xv ABSTRACT
Wahyuningsih, Anastasia Ary Budi. (2008). The Correlation between the Twelfth Grade Students’ Vocabulary Mastery of Academic Words and the Students’ Productive Skills: A Research Conducted in SMA Negeri 1 Wonosari.Yogyakarta: Sanata Dharma University.
Considering to the fact that vocabulary and the skills are important for the beginners who learn English as a foreign language, this research is aimed to know the twelfth grade students’ mastery of vocabulary, especially academic words in senior high school and its relation with the students’ productive skills. This research is conducted to answer two problems. The problems are: (1) To what extent do the twelfth grade students in SMA Negeri 1 Wonosari master academic words? (2) What is the correlation between academic words mastery and the students’ productive skills?
The researcher gathered many books that can support the process of problem solving in this research. The researcher looked for the supporting ideas from the books, such as the definition of vocabulary, academic words, productive skills, and the students’ mastery of vocabulary. The students’ mastery in this research means the mastery on understanding the word meanings, especially the Indonesian equivalences. Considering that vocabulary is a significant element in developing English skills, the correlation between academic word mastery and productive skills is discussed in this research.
The research subjects were the twelfth grade students in SMA Negeri 1 Wonosari. To gather data from the sample of the research, the writer used an instrument in the form of matching test to assess the students’ mastery of academic words so that they could match the English words with the correct Indonesian equivalences. The students’ productive skills were tested by using test materials from the teachers. Statistical data analysis and Spearman’s correlation were used to analyze the data. To have valid data, the vocabulary items were taken from their learning materials during the study in senior high school, i.e. from students’ books grade ten to twelve.
xvi ABSTRAK
Wahyuningsih, Anastasia Ary Budi. (2008). The Correlation between the Twelfth Grade Students’ Vocabulary Mastery of Academic Words and the Students’ Productive Skills: A Research Conducted in SMA Negeri 1 Wonosari.Yogyakarta: Universitas Sanata Dharma.
Dengan adanya fakta bahwa kosakata dan ketrampilan dalam bernahasa itu penting untuk para pemula yang mempelajari bahasa Inggris sebagai bahasa asing, penelitian ini ditujukan untuk mengetahui penguasaan kosakata para siswa kelas dua belas di tingkat sekolah menengah atas dan hubungannya dengan ketrampilan produktif. Penelitian ini dilaksanakan untuk memecahkan dua masalah, yaitu: (1) Sejauh mana siswa kelas dua belas SMA Negeri 1 Wonosari menguasai kosakata akademis? (2) Apakah hubungan penguasaan kosakata akademis dan ketrampilan produktif?
Peneliti mengumpulkan banyak buku yang dapat mendukung proses pemecahan masalah dalam penelitian ini. Penelti mencari gagasan-gagasan yang mendukung dari buku- buku tersebut, misalnya: pengertian kosakata, kata akademis, ketrampilan produktif, dan penguasaan kosakata para siswa.Penguasaan dalam penelitian ini adalah penguasaan dalam mengetahui arti kata dalam bahasa Indonesia. Dengan mempertimbangkan fakta bahwa kosakata merupakan salah satu bagian penting dalam mengembangkan ketrampilan berbahasa Inggris, korelasi antara penguasaan kosakata akademis dan ketrampilan produktif dibahas dalam penelitian ini.
Subjek penelitian ini adalah siswa kelas dua belas SMA Negeri 1 Wonosari. Untuk mengumpulkan data dari sampel penelitian, peneliti menggunakan instrumen dalam bentuk test menjodohkan supaya mereka dapat menjodohkan kata dalam bahasa Inggris dengan arti yang benar dalam bahasa Indonesia dengan tujuan untuk menaksir penguasaan kosakata akademis siswa. Ketrampilan produktif para siswa diujikan dengan menggunakan materi ujian dari para guru. Analisis data statistik dan korelasi Spearman digunakan untuk menganalisa data. Untuk mendapatkan data yang valid, materi yang diujikan diambil dari buku-buku yang mereka gunakan selama proses belajar mengajar dari kelas sepuluh sampai dengan kelas dua belas.
xvii
THE CORRELATION BETWEEN THE TWELFTH GRADE STUDENTS’ VOCABULARY MASTERY OF ACADEMIC WORDS
AND THE STUDENTS’ PRODUCTIVE SKILLS:
A RESEARCH CONDUCTED INSMA NEGERI 1 WONOSARI
A THESIS
Presented as Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements to Obtain theSarjana PendidikanDegree
in English Language Education
By
Anastasia Ary Budiwahyuningsih Student Number: 041214071
ENGLISH LANGUAGE EDUCATION STUDY PROGRAM LANGUAGE AND ART EDUCATION DEPARTMENT TEACHER TRAINING AND EDUCATION FACULTY
SANATA DHARMA UNIVERSITY YOGYAKARTA
i
THE CORRELATION BETWEEN THE TWELFTH GRADE STUDENTS’ VOCABULARY MASTERY OF ACADEMIC WORDS
AND THE STUDENTS’ PRODUCTIVE SKILLS:
A RESEARCH CONDUCTED INSMA NEGERI 1 WONOSARI
A THESIS
Presented as Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements to Obtain theSarjana PendidikanDegree
in English Language Education
By
Anastasia Ary Budiwahyuningsih Student Number: 041214071
ENGLISH LANGUAGE EDUCATION STUDY PROGRAM LANGUAGE AND ART EDUCATION DEPARTMENT TEACHER TRAINING AND EDUCATION FACULTY
SANATA DHARMA UNIVERSITY YOGYAKARTA
ii A Thesis on
THE CORRELATION BETWEEN THE TWELFTH GRADE STUDENTS’ VOCABULARY MASTERY OF ACADEMIC WORDS
AND THE STUDENTS’ PRODUCTIVE SKILLS:
A RESEARCH CONDUCTED INSMA NEGERI 1 WONOSARI
By
Anastasia Ary Budiwahyuningsih Student Number: 041214071
Approved by
iii
THE CORRELATION BETWEEN THE TWELFTH GRADE STUDENTS’ VOCABULARY MASTERY OF ACADEMIC WORDS
AND THE STUDENTS’ PRODUCTIVE SKILLS:
A RESEARCH CONDUCTED INSMA NEGERI 1 WONOSARI
By
Anastasia Ary Budiwahyuningsih Student Number: 041214071
Defended before the Board of Examiners on 19 December 2008
and Declared Acceptable
Board of Examiners
Signature Chairperson : Agustinus Hardi Prasetya, S.Pd., M.A. …...………... Secretary : Made Frida Yulia, S.Pd., M.Pd. …...………... Member : Carla Sih Prabandari, S.Pd., M.Hum. …...………... Member : Made Frida Yulia, S.Pd., M.Pd. …...………... Member : F.X. Ouda Teda Ena, S.Pd., M.Pd. …...………...
