores using t-test of non-independent variable. The non-numerical data were analyzed using Constant-comparative technique proposed by Glasser and Corbin consisting of the following steps: (1) comparing incidents applicable to each category; (2) integrating categories and their properties; (3) delimiting the theory; (4) writing the theory.
The result of the study showed that: (1) the use of experiential learning in the class improved students’ vocabulary mastery in terms of: (a) the improvement of understanding meaning; (b) the improvement of pronunciation; (c) the improvement of spelling and (d) the improvement of using the words. (2) experiential learning can improve classroom atmosphere: (a) making the classroom situation more alive; (b) improving students’ confidence, motivation, and involvement in English class.
Related to the research findings above, the researcher wanted to propose some recommendations for the English teacher to apply experiential learning to teach vocabulary. Experiential learning can be a highly effective educational method. Experiential learning can motivate the students, make them pay attention and take part in teaching learning process. Teaching vocabulary using experiential learning can attract students’ interest in learning English and help them to grasp and remember the vocabulary meaning.
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MOTTO
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Dedication
This thesis is dedicated to:
Her parents, for their love and pray.
Her beloved husband, Arseto Noorman, ST., for his great love and patience.
Her beloved daughter and son, Lintang Maharani and Abyan Surya; who always
give her spirit.
Her beloved sisters: Mbak Yay, Mbak Wulan, n Mbak Kris.
The Headmaster of SDN Banaran 01 Grogol, Sukoharjo, Hadi Warsito, S.Pd, who
gives the permission to the researcher to conduct the research in the school.
All of her friends in SDN Banaran 01 who always give the support to finish this
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Acknowledgment
The researcher would like to address her greatest thanks to Allah SWT
WHO has given everything that helps the writer to finish this thesis as one of the
requirements for achieving the graduate degree of the English education. Without
His blessing, help, guidance, and love, the researcher can do nothing. Then, this
thesis can never be completed without helps, guidance, and supports from many
people. So, the researcher would like to express her great gratitude to:
1. The Director of Graduate School Sebelas Maret University, who gives
permission to write the thesis.
2. The Head of the English Education Department, Dr. Ngadiso, M.Pd for giving
the researcher the permission to write the thesis.
3. Dr. Ngadiso, M.Pd. and Dr. Abdul Asib, M.Pd., her consultants, for giving her
advice and guidance in accomplishing this thesis.
4. Mr. Walimin as her collaborator for his help and advice.
The researcher realizes that this is not perfect. Therefore, she hopes and
accepts comment and suggestion. Finally, she truly hopes that this thesis will be
useful for the readers.
Surakarta, February 2011
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
TITLE PAGE ……….. i
APPROVAL ………... ii
LEGITIMATION FROM THE BOARD OF EXAMINERS ……… iii
PRONOUNCEMENT ……… iv
2. Definition of Vocabulary Mastery ………. 11
3. Types of Vocabulary ………. 13
4. Teaching Vocabulary ………. 15
B.Teaching English to the Young Learners ……… 19
1. Definition of the Young Learners ………. 19
2. Characters of the Young Learners ……… 20
3. Teaching English is Elementary School ……... 21
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C. Experiential Learning ……… 26
1. The Nature of Experiential Learning ………….. 26
2. The Principles in Experiential Learning ……... 29
3. Steps in Teaching of Experiential Learning …… 32
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2. Planning the Action ………... 75
3. Implementing the Action ………...…… 76
4. Observing the Action ………....……. 85
5. Reflecting of Cycle 2 ………....….… 89
E. Discussion ……….……... 92
CHAPTER V CONCLUSIONS, IMPICATIONS, AND SUGGESTIONS ………..……. 100
A. Conclusions ………..………. 100
B. Implications ………..………. 101
C. Suggestions ……….…….. 102 BIBLIOGRAPHY
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LIST OF APPENDICES
Appendix 1 Blue Print Angket Motivasi Belajar ……….. 106
Appendix 2 Angket Motivasi Belajar ……… 107
Appendix 3 Table of Questionnaire ………... 110
Appendix 4 Questionnaire of Students Perception about the Action……... 111
Appendix 5 Blue Print of Pre Test ………. 112
Appendix 6 Pre Test Material ……… 113
Appendix 7 The Result of Validity and Reliability……… 116
Appendix 8 Lesson Plan for Cycle 1 (First meeting) ………. 120
Appendix 9 Lesson Plan for Cycle 1 (Second meeting) ………. 123
Appendix 10 Lesson Plan for Cycle 1 (Third meeting) ……… 126
Appendix 11 Worksheet for Cycle 1 (First Meeting) ………. 129
Appendix 12 Worksheet for Cycle 1 (Second Meeting)………. 132
Appendix 13 Worksheet for Cycle 1 (Third Meeting) ……… 134
Appendix 14 Lesson Plan for Cycle 2 (First meeting) ……….…… 136
Appendix 15 Lesson Plan for Cycle 2 (Second meeting) …..………... 139
Appendix 16 Lesson Plan for Cycle 2 (Third meeting) …..……….. 142
Appendix 17 Worksheet for Cycle 2 (First Meeting) ……… 145
Appendix 18 Worksheet for Cycle 2 (Second Meeting) ………... 147
Appendix 19 Worksheet for Cycle 2 (Third Meeting) ……….. 148
Appendix 20 Blue Print of Post Test Cycle 1 ………..……. 149
Appendix 21 Post Test of Cycle 1………. 150
Appendix 22 Blue Print of Post Test of Cycle 2..………. 153
Appendix 23 Post Test of Cycle 2 ……… 154
Appendix 24 The Result of Pre-Test Scores……….……….. 156
Appendix 25 The Computation of the Score in Cycle 1.……….. 157
Appendix 26 The Computation of the Score in Cycle 2.……….. 158
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Appendix 28 The Computation of the Scores in Cycle 1 ……… 160
Appendix 29 The Computation of the Scores in Cycle 2………. 161
Appendix 30 Picture of Teaching and Learning Process ………. 162
Appendix 31 Interview Notes ……….. 165
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CHAPTER I
INTRODUCTION
A. Background of the Study
As everybody knows, all countries in the world use English as an
international language. It plays an important role in every aspect of human
life such as communication, education, science, and technology. English is
mostly used in the world. English is mostly used in scientific fields such as
science and technology. There are so many books that are written in
English, especially in educational fields, from elementary school to college.
