vi ABSTRACT
Mutiara, Leonie Irina. 2014. Vocabulary Coverage of a Junior High School Textbook. Yogyakarta: Sanata Dharma University, Yogyakarta.
This research was aimed to investigate the vocabulary coverage and word recycling in a Junior High School (JHS) textbook. With two research questions, which are: (1) What is the vocabulary coverage of Junior High School textbooks?; and (2) How are the words recycled?, this research tried to reach the subsequent objectives: (1) to find out the number of types, tokens, and word families in JHS textbook and its implication and (2) to explain how the words are recycled and in what context they are recycled and its implication.
The research method was corpus-based research. The corpus were obtained from a JHS textbook entitled ‘When English Rings the Bell’ by converting the pdf file of the textbook to txt file. The textbook was published by the Ministry of Education and Culture in connection with Curriculum 2013. Concordances were used as intruments for data analysis. They were RANGE and FREQUENCY. Then, the data analysis results were interpreted to answer the research questions.
The findings suggest that in total, there are 6,213 tokens, 1,049 types, and 637 word families in the textbook. They are divided into four categories: the first and second 1,000 most English frequent words from A General Service List of English Words (GSL_1 and GSL_2), the Academic Word List (AWL), and not in the three lists (not in the list). Of the total number, 85.69% tokens, 61.20% types, and 443 word families are listed in GSL_1; 6.52% tokens, 16.30% types, and 147 word families are listed in GSL_2; 1.79% tokens, 4.58% types, and 47 word families are listed in AWL; 6.00% tokens, 17.92% types, and not available number of word family are listed in not in the list. Then the word families are counted with the number of occurence basis. Of the 637 word families, 36.89% is recycled only once, 28.89% is recycled 2-4 times, 16.48% is recycled 5-9 times, and 17.74% is recycled 10 times or more throughout the textbook.
The research concludes that the textbook is appropriate for students in the beginning level of learning English as most of the types, tokens, and families are listed in the first 2,000 frequent English words list. In addition, the number of types are also appropriate with the ideal number for beginners. On average, the word family is repeated ten times as tokens spreaded throughout the textbook. It also contains 1,049 types, appropriate number of tokens for beginners. The textbook also contains a lot of chunks, which provide opportunities to learn words in contexts with their functional usage. On the other side, it does not provide opportunities for incidental learning.
vii ABSTRAK
Mutiara, Leonie Irina. 2014. Vocabulary Coverage of a Junior High School Textbook. Yogyakarta: Universitas Sanata Dharma, Yogyakarta.
Penelitian ini dimaksudkan untuk menginvestigasi cakupan kosakata dan penggunaan ulang kata di buku pegangan Sekolah Menangah Pertama (SMP). Ada dua pertanyaan dalam penelitian ini: (1) Bagaimana cakupan kosakata di buku pegangan SMP? (2) Bagaimana kata digunakan ulang? Penelitian ini mencakup tiga objektif: (1) untuk menemukan jumlah token, type, dan word family di buku SMP dan implikasinya dan (2) untuk menjelaskan bagaimana kata digunakan ulang dan di konteks apa dan implikasinya.
Penelitian ini merupakan penelitian berbasis korpus. Korpus didapatkan dari sebuah buku pegangan di SMP berjudul When English Rings the Bell dengan cara mengubah bentuk arsip pdf menjadi arsip txt. Buku tersebut diterbitkan oleh Kementerian Pendidikan dan Kebudayaan sehubungan dengan Kurikulum 2013. Dua buah program bernama RANGE dan FREQUENCY digunakan sebagai instrumen analisis data. Kemudian hasil analisis data diinterpretasi untuk menemukan jawaban atas pertanyaan penelitian ini.
Penemuan menunjukkan bahwa secara total ada 6.213 token, 1.049 type, dan 637 word family di buku tersebut. Dibagi menjadi empat kategori; 1.000 kata bahasa Inggris pertama dan kedua yang sering dipakai dari A General Service List of English Words (GSL_1 and GSL_2), Academic Word List (AWL), dan kata Kemudian word family dihitung berdasarkan jumlah pengulangan. Dari 637 word family, 36,89% hanya digunakan sekali, 28,89% digunakan 2-4 kali, 16,48% digunakan 5-9 kali, dan 17,74% digunakan 10 kali atau lebih di seluruh bagian buku.
Dari penelitian ini, disimpulkan bahwa buku When English Rings the Bell cocok digunakan untuk siswa di tingkat permulaan dalam belajar bahasa Inggris karena sebagian besar type, token, dan word familynya terdaftar di daftar 2.000 kata bahasa Inggris pertama yang sering dipakai. Jumlah typenya pun juga sesuai dengan angka ideal untuk pemula. Rata-rata, word familynya diulang sepuluh kali sebagai token yang tersebar di seluruh bagian buku. Di buku tersebut juga terdapat 1.049 type, angka yang sesuai untuk pemula. Chunk dalam jumlah banyak juga terdapat di buku tersebut untuk membantu murid mempelajari kosakata dalam konteks dengan penggunaan fungsionalnya. Namun di sisi lain, buku tersebut tidak memberi kesempatan untuk pembelajaran insidental.
i
VOCABULARY COVERAGE
OF A JUNIOR HIGH SCHOOL TEXTBOOK
A THESIS
Presented as Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements to Obtain theMagister HumanioraDegree
in English Language Studies
by
Leonie Irina Mutiara
Student Number: 126332033
ENGLISH LANGUAGE STUDIES GRADUATE PROGRAM SANATA DHARMA UNIVERSITY
ii A Thesis on
VOCABULARY COVERAGE
OF A JUNIOR HIGH SCHOOL TEXTBOOK
by
Leonie Irina Mutiara
Student Number: 126332033
Approved by,
iii A Thesis on
VOCABULARY COVERAGE
OF A JUNIOR HIGH SCHOOL TEXTBOOK
by
Leonie Irina Mutiara Student Number: 126332033
Defended before the Board of Examiners and Declared Acceptable
Board of Examiners
Chairperson : Dr. B. B. Dwijatmoko, M.A. __________________
Secretary : F. X. Mukarto, Ph.D. __________________
Member : Dr. Fr. B. Alip, M.Pd., M.A. __________________
Member : Dr. J. Bismoko __________________
Yogyakarta, 7thFebruary 2014 The Graduate Program Director
Sanata Dharma University
iv
For Everyone who asks and keeps on asking receives;
and he who seeks and keeps on seeking finds;
and to him who knocks and keeps on knocking,
the door shall be opened.
Luke 11: 10
v
STATEMENT OF ORIGINALITY
This is to certify that all the ideas, phrases, and sentences, unless otherwise stated,
are the ideas, phrases, and sentences of the thesis writer. The writer understands
the full consequences including degree cancellation if she took somebody else’s
ideas, phrases, or sentences without a proper reference.
Yogyakarta, 27thJanuary 2014 The Writer
Leonie Irina Mutiara
vi
ABSTRACT
Mutiara, Leonie Irina. 2014. Vocabulary Coverage of a Junior High School Textbook.Yogyakarta: Sanata Dharma University, Yogyakarta.