Yogyakarta, 19 December 2008
Faculty of Teachers Training and Education Sanata Dharma University
Dean,
iv
Nobody grows old merely
by giving a number of years
We grow old by deserting our ideals
Years may wrinkle the skin
but to give up enthusiasm wrinkles the soul
Samuel Ullman
vi
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
Firstly, I thank my Dear Lord, Jesus Christ, who has given His amazing grace, love, and guidance so that I can finish this thesis well. He has given me spirit in accomplishing this thesis.
I would like to express my sincere gratitude to Carla Sih Prabandari, S.Pd., M.Hum, my major sponsor, for her guidance, corrections, criticism, and great encouragement in accomplishing this thesis. I really would like to thank her for spending her time to correct and give suggestions in order to achieve the best result in this research. I would also like thank all of the lecturers in English Education Study Program, especially toAgustinus Hardi Prasetya, S.Pd., M.A., who has given great encouragement to finish this thesis as soon as possible. My gratitude also goes to all of the teachers and students inSMA Negeri 1 Wonosari, especiallyMrs. Khusnulfor spending the time to help me accomplish this thesis.
I would also like to express gratitude to my beloved family: my father, Stephanus Sujianto, my mother, Theresia Supriyanti, and my sister, Ines, for the prayer, love, guidance, and encouragement in accomplishing my thesis and for my beloved cousins Rini, Aris, and Lia. I would also like to thank all my best friends: Shinta, Wulan, Wida, Riri and Diaz for the beautiful friendship. My gratitude is also addressed to all my friends in Sanata Dharma University, especially in the English Education Study Program.
vii
finishing my thesis. Last but not least, I would like to express my special gratitude to Theodorus Damar Baskara for being my sunshine after the rain in my lifetime. May God always bless them all.
viii
STATEMENT OF WORK’S ORIGINALITY... v
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS... vi
1.4 Objective of the research... 5
1.5 Benefits of thresearch... 5
1.6 Definition of Terms... 6
CHAPTER II. REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE 2.1 Theoretical Description... 9
2.1.1 Definition of Vocabulary... 9
2.1.1.1 Vocabulary Knowledge...……….. 10
2.1.1.2 What is Vocabulary?... 11
2.1.1.3 Vocabulary is a Significant Element in Learning English as Foreign Language... 12
ix
2.1.2 Understanding of Academic Words... 14
2.1.3 Vocabulary Teaching and Learning... 16
2.1.4 Principles for Teaching Vocabulary... 17
2.1.5 Assessing Vocabulary...…….…... 19
2.1.6 Understanding of Language Testing...…... 21
2.1.6.1 Types of Test in Terms of Test Method…... 22
2.1.6.2 Types of Test in Terms of Test Purpose... 22
2.1.7 Theory of Testing Vocbulary... 23
2.18 Vocabulry Mastery in a Language Teaching Learning.. 24
2.1.9 English Productive Skills: Speaking an Writing... 24
2.2 Theoretical Framework... 25
CHAPTER III. METHODOLOGY 3.1 Research Method... 29
3.2 Research Procedure ... 31
3.3 Subject of the Research... 31
3.4 Data Collection... 32
3.5 Instruments... 33
3.6 Data Analysis... 35
CHAPTER IV. RESEARCH RESULTS AND DISCUSSIONS 4.1 The Twelfth Grade Students’ Mastery of Academic Words inSMA Negeri 1 Wonosari...... 37
4.1.1 Data Presentation... 38
4.1.2 Analysis Result...………...………. 45
4.1.2.1 Analysis Result of the Twelve Grade Students’ Mastery of Academic Words... 46
x
4.1.2.2.1 Academic Words Mastered 100% by the Twelve
Grade Students inSMA Negeri 1 Wonosari... 49
4.1.2.2.2 Academic Words Mastered 95% by the Twelve Grade Students inSMA Negeri 1 Wonosari... 52
4.1.2.2.3 Academic Words Mastered 90% by the Twelve Grade Students inSMA Negeri 1 Wonosari... 53
4.1.2.2.4 Academic Words Mastered 85% by the Twelve Grade Students inSMA Negeri 1 Wonosari... 54
4.1.2.2.5 Academic Words Mastered 80% by the Twelve Grade Students inSMA Negeri 1 Wonosar... 55
4.1.2.2.6 Academic Words Mastered 75% by the Twelve Grade Students inSMA Negeri 1 Wonosari... 57
4.1.2.2.7 Academic Words Mastered 70% by the Twelve Grade Students inSMA Negeri 1 Wonosari... 58
4.1.2.2.8 Academic Words Mastered 65% by the Twelve Grade Students inSMA Negeri 1 Wonosari... 59
4.1.2.2.9 Academic Words Mastered 60% by the Twelve Grade Students inSMA Negeri 1 Wonosari... 60
4.1.2.2.10 Academic Words Mastered 55% by the Twelve Grade Students inSMA Negeri 1 Wonosari... 61
4.2 The Correlation between AcademicWords Mastery and the Students’ English Productive Skills... 63
4.2.1 Data Presentation... 63
4.2.2 Analysis Result... 64
4.2.3 Discussion... 66
CHAPTER V. CONCLUSIONS AND SUGGESTIONS 5.1 Conclusions……... 69
xi
REFERENCES... 71
xii
LIST OF FIGURE
xiii
LIST OF TABLES
Table 4.1: Raw score of the students in set 1………. 39
Table 4.2: Raw score of the students in set 2………. 40
Table 4.3: Raw score of the students in set 3………. 41
Table 4.4: Raw score of the students in set 4………. 42
Table 4.5: Raw score of the students in set 5………. 43
Table 4.6: Raw score of the students in set 6……….. 44
Table 4.7: The students’ mastery of academic words……….. 46
Table 4.8: Academic words mastered 100% based on lexical category…….. 49
Table 4.9: Academic words mastered 95% based on lexical category……… 52
Table 4.10: Academic words mastered 90% based on lexical category…….. 53
Table 4.11: Academic words mastered 85% based on lexical category…….. 54
Table 4.12: Academic words mastered 80% based on lexical category…... 55
Table 4.13: Academic words mastered 75% based on lexical category…….. 57
Table 4.14: Academic words mastered 70% based on lexical category…... 58
Table 4.15: Academic words mastered 65% based on lexical category……... 59
Table 4.16: Academic words mastered 60% based on lexical category……… 60
Table 4.17: Academic words mastered 55% based on lexical category……… 61
xiv
LIST OF APPENDICES
Appendix 1 : The Request Letter to Conduct the Research...76 Appendix 2 : Table of Frequency and Mean Scores of the Correct Answers in
Vocabulary Test...78 Appendix 3 : Table of the Students’ Mastery of Academic Words...118 Appendix 4 : List of Academic Word Test Scores and Productive Skill
xv ABSTRACT
Wahyuningsih, Anastasia Ary Budi. (2008). The Correlation between the Twelfth Grade Students’ Vocabulary Mastery of Academic Words and the Students’ Productive Skills: A Research Conducted in SMA Negeri 1 Wonosari.Yogyakarta: Sanata Dharma University.