Because of the reasons, teaching English should be given from the
beginning, it should be given when the students sit in the elementary school
or in kindergarten.
In Indonesia, English is the first foreign language which is taught
formally from the junior high school to the university level. However,
nowadays, English is taught in some elementary schools, and even in the
lower level such as kindergarten and play groups. It means children are
introduced to English earlier. It is hoped that they will learn English more
naturally as they learn their mother tongue, besides it will be the basis for
the students to learn English in the higher level. According to Halliwel
(1992: p. 3), children come to primary school with this ability already
A number of elementary schools in Indonesia have begun to
introduce English into their curriculum as a local content. It is clearly stated
in the curriculum of elementary education. “… pelajaran bahasa Inggris
tidak diwajibkan di Sekolah Dasar melainkan sebagai muatan lokal.”
(GBPP Muatan Lokal SD Bahasa Inggris (1995: p. 1).
At elementary school, English is introduced to the students through
learning its vocabulary because vocabulary is the most important element
that will become the basic competence in order to get other competences
like listening, speaking, reading, and writing. If the students have mastered a
number of vocabularies required in their level, it will be easier for them to
master those elements in English learning. Hardjono defines: “Dari semua
aspek dasar bahasa asing yang harus dikuasai siswa dalam proses belajar,
aspek kosakata yang paling penting tanpa penguasaannya tidak mungkin
orang biasa menggunakan bahasa asing.” (1998: p. 71). It means
vocabulary is essential thing that has to be learned by the students in order
to master English well.
Hatch and Brown (1995: p. 1) state that vocabulary is the foundation
to build language which plays a fundamental role in communication. It
means that vocabulary is the first priority in learning English.
As the basic component of the four language skills, vocabulary has
to be mastered by the learners. Vocabulary is the main point to learn
English. Without it a student will get difficulty to learn English. In
the vocabulary from the beginning the children will get a lot of knowledge
and will not get difficulties in mastering language skills. Thus, vocabulary
should be on the first priority in the English language teaching and learning.
Vocabulary mastery has always been an essential part of English as
foreign language. There is no doubt that vocabulary mastery plays an
important role in the four language skills. They are listening, speaking,
reading, and writing. All four aspects are interrelated. But before students
master all aspects, they must master vocabulary first. Vocabulary must not
be neglected by anyone who learns English.
From the importance of vocabulary above, teachers should give
serious attention in teaching vocabulary especially to the children, because it
is a crucial thing in learning English. To teach vocabulary in elementary
school is not easy. There is a difference between teaching children and
teaching adults. Teachers must have extra power to teach them and the
children have certain characteristics and need a certain treatment. It is also
the first chance of learning a foreign language. So the teacher should find
the best or the effective method to teach English vocabulary.
To teach English, especially in Elementary School, teachers will face
some problems during the teaching learning process. Even though, teachers
have their own priority to manage their classroom, as Richards states
“teachers have primary responsibility for how they teach; they may assume
very different roles within their own classroom (1994: p. 97).” So, teachers
teaching English in Elementary School. Here, problems always occur when
teaching English is applied in Elementary School students. This can be
proven from pre research in the sixth grade students of SDN Banaran 01
Grogol Sukoharjo. From the pre research, the researcher found that the
students’ vocabulary mastery is low. It is because the students get
difficulties in mastering vocabulary. They are: (1) the students get
difficulties in grasping and memorizing the meaning of the words; (2) they
found it hard to spell the words correctly; and (3) they get difficulties in
pronouncing the words correctly; and (4) they get difficulties in using
vocabulary in a sentence.
They are able to use the vocabulary if they know the meaning, how
to pronounce, how to spell, and how to use them in a sentence. Knowing the
meaning of some words does not merely know its translation in different
language. Knowing means understanding how the words are put in different
contexts and used differently. For example: good morning. The students not
only know that good morning is selamat pagi but they can greet someone in
the morning using good morning.
How to pronounce can be understood from pronouncing the words
correctly. Students can distinguish the slightly different words such as, tree
and three. English has more complex pronunciation than Bahasa Indonesia,
and it often becomes a problem.
How to spell means that the students are able to spell the words. It
sea and see. Usually, it is tightly connected with knowing of words. When
students understand the word, they will be able to indicate whether to spell
sea or see.
How to use words is an ability to use or to apply the words either in
spoken or written. For example: a student says, “jump to the left” when the
teacher says “jump”. In another occasion, the student says: “jump to the
chair ”. In this case, of course, the student has already understood how to
use the word jump in different contexts.
By conducting observation and interview, the researcher found some
psychological barriers from the students. They feel shy and afraid to ask the
teacher if they find a difficulty. These problems may give a great influence
to their learning process.
The other reason that causes of the students’ failure is the teacher’s
teaching method. He/she is not creative when teaching the foreign language
to children. Sometimes it makes the students get bored and they also feel
that the teaching method doesn’t give more chances to them to internalize
the words in their memory.