This research was aimed to investigate the vocabulary coverage and word recycling in a Junior High School (JHS) textbook. With two research questions, which are: (1) What is the vocabulary coverage of Junior High School textbooks?; and (2) How are the words recycled?, this research tried to reach the subsequent objectives: (1) to find out the number of types, tokens, and word families in JHS textbook and its implication and (2) to explain how the words are recycled and in what context they are recycled and its implication.
The research method was corpus-based research. The corpus were obtained from a JHS textbook entitled ‘When English Rings the Bell’ by converting the pdf file of the textbook to txt file. The textbook was published by the Ministry of Education and Culture in connection with Curriculum 2013. Concordances were used as intruments for data analysis. They were RANGE and FREQUENCY. Then, the data analysis results were interpreted to answer the research questions.
The findings suggest that in total, there are 6,213 tokens, 1,049 types, and 637 word families in the textbook. They are divided into four categories: the first and second 1,000 most English frequent words from A General Service List of English Words (GSL_1 and GSL_2), the Academic Word List (AWL), and not in the three lists (not in the list). Of the total number, 85.69% tokens, 61.20% types, and 443 word families are listed in GSL_1; 6.52% tokens, 16.30% types, and 147 word families are listed in GSL_2; 1.79% tokens, 4.58% types, and 47 word families are listed in AWL; 6.00% tokens, 17.92% types, and not available number of word family are listed in not in the list. Then the word families are counted with the number of occurence basis. Of the 637 word families, 36.89% is recycled only once, 28.89% is recycled 2-4 times, 16.48% is recycled 5-9 times, and 17.74% is recycled 10 times or more throughout the textbook.
The research concludes that the textbook is appropriate for students in the beginning level of learning English as most of the types, tokens, and families are listed in the first 2,000 frequent English words list. In addition, the number of types are also appropriate with the ideal number for beginners. On average, the word family is repeated ten times as tokens spreaded throughout the textbook. It also contains 1,049 types, appropriate number of tokens for beginners. The textbook also contains a lot of chunks, which provide opportunities to learn words in contexts with their functional usage. On the other side, it does not provide opportunities for incidental learning.
vii
ABSTRAK
Mutiara, Leonie Irina. 2014. Vocabulary Coverage of a Junior High School Textbook.Yogyakarta: Universitas Sanata Dharma, Yogyakarta.
Penelitian ini dimaksudkan untuk menginvestigasi cakupan kosakata dan penggunaan ulang kata di buku pegangan Sekolah Menangah Pertama (SMP). Ada dua pertanyaan dalam penelitian ini: (1) Bagaimana cakupan kosakata di buku pegangan SMP? (2) Bagaimana kata digunakan ulang? Penelitian ini mencakup tiga objektif: (1) untuk menemukan jumlah token, type, dan word family di buku SMP dan implikasinya dan (2) untuk menjelaskan bagaimana kata digunakan ulang dan di konteks apa dan implikasinya.
Penelitian ini merupakan penelitian berbasis korpus. Korpus didapatkan dari sebuah buku pegangan di SMP berjudul When English Rings the Bell dengan cara mengubah bentuk arsip pdf menjadi arsip txt. Buku tersebut diterbitkan oleh Kementerian Pendidikan dan Kebudayaan sehubungan dengan Kurikulum 2013. Dua buah program bernama RANGE dan FREQUENCY digunakan sebagai instrumen analisis data. Kemudian hasil analisis data diinterpretasi untuk menemukan jawaban atas pertanyaan penelitian ini.
Penemuan menunjukkan bahwa secara total ada 6.213 token, 1.049type,
dan 637word family di buku tersebut. Dibagi menjadi empat kategori; 1.000 kata bahasa Inggris pertama dan kedua yang sering dipakai dari A General Service List of English Words (GSL_1 and GSL_2), Academic Word List (AWL), dan kata Kemudianword family dihitung berdasarkan jumlah pengulangan. Dari 637word family, 36,89% hanya digunakan sekali, 28,89% digunakan 2-4 kali, 16,48% digunakan 5-9 kali, dan 17,74% digunakan 10 kali atau lebih di seluruh bagian buku.
Dari penelitian ini, disimpulkan bahwa bukuWhen English Rings the Bell
cocok digunakan untuk siswa di tingkat permulaan dalam belajar bahasa Inggris karena sebagian besar type, token, dan word familynya terdaftar di daftar 2.000 kata bahasa Inggris pertama yang sering dipakai. Jumlah typenya pun juga sesuai dengan angka ideal untuk pemula. Rata-rata,word familynya diulang sepuluh kali sebagaitokenyang tersebar di seluruh bagian buku. Di buku tersebut juga terdapat 1.049 type, angka yang sesuai untuk pemula. Chunk dalam jumlah banyak juga terdapat di buku tersebut untuk membantu murid mempelajari kosakata dalam konteks dengan penggunaan fungsionalnya. Namun di sisi lain, buku tersebut tidak memberi kesempatan untuk pembelajaran insidental.
viii
LEMBAR PERNYATAAN PERSETUJUAN
PUBLIKASI KARYA ILMIAH UNTUK KEPENTINGAN AKADEMIS
Yang bertanda tangan di bawah ini, saya mahasiswa Universitas Sanata Dharma:
Nama : Leonie Irina Mutiara
Nomor Mahasiswa : 126332033
Demi pengembangan ilmu pengetahuan, saya memberikan kepada Perpustakaan
Universitas Sanata Dharma karya ilmiah saya yang berjudul:
VOCABULARY COVERAGE
OF A JUNIOR HIGH SCHOOL TEXTBOOK
beserta perangkat yang diperlukan (bila ada). Dengan demikian saya memberikan
kepada Perpustakaan Universitas Sanata Dharma hak untuk menyimpan,
mengalihkan dalam bentuk media lain, mengelolanya dalam bentuk pangkalan
data, mendistribusikan secara terbatas, dan mempublikasikannya di internet atau
media lain untuk kepentingan akademis tanpa perlu meminta ijin dari saya
maupun memberikan royalti kepada saya selama tetap mencantumkan nama saya
sebagai penulis.
Demikian pernyataan ini saya buat dengan sebenarnya.
Dibuat di Yogyakarta
Pada tanggal: 27 Januari 2014
Yang menyatakan,
ix
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
First of all, I would like to express my greatest gratitude to the Almighty
God for always guiding and blessing me. He always gives everything I need. I
believe a bright future is prepared for me. Without Him, I will be nothing.
My sincere appreciation goes to my sponsor,BapakF. X. Mukarto, Ph.D., for guiding, giving suggestions, and supporting me during my finishing this thesis.
I would like also to express my gratefulness to my lecturers in English Language
Studies for the inspiration they bring. I learn much from them.