Considering to the fact that vocabulary and the skills are important for the beginners who learn English as a foreign language, this research is aimed to know the twelfth grade students’ mastery of vocabulary, especially academic words in senior high school and its relation with the students’ productive skills. This research is conducted to answer two problems. The problems are: (1) To what extent do the twelfth grade students in SMA Negeri 1 Wonosari master academic words? (2) What is the correlation between academic words mastery and the students’ productive skills?
The researcher gathered many books that can support the process of problem solving in this research. The researcher looked for the supporting ideas from the books, such as the definition of vocabulary, academic words, productive skills, and the students’ mastery of vocabulary. The students’ mastery in this research means the mastery on understanding the word meanings, especially the Indonesian equivalences. Considering that vocabulary is a significant element in developing English skills, the correlation between academic word mastery and productive skills is discussed in this research.
The research subjects were the twelfth grade students in SMA Negeri 1 Wonosari. To gather data from the sample of the research, the writer used an instrument in the form of matching test to assess the students’ mastery of academic words so that they could match the English words with the correct Indonesian equivalences. The students’ productive skills were tested by using test materials from the teachers. Statistical data analysis and Spearman’s correlation were used to analyze the data. To have valid data, the vocabulary items were taken from their learning materials during the study in senior high school, i.e. from students’ books grade ten to twelve.
xvi ABSTRAK
Wahyuningsih, Anastasia Ary Budi. (2008). The Correlation between the Twelfth Grade Students’ Vocabulary Mastery of Academic Words and the Students’ Productive Skills: A Research Conducted in SMA Negeri 1 Wonosari.Yogyakarta: Universitas Sanata Dharma.
Dengan adanya fakta bahwa kosakata dan ketrampilan dalam bernahasa itu penting untuk para pemula yang mempelajari bahasa Inggris sebagai bahasa asing, penelitian ini ditujukan untuk mengetahui penguasaan kosakata para siswa kelas dua belas di tingkat sekolah menengah atas dan hubungannya dengan ketrampilan produktif. Penelitian ini dilaksanakan untuk memecahkan dua masalah, yaitu: (1) Sejauh mana siswa kelas dua belas SMA Negeri 1 Wonosari menguasai kosakata akademis? (2) Apakah hubungan penguasaan kosakata akademis dan ketrampilan produktif?
Peneliti mengumpulkan banyak buku yang dapat mendukung proses pemecahan masalah dalam penelitian ini. Penelti mencari gagasan-gagasan yang mendukung dari buku- buku tersebut, misalnya: pengertian kosakata, kata akademis, ketrampilan produktif, dan penguasaan kosakata para siswa.Penguasaan dalam penelitian ini adalah penguasaan dalam mengetahui arti kata dalam bahasa Indonesia. Dengan mempertimbangkan fakta bahwa kosakata merupakan salah satu bagian penting dalam mengembangkan ketrampilan berbahasa Inggris, korelasi antara penguasaan kosakata akademis dan ketrampilan produktif dibahas dalam penelitian ini.
Subjek penelitian ini adalah siswa kelas dua belas SMA Negeri 1 Wonosari. Untuk mengumpulkan data dari sampel penelitian, peneliti menggunakan instrumen dalam bentuk test menjodohkan supaya mereka dapat menjodohkan kata dalam bahasa Inggris dengan arti yang benar dalam bahasa Indonesia dengan tujuan untuk menaksir penguasaan kosakata akademis siswa. Ketrampilan produktif para siswa diujikan dengan menggunakan materi ujian dari para guru. Analisis data statistik dan korelasi Spearman digunakan untuk menganalisa data. Untuk mendapatkan data yang valid, materi yang diujikan diambil dari buku-buku yang mereka gunakan selama proses belajar mengajar dari kelas sepuluh sampai dengan kelas dua belas.
xvii
1 CHAPTER I
INTRODUCTION
This chapter discusses all about background of the research, problem formulation, problem limitation, objectives of the research, benefits of the research, and definition of terms that will be discussed in the next chapter.
1.1 Research Background
English is an international language and it is learned as a foreign language in Indonesia since Indonesian people do not use English in their daily life communication. English is one of compulsory subjects in educational field and it is taught from elementary schools up to senior high schools. Learning English in the kindergartens has been taught that is as a local content. Many education institutions in Indonesia offer English lessons to the students because they realize that the students will face global era in which English is important for communication. Mastering international language will be a good provision for the students in facing this global era.
O’Rourke, 1971; 5). By understanding the vocabulary items, people will be able to understand the conversation and read the texts well. They need to improve their mastery of vocabulary so that they can comprehend listening and reading well (Lehr, 2001). In summary, the learners are considered to be able to master English well, if they can use English to communicate by using appropriate and accurate ways such as in grammar, diction (vocabulary), and pronunciation.
The students develop their vocabulary items every day through speaking, reading, listening, and writing and it is obvious that students need rich experiences to develop their vocabulary (Dale and O’Rourke, 1971; 6). This study emphasizes on the students’ mastery of vocabulary, especially academic words since the students are dealing with academic study. Besides knowing the students’ mastery of academic words, this research is emphasized on the correlation of academic words mastery with the students’ productive skills, i.e. speaking and writing skills. In summary, it can be said that vocabulary is the key to be able to master the language. Therefore, this research is aimed to find the twelve grade students’ mastery of academic words and the correlation between the academic words mastery and the students’ communication ability which is represented through the students’ final practice marks achieved in their study.
technical words which have a narrow range are used in specialized field, such as mathematics, law, philosophy, etc. In junior high school, senior high school, and university, the EFL learners learn more about academic words because they intend to do academic study. Here are some examples of academic words which can be found in academic texts:abandon, alternative, denote, element, etc.
There are a number of academic words that always occur in academic study in which the students should master. There are 570 up to 800 words of academic vocabulary that often occur in academic study, for example: in authentic reading materials, text books, etc (Nation, 2002). This is the number of academic words that should be mastered by EFL learners, especially for beginners’ level (senior high school). Considering to the fact that vocabulary is an important element in English learning, this research is aimed to know the number of academic words that have already been mastered by the senior high school students and its correlation with the students’ productive skills using academic words, especially in the twelfth grade (in the end of the study).
1.2 Problem Formulation
The research is aimed to assess the students’ mastery of academic words in senior high school level and to know its correlation with the students’ productive skills. The problems are formulated as follows:
2. What is the correlation between academic words mastery with the students’ productive skills?
1.3 Problem Limitation
The problem of this research is limited on the number of academic words that the students should master during their study in senior high school and its correlation with the students’ productive skills, especially the twelfth grade students. The problem is focused on the mastery of academic words since the students are dealing with academic study. Mastery in this research only focused on knowing the word meanings, especially the Indonesian equivalences. They learn academic words through the learning materials from the teacher. The teacher gives many reading or listening passages which is obtained from authentic materials, text books, etc that contain many academic words. The students who learn English will always develop their understanding of vocabulary when they are learning through the skills (Dale and O’Rourke, 1971; 5).
In order to get the result of the measurement, this research takes students from grade twelve as the subjects because they have already learned academic words through the learning materials from grade ten up to grade twelve.