In teaching English in Elementary School the method which is used
should be communicative and suited to the students’ characteristics as the
children. It is aimed to create the teaching learning process which is
interesting and comforting to the students so that they can reach the learning
From the reason above, the researcher suggests experiential learning
method as the solution. Experiential learning method can be used in
teaching vocabulary to make the teaching learning process much interesting
and fun. It will increase students’ interest in learning process in the
classroom, because the circumstances become more interesting. It is suitable
with the characteristics of the young learners who like playing and talking
about ‘here and now’ so experiential learning can be helpful in teaching
vocabulary. Brown states that experiential learning is an especially useful
concept for teaching children, whose abstract intellectual processing
abilities are not yet mature (2001: p. 238).
There are some experiential learning that could be proved effective
to apply for the elementary students as “Role Play”, here the students are in
groups, and each group must take the topic/problem paper which is prepared
by the teacher, and then they do role play with their groups based on the
situation from the topic/problem paper they had chosen. Another
experiential learning that could be proved effective is “Roulete” (The
teacher flies a paper plane and when the paper plane lands on one student,
he/she must answer the question from the teacher). Then, if the student can
answer the question they will get score. He/she has a chance to fly the paper
to his/her friend, and he/she can give a question to his friend. But if the
student can’t answer the question, she/he must be punished.
From the explanation above, it is not doubtful that the researcher
a. Helping learners involve actively in the learning process.
b. Providing a challenge which encourages learners to stretch
themselves (in order to answer the question).
c. Helping learners to forget they are studying: they lose themselves in
the fun activity of the learning process.
d. Encouraging collaborative learning: By having active interaction
among members of a group, learners are demanded to involve in real
communication.
Based on the reasons above, the researcher wants to use experiential
learning method as the method to improve student’s vocabulary mastery.
The researcher is interested in carrying out a study on “Improving Students’
Vocabulary Mastery Using Experiential Learning (A Classroom Action
Research on the Sixth Grade of SDN Banaran 01 in the Academic Year of
2009/2010).
B. The Problem Statement
Based on the background of the study above, the researcher focuses
on a certain problem related to the efforts to overcome students’ difficulties
or problems in vocabulary mastery. In this case, the problem can be
formulated as follows:
1. Can the experiential learning improve students’ vocabulary mastery?
2. What happens in class when the teacher applies the experiential learning
C. The Objectives of the Study
This research is aimed to improve students’ vocabulary mastery. In
details, this research has the objectives as follows:
1. To know whether the experiential learning method can improve
students’ vocabulary mastery.
2. To know what happens in class when the teacher applies the
experiential learning method.
D. The Benefits of the Study
The study result is expected to be able to give some benefits for the
teachers, students, and the other researcher. For the students, with the
students’ high vocabulary it is expected that they will be able to grasp the
meaning of words easily and also improve their reading, speaking, and
writing skills. Furthermore, the students will be motivated to learn English.
For the teachers, it is hoped that the result of the study will be one of
the considerations taken by teachers of Elementary School in teaching
vocabulary. For the school, it is expected that this new method of teaching
vocabulary will enrich teaching techniques in this school.
For the other researcher, this research is expected to be able to give
practical contributions to the other researcher on how to improve the
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CHAPTER II
REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE
A. Vocabulary
1. General View of Vocabulary
In general, students interpret vocabulary only as a matter of words,
as Burn and Broman (1975: p. 27) state that vocabulary is the stock of
words used by person, class or profession to state their idea. They also state
that almost every individual uses several different vocabularies, they are
often designated as hearing, speaking, reading, and writing. Words are
symbols of ideas, one needs facility in the use of words. In this definition
they try to see the meaning of vocabulary from the general point of view
Sometimes students perceive that vocabulary is only the words and
their meanings. They actually need to know the nature of vocabulary and
whatever is related to vocabulary in order to make them recognize the
importance of vocabulary, because vocabulary is central to language and of
critical importance to typical language learner. It means that vocabulary is
an important thing for learners to master vocabulary. Without a sufficient
vocabulary, one cannot communicate effectively or express ideas in both
oral and written forms.
According to Hornby, vocabulary is the total numbers of words in a
language and vocabulary is a list of words with their meanings (1995: p.
in a language that is known by a person. Here, words are symbols that
represent, either physical object or idea. Dealing with the vocabulary Ur
states that vocabulary can be defined, roughly, as the words we teach in the
foreign language. However, new item of vocabulary may be more than a
single word (1996: p. 60).
Meanwhile vocabulary mastery has always been an essential part of
English as a foreign language. There is no doubt that vocabulary mastery is
the basic in learning English. Here, the word mastery can be defined as a
test assessing performance on an objective (Gagne, Briggs, and Wager,
1992: p. 262). Furthermore, Zimmerman (in Cody and Huckin, 1997: p. 5)
states that “vocabulary is central to language and critical importance to the
tipycal language learning”. Vocabulary should not be neglected by those
who learn a language. It even needs to be mastered if someone wants to
master the four language skills. Inadequate vocabulary obstructs students’
development in learning English.
Furthermore, Thornbury (2002: p.130) states some characteristics of
what is called as ‘knowing a word’, he says: knowing a words means
knowing:
· The word’s form – both spoken and written
· The word’s meaning ( or meanings )
· Any connotations the word might have
· Whether the word is specific to a certain register or style
· The word’s common collocations
· The word’s derivations
· The word’s relative frequency’
Those aspects can be realized receptively (in listening and reading)
or productively (in speaking and writing). A good vocabulary test needs to
consider the multidimensional characters of them.
It can be concluded that vocabulary is a total numbers or a list of
words as symbols of ideas of a foreign language text or grammar which are
needed to express the idea.
2. Definition of Vocabulary Mastery
Vocabulary is an essential element of English as a foreign language.