Sincere love and gratitude is also expressed to my parents, Bapak Drs. Wardani Sugiyanto, M.Pd. and Ibu Dra. Listyawati Sri Rahayuningsih, for their love, pray, kindness, and support. I also thank my beloved sisters, Nada Dian
Sejati and Intan Ayu Nugraha, for making me laugh and always be cheerful. Not
to forget, my great thankfulness goes to my beloved fiance, Surya Adi Prasetya
Nugraha, for his love, time, and support. I also owe much to my friends, Maria
Asumpta Deny, Agatha Piscesia, Yustinus Calvin, and all KBI friends for their
willingness to share their knowledge and for happiness we share.
At last, my deepest appreciation also goes for Ibu Hardiati Agustine,
BapakArief Rahman, and all friends and teachers in SMK-SMAK Bogor and for many other names whose names cannot be mentioned one by one. I thank them
for helping and supporting me in finishing my thesis. May God bless us all.
x
LEMBAR PERNYATAAN PERSETUJUAN PUBLIKASI.………. viii
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS.………... ix
1. The Nature of Vocabulary………...…..…... 9
a. The Concept of Vocabulary... 9
b. Vocabulary Distribution... 11
2. The Importance of Vocabulary………...…..…..…. 17
a. Vocabulary as Input... 17
b. Input and Acquisition... 18
3. Vocabulary Teaching and Learning.…...…...… 20
a. Goals of Vocabulary Learning... 20
b. Principles of Learning and Teaching Vocabulary... 21
c. Vocabulary Acquisition... 22
d. Learning Vocabulary... 23
1) Low Frequency Words... 24
a) Word Guessing from Context... 24
b) Deliberate Learning with Word Cards... 25
xi
a. The Role of Textbook... 32
1) Textbooks as a Basis for Negotiation... 33
2) Textbooks as a Flexible Framework... 33
3) Textbooks and Teacher Development... 34
4) Textbooks as a Workable Compromise... 34
b. Characteristics of Materials in Use in South East Asia... 35
1) Imported Coursebook... 35
2) In-country Coursebook... 36
3) Regional Coursebook... 37
c. The Importance of Evaluating Textbooks... 37
d. Criteria for a Good Textbook... 38
5. Curriculum 2013... 40
CHAPTER IV. RESEARCH FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION A. Vocabulary Coverage of ‘When English Rings the Bell’... 50
1. Vocabulary Coverage of the Textbook.…..…... 50
2. Vocabulary Coverage of Chapter I.………..…... 54
3. Vocabulary Coverage of Chapter II.…...……..….... 56
4. Vocabulary Coverage of Chapter III.…...…...…... 57
5. Vocabulary Coverage of Chapter IV.…...……..…... 58
6. Vocabulary Coverage of Chapter V.………...….... 59
7. Vocabulary Coverage of Chapter VI.………..…... 60
8. Vocabulary Coverage of Chapter VII.………...….. 61
9. Vocabulary Coverage of Chapter VIII………...…. 62
10. Vocabulary Coverage of Classroom Language for Students.……….….. 63
11. Vocabulary Coverage of Glosarium.………..…... 64
B. Word Recycling in ‘When English Rings the Bell’... 67
1. Word Recycling in the Textbook.……….…... 67
2. Word Recycling in Chapter I.………...…... 74
3. Word Recycling in Chapter II.………..…... 75
4. Word Recycling in Chapter III.………... 76
xii
6. Word Recycling in Chapter V.………...…... 79
7. Word Recycling in Chapter VI.………...…... 80
8. Word Recycling in Chapter VII.………...…... 81
9. Word Recycling in Chapter VIII………..…... 83
10. Word Recycling in Classroom Language for Students.…...…….…... 84
11. Word Recycling in Glosarium.………..…... 85
CHAPTER V. CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS A. Conclusions………...………...….. 89
B. Recommendations…..………...………...…….. 91
REFERENCES………... 92
APPENDICES APPENDIX A... 98
APPENDIX B... 124
APPENDIX C... 131
xiii
LIST OF TABLES
Table Page
2.1 English Language Teaching Textbook Checklist... 38
2.2 Curriculum Structure for JHS... 40
3.1 Data Analysis Process... 49
4.1 Vocabulary Coverage of ‘When English Rings the Bell’... 51
4.2 Vocabulary Coverage of Chapter I... 54
4.3 Vocabulary Coverage of Chapter II... 56
4.4 Vocabulary Coverage of Chapter III... 57
4.5 Vocabulary Coverage of Chapter IV... 58
4.6 Vocabulary Coverage of Chapter V... 59
4.7 Vocabulary Coverage of Chapter VI... 60
4.8 Vocabulary Coverage of Chapter VII... 61
4.9 Vocabulary Coverage of Chapter VIII... 62
4.10 Vocabulary Coverage of Classroom Language for Students... 63
4.11 Vocabulary Coverage of Glosarium... 64
4.12 The 20 Most Frequent Word Types in ‘When English Rings the Bell’... 67
4.13 Repetition of Word Families in ‘When English Rings the Bell’... 73
4.14 Repetition of Word Families in Chapter I... 74
4.15 Repetition of Word Families in Chapter I ... 75
4.16 Repetition of Word Families in Chapter III... 76
4.17 Repetition of Word Families in Chapter IV... 77
4.18 Repetition of Word Families in Chapter V... 79
4.19 Repetition of Word Families in Chapter VI... 80
4.20 Repetition of Word Families in Chapter VII... 81
4.21 Repetition of Word Families in Chapter VIII... 83
4.22 Repetition of Word Families in Classroom Language for Students... 84
xiv
LIST OF FIGURES
Figure Page
xv
LIST OF PICTURES
Picture Page
1
CHAPTER I
INTRODUCTION
This chapter describes the role of textbook in language teaching and learning, the role of vocabulary, and some previous research on vocabulary. In general, this chapter covers the background of the research, problem identification, problem limitation, problem formulation, research goals, and research benefits.
A. BACKGROUND OF THE RESEARCH
Nowadays, the use of textbooks is widespread throughout schools and courses in the world. According to Andrew Littlejohn as in Tomlinson (1998: 190), although conferences, journals, and workshops are able to be used to spread new ideas, textbooks have been there to be the most powerful device for spreading new ideas in language teaching. It is indicated by the number of publishers in the world which increases year by year. It is in line with what Hutchinson and Torres (1994: 315) say that a textbook is “an almost universal element of ELT (English Language Teaching)”. In other words, a textbook can be found almost in every English language class in the world.
textbook. For some institutions where finance becomes a problem, the teaching and learning resource may not be as complete as the rich ones have. However, the existence of a textbook, at least one, can still be found in English language teaching and it becomes the guidance for teacher and students in teaching and learning English. Byrd (2001) also states that a textbook serves as a content and teaching/learning activities provider, which determines what happens in a classroom. Byrd’s statement confirms that a textbook really takes part in English teaching and learning activities. This shows how important a textbook is in ELT.