1.4 Objectives of the Research
The objective of this research is to know the number of academic vocabulary items mastered by the twelfth grade students during their study in senior high school by considering that mastery in this research means knowing the word meanings, i.e. the Indonesian equivalence. This research is also aimed to know the correlation between the students’ mastery of academic words with the students’ productive skills.
1.5 Benefits of the Research
This research is expected to be able to give several benefits for the students, teachers, and the future researchers. For the students, this research is aimed to give new experience to the students about vocabulary test because they have never had vocabulary test from the teachers. By doing the test, the students will be able to know their ability in mastering academic words through the result of the tests that they have done. Besides the students can get experiences of vocabulary test, the students can also expand their understanding of academic vocabulary, especially the word meanings.
correlation with the students’ productive skills. After knowing the result, the English teachers are expected to provide better strategies in teaching vocabulary in which vocabulary is an important element that can support the students’ quality in mastering English (Dale and O’Rourke, 1971).
This research is also aimed to give understanding and knowledge to the people in common, especially for the next researchers. After they know the students’ mastery of academic words and its correlation with the students’ productive skills, it is expected to the future researchers that they can design good materials and strategies for teaching and learning vocabulary items.
1.6 Definition of Terms
This section presents the definitions of terms or important constructs used in this research. The terms defined here are the twelve grade students in SMA Negeri 1 Wonosari, vocabulary mastery, academic words, and productive skills. The definition will be explained below.
1.6.1 Twelfth Grade Students inSMA Negeri 1 Wonosari
they can give the students more knowledge about new academic words through the reading texts, especially by using authentic materials. According to the understanding of the English teachers in SMA Negeri 1 Wonosari, the twelfth grade students in science class have better mastery of vocabulary than the students in social class. Vocabulary tests in the teaching learning processes are not done specifically, they are integrated with the other skill tests, such as in reading, writing, speaking, and listening test.
1.6.2 Vocabulary Mastery
According to Young (2007), vocabulary is a study of the word meanings, how to use the words, and root words and the affixes. Based on Lehr’s opinion (2001), the more the students read various texts or books, the more the students obtain new vocabulary items and know or understand many new words from academic text books and they will be able to comprehend the content of the reading texts better. In this research, vocabulary means the words and word meanings mastered by the EFL learners, especially the twelfth grade students in senior high school. Mastery in this context means the ability to understand the meaning of the vocabulary items that they have learned in academic study.
1.6.3 Academic Words
Senior high school students are in the beginner level and they should be able to master 570 up to 800 academic words that often occur in the learning materials for the beginner (Nation, 2002). There are some examples of academic words that often occur in reading texts:approach, brief, comply, disposal, evident, etc.
1.6.4 English Productive Skills
CHAPTER II
REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE
This chapter explains about theoretical description and theoretical framework of the research. Definition of terms, which is discussed in the previous chapter, will be discussed deeper in this chapter. Literature review that can support this research is mentioned and explained in the theoretical description.
2.1 Theoretical Description
The mastery of vocabulary of the senior high school students is one of the indicators in learning English as a foreign language since vocabulary is a key for the learners to be able to communicate with the others well using the language learned. There are theories that can support this study. The theories will be explained below.
2.1.1 Definition of Vocabulary
Vocabulary is one of important supporting elements in language learning. It can be said as a significant part of communication and it is the key to be able to master the language well (Dale and O’Rourke, 1971: 6). This section will discuss the complete definition of vocabulary as follows.
2.1.1.1 Vocabulary Knowledge
Vocabulary knowledge means the knowledge in which the learners learn about the words, meaning of words, and how to use the words in the sentences when somebody is learning English, especially English as a foreign language. According to Young (2007), vocabulary is a study of the word meanings, how to use the words, and root words and the affixes. In other words, vocabulary does not only learn about the meaning of the words, but also the use of the words in different context. The students need to realize that vocabulary is an index of the nature and quality of their lives. Words can reflect what they have studied (Dale and O’Rourke, 1971: 9).
The people who are learning vocabulary have strong relation with the reading comprehension (Lehr, 2001). The learners get more knowledge of vocabulary from many reading materials. The learners should read many kinds of readings in different difficulty level. By reading a lot of different level in words’ difficulty, the learners will have more understanding of the meaning of words and their function in different context. Reading is not only one of the English skills that can help the learners in improving their knowledge of vocabulary. Through listening to many passages, the learners can also learn many words and the meanings. In learning vocabulary, there are words families and core meaning.
walking, walked”. Core meaning is also important for the learners in learning English as a foreign language. It can reduce the number of items the learner has to cope with, provide access to a wide range of uses, and often contrasts with the first language of the learners.
2.1.1.2 What Is Vocabulary?
According to Young (2007), vocabulary is the study of the meaning of words; how words are used; root words, prefixes, and suffixes; and analogies. In learning vocabulary, the learners study the several different meanings of words and the part of speech. The learners also learn how to use the words. It means that the learners study the words in the context and apply what they learn in the form of writing. Words have their own roots and affixes. The learners will study root words and affixes that can support their vocabulary learning. They get more knowledge about original words and the other forms of the words. Analogy is comparing two pair words and choosing the pairs that go together. There is an example of learning vocabulary by analogy.
Book :Backpack
kept in a backpack, but they are not being toted around. Relics are kept in a museum (usually) but the museum is not the means of transporting the relics like a backpack transports the books. Some analogies will require the learners to decide what part of speech the words are because many words have more than one definition and will have more than one part of speech (Young, 2007).
2.1.1.3 Vocabulary is a Significant Element in Learning English as a Foreign
Language
2.1.1.4 Vocabulary in Senior High School
Students in senior high schools in Indonesia are the EFL learners. It will be better if the EFL students learn more about vocabulary since vocabulary is one of the English elements that can support the students’ ability in English. In senior high school, the students can learn vocabulary through the four skills they get in learning English. However, the learners will get more knowledge in vocabulary, especially the word meanings and forms. They emphasize the learning of vocabulary on the meaning and the forms of the words.
Senior high school students who learn English as a foreign language in Indonesia are included in beginner level. There are about six to eight hundred academic words which frequently occur in academic texts (Nation, 1990). Vocabulary learning can be done while learning the four skills in English, but the emphasis is more on comprehension and productive skills. The students can learn vocabulary more from the various reading and listening passage. The more the students read or listen to the various passages, the more vocabulary they learn, especially the form and the meaning.
2.1.2 Understanding of Academic Words
Vocabulary is knowledge of words and word meanings. Vocabulary can be divided into two forms, they are: receptive and productive vocabulary. According to (Lehr, 2001), productive vocabulary is the words used when someone is speaking or writing, while receptive vocabulary is the words used when someone is listening or reading. Vocabulary can also be said as the kind of words that have to be mastered by the people who learn English as a foreign language.