Having mastered a large number of vocabularies we will likely be able to
express our ideas in the language conveniently. It is true that vocabulary
plays an important role in learning and understanding the language. Hence,
vocabulary is important that the teaching of it should be carried out as well
as possible in English language teaching at elementary schools.
Vocabulary mastery plays an important role in learning a language.
There are some definitions of mastery that are proposed by experts. Swannel
(1994: p. 656) defines mastery as comprehensive knowledge. This
definitions is supported by Hornby who states that mastery is complete
1050), mastery is skill to use the knowledge. It means that mastery is ability
to use one’s knowledge.
Mastery means natural or acquired facility in a specific activity:
ability, adeptness, art, command, craft, expertise, expertness, knack,
proficiency, skill, technique (http://www.answers.com/topic/mastery). It can
be said that mastery is possession of skill, ability, and technique in
conducting a certain activity.
From these definitions, it can be concluded that mastery means the
skill to understand, use, and apply something learned. Meanwhile, the
definition of vocabulary is a total number of words in a certain language
used to express meaning. Thus, vocabulary mastery can be defined as the
ability to understand and use the knowledge dealing with a list of words in
certain language to express meaning.
Vocabulary mastery can be shown through four major skills, which
are defined as writing, speaking, reading, and listening. Ideally, someone
who has high vocabulary mastery can recognize meaning of words both in
written and spoken forms. She can also pronounce it well, relate to
appropriate object or concept, and know how to combine it with other
words.
Here, vocabulary mastery deals with words and meaning. The
teacher should select and classify the words according to the level of the
has to present the meaning of words in a way that is comprehensive to the
students.
From the explanation above vocabulary mastery means an ability to
use words in conducting communication, and students understand the set of
words. It can also be said that the set of words likely to be used by those
students when constructing new sentences.
It can be concluded that the success in learning English required
vocabulary mastery. Indeed, having mastered a large vocabulary cannot
guarantee learners’ competence in learning English but it is true that
inadequate vocabulary minimizes the chances to succeed in learning
English.
3. Types of Vocabulary
Thorndike and Lorge (in Nation, 1990: p. 19) classify types of
Academic
the words that their learners need. This is an important decision because it
will affect the amount of learning expected and it will affect the type of
4. Teaching Vocabulary
Teaching in early stage or in the primary school is very essential.
Teacher should give certain attention in teaching vocabulary and decide the
area of words that become the basic need for the pupil. Burns and Browman
say that the teacher must give attention to develop the vocabularies of each
child through carefully planned instruction and to do so, he or she must be
aware of what words are and how they are formed (1975: p. 295). In further
explanation Burns and Broman (1975: p. 296) also explains:
Since vocabulary development is so closely related to abstract thinking, the teacher is concerned with number, the breath, and the dept of concept with which pupils have some acquaintance. For concept development, the individual should have actual experience with the concrete object, person, idea, and event-mainly through sense impressions.
It is undeniable that most learners’ vocabulary grows through
incidental learning such as through continuous exposure to comprehensible
language in reading, speaking, and writing exercises (Krashen in Fauziati,
2005: p. 155). Anyhow, this does not mean that explicit vocabulary
instruction is less important to foreign language learners. Even though they
are keen readers with different materials, they take a lot of benefits from
direct vocabulary instruction. They can effectively expand their vocabulary
knowledge.
It has been so far that vocabulary is very important for second
language learners, only with a sufficient vocabulary learners can effectively
good ideas how to expand their vocabulary so that they can improve their
interest in learning.
Knowing some principles on the way one’s vocabulary develops in
relations to memory will make us aware of the particular teaching methods
suitable for vocabulary teaching and learning. By using appropriate method
to learn new vocabulary, students will find it useful and interesting.
According to Ur (1998: p. 60 - 62) there are some aspects of
vocabulary that both teacher and learners must give their attention to, they
are as follows:
a. Form
Here, the mastery of vocabulary involves the mastery of pronunciation
and spelling. The learner has to know how the word is sounded and how
the word is spelled. In teaching, the teacher needs to make sure that both
these aspects are accurately presented and learned.
b. Grammar
The grammar of a new word needs to be taught if this is not obviously
covered by general grammatical rules. A word may have an
unpredictable change of form in certain grammatical contexts. It is
important to provide learners with the information at the same time the
c. Collocation
The collocation typical of particular items is another factor that makes a
particular combination sound ‘right’ or ‘wrong’ in a given context. So
this is another piece of information about a new item which may be
worth teaching. Collocation is also often noted in dictionaries, either by
providing the whole collocation under one of the head-words, or by a
note in parenthesis.
d. Aspect of meaning
1) Denotation, connotation, appropriateness
Denotation is the meaning of a word that primarily refers to the real
world. It is often the sort of definition in dictionary. Meanwhile, a
less obvious component of the meaning of an item is its connotation,
the associations, or positive or negative feelings it evokes, which
may or may not be indicated in a dictionary definition.
Besides denotation and connotation, an aspect of meaning that also
needs to be taught is whether a particular item is appropriate one to
use in a certain context or not. It is useful for a learner to know that a
certain word is very common, or relatively rare, or ‘taboo’ in polite
conversation, or tends to be used in writing but not in speech, or is
more suitable for formal than informal situation, or belongs to a
a) Meaning relationship
How the meaning of one item relates to the meaning of others can
also be useful in teaching. There are various such relationship, they
are: synonyms (item that mean the same or nearly the same);
antonyms (items that mean the opposite); hyponyms (item that serve
as specific examples of a general concept); hyponyms or
co-ordinates (other items that are the same kind of thing);
super-ordinates (general concepts that cover specific items); and translation
(words or expression in the learners’ mother tongue that are
equivalent in meaning to the item being taught).
e. Word formation
Vocabulary items, whether one-word or multi-word, can often be
broken down into their components exactly how these words are put
together is another piece of useful information. Teachers may teach the
common prefixes and suffixes. However, they should be warned that in
many common words, the affixes no longer have any obvious
connection with their root meaning. Another way vocabulary items are
built is by combining two words to make one item.