Behind the importance of a textbook as a guideline, however, teachers should be aware of their being unconsciously replaced by the textbook itself. Instead of participating in deciding what to teach and how to teach next based on today’s students’ development, they just rely on the ready-made textbook and believe the author knows what is good for them Hutchinson and Torres (1994: 315).
words to avoid misunderstanding. Lexis is very important in communication because “a lexical mistake often causes misunderstandings, while a grammar mistake rarely does”, as suggested by Sinclair (1996) as cited in Lewis (2008:16) and Wilkins as cited in Lewis (2008:16) with his well-known statement, “without grammar little can be conveyed; without lexis nothing can be conveyed”, emphasizing that vocabulary is a very crucial input in language learning. This is supported by what Gass and Selinker (2001: 449) and Gass (1988) say that vocabulary or lexicon may be the most crucial language component for learners as the errors may interfere with communication.
In Indonesia, it is very surprising that research by Nurweni and Read (1999) reveals that on average, students in Indonesia had vocabulary knowledge of only 1226 English words (referring to type), falling far short from the number of 3000-5000 word range where it is the threshold level needed for independent reading of unsimplified texts. In terms of breadth (quantity) and depth (quality) of vocabulary knowledge, only a small number of students were close to the threshold level. It is something teachers should note in English education in Indonesia, considering that vocabulary is very important language learning input and element.
Whereas, every group of students had different needs and background knowledge. This, then, raised some question regarding to the vocabulary level, which might be appropriate for certain group but might not be appropriate for the others. Fortunately, the research shows that the vocabulary level in the textbook was appropriate for the groups of students using it. However, the textbook did not contain enough vocabulary items for a year-long course and enough spaced repetition of the vocabulary items. Thus, other significant supplementary materials were suggested to extend vocabulary learning beyond the textbook.
Almost the same research findings come from Matsuoka and Hirsh (2010) toward their analysis of an ELT textbook. The findings also suggested that it only provided minimal opportunities for students to develop vocabulary knowledge beyond frequency and academic words. It shows a need to supplement the textbook with an extensive reading program and other programs with rich input to promote vocabulary development. Another research on vocabulary coverage by Hsu (2009) also finds that vocabulary levels of the textbooks he examined did not seem to be in line with the one claimed by the publishers. This finding, then, results in suggestion for teachers to raise their awareness of considering vocabulary level when choosing an English textbook.
published for Curriculum 2013. The research concluded that recognizing the 2,000 most frequent types would not bring 95% text coverage. Thus, some types needed to be pre-taught. The textbook also contained little types with more than five-time occurences. However, the textbook was still appropriate with Junior High School students using Curriculum 2006.
As stated above, vocabulary is seen as a very important part in language learning. Vocabulary is considered as one parameter for the success of language learning. Inadequacy of vocabulary may result in more serious effects than grammatical errors do. Thus, many ways are done by teachers to improve students’ vocabulary, either receptive or productive one to promote their vocabulary development.
Those phenomena then evoke the researcher to do this research. Since When English Rings the Bellis a new textbook, this research tries to elaborate the vocabulary items used in the textbook and their suitability to help teachers make decisions of how to use the textbook to support students’ learning achievement.
B. PROBLEM LIMITATION
In this research, the researcher limits the research study of textbook evaluation, focusing on vocabulary. Particularly, this research will deal with vocabulary coverage (types, tokens, word family and word recycling (word frequency and the context)) on a certain textbook. This limitation aims to obtain deeper investigation and discussion.
C. PROBLEM FORMULATION
This research aims to address these two following questions: 1. What is the vocabulary coverage of Junior High School textbooks? 2. How are the words recycled?
D. RESEARCH OBJECTIVES
This research deals with vocabulary which is used in Junior High School textbook. It aims to investigate the vocabulary coverage and word recycling in the JHS textbook. In particular, this research is intended to reach the subsequent objectives: (1) to find out the number of types, tokens, and word families in JHS textbook and its implication and (2) to explain how the words are recycled and in what context they are recycled and its implication.
After the vocabulary coverage and words recycling in JHS textbook are revealed, teachers are hoped to put enough consideration and pay close attention to the content of certain English textbooks, especially the vocabulary, before they pick one of them in order to meet students’ needs and wants. After picking a textbook which is considered the best for the students, every teacher should also take another decision whether to supplement, adopt, or adapt the textbook.
E. RESEARCH BENEFITS
findings, the research will then discuss how the textbook contributes to English learning in terms of its vocabulary.
9
CHAPTER II
LITERATURE REVIEW
In this part, the literature review of this research is explained to clarify concepts. The main issues of this part are the nature of vocabulary, the importance of vocabulary, teaching and learning vocabulary, textbook, and curriculum 2013. Each part is then divided into several smaller parts.
A. THEORETICAL REVIEW
This part covers the discussion about the nature of vocabulary, the importance of vocabulary, teaching and learning vocabulary, textbook, and curriculum 2013.
1. The Nature of Vocabulary
In this part, the concept of vocabulary, vocabulary distribution, word recycling, word form, word meaning, and word use are clarified.
a. The Concept of Vocabulary
Knowing a word, according to Carter (1998: 5), is “knowing the different meanings carried by a single form”. Thus, he clarifies that it is more accurate to define a word as a minimum meaningful unit of language. Words can be in different form, but it does not mean that they are counted as different words.
The concept of lexeme may help us in understanding the concept of word more clearly. Carter defines lexeme as the abstract unit underlying variants (e.g.
goes, gone, going, went) related to ‘word’. Thus, GO is the lexeme of the word-forms ‘goes’, ‘gone’, ‘going’, and ‘went’. Lexeme is ‘the basic, contrasting units of vocabulary in a language’. If we search for a meaning in dictionary, we are looking for lexeme rather than words. Then we would find the word-forms under the lexeme. The terms lexeme and word-forms are important theoretical concepts used when theoretical distinctions are needed. If not, we can just use the terms lexical items, vocabulary items, or items to refer to words.
do as a content word and do as a functional word. However, they are discussed and treated as having a different category in the discussion part.
b. Vocabulary Distribution
This research is about vocabulary coverage and its recycling, which deals with frequency. In the topic of coverage, types, tokens, and word families are the important terms. Thus, it is important to define what they are.
1) Types and Tokens
If we intend to count how long a textbook is, we deal with token (Nation and Meara, 2002), or can be called as ‘running words’ (Nation 2001). Even though the word, for example laptop, has occurred and been counted, it should still be counted every time it occurs again. The same words are counted as a new word each time it occurs. If we are counting types, the same words are only counted once although it occurs more than once. Any occurrence of the same word is not counted as a new word, but “as another occurrence of the same type” (Nation, 1983: 10). The sentence The red house belongs to the girl with red shirt
contains ten tokens and eight types. After the first occurrence, the words theand
redare not counted again.
The analysis and interpretation is only limited to English words only in the material presentation of the book.
2) Word Family
Based on the explanation by Bauer and Nation (1993), the concept of word family is crucial for systematic approach in vocabulary teaching and deciding the vocabulary load of texts which will be used. To know what is included in a word family, one way is to count lemmas. A lemma is a set of related words which have the stem form and inflected forms that come from the same part of speech (Nation and Meara, 2002). Thus, go, goes, went, going are under the same lemma because their stems are the same, and they are all verbs. However, word family does not only consist of a lemma. Word family also includes words with derivational affixes such as non- and suffixes such as -ness
whose stem are the same. Words under the same word family do not have to be in the same part of speech. Once the stem of words is known, learners will require less effort to recognize other words under the same word family. As they are more proficient, they tend to acquire more number of words in their word families (Bauer and Nation, 1993).