Academic words refer to the words learned and operated in academic environments in English also need to be familiar with a special type of formal vocabulary that is common in academic discourse. Academic words are the words in the next level below the specialist words or it can be called as sub-technical words which occur in a number of disciplines (Jordan, 1997). There are three parts of academic vocabulary which are appropriate for teaching learning with research graduates. They are: (a). the research process: the vocabulary is verbs and nouns, (b). the vocabulary of analysis: high-frequency and two-word verbs, (c). the vocabulary of evaluation: adjectives and adverbs that occur in reviews, critiques, and some reports.
corpus of three and a half million words written in academic discourse to help the students improve their mastery of academic vocabulary through 414 academic written texts (Schmitt and Schmitt, 2005). There are 570 academic words that occur frequently across a range of academic subjects. If the students learn these words in addition to a 2,000-word basic vocabulary, they will be able to understand more than 86 percent of words they encounter in academic reading (Schmitt and Schmitt, 2005).
In academic vocabulary learning, there is specialist vocabulary or technical words above the level of academic words. According to Nation, specialized word list can be used as a guide and focus for teachers in different activities and as a checklist and aim for students (Jordan, 1997). Specialist vocabulary or technical words may be of low frequency. Nation presents a decision chart for low-frequency words to assist students in deciding which words to learn (Jordan, 1997: 152).
low-frequency words technical
(learn it as part of your subject) non technical
containing known parts
(learn it, the known parts will help you not containing known
remember it) parts
repeated
(learn it, it’s useful and the repetition will make not repeated it easy for you to remember it) (maybe ignored)
2.1.3 Vocabulary Teaching and Learning
According to Celce-Murcia (2001), vocabulary learning is central to language acquisition, whether the language is first, second, or foreign. In language acquisition, vocabulary has important role for the deeper understanding of a language and it needs explicit vocabulary teaching learning. According to Carter in Celce-Murcia (2001), in explicit vocabulary learning, the learners learn the most important vocabulary list that is high-frequency words that occur about 80 percent in any written texts. The learners need to learn further vocabulary knowledge, such as low-frequency words which include academic words.
2.1.4 Principles for Teaching Vocabulary
According to Nunan (2003), there are four principles for teaching vocabulary in a classroom.
1. Focus on the most useful vocabulary first.
In teaching vocabulary, the teachers should teach the more useful vocabulary rather than the less useful vocabulary in order to give the learners the best return for their learning effort. The most useful vocabulary that the learners need can be found in the most frequent 1000 word families of English because it can cover seventy five percent of running words in academic text books and newspapers and about eighty percent running words in conversation. Another useful word list is the second 1000 words of English. This word list contains plenty of useful words that frequently occur in the texts. Nunan (2003) says that Academic Word List (Coxhead, 2000) is the most suitable word lists for senior high school and university students.
2. Focus on the vocabulary in the most appropriate way.
word parts to remember and guessing meaning from context are two important startegies to help the learners in learning vocabulary. Based on the research in Nation (2001), using word cards and dictionaries are also effective startegies in learning vocabulary that is to achieve faster and stronger vocabulary learning results (Nunan, 2003).
3. Give attention to the high frequency words across the four strands of a course. The four strands in language course are learning from meaning focused-input, deliberate learning, learning from meaning-focused output, and fluency development. High frequency words need to occur in all four strands of a course. They should be used in communicating messages in listening, speaking, reading, and writing and fluently accessible for receptive and productive skills (Nunan, 2003: 139).
4. Encourage learners to reflect on and take responsibility for learning.
2.1.5 Assessing Vocabulary
Teaching vocabulary is very important and it obviously seems that words need to be learned in order to be able to use the language well. In this case, vocabulary is the basic elements that should be learned and it is the provision of the people who want to learn a new language. In school level, such as senior high school, the vocabulary needs to be assessed because it can be considered that vocabulary is a particular priority in language learning. The principle which has to be mastered by learners is the ability to memorize perfectly the largest number of common and useful word-groups (Palmer, 1925). The strategies that are usually used in assessing vocabulary are multiple choice and matching. These strategies are easy to be done and to be scored. The teachers can easily score the correct answers and through this way, the teachers can measure the students’ mastery of vocabulary.
In assessing vocabulary, the teachers have to understand what vocabulary is and then find the purpose of assessing vocabulary. In this case, the teachers should be able to understand that vocabulary knowledge involves knowing the meaning of words. Because of this reason, the purpose of vocabulary test is to find out whether the learners can match each word with a synonym, a dictionary type definition or an equivalent word in their own language (Read, 2000). In vocabulary testing, the teachers assess learners’ knowledge of words. Indirectly, it can be said that the teachers measure the learners’ mastery of vocabulary.
Wesche and Paribakht (1997), through multiple choice, the learners can know another meaning for the words, the learners can choose the right word by eliminating the other words, so the learners can learn more vocabulary items. For example: if there are 20 items tested through multiple choice types, the learners can learn approximately 100 vocabulary items. In multiple choice and matching tests, the learners indirectly learn to guess meaning of the words. We can also say that learning vocabulary will not be separated with dictionary because it has an important role in learning vocabulary. However, in the vocabulary tests, the students are not allowed to use dictionary. Dictionary is only used in teaching learning process to help the students improve their knowledge of new words. This is an example of matching test (Read, 2000):
region _ 1. position in relation to others status _ 2. gas that we breathe
cell _ 3. part of a country
oxygen _ 4. smallest part of living thing skeleton _ 5. useful liquid
6. set of bones in the body 7. exciting event
In matching test, the students are to make a connection between target words and their synonyms or definitions (Read, 2000: 171).
This research uses a practical way in the process of assessing vocabulary, that is by giving test in the form of matching test. The words taken are the common academic words from the text books such as English as a Second Language (Cambridge International Examination): 2000; Cambridge University
Press , Learning to Use English 2: 2006; PT Piranti Darma Kalokatama, Window
to the World 2: 2006; Yudhistira, English Grade XI Science and Social
Programme: 2005; PT Bumi Aksara, and Contextual Learning: 2007; Grafindo
Media Pratama. These books contain many academic words and the meanings that the students learn during their study in senior high school. Six hundred academic words in the tests are taken from the books mentioned above.
2.1.6 Understanding of Language Testing
In education field, it is not avoided that evaluation is important in order to know the students’ mastery of the materials they have learned. Same as the students in senior high school who are learning English or the other subjects, they will have their evaluation after they finish studying the materials. When the students are learning a language, they will experience language tests. Language test is a device for the institutional control of individuals, it is clearly important that it should be understood (McNamara, 2000). There are many kinds of language tests and they are distinguished from the test method and test purpose (McNamara, 2000: 5-7).
2.1.6.1 Types of Test in Terms of Test Method
test items in this kind of test are in the form of fixed response format, for example in the standardized test. One of examples of fixed response format is multiple choice format (McNamara, 2000: 5).
I wonder what the newspaper says about the new play. I must read the ... a. criticism
b. opinion c. review d. critic
However, in perfomance test, language skills are assessed in an act of communication, such as in speaking and writing tests.