From that discussion above, it can be concluded that vocabulary
mastery is a complete skill to understand and apply the stocks of words. It
read, write and speak. There are some indicators of vocabulary mastery:
pronunciation, spelling, meaning, and using vocabulary especially to make
simple sentences, which are used by the researcher to conduct teaching
vocabulary and used in testing the students’ vocabulary mastery.
B. Teaching English to the Young Learners
1. Definition of the Young Learners
The young of all species play and learn with their experience in real.
It is their way of learning to live in society. When children are doing
experience and play, they learn a multiplicity of concepts, skills,
understanding, and attitudes simultaneously, and they draw relationship
among concepts. For example, when children build with blocks, they are
concerned with the shapes, sizes, and relationship, or when they are doing
experience in their life by knowing what happens in surrounding they are
concerned with their feelings. Doing experience by themselves, they face
problem with construction, share materials with others, and communicate
their ideas and feelings.
In order to maximize learning children need to be able to do
experience and play. When a child learns through experience, the learning
becomes internalized and remains a part of his or her being. Also when the
children are seriously interested on their experience, they observe carefully
2. Characteristics of the Young Learners
Several characteristics attached to children are that children like
playing, talking about “here and now, and understand and retain the
meaning better when they have seen some objects associated with them.
a. Children like playing
One characteristic of children is that they love playing, they do like
playing. Children like playing and learn things while playing. The
implication to language teaching is that experiential learning by doing
games or role play are effective ways for teaching language.
b. The children talk about “here and now”
Adults both observe and impose the cooperative principle when they
talk to young children. They make what they say relevant, talk about the
“here and now” of the child’s world. They encourage the children to take
their turns and make their contributions to the conversation. They make sure
that children make their contributions truthful by correcting them (Clark and
Clark in Fauziati, 2002: p. 171).
The phenomena imply that the children’s world involves around the
here and now. Therefore, they should not be asked to discuss abstract things
or life and situation in the past or in the future. In other words, children’s
interest is narrower, restricted primarily to themselves, their immediate
Teaching and learning process, therefore, should give enough
opportunities for them to use English in every day contexts. Children learn
by doing, they learn language by using it, listening to it, speaking it, and
writing it.
c. Association and memory
Children understand and retain the meaning better when they have
seen some objects associated with it. For this reason, the teacher should
expose the students to real life situations. With their experience in real life
they can learn English effectively.
3. Teaching English in Elementary School
Like other profession, teaching requires a long and difficult period of
academic preparation, legal recognition, and social responsibility. Teaching
children is different from teaching adult because they have special
characteristics. The teachers are demanded to be active and creative in
teaching young learners. They should explore their abilities and
competences. One of the ways is by using everything in environment to help
success of teaching and learning process in order to be more effective.
There are some elements that should be learned in learning a foreign
language especially English, one of them is vocabulary. It is very important
because people can’t express their thought and understand other’s thought if
Gattegno (in Richards and Rodgers, 2003: pp. 37 and 82). He pinpoints that
in language learning, vocabulary is seen as a central dimension and the
choice of it is very crucial. This is supported by Palmer (in Thornbury,
2002: p. 30) who says that vocabulary is one of the most important aspects
of foreign language learning and the essential component of reading
proficiency.
Teaching English vocabulary in primary school is very crucial. It is
stated by Burn and Broman (1975: p. 295) that the teacher must give
attention to develop the vocabulary of each child through carefully planned
instruction and to do so, she must be aware of what words are and how they
are formed.
Here, the success of language teaching not only depends on the
teachers’ and the students’ competence but also on the method of teaching
vocabulary. There are many methods of teaching vocabulary. Not all the
methods are helpful for the students. In this case the teacher has to choose
the appropriate method.
Burns and Broman (1980: p. 297 – 305) propose numerous methods
to develop children’s vocabulary such as the following:
a. Firsthand experience
A varied background of firsthand experience, field trips, and
excursions is profitable at all grade levels. Concrete experience permits
the word to be associated with real situation: consequently, school should
educative experiences that children meet both inside and outside the
classroom are primary factors that determine speaking, writing, reading,
and hearing vocabularies.
b. Books
Books are other significant sources of vocabulary growth,
particularly books that provoke questions and discussion. Pupils need a
variety of interesting, easy to read books so that new words and ideas can
be learned from the context.
c. Context clues
Children who read extensively can learn many words just through
use of context. Wide reading provides the opportunities for context to
illuminate words meaning when it is essential to the on-flow of thought.
Through a variety of reading material, the reader can begin to recognize
subtleties and varied meanings of words.
d. Visual and other instructional aids and materials
Visual aids should be utilized frequently, not only to illustrate the
words that have been used but to suggest other words. Individuals are
helped in their word selection by special illustrative sentences, pictures
and illustrations, or explanation that dramatizes the meaning of particular
word.
e. Context areas
In every subject field, teachers should develop vocabulary carefully.
reading material. The selection of textbook that avoid complicated
verbiage and explain new terms clearly when they are introduced is one
important way of reducing the vocabulary problem to teachable
proportions.
f. Oral and written expressions
Teachers should encourage variety in oral and written expression. A
conscious effort needs to be made by the teacher to encourage use of
words that express thought exactly, rather than words that perform
omnibus service.
g. Teacher-model
The teacher can use new words, sometimes in reading aloud,
sometimes in providing explanations. Particularly in the primary years,
when most pupils are occupied with developing recognition of words
already in their understanding, reading and speaking vocabulary, the
teacher need to read and tells many stories to the group. In reading to
children it is inadvisable to simplify the vocabulary. After reading a new
story, new words may be discussed and in later retelling or dramatization,
the use of the new words should be encouraged. Pupils are great imitators
and if the teacher employs good vocabulary, they tend to approach his
levels of expression.