400), a single meaning is given to an MWU, such as in phrasal verbs (give up), compounds (freeze-dry), and idioms (burn the midnight oil)’. However, in this research, MWU is counted as separate words.
On the other hand, Schmitt continues that the coverage of collocation (words which tend to occur together) is far beyond the level of MWUs. In fact, longer sequences of words to occur together are common and frequently found and some of them are treated as units, likehave you ever heard the one about___?
The term which is commonly used to refer to this type of sequence is lexical chunk or lexical phrases. Lexical chunk is very common for its relation to functional language use. For example, the above lexical chunk is usually used to introduce a joke. In this research, lexical chunk is regarded as words occuring together which has functional language use. However, it is counted as separate words.
c. Word Recycling
In this research, word recycling refers to how many times a word occurs in a textbook and in what context it occurs. In another word, we can call it as frequency. According to Nation (1983), most frequency count is based on a sample of text with at least one million words.
Frequency itself has its own purpose. It provides a rational basis for learners vocabulary learning, like what is stated by Nation and Waring (1997).
Thus, it is very important to know the frequent words in a textbook before teachers use a certain textbook and ensure that the vocabulary learned is useful for the learners.
Other experts also note the role of frequency in vocabulary learning. According to Coady and Nation (1988), word frequency in a textbook has some effects on some learners. Ten times in minimum is enough to have an effect on them. There is no exact number of frequency which contributes to vocabulary acquisition, but the more the better in subsequent level (Nation and Wang, 1999). However, Pienemann and Johnston’s model, as stated in Gass and Mackey (2002), suggests that regardless the frequency of input one receives, the acquisition of communicative value will hardly depend on particular developmental order. Otherwise, it will be kept and made available when one is ready for processing and use (Gass, 1997). It means that high frequency input does not necessarily bring effects on one’s acquisition of the input.
According to Thomas, Pfister, and Peterson (2004) words with high frequency usually includes functional/structural words like in, to, of, and for. High-frequency words tend not to contain conceptual validity for an individual word or for the text where the words occur. Words with medium frequency are those with lesser generality but frequently repeated (Herdan 1964 as in Thomas et al 2004). In this medium-frequency group, some commonly used content words may be found. He also states that words with low frequency tend to contain higher informational value than words with higher frequency. The size of group of word types which occur only once is called ‘hapax legomena’. It indicates word learning and vocabulary richness of a text (Holmes, 1994).
d. Word Form
According to Nation (2006c), words which are easy to pronounce tend to be easier to be held in working memory and the chance of entering long-term memory is bigger. That is why words introduced early in an English course needs to be easily pronounced. Words with unfamiliar sounds can also be learned by listening practice and guided pronunciation practice. English spelling is irregular, but there are some patterns and rules which can help to learn it. It can be helped if learners learn the most common affixes and their meanings and also simple explanation of its etymology.
attention to phonics (relationships between sound and spelling) (Stahl, Duffy, & Stahl, 1998).
e. Word Meaning
Nation (2006c: 449) states that “if an L2 word is a loan word or a cognate in L1, it is then very easy to relate the form of the word to its meaning”. For example, over a half of English words was derived from French and Latin (Roberts 1965, as in Nation 2006c). Thus, other languages derived from French or Latin share a lot of vocabulary. This can help the learning process of the words by analyzing them into parts and paying close attention to prefixes and suffixes.
Furthermore, Nation also argues that developing considerable concept is required for understanding the meaning of some English words, especially for learners with certain first languages. For example, Indonesian language does not have different pronouns for people with different sex, while English has. English differenciates words for siblings based on the sex (brother and sister), while Indonesian differenciates them by age (kakakandadik). However, developing L2 concept for words may be helped if the L1 equivalent is sufficient. If the range of senses corresponds much to the L1, the learning burden will decrease.
f. Word Use
However, native speakers are able to use the language appropriately because they have learned and stored units of language, such as That’s all very well for you to say, which is larger than a word, and access and use them whenever they need them. Thus, they just need quick time to produce language accurately (Nation 2006c). In addition, Nation also proposes his idea about restrictions in word use.
Some words such as faucet, kid, bugger, and explicate have restrictions on their use. These restrictions include geographical restrictions (Americans use faucet; British use tap), register (expedite is very formal; speed up is more colloquial), currency (some words such as forsooth and breeches are no longer in use), age restrictions (potty and choo-choo are used by and with children), gender restrictions (fabulous tends to be used by women), and frequency (some words such as diligent and capricious are not commonly used). (p. 449)
When learning a language, learning those restrictions is very necessary. It helps learners to produce language naturally.
2. The Importance of Vocabulary
Vocabulary is important in language learning. It is clarified in this part, including the discussion of vocabulary as input and input and acquisition.
a. Vocabulary as Input
example, if a learner in a very early stage writes the sentence I yesterday buy much books on the store book.The grammar is totally wrong. The sentence should beYesterday, I bought many books in the book store.Although, the sentence uses wrong grammar, readers can still understand what it means. However, if the learner wants to express his idea in the same target language, he cannot do it without having enough vocabulary knowledge. Even a word cannot be spoken or written and no information is delivered if he does not know any vocabulary in the target language.
The idea that vocabulary is important is also supported by Sinclair at IATEFL 1996, as in Lewis (2008: 16). He states that “a lexical mistake often causes misunderstanding, while a grammar mistake rarely”. The sentenceMy note book was lost carries meaning that someone’s book which he used to take note in is not with him anymore. However, what he intends to say is netbook,a smaller version of laptop. Then, the lexical mistake causes misunderstanding to whom he is talking to. Otherwise, the sentence My netbook lost will rarely causes misunderstanding although the grammar is wrong. The researcher does not intend to say that grammar is not important. Grammar is important, but not as important as vocabulary because it is vocabulary which carries more meaning.
b. Input and Acquisition
Acquisition depends crucially on the input being
comprehensible. And comprehensibility is dependent directly on the ability to recognize the meaning of key elements in the utterance. Thus, acquisition will not take place without comprehension of vocabulary. (p. 155)
Vocabulary is seen very crucial as language input. Without comprehending vocabulary, learners will not acquire language. Learners’ recognition of the meaning of vocabulary in certain utterance affects their comprehensibility because vocabulary is the key element of language. That is why without having enough input, language acquisition would be hard to occur.
3. Vocabulary Teaching and Learning
The concept of teaching and learning vocabulary is explained in this part. It includes goals of vocabulary learning, principles of learning and teaching vocabulary, vocabulary acquisition, vocabulary teaching and learning, and what vocabulary should be learned.
a. Goals of Vocabulary Learning
When planning or designing a language course, it is important to define its goals. Setting learning goals is very useful to determine the material, learning activities, our teaching method, and so on. It becomes the guidance as well as the end point of a course.
(2000b), the first 2,000 most frequent types of English is referred as the level for the basic initial goal of second language learners. However, only the first 1,000 most frequent types needs to be recognized by elementary level students (Sánchez & Criado, 2009).