2.1.6.2 Types of Test in Terms of Test Purpose
2.1.7 Theory of Testing Vocabulary
In teaching vocabulary, the useful technique is testing vocabulary. There are several advantages of testing vocabulary (Dale and O’Rourke, 1971: 20). They are:
(1) the students must pay close attention to complete the exercise correctly, (2) the answers to the questions are clear-cut, (3) the students are actively involved, (4) the students senses the importance of the exercise, for his ability is being measured, (5) the exercises are generally brief, and (6) the teacher has a quick measurement of the students progress.
According to Dale and O’Rourke (1971), there are four kinds of vocabulary testing. The first kind of vocabulary test is identification that means the students responds orally or in writing by identifying a word according to its definition or use, for example: a word may be identified as a synonym of another word. Secondly, multiple choice is the test in which the students select the correct meaning of the tested word from three or four definitions. Thirdly, matching test is a test in which the tested words are presented in one coloumn and the matching definitions are presented out of order in another coloumn. The fourth kind of vocabulary test is checking. Checking means the students check the words they know or do not know.
2.1.8 Vocabulary Mastery in a Language Teaching Learning
reading, and writing. In teaching learning process, all those skills are supported by three English elements, i.e. grammar, vocabulary, and pronunciation (Nunan, 2003). Beside the knowledge of grammar and pronunciation, vocabulary knowledge is also important in understanding the language. In receptive skills, such as reading and listening skills, vocabulary mastery is a significant point that should be considered by the learners. The more the learners master the vocabulary, the more they comprehend the content of the texts (Lehr, 2001). Learners’ vocabulary mastery has strong relation with reading comprehension and the other skills in English. The learners’ comprehension in English skills will be better if the learners have good mastery in vocabulary, for example in reading comprehension. Therefore, the learners’ vocabulary mastery should be improved in order to be able to give more contribution in language learning.
2.1.9 English Productive Skills: Speaking and Writing
As stated by the Nunan (2003), the English skills are divided into two parts, i.e. productive and receptive skills. Productive skills consist of speaking and writing skills and productive means language generated by the learners in speech or writing. It means that the students can produce ideas which are expressed through speaking or writing. Speaking is included in productive oral skill and that consists of producing systematic verbal utterances to convey meaning (Nunan, 2003: 48).
According to Nunan (2003: 88), writing can be defined as:
computer. On the other hand, writing is a mental work of inventing ideas, thinking about how to express them, and organizing them into statements and paragraphs that will be clear to a reader.
The purpose of writing is to express an idea or feeling and it can be called as a process and a product. The writing process include the process of imagining, organizing, drafting, editing, reading, and rereading, then the product can be in the form of essay, letter, story, and research report. According to Nation, the students’ fluency of using vocabulary can be improved through productive skills, i.e. speaking and writing skills (Richard and Renandya, 2002: 269).
2.2 Theoretical Framework
In learning vocabulary, the learners’ mastery of vocabulary need to be assessed in order to know the students’ mastery of vocabulary in which the vocabulary can support the students’ ability in communication (Dale and O’Rourke, 1971). Mastery in this research means knowing the word meanings, i.e. the Indonesian equivalences. The aim of the assessment is to find out whether the learners can do the test and answer the questions correctly or not. In measuring vocabulary mastery of the students in senior high school level, the teachers can apply two types of test. They are multiple choice and matching. The tests can measure the learners’ mastery through the score given after the tests are done. Multiple choice and matching are the easy types to be scored. The students will be tested by using matching test to assess the students’ mastery of academic words in this research. The score is found through the correct answers and those are the vocabulary that the learners master.
should teach the most frequent words occurred in academic study, for example Academic Word List from Coxhead (2000). If this principle is applied in teaching learning process, it can help the learners understand the words and word meanings in mastering academic vocabulary and it is included in explicit learning of vocabulary.
Vocabulary mastery of senior high school students is one of the supporting factors in learning English as a foreign language. By having substantial vocabulary mastery, the learners will easily follow the lesson, even communicate by using English well. The learners will be easier in improving their skills in English, such as: listening, speaking, reading, and writing. Vocabulary mastery of the learners will be obviously seen in those four skills, especially in listening and reading. Nation (1990) says that there is close connection between vocabulary mastery, coverage of the vocabulary in a text, and the ease a learner will have in coping with the language of the text.
This study uses matching test to measure the students’ mastery of vocabulary, especially academic words.
CHAPTER III
METHODOLOGY
In this chapter will be discussed the methodology of the research including: (1) types of the research, (2) setting, (3) subjects of the research, (4) instrument, (5) data collection, (6) data analysis. Those important things will be explained deeply in each point below.
3.1 Research Method
This research was aimed to help the students and the English teachers to know the students’ mastery of academic vocabulary and its correlation with the students’ productive skills. Besides knowing their mastery of vocabulary, the students could experience vocabulary tests that had never been had before and given more knowledge about academic vocabulary items. This research is also aimed to help the English teachers to know the students’ mastery of vocabulary, so they can make better strategy of teaching English in order to improve the students’ English skills, especially for the next generations.
This research was a kind of descriptive quantitative research. This research is included in correlational study since it discusses the relation between the students’ mastery of academic words with their productive skills, i.e. whether they have high, substantial, low relation, or can be ignored or no relation (Young, 1982: 317 as cited by Sulaiman, 2003: 134). Correlation in this research means one of statistical techniques used to find the relation between two or more
variables that has quantitative or qualitative characteristics. The correlation measure is divided as follows:
a. 0.70 – 1.00 shows high association degree, b. 0.40 - < 0.70 shows substantial relation, c. 0.20 - < 0.40 shows low correlation,
d. < 0.20 means that the relation is very low or almost no relation between variables.
The reason for choosing a method of the research was based on the characteristics of the data obtained from the subjects. The data of this research dealt with quantity of academic words mastered by the subjects and the data was gathered from an instrument, that was in the form of matching test. Therefore, quantitative method was applied to the research data analysis.
3.2 Research Procedure
This reserach was done in SMA Negeri 1 Wonosari and it is located in Gunungkidul regency. The researcher did some procedures to conduct this research. Firstly, the researcher did library research to gather supporting ideas that could help the process of problem solving in this research. After doing library research, the researcher made instrument that could be used in the research. For the third procedure, the researcher got permission to do the research in the institution chosen as the subjects of the research.
The researcher then gave vocabulary tests to the samples on 1 to 12 April 2008, i.e. the twelfth grade students in SMA Negeri 1 Wonosari. On May 2008, the students did final practice test (speaking and writing) and the test items were from the teachers. Therefore, the researcher could obtain the result after the tests were done. After all the data were gathered, the researcher analyzed the data and discussed the data analysis. Finally, the researcher could draw conclusions from the discussion and give suggestions.
3.3 Subject of the Research
twelve, they were regular and acceleration class. The subjects of this research were taken from regular class. From this population, the researcher took a hundred and twenty students as the samples of this research. In summary, there were three regular classes which became the subjects of the research.
3.4 Data Collection
The subject of this research was the twelfth grade students’ mastery of academic words that was measured by using vocabulary tests done on April, 2008. The students did the tests in the form of matching test and every student should finish a hundred academic words. There were a hundred English words which should be matched with the Indonesian equivalences. However, there were a hundred and five Indonesian words in the tests. The other five words did not have match and the students could be trapped if they did not match the words carefully.