All of those presentation methods, either singly or in combination
are useful ways of introducing new words. To make the words
for the children. In this research, the researcher chooses experiential
learning as a method to improve the students’ vocabulary mastery.
In applying experiential learning, the researcher used firsthand
experience method to teach vocabulary. Because it can be a highly effective
educational method. There are many benefits for language and learning.
These include: new knowledge, increased language proficiency, new
vocabulary (specialist and general), literacy learning - for the young this will
include simple concepts of print, new words, and a growing grasp of
sentence structure, etc. whereas for the older child this can extend
knowledge of new written genres, writing for new audiences, growing
reading and research skills, a stimulus to creativity, and increased interest in
learning.
4. Procedure of Teaching Vocabulary
In teaching vocabulary teacher can devise additional frame of word
lesson for students who need added experience. The procedure of teaching
vocabulary can be divided into three stages, they are as follows :
a. Presentation
In this stage, teacher can use various methods and technique, which
are recommended in the previous discussion. However, teachers
have to be careful in selecting the methods that they use in teaching
student’s need of vocabulary, the area of vocabulary, which is
appropriate with the students level and how the vocabulary can be
stored in the student’s brain.
b. Practice
In the second stage, the teacher gives exercises to his students in
order to practice the subject items. Completion, matching, etc. are
several types of exercises that can be used by the teacher in this
stage.
c. Production
In this stage the students are expected to apply the newly learned
vocabulary through the speaking activities or writing activities.
C. Experiential Learning
1. The Nature of Experiential Learning
Experiential learning is learning through reflection on doing. Here,
experiential learning focuses on the learning process for the individual.
Keeton and Tate (in Brown, 2000: p. 239) state:
According to Brown (2000: p. 238) experiential learning includes
activities that engage both left – and right – brain processing, that
contextualize language, that integrate skills, and that point toward authentic,
real world purposes. It means that experiential learning is constructivist
learning, where students are active learners, constructing their own
knowledge, rather than observing the demonstrative behavior of a teacher.
Because experiential learning is active learning, students more readily
understand what they are learning and thus retain the knowledge to a greater
degree than when merely having information presented to them by another.
The hands-on nature of experiential learning is highly motivating for
students. Such learning may involve one or more of the following
instructional strategies:
• experiments,
• field observations,
• field trips,
• focused imaging,
• games,
• model building,
• role plays,
• simulations, and
From the model of experiential learning above one of the examples
is field trips, here we can borrow students going to the zoo and learning
through observation and interaction with the zoo environment, as opposed to
reading about animals from a book. Thus, one makes discoveries and
experiments with knowledge firsthand, instead of hearing or reading about
others' experiences.
Another example of experiential learning is playing game and
learning through it. Children usually like playing and game is effective way
to discover and experiment everything in their surrounding and it also an
effective way to teaching English especially vocabulary for the children.
In this research IA used games and role plays to improve the
students’ vocabulary mastery, because by learning through games, the
students are more actively involved in the experience, can interact with
others, more creative, conducive, can improve the learners’ spirit and
learning through fun helps the learner to retain the lessons for a longer
period.
Role plays is also used in teaching vocabulary because most
educators understand the important role experience plays in the learning
process. A fun learning environment, with plenty of laughter and respect for
the learner's abilities, also fosters an effective experiential learning
themselves in the experience, in order that they gain a better understanding
of the new knowledge and retain the information for a longer time.
2. The Principles in Experiential Learning
Brown (2000: p. 238) highlights for us that experiential learning is
giving the students concrete experiences through which they “discover”
language principles by trial and error, by processing feedback, by building
hypotheses about language and by revising these assumptions in order to
become fluent.
Using Experiential learning in teaching vocabulary can be fitted to the
real situation in the classroom. To be said knowing vocabulary, students
have to know the meaning, the spelling, the pronunciation, and the use of
the words. In order to equip the students in those four aspects.
In experiential learning, immediate personal experience is seen as
the focal point for learning, giving ‘life, texture, and subjective personal
meaning to abstract concepts and at the same time providing a concrete,
publicly shared reference point for testing the implications and validity of
ideas created during the learning process ( Kolb in Nunan 1993: p. 14).
Here, in grasping experience some of us perceive new information
through experiencing the concrete, tangible, felt qualities of the world,
relying in our senses and immersing ourselves in concrete reality. Others
tend to perceive, grasp or take hold of new information through symbolic
systematically planning, rather than using sensation as a guide. Similarly, in
transforming or processing experience some of us tend to carefully watch
others who are involved in the experience and reflect on what happens,
while others choose to jump right in and start doing things. The watchers
favor reflective observation, while the doers favor active experimentation.
Here, Kolb (in Nunan, 1993: p. 16) figures the general theoretical
model of experience into four stages of orientation to learning: concrete
experience, abstract conceptualization, reflective observation, and active
experimentation.
1) Concrete experience
with an involvement in personal experiences and an emphasis on
feeling of over thinking. This is an ‘artistic’ orientation relying on
intuitive decision-making.
2) Abstract conceptualization
using logic and a systematic approach to problem-solving, with an
emphasis on thinking, manipulation of abstract symbols and a tendency
to neat and precise conceptual system.