Nation (2001: 9) proposes that studies in native speaker’s vocabulary suggest that “second language learners need to know very large numbers of words”, which can be useful in a long term. It is because the studies consider that all words are of equal value for learners. However, frequency based studies see that some words are more useful than others.
b. Principles of Learning and Teaching Vocabulary
which “encourage thoughtful processing of vocabulary through retrieval, generative use, and the use of mnemonic devices where needed”; 5) Teachers should help learners to “take responsibility for their own vocabulary learning”.
c. Vocabulary Acquisition
It is rather surprising that descriptive studies in vocabulary development patterns are still limited. The possible reason is that what is meant by ‘knowing’ a word is not very clearly defined (Ellis, 2008). Another reason is the absence of agreed terminal stage for word knowledge. Unlike grammar, vocabulary has an open system and every native speaker has different, various vocabulary size and depth of knowledge of words.
Ellis (1997) states learning vocabulary is not necessarily learning word by word in phrases. If a learner saysI am fine, it does not mean that he knows the words I, am, and fine. Ellis notes that vocabulary or lexical acquisition occurs through segmentation process when learners realize that formulaic sequences are constructed by separate words so they need additional formulas, identify recurring elements, and make open slots in them. In this case, the process of acquiring a word may not be so different from the process of developing grammar.
Test by Nation and Beglar (2007). Over time, by being given more and more input, learners will acquire larger number of words.
Studies in vocabulary qualitative changes require information about some dimensions of word knowledge. The three dimensions by Haastrup and Henriksen (1998) are: 1) partial-precise, referring to learners’ level of comprehension of the same given word; 2) receptive-productive, referring to learners’ knowledge of a given word, whether learners can use it receptively or productively; and 3) depth of knowledge, referring to the extent to which learners have acquired properties if a given word like word’s paradigmatic and syntagmatic relations.
Another way to measure learners’ vocabulary development is using Paribakht and Wesche’s (1993) Vocabulary Knowledge Scale. The scale includes five levels which explain learner’s level of knowledge of specific words. These levels start from total unfamiliarity to ability to use the words in a sentence. The stages are: 1. Learners have never seen the word before; 2. Learners have seen the word, but they do not know what it means; 3. Learners have seen the word before, and may know what it means (synonym or translation), 4. Learners know the word and its meaning (synonym or translation), 5. Learners can use the word in a sentence. This process of acquisition proceeds cumulatively, where learners gradually obtain information related to word form and word meaning.
d. Learning Vocabulary
frequency words deserver more classroom time (Nation, 2006b). On the other hand, because of its low occurrence, low frequency words do not deserve much classroom time. After learners know the high frequency words, they can begin learning the low frequency words. However, the focus is learning the strategy how to deal with the words. Here are some approaches and strategies in dealing with low and high frequency words.
1) Low Frequency Words
Nation proposes four strategies in dealing with low frequency words, namely guessing words from context, deliberate learning using word cards, using word part analysis to help memory, and dictionary use.
a) Word Guessing from Context
b) Deliberate Learning with Word Cards
Using word cards in vocabulary learning is included in deliberate one. Deliberate vocabulary learning is more effective than incidental vocabulary learning since it is more focused and goal oriented (Nation and Meara, 2002). In order to be successful in this strategy, Nation (2001) suggests a set of learning guidelines through the use of word cards, which are: i) retrieval rather than recognition; ii) the use of appropriately sized groups of cards; iii) repetition spacing; iv) word aloud repetition; v) word processing; vi) interference avoidance; vii) serial learning effect avoidance; and viii) the use of context when needed.
c) Memorization with Word Parts
This strategy helps learners memorize unfamiliar words by analyzing its parts. According to Coady and Nation (1988: 107), an unknown word can be analyzed by checking its “prefixes and stem, as a clue to its meaning”, for example, the word apposition, which comes from the words ap- (a form of ad-),
d) Dictionary Use
Nation and Meara (2002) propose that there are some types of dictionary; monolingual, bilingual, or bilingualized. They can be used receptively (to support listening and reading) or productively (to support speaking and writing). There are some subskills in using dictionaries, as suggested by Nation and Meara (2002)
Dictionary use involves numerous subskills such as reading a phonemic transcription, interpreting grammatical information, generalizing from example sentences and guessing from context to help choose from alternative meanings. (p.46)
2) High Frequency Words
According to Nation (2006b), teaching and learning vocabulary with high frequency can be divided into four strands, namely meaning focused input,
meaning focus output, language focused learning, and fluency development. a) Meaning-focused Input
Nation and Meara (2002) suggest that meaning focused input is included in incidental vocabulary learning through reading and listening. In order for this strategy to occur, non-native speakers should meet three conditions. First, only a small amount of unknown vocabulary is allowed in a text, around two per cent, or one unknown word in 50 (Hu and Nation, 2000). Second, the non-native speakers should receive large amount of input, at least one million tokens or more per year. Third, there should be more deliberate attention to the unknown word to increase the learning.
level, containing around 95% familiar words. Those texts can be used in reading and listening activities. In class, teachers’ instruction and interaction with learners are also a good source of listening input. If teachers use high vocabulary words, then learners have enough opportunities for vocabulary learning.
If an extensive reading program is well-managed, well-designed, it can also provide opportunities to learn and develop vocabulary knowledge. A good extensive reading program, based on what Nation and Wang (1999) state, a) provides interesting materials in which learners know 98% of the running words, b) inspires learners to read at least one book every two weeks, c) encourages learners to read at least three books at the same level before reading those at higher level, d) encourages learners to learn the unknown words in the texts deliberately, and e) facilitates learners to talk and write about what they read with enough amount of time, not much.
b) Meaning-focused Output
Negotiation of meaning is a powerful aspect in learning vocabulary through speaking (Nation, 2006b). However, the proportion of negotiation of words learned through spoken communication activities is still small. Nation adds that to design speaking tasks which facilitate vocabulary learning, some considerations should be put into account. Those are: i) the target vocabulary should be included in the written input, ii) the vocabulary should be used when performing the tasks, iii) it is necessary to provide various opportunities in the task for learners to use the vocabulary, iv) learners are required to use the vocabulary in a different way from the one in the written input.
Learning from meaning-focused output can also occur in writing activities. (Nation, 2006b) proposes that useful writing activities require written or spoken output as a source of information to write about. For example, the Internet is a good media for learning vocabulary since it provides learners opportunities to communicate and discuss through writing which includes negotiation of vocabulary. Besides, synthesizing information from some texts can also be a useful written input as a source of vocabulary learning.
c) Language-focused Learning
teachers and learners to work together in a text, looking at the language features and content.