3.5 Instruments
According to Sudarsono (1988), measurement is the way to describe the condition of someone or object quantitavely by using instrument that could measure the objects. Instrument used to gather the data was in the form of test, i.e. matching test, speaking test, and writing test. Ary, Jacobs, and Razavieh (1985) states that a test is a set of stimuli presented to individual in order to elicit responses on the basis of which a numerical score can be assigned. Matching test was used as an instrument in this research since it is a simple form of test which has 1 score for each item in the vocabulary test. Through matching test, the students could focus on the students’ mastery of academic words, especially in knowing the meaning of academic words (Indonesian equivalences) in the tests like what has been mentioned in the previous chapter. Beside that, the students could also learn more vocabulary through matching test because they could guess the other word meanings.
Each test consisted of a hundred academic words and there were six hundred academic words to be tested. The academic words tested were taken from their books used in their teaching learning process, such as English as a Second Language (Cambridge International Examination): 2000; Cambridge University
Press , Learning to Use English 2: 2006; PT Piranti Darma Kalokatama, Window
on the World: 2001; Erlangga , Linked to the World 1: 2006; Yudhistira, Linked
to the World 2: 2006; Yudhistira, English Grade XI Science and Social
Programme: 2005; PT Bumi Aksara, and Contextual Learning: 2007; Grafindo
The other instruments were in the form of practical test, i.e. speaking and writing tests and these tests were from the teachers. In speaking test, there were two parts that should be done by the students. They were retelling the content of the texts and making a dialogue into a monologue. In each part, there were three texts and dialogues. The students were to choose one of the text and dialogue and they did the tests. In writing test, the students were to make a composition based on the kind of text that they had chosen. In the question sheet, it was provided the kinds of text with its genre, social function, generic structure, and significant lexicogrammatical features. There were four kinds of text, i.e. recount, report, analytical exposition, and explanation. In this test, the students decided which kind of text they wanted to do and chose one of topics provided in the question sheet, then they made a composition based on the kind of text they chose.
3.6. Data Analysis
The data were analyzed by doing scoring to the result of the students’ tests first. The best way in scoring was manual scoring since it was more thorough and had high sensitivity if there was a deviation (Sukardi, 2003). The scoring was done by counting the correct answers of the tests and the correct answers could reflect the students’ mastery of academic words. The scoring was rechecked in order to get high accuracy. It was very important to recheck the results of the scoring otherwise it could lead to the wrong analysis. There were a hundred academic words in each test and each item had one score. If the answer was incorrect, there was no score or null. The correct answers reflected the students’ mastery of academic words if they were analyzed into statistical data by presenting the number of correct answers.
The score in matching test is one correct answer got one. According to Arikunto (2005), the way in scoring is:
S: Raw score (score that is obtained) R: correct answer
Through this scoring, the students’ mastery of academic words could be reflected in the result of raw score and it was analyzed by using statistical analysis. The academic words mastered were counted by using mean score of each item and it was in the form of percentage. The percentages represented low or high mastery of the students.
After the number of academic words mastered was found, the correlation of academic word mastery with the students’ productive skills was analyzed. In this analysis, the correlation of academic words mastery with productive skills was discussed based on the correlation theory in statistical analysis. Correlation means one of statistical techniques used to find the relation between two or more quantitative or qualitative variables (Sulaiman, 2003: 134). Coefficient correlation used to analyze the data is Spearman’s correlation and counted by using SPSS Program since it is used to find the relation between two variables in which the data are from different sources, such as from the students’ vocabulary test scores and practice examination scores. The students’ productive skills in this research were represented through the students’ practice scores, i.e. the practice scores they achieved in final examination. The Spearman’s correlation formulation is:
D2
n(n2– 1) in which:
Spearman’s correlation coefficient
CHAPTER IV
RESEARCH RESULTS AND DISCUSSIONS
This chapter discusses the results of data analysis based on the methodology discussed in the previous chapter. The researcher attempted to study the twelve grade students’ mastery of academic words and its relation with the students’ productive skills. The samples of this research were taken from SMA Negeri 1 Wonosari, grade twelve. The results of the research were analyzed by using descriptive statistics analysis that was by finding the mean score of the test scores and the correlation coefficient of those two variables. For the detailed discussion, this chapter discusses the twelfth grade students’ mastery of academic words, then the correlation between academic words mastery and the students’ productive skills.
4.1 The Twelfth Grade Students’ Mastery of Academic Words in SMA 1 Wonosari
In this section, the first problem is discussed, i.e. the twelfth grade students’ mastery of academic words. The students’ mastery in this research means the students’ ability to know the words and word meanings, especially the Indonesian equivalences. The students’ scores are presented below and it will be the base of the data analysis.
4.1.1 Data Presentation
This research is focused on the twelfth grade students’ mastery of academic words and its correlation with the students’ productive skills, i.e. speaking and writing. Mastery in this research is focused on knowing word meanings, especially the Indonesian equivalences. The instrument used to know the finding of the research is matching test. There were 600 items in the vocabulary tests and they were divided into six sets. Each set consisted of 100 vocabulary items in English and 105 Indonesian meanings. The students matched the English vocabulary with their Indonesian meanings. The tests were divided into six sets since the division could make the research process worked easier. Every 100 vocabulary items in each set were done by twenty students. Therefore, there were a hundred and twenty students who were taken as the samples of the research. The division of each set was divided equally based on the alphabetical order of the words tested and it could give more ease to the students when they were doing the tests. The level of difficulty in each set is balanced.
in academic textbooks are about 570 words and they should be mastered by the students in a beginner level of learning English as a foreign language. If the students are able to master the minimal standard of academic words mastery in beginner level, it means that the students have good mastery of academic words.
The twelfth grade students’ mastery of academic words in SMA Negeri 1 Wonosari is presented in the statistical analysis below. Table in appendix 2 presents the frequency of the words answered correctly by the students in the tests. The table shows the mean scores of the test results. Mean is presented in the form of percentage (%) and the words mastered by the students can be classified based on each score. The results of each set are presented in the following tables:
a. Scores of the test: Set 1
The test results of the students in set 1 are presented in the following table. Table 4.1: The raw score of the students in set 1
19. 83
20. 83
n: 20 X: 92.6
There are highest and lowest scores in the table. The highest is 97 and the lowest is 83. From this table, the average score that the students achieved in set 1 is 92.6. It implies the average score in set 1 is relatively high and shows that the students have good mastery of academic words tested in set 1.
b. Scores of the test: Set 2
The test results of the students in set 2 are presented in the following table. Table 4.2: The raw score of the students in set 2
The highest score from this set is 90 and the lowest is 77. The mean score in set 2 is lower than mean score in set 1. It shows that the students’ mastery of academic words tested in set 2 is worse than the students’ mastery in set 1. However, they also have good mastery of academic words since their average score is 84.8.
c. Scores of the test: Set 3
The test result of the students in set 3 is presented below. Table 4.3: The raw score of the students in set 3
Student Score
d. Scores of the test: Set 4
The test results the twelve grade students in set 4 are presented below. Table 4.4: The raw score of the students in set 4
Student Score
e. Scores of the test: Set 5
The test results of the students in set 5 are presented in the following table. Table 4.5: The raw score of the students in set 5
Student Score
f. Scores of the test: Set 6
The test results of the students in set 6 are presented in the following table. Table 4.6: The raw score of the students in set 6
Student Score
Table 6 shows that the highest score is 99 and the lowest is 84. The lowest score in this set is the highest if it is compared with the other lowest scores in each set. The mean score in set 6 is the highest, i.e. 94.9. Therefore, it can be concluded that the students in set 6 have the best mastery of academic words and the worst is the students’ mastery of academic words in set 2.