3) Reflective observation
focusing on understanding the meanings of ideas and situations by
careful observation, being concerned with how things happen by
attempting to see them from different perspective and relying on one’s
4) Active experimentation
with an emphasis on practical applications and getting things done,
influencing people and changing situations, and taking risk in order to
accomplish things.
According to the model above, experiential learning is seen as four
basic stages. Thus, simple everyday experience is not sufficient for learning.
It must be observed and analyzed consciously. It can be argued, that
theoretical concepts will not become part of the individual’s frame of
reference until they have been experienced meaningfully on a subjective
emotional level. Reflection plays an important role in this process by
providing a bridge between experience and theoretical conceptualization.
The process of learning is seen as the recycling of experience at deeper
levels of understanding and interpretation. This view entails the idea of
lifelong learning.
In conclusion, experiential learning will give a significant
contribution to the success of teaching learning process. They have a great
power in motivating and stimulating the students. The teacher, therefore, is
encouraged to use experiential learning in teaching the students, especially
3. Steps in Teaching Vocabulary using Experiential Learning in the Classroom
In the classroom the teacher and students take on roles similar to that
of the parent and child respectively. Teacher introduces the learners to the
topic and covering basic material that the learner must know beforehand.
The activity may be a simple game, simulation or may involve more
complex grammar and more detailed scenarios. Experiential learning can be
used to practice and teach various things. It is well suited to teaching
classroom language and other vocabulary connected with actions. It can be
used to teach imperatives and various tenses and aspects. It is also useful
for role plays. http://projects.coe.uga.edu/epltt/index. php?title=
Experiential Learning#Weaknesses.2FCriticisms
Experiential learning is largely about movement. By introducing the
learners’ knowledge to the topic, they learn verbs and many kinds of nouns,
learning increases and stress decreases. However, it is recognized that
experiential learning is most useful for beginners, though it can be used at
higher levels where preparation becomes an issue for the teacher. It does not
give students the opportunity to express their own thoughts in a creative
way. The following are some steps to integrate experiential learning in the
classroom:
a. Aspect of meaning
1) Teacher explains in native language about the rule of experiential
need not to speak at first. They have to act out the commands from
the teacher.
2) Teacher asks some students to come to the front of the room and sit
with her/him in chairs that are lined up facing the other students.
Other students listen and watch.
3) Teacher gives some nouns and various commands beginning with
verbs while doing them together with some students.
4) Teacher allows the students to mention the words and to do the
instructions.
5) Then, teacher asks one of the students to mention and perform the
instructions alone.
6) Teacher approaches the other students who have been sitting
observing her/him and the volunteers and gives the same commands.
7) The students follow the teacher’s action.
8) After the students master the instructions and some nouns, the
teacher gives the new ones as the steps above.
9) Teacher turns to the rest of the class and gives the commands
randomly to the students.
10) The last step, teacher writes the new commands on the blackboard.
Each time she/he writes a command, she acts it out.
11) The students copy the sentences from the blackboard into the
b. Aspect of spelling
1) The teacher asks the students to write the words and the
instructions on the board.
2) The teacher asks students to spell the words along with her.
3) The teacher asks the students randomly to spell the words alone.
c. Aspect of pronunciation
1) The teacher asks a student to play the game and practice the
dialogue.
2) Then, the students play the games and practice the dialogue.
3) From the first student, teacher can check the pronunciation, and
from the second student, teacher can check whether the meaning
is correct.
d. Aspect of using word
1) The teacher asks the students to make new imperative sentences
spoken or written using the same words on the board.
2) The teacher asks the students to practice using their sentences.
4. Strengths
1. Helping learners involve actively in the learning process.
2. Providing a challenge which encourages learners to stretch
themselves (in order to answer the question).
3. Helping learners to forget they are studying: they lose themselves in
the fun activity of the learning process.
4. Encouraging collaborative learning: By having active interaction
among members of a group, learners are demanded to involve in real
communication.
5. Weaknesses
Despite having the strengths, experiential learning also has
weaknesses when it is applied in teaching vocabulary. There are some
weaknesses as stated by Kolb in Nunan (1993: p. 34-37).
1) The concrete experience part of the learning cycle is not appropriately explained in the theory and remains largely unexplored.
2) The idea of immediate and concrete experience is problematic and unrealistic..
3) The ELT concepts are too ill-defined and open to various interpretations.
4) ELT model is only an attempt to explain the societal benefit.
6) The ELT learning model focused on the learning process for a single learner and failed to mention how the individual fit into a social group during this process and what role this group may play. Also, there was no discussion on how a social group may gain knowledge through a common experience.
D. Rationale
The greatest difficulty faced by the students in learning English is
vocabulary mastery. In fact, vocabulary is an essential part to master the
four language skills, namely listening, speaking, reading, and writing.
Therefore, to master a language easily, the students should have a stock of
vocabulary. In elementary school vocabulary has become the first priority
that has to be taught to the young learners.
Problems always occur when teaching English is applied in
Elementary School students. This can be proven from a pre research which
was concluded in the sixth grade students of SDN Banaran 01 Grogol
Sukoharjo. From the pre research, the researcher found that the students’
vocabulary mastery is low and the students get difficulties in mastering
vocabulary as follows: (1) the students got difficulties in grasping and
memorizing the meaning of the words; (2) they found it hard to write down
the words correctly; and (3) they got difficulties in pronouncing the words
correctly; 4) they found difficulties in using vocabulary in sentences. So the
teacher should have extra power to teach the students in Elementary School
The researcher found some psychological barriers from the students.
They feel shy and afraid to ask the teacher if they find a difficulty. They are
afraid of being humiliated by their friends and their teacher if they cannot
answer well. They also do not have self-confidence in answering the
questions. These problems may give a great influence to their learning
process.