From vocabulary perspective, teaching unknown words can be solved by pre-teaching them, giving the meanings directly, giving training in using strategies of guessing from context, analyzing word parts, and using dictionary. The selection of which one to use depends on whether it is high frequency or low frequency word, whether it is important in the text, the nature of the word, and the context in the text.
d) Fluency Development
For sure, for fluency development, unknown words are not included. Learners do not learn new vocabulary, but learn how to make the best use of vocabulary that they already know or learn before. According to Nation and Meara (2002), developing vocabulary fluency needs several conditions. It requires familiar materials in a large number, focuses on the message, and enough pressure to learn at higher level. Vocabulary fluency development does not focus specifically on vocabulary or grammar anymore. Above that, it aims to develop fluency in listening, speaking, reading, or writing
(learners make repeated attempts to record their best-spoken text), and rehearsed talks. The second approach is making many connections and associations with a known word. It involves using a known word in various contexts and situations. The activities can be speed-reading practice, extensive reading, continuous writing, and retelling activities. It aims at developing vocabulary system in a good order. Fluency is gained by controlling the language system and using the known word in various contexts and situations well and efficiently.
According to Nation (2006b), there are some characteristics of fluency development. They are: i) involving no unknown vocabulary, grammatical features, or discourse features; ii) existence of pressure or encouragement to perform at faster speed; iii) message-focused aiming at message production or comprehension; iv) involving language use in a large number. In the level of words or phrases, like numbers, time sequences, greetings, etc, the activities can be teacher saying words or phrases quickly while learners pointing to what is being said, or done productively by doing vice versa.
e. Vocabulary to Learn
counting the frequency of vocabulary items in a relevant corpus, it enables teachers to find a list of words which is useful for learners in early stages of language learning. The high frequency words deserve more teaching time and need to be the main learners’ vocabulary goal since they are frequent and widespread. According to Read (2004) there are several things learners should be able to do with high frequency words.
Learners need to have more than just a superficial understanding of the meaning; they should develop a rich and specific meaning representation as well as knowledge of the word’s formal
features, syntactic functioning, collocational possibilities, register characteristics, and so on. (p. 155)
On the other hand, Nation and Waring continues, the low frequency words are not so frequent and thus do not deserve teaching time. However, these words should still be learned independently by learners after they have learned the high frequency words. Teachers should train them strategies how to learn those words. Beside the frequency counts, the decision also depends on learners’ need. It is necessary for teachers to look at learners’ need and make a special purposes vocabulary list.
4. Textbook
In this research, the term coursebook and textbook have the same definition. According to (Matsuoka & Hirsh, 2010: 57), a course book is defined as follows.
environment with language teacher support including pre-teaching of target vocabulary items.
Textbook then refers to any kind of book which is used by teachers to support English language learning in a classroom.
a. The Role of Textbooks
Nowadays, the use of textbook is widespread throughout schools and courses in the world. Language learning activities seem incomplete without the use of textbook. According to Littlejohn (1998), although conferences, journals, and workshops are able to be used to spread new ideas, textbook has been there to be the most powerful device for spreading new ideas in language teaching. It is indicated by the number of publishers in the world which increases year by year. Often, learners have their own paradox about the existence of textbook in language learning, as proposed by Sheldon (1988).
It is a cruel paradox that for students, teacher-generated material (which potentially has a dynamic and maximal relevance to local needs) often has less credibility than a published textbook, no matter how inadequate that may be. (p. 238)
Hutchinson and Torres (1994: 324) propose a broad perspective on the role of a textbook, which makes a textbook “continues to be the mainstay of ELT provision”.
1) Textbooks as a Basis for Negotiation
The idea that a textbook only serves as a classroom material provider is totally wrong. Classroom material provider is just one of the functions that a textbook has. Instead, a textbook serves a lot of needs within classroom and beyond it. It is not only a packaged material in a certain format. More than that, it “provides a structure for the management of the lesson as a social interaction and a basis for negotiation between all the relevant parties” (Hutchinson and Torres, 1994: 324).
2) Textbooks as a Flexible Framework
A textbook is not a dictatorial instructor. Instead, it provides learners flexibility, responsibility, and freedom of choice within a structured learning environment presented by teacher through the use of a textbook (Owen, Froman, & Moscow, 1978). It enables learners to achieve their best development by providing a secure framework. The argument is proposed by Allen (2008) who argues that teachers have rights how and when to use textbooks. In other words, teachers have control over the textbook in classroom and thus, it is not a dictatorial instructor.
3) Textbooks and Teacher Development
Textbooks provide clear things to negotiate about, thus, teachers and learners can negotiate them freely. The assumption that a highly structured textbook causes the de-skilling of teachers is not true. Hutchinson and Torres (1994) suggest that the more teachers feel comfortable with what they are doing, the more inclined they make changes and variations from the textbook. Textbooks enable variations to happen in classroom. Without structured guidance provided by textbooks, teachers tend to do the same way in teaching. Hutchinson and Torres’ argument is supported by a study by Stodolsky (1988) which reveals that teachers are not constrained by textbooks. Instead, they make variations in their teaching resulted from their convictions and preferences, the nature of materials that they use, the school context, the learners, the subject matter, and the classroom grade level.
4) Textbooks as a Workable Compromise
Due to the various needs of learners in a learning context, textbooks are regarded as a workable compromise, as Hutchinson and Torres (1994: 325-326) says that “nothing that happens in education is anything more than a workable compromise, and we cannot uniquely condemn textbooks because they are not a perfect fit”. It is teachers’ duty to decide their own way of using and adapting the textbook based on learners’ needs, as Cunningsworth (1984) proposes.
for the best possible fit between what the coursebook offers and what we as teachers and students need. (p. 89)
Cunningsworth’s argument is supported by Allen’s (2008) argument that the main point of using a textbook is not on what is included or not included in a textbook, but on how teachers use particular materials in their classrooms.
So the most pertinent question may not be what is included (or not) in a particular textbook package but how instructors are using it (or not) in their teaching practices and why. (p. 7) b. Characteristics of Materials in Use in Southeast Asia
According to Bao (2008), based on his personal experience, English materials used in the ASEAN member countries can be divided into three main categories. They are imported coursebooks, in-country coursebooks, and regional coursebooks.
1) Imported Coursebook
learners with various level to understand instructions, b) sometimes the coursebook fails to present accurate cultural information and images, c) there is little opportunity for learners to express their identity due to different country or cultural background, d) imported coursebook, for some parents, are not affordable, and e) it tends to be not in line with local examination system and national education requirement.
2) In-country Coursebook
and e) sometimes it contains too much local-culture topic which can lower learners curiosity.
3) Regional Coursebook
This kind of coursebook is unique. It is written by non-native speakers, but exported to and accepted in some countries. This coursebook share the same strengths with in-country coursebook and has two additional strengths: a) it has efficient distribution network and b) it has good market sales with attractive design. It also shares the same weaknesses with in-country coursebook with two additional weaknesses, which are: a) the materials are not applicable in some countries due to the difference in English proficiency levels.
c. The Importance of Evaluating Textbooks
According to Hutchinson and Waters (1987: 96), “evaluation is a matter of judging the fitness of something for a particular purpose”. In this case, it judges the fitness of a textbook for particular learners, with their learning purpose, background knowledge, needs, and so on. It is not a matter of good or bad, but how a textbook helps learners achieve the required purpose.
textbook has to match with teachers and learners’ needs. Thus, subjective factors should not obscure objectivity.
d. Criteria for a Good Textbook
Selecting a good textbook might be challenging for teachers. There are so many textbooks offered, but not all of them are suitable to students’ needs. In selecting a good textbook, teachers need to consider some aspects. Mukundan and Nimehchisalem (2012) develop a textbook evaluation checklist to help teachers evaluate a textbook before using it, as presented in the table below.