100. Entirely, mean score of all sets which consist of a hundred and twenty students is 90.40. From the scores obtained, most of the students achieve high scores and only a few students who obtain low scores. Based on the mean score, it shows that the twelve grade students’ mastery of academic words in SMA Negeri 1 Wonosari is good. The next section discusses the students’ mastery academic words in detail. It means that the discussion presents the students’ mastery of academic words in every single word and it is known whether the students’ mastery of academic words based on scores is equivalent to the students’ mastery of academic words which are analyzed per item.
4.1.2 Analysis Results
counted based on the mean score of the correct answer. If all students can match a word with its meaning correctly, it means that the students’ can master the word 100%. However, if there is a student that cannot match the word correctly, it means that the words are only mastered 95%, etc. The table in appendix 3 presents the students’ mastery of each academic word.
4.1.2.1 Analysis result of the twelve grade students’ mastery of academic
words
In this section, the students’ mastery of each word is discussed. To make the discussion more obvious, table 4.7 present the students’ mastery in the form of percentages and the number of words in each category written from 100% to 0%. Result of the counting can be seen in the table below.
Table 4.7 The students mastery of academic words
10 1
5 4
0 0
Based on table 4.7, there are 317 words that can be mastered 100% by the students and they consist of nouns, verbs, adjectives, adverbs, and conjunctions. It means that all of the students can master 317 words well because they can match the words with their meanings correctly. The table also shows 93 words that can be mastered 95% by the students. It means that there is only a student who cannot match the word correctly. It is showed in table 4.7 that there are 45 academic words which are mastered by the students 90% and it means that there are two students that cannot match correctly, while there are 25 academic words that can be mastered 85% by the students. Eighty five percent mastery means that there are three students that cannot answer the questions correctly. Twenty academic words are mastered 80% by the students and 26 words are mastered 75%.
can be mastered 55% by the students. It means that almost more than a half of the respondents who can answer the questions correctly, i.e. 11 students.
The table shows that there are only 6 words that can be mastered 45% by the students and there are 2 words mastered by the students 40%. Forty five percent means only 9 students can match the words correctly, while 40% means that there only 8 students who can match the words correctly. There is only a word which is mastered by the students 35%, and also 30% mastery. Thirty five percent and 30% means there are only 7 and 6 students can answer the question correctly. Two academic words mastered 20% by the students and 4 academic words mastered only 5%. Twenty percent shows that there are only 4 students that can answer the questions correctly and 5% means that there is a student answers the questions correctly. The words mastered 10% means that there are only 2 of 20 students who are able to master the words.
4.1.2.2 Analysis result of the students’ mastery of academic words based on
the lexical category
It has already been mentioned in the previous discussion that the vocabulary items in the tests are 600 academic words and they consist of 335 nouns, 123 verbs, 120 adjectives, 19 adverbs, and 3 conjunctions. In this data analysis, it is discussed how many nouns, verbs, adjectives, adverbs, and conjunctions mastered by the twelve grade students. Table 4.8 shows the students’ mastery of academic words based on the lexical category.
4.1.2.2.1 Academic words mastered 100% by the twelve grade students in
SMA Negeri 1 Wonosari
Table 4.8 below presents the number of academic words mastered 100% by the twelve grade students. In this table, the words mastered are categorized based on the lexical category. For the further discussion of each category, the table is explained obviously in the following discussion.
Table 4.8 Academic words mastered 100% based on the lexical category
It is mentioned in the table 4.8 that the number of nouns in the vocabulary tests are 335, while the words matched 100% correctly by the students are 205. The students’ mastery of nouns is also showed in the table, i.e. 61.19%. This number shows that the students are able to master more than a half of the numbers of nouns that often occur in their study in senior high school. The other 130 nouns are not 100% mastered and they will be discussed in the next sections.
The table shows that the number of verbs mastered 100% by the twelve grade students are only 45 words of 123 words and their mastery of verbs is 35.58%, while the other verbs are mastered below 100%. A hundred percent mastery in this finding means that all of the students can understand the meanings of the words and they are able to match the words and the meanings correctly. If the mastery is below 100%, it means that not all of the students are able to master the words.
Based on the table, the twelve grade students’ mastery of adjectives are able to achieve 48.33% mastery of adjectives that often occur in their academic textbooks. Adjectives that they master 100% are 58 words. The other 62 adjectives are not mastered 100% and it shows that those words cannot be mastered by all of the students taken as the samples of this research.
shows that not all students can master the words. Like what has been mentioned above, adverbs which can be mastered 100% by all of the students are only 6 words. They are automatically, nonetheless, overall, temporarily, thereby, and visibly, while the other adverbs are only mastered 95% below.
It is obviously seen in the table that there are only 3 conjunctions tested in this research and all the conjunctions are mastered 100% by the twelve grade students. It means that though there are only a few numbers of conjunctions in the test, all of the students can master those words 100%. The table shows that the students’ mastery of conjunctions is good since they can achieve 100% mastery of conjunctions tested in the academic vocabulary tests. The conjunctions are:albeit, despite,andwhereas.
The analysis of the students’ mastery of academic words based on the lexical category above shows that the number of words mastered 100% in table 4.8 is equal to the number of academic words mastered 100% in table 4.8, i.e. 317 words. On the other hand, it can be said that there are 317 academic words 100% mastered by the twelve grade students inSMA Negeri 1 Wonosari.
4.1.2.2.2 Academic words mastered 95% by the twelve grade students in
SMA Negeri 1 Wonosari
Table 4.9 Academic words mastered 95% based on the lexical category
Lexical category Number of words
Number of words
Number of words 600 93
Table 4.9 shows that 95% students’ mastery of academic words is 93 words and it is equivalent to 15.5% from 600 academic words tested in this research. Those words consist of nouns, verbs, adjectives, and adverbs and they are discussed below.
Number of nouns mastered 95% based on the table is 49 words from 335 nouns or it is equivalent to 14.62%. Ninety five percent mastery means that almost all of the students are able to master the words well and only a student who are not able to master the words since he or she are not able to match the words and the meanings. Table 4.9 shows that there are 17 verbs from 123 verbs in the tests and they are equal to 13.82%. It means that the verbs that are 95% mastered by the students are 17 verbs and only a student who are not able to understand those words.