The other reason that causes the students’ failure is the teacher’s
teaching method. He/she is not creative when teaching the foreign language
to children. Sometimes it makes the students get bored and they also feel
that the teaching method doesn’t give more chances to them to internalize
the words in their memory.
The classroom situation in learning vocabulary showed that the
atmosphere was not alive, with the teacher domination of teaching
vocabulary. The students show low participation in using vocabulary.
Children are unique and not small version of adults. They have their
own characteristics. The characteristics cover their ways of thinking, their
attitude, their aptitude, etc. To give the best quality of teaching English to
children, the teacher should know and understand them. In general, there are
some characteristics of children in learning language, as follows: (a)
children like playing; (b) children talk about “here and now”; and (c)
children respond language well through concrete things rather than abstract
things. Based on their characteristics, teaching them is different from
activate their three domains (cognitive, affective, and psychomotor) through
activities which are suitable to their characteristics.
In teaching vocabulary, the teacher should make the students
understand and memorize new words and their meaning not only in a short
period of time or at the moment when the vocabulary is given, but also in a
long period of time. To make the students memorize the meaning, spell,
pronounce, and use the words, the teacher should use a suitable method to
teaching children. In this research, the researcher chooses the experiential
learning as a method to improve the students’ vocabulary mastery.
Experiential learning is suitable with the children’s characteristics.
They like fun activities and talking about “here and now” in their learning
process. Experiential learning is a great way to present, practice, and revise
vocabulary, because experiential learning is an active learning which is
highly motivating for the students. Then, it will be advantageous if the
teacher uses the experiential learning method to improve the students’
vocabulary mastery. In applying this method, the researcher used simple
games and role play to improve students’ vocabulary.
The success of applying this method can be seen through indicators,
they are: (1) students know the meaning of words. One of activities is
playing the game. By doing so, it is easy for the students to memorize the
meaning of the words. In finding the meaning of words, students need not
open a dictionary because it has already been clear through the instructions
correctly. The teacher gives the commands several times in a correct
pronunciation in order to give examples to the students. The teacher asks the
students to pronounce the words and corrects the students’ pronunciation;
(3) Students are able to spell or write words. The teacher gives some words
and asks the students to spell and write the words after the teacher has given
students the correct spelling of words and writes them on the white board;
and (4) students are able to use words in a sentence. Teacher asks the
students to make new commands or sentences based on the words given.
So, the researcher assumes that by using the experiential learning
method in teaching learning process, vocabulary mastery of the elementary
students can be improved.
E. Action Hypothesis
From the previous explanation, the researcher makes a hypothesis
stating that using the experiential learning method is able to improve the
commit to user
CHAPTER III
RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
This chapter presents a discussion of the methods used in this study.
The discussion includes research setting, subject of the study, research
design, procedures of action research, data and data resources, techniques of
collecting the data, and technique of analyzing the data.
A. Time and Place of Research
This research will be conducted in SDN Banaran 01 which is located
in Ds. Banaran, Grogol, Sukoharjo. It is one of the state elementary school
in Grogol subdistrict, Sukoharjo regency. The writer conducts the research
from October – December 2009.
B. Subject of the Study
The subjects of the research are the sixth grade students of SDN
Banaran 01. There are 14 students in this class consisting of 7 girls and 7
boys. Most of them are from low economic status with uneducated parents
while the others come from immediate economic status whose parents are
government officers or businessman. Unfortunately not all the parents have
great concerns to their children’s education. It is seen when there are some
the English book or notebook in the English class. It indicates that their
parents do not care with their children when they study at home.
In doing this research, the researcher actively participate in the
teaching learning process. She acts both as a teacher and the observer. She
will also do collaboration with other observers. They are: the sixth grade
teacher and the other English teacher.
C. Research Design
1. The Nature of Action Research
In this research, the researcher uses a Classroom Action Research
(CAR). CAR in a simple way can be understood as an action research which
is conducted in a classroom. It can be defined as a study of attempts to
overcome classroom problems or to improve things related to educational
problems for betterment done by practitioners or teachers, or in
collaboration between teachers and researchers by means of their own
practical actions and their own reflection upon the effects of those actions
(Ebbut, 1985 (in Hopkins, 1993: p. 45) ; Kemmis (in Hopkins, 1993: p. 44).
Mills (2000: p. 6) says that action research is any systematic inquiry
conducted by teacher researchers, principals, school counselors, or other
stakeholders in teaching or learning environment, to gather information
about the ways that their particular school operate, how they teach, and how
Another expert describes action research as a form of self-reflective
inquiry carried out by practitioners, aimed at solving problems, improving
practice, or enhancing understanding (Carr and Kemmis in Nunan (1989: p.
12). It means that action research has to do with improvement.
Meanwhile, Ebbut (1985) as quoted by Hopkins (1993: p. 45) states
that action research is the systematic study of attempt to improve
educational practice by group or participants and by means of own
reflection upon the effects of those action.
There are three characteristics of action research: firstly, the action
research is carried out by practitioners rather than outside researchers.
Secondly, the kind of the action research is collaborative, and thirdly, the
action research is aimed at changing condition (Nunan, 1992: p. 17 (quoted
from Kemmis and McTaggart, 1998).
It can be concluded that action research is a systematic action done
by teachers, researchers,, principals, school counselors, or other
stakeholders in order to get improvement. It focuses on the solution of
day-to-day problems by knowing the ways the participant of a particular school
operates (how both the teacher teaches and the students learn).
This classroom action research is done in collaboration. It is done by
the researcher and an English teacher of SD Negeri Banaran 01 Grogol as
the collaborator. This research is intended to improve the vocabulary
mastery of the sixth grade students in SD Negeri Banaran 01 Grogol by