Table 2.1 English Language Teaching Textbook Checklist by Mukundan and Nimehchisalem (2012: 1132)
Evaluative Criteria
I. General attributes
A. The book in relation to syllabus and curriculum 1. It matches to the specifications of the syllabus. B. Methodology
2. The activities can be exploited fully and can embrace the various methodologies in ELT.
3. Activities can work well with methodologies in ELT. C. Suitability to learners
4. It is compatible to the age of the learners. 5. It is compatible to the needs of the learners. 6. It is compatible to the interests of the learners. D. Physical and utilitarian attributes
7. Its layout is attractive.
8. It indicates efficient use of text and visuals. 9. It is durable.
10. It is cost-effective.
E. Efficient outlay of supplementary materials
Evaluative Criteria
II. Learning-teaching content A. General
12. Most of the tasks in the book are interesting. 13. Tasks move from simple to complex.
14. Task objectives are achievable.
15. Cultural sensitivities have been considered. 16. The language in the textbook is natural and real.
17. The situations created in the dialogues sound natural and real. B. Listening
18. The book has appropriate listening tasks with well-defined goals. 19. Tasks are efficiently graded according to complexity.
20. Tasks are authentic or close to real language situations. C. Speaking
21. Activities are developed to initiate meaningful communication.
22. Activities are balanced between individual response, pair work and group work.
D. Reading
23. Texts are graded. 24. Texts are interesting. E. Writing
25. Tasks have achievable goals and take into consideration learner capabilities. 26. Tasks are interesting.
F. Vocabulary
27. The load (number of new words in each lesson) is appropriate to the level. 28. There is a good distribution (simple to complex) of vocabulary load across chapters and the whole book.
29. Words are efficiently repeated and recycled across the book. G. Grammar
30. The spread of grammar is achievable. 31. The grammar is contextualized. 32. Examples are interesting.
33. Grammar is introduced explicitly and reworked incidentally throughout the book.
H. Pronunciation 34. It is contextualized.
35. It is learner-friendly with no complex charts. I. Exercises
36. They are learner friendly. 37. They are adequate.
5. Curriculum 2013
The newest curriculum in Indonesia education setting is Curriculum 2013. Although it has not been implemented in all schools in Indonesia, several schools are believed to become pilot schools to implement the new curriculum. The Junior High School (JHS) curriculum structure is as follows.
Table 2.2 Curriculum Structure for JHS (Kemdikbud, 2013a) Lessons
Time Allocation per Week
VII VIII IX
Group A
1. Pendidikan Agama dan Budi Pekerti 3 3 3 2. Pendidikan Pancasila dan
Kewarganegaraan
3 3 3
3. Bahasa Indonesia 6 6 6
4. Matematika 5 5 5
5. Ilmu Pengetahuan Alam 5 5 5
6. Ilmu Pengetahuan Sosial 4 4 4
7 Bahasa Inggris 4 4 4
Group B
1. Seni Budaya 3 3 3
2. Pendidikan Jasmani, Olah Raga, dan Kesehatan
3 3 3
3. Prakarya 2 2 2
The content of lessons in group A is developed by the central government, while the content of lessons in group B is developed by the central government complemented with local content developed by district government.
In Curriculum 2006, English is firstly introduced formally in elementary schools as a compulsory subject with six contact hours per week. In the new curriculum, Curriculum 2013, English is set as an extracurricular activity in elementary schools. It is firstly introduced formally as a compulsory subject in JHS level with four contact hours per week. However, the total contact hours in JHS level increases from 32 per week to 38 per week. The government adds some contact hours to some lessons likePendidikan Agama dan Budi Pekerti. With the increasing number of contact hours and decreasing number of Kompetensi Dasar
in Curriculum 2013, it is expected that teachers have more time to develop learning process which is active learning students oriented (Kemdikbud, 2013a).
B. THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK
A good textbook is not only a complement in language learning. More than that, a textbook should provide teaching and learning guide both for teachers and learners; what to teach, what to learn, how to teach, and how to learn. Although it is very essential and determines the flow of the language learning, the success of language learning does not primarily depend on the textbook. The success of language learning depends on the teachers and learners themselves, how they make use of the textbook to support their needs. No matter how perfect and complete a textbook is, it would never support language learning if the users cannot use it properly. On the contrary, a less perfect textbook would be very beneficial for the users if they can match what is there in the textbook with learners’ needs.
An aspect in a textbook deals with vocabulary items which are used in it. Vocabulary itself plays an important role in language learning. As the result, vocabulary coverage of a textbook becomes one consideration in textbook selection. Vocabulary takes an essential part in language learning since the meaning of language lies in the meaning of the vocabulary items as the key elements, which affect comprehensibility. Having comprehension of vocabulary, learners would be able to acquire language (Krashen and Terrell, 1995).
acquire something. In this case, 1,000 English types need to be recognized by studentsinbeginning level (Sánchez & Criado, 2009).
Vocabulary consists of words. It contains a number of type, token, and word family. Those are recycled throughout a textbook in different contexts. The number of type, token, and word family in the textbook will affect whether the vocabulary is comprehensible or not. If the number of token is almost the same with the number of type, it means that the vocabulary items are too various. It is too wide to cover all of them. If the number of the token is far below the number of type, it means that the textbook uses a lot of vocabulary items which are the same, repeated too frequently. Ten-time repetitions should bring enough effect on students (Coady and Nation, 1988).
44
CHAPTER III
METHODOLOGY
This chapter discusses the methodology used in this research. It covers the
discussion about the nature of the data, the research design, and the data analysis.
A. NATURE OF DATA
This research used corpus as the only data. According to Bennett (2010: 2),
“a corpus is a large, principled collection of naturally occurring examples of language
stored electronically”. It serves to identity particular patterns related to lexical or
grammatical features and how they differ within varieties and registers. Spesifically, a
corpus can be used to find information about frequency. It provides frequency data
which later may change what is taught in teaching activities (McEnery and Xiao,
2011).
In this research, the corpus was in written form. There was no data gathering
instrument since the corpus had already been ready to download from the Internet. It
was a junior high school student’s textbook published by the Ministry of Education
and Culture to support the implementation of Curriculum 2013. The textbook was
entitledWhen English Rings the Bellwith Asep Gunawan, Yuli Rulani Khatimah, and
Siti Wachidah as the text contributors. It was a 188-page textbook with eight
Picture 3.1 Cover ofWhen English Rings the Bell
The textbook was chosen with regard to the implementation of Curriculum 2013. It is
a new textbook specially designed for the new curriculum. Since the textbook is still
new, many teachers might not have investigated further what is presented in the
textbook, especially the vocabulary items. This textbook was chosen to help teachers
know the vocabulary level and coverage of the textbook and later help them make
