Institutional Repository | Satya Wacana Christian University: Vocabulary Teaching Techniques Used by English Teachers to Teach Seventh Grade Students at SMPN 6 Salatiga

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VOCABULARY TEACHING TECHNIQUES USED BY

ENGLISH TEACHERS TO TEACH SEVENTH GRADE

STUDENTS AT SMPN 6 SALATIGA

THESIS

Submitted in Partial Fullfilment

of the Requirements for the Degree of

Sarjana Pendidikan

Kristi Meisa Kurnianti

112014064

ENGLISH LANGUAGE EDUCATION PROGRAM

FACULTY OF LANGUAGE AND ARTS

UNIVERSITAS KRISTEN SATYA WACANA

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i

VOCABULARY TEACHING TECHNIQUES USED BY

ENGLISH TEACHERS TO TEACH SEVENTH GRADE

STUDENTS AT SMPN 6 SALATIGA

THESIS

Submitted in Partial Fullfilment

of the Requirements for the Degree of

Sarjana Pendidikan

Kristi Meisa Kurnianti

112014064

ENGLISH LANGUAGE EDUCATION PROGRAM

FACULTY OF LANGUAGE AND ARTS

UNIVERSITAS KRISTEN SATYA WACANA

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COPYRIGHT STATEMENT

This thesis contains no such material as has been submitted for examination in any course or accepted for the fulfillment of any degree or diploma in any university. To the best of my knowledge and my belief, this contains no material previously published or written by any other person except where due reference is made in the text.

Copyright@2018. Kristi Meisa Kurnianti and Prof. Dr. Gusti Astika, M.A.

All rights reserved. No part of this thesis may be reproduced by any means without the prior written permission of at least one of the copyright owners or the English Language Education Program of Universitas Kristen Satya Wacana Salatiga.

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Vocabulary is essential part of a language. In Indonesia especially in Salatiga, many students are still struggling to enrich their vocabulary in order to master English. It will make English teachers work hard to help their students to learn vocabulary. Therefore, this study investigates vocabulary teaching techniques that the English teachers used at SMPN 6 Salatiga for teaching seventh grade students. In this descriptive study, the research

question was “how do the English teachers of SMPN 6 Salatiga teach

vocabulary to seventh grade students”. The participants of the study were two English teachers of SMPN 6 Salatiga. The data of the study were collected by doing observasions and semi-structured interviews. The result of the study indicated that the English teachers at SMPN 6 Salatiga used explicit vocabulary instruction, attractive activities such as crossword puzzles, listening to songs, reading novels, etc. and task-based learning to teach seventh grade students.

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2 INTRODUCTION

In a country like Indonesia, where English is a foreign language, most

students in Indonesia especially high school students still struggle with some

problems about learning English subject. Therefore, it will be a challenge for

English teachers to teach English effectively to their students. In this case,

English teachers should be able to help their students to learn vocabulary and

enrich their vocabulary with certain teaching methods or stategies that can be

used to develop students’ vocabulary knowledge. Schmitt (2000), claims that

“The learning of these basic words cannot be left to chance, but should be

taught as quickly as possible, because they open […] the door of further learning” (p. 137).

Vocabulary is the root of a language especially English. According to

Hashino (2010), lexical items are the basis of language. Teachers and

students can never underestimate its importance in learning a target language.

In other words, a language is construted by formation of words. Read (2004),

states that L2 limitations in L2 learners’ vocabulary knowledge hamper their ability to communicate effectively. It means that if students want to

communicate with others or use the language effectively they should have

many stock of words of the language. Students cannot communicate with

others if they do not have enough stock of words. Besides, students cannot

use the language if they do not know the words of the language itself. Many

studies also have investigated vocabulary knowledge. The studies indicate

that vocabulary knowledge is an important factor for successful reading

comprehension in EFL (Hu & Nation, 2000). Besides, Wang (2015) states

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vocabulary knowledge and listening comprehension in EFL context. Thus,

teachers and students have been long confused about the exact role that

vocabulary knowledge plays in L2 listening comprehension. Vocabulary is

also very influential in writing skill because the more words L2 learners have,

the better they produce a writing. Therefore, English teachers should pay

attention on the enhancement of comprehension instead of promotion of

word knowledge alone (Hedrick, Harmon, & Linerode, 2004). This statement

indicates that teachers need to improve their students’ comprehension toward

English words rather than promote word knowledge.

It is crucial to investigate the issue that arises in teaching

vocabulary, especially in EFL context. An issue is found that most EFL

students struggle with the following problems : how to enrich their

vocabulary knowledge and how to refine their language skills. Teaching

vocabulary is an important part in linguistic field, but both teachers and

students sometimes are not aware of the importance of vocabulary in

language learning. Some researchers claim that good vocabulary instruction

will lead to successful L2 learners in the L2. Hassani et al. (2013) state that

vocabulary teaching is the process of selection and presentation of words

(lexis) for learners. It means it is very significant for English teachers to select

appropriate techniques in teaching vocabulary to L2 learners.

This study aimed at investigating the vocabulary teaching techniques

that English teachers use to teach their students. This descriptive study

attempted to find out vocabulary teaching techniques used by English

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may encourage other teachers to investigate their vocabulary teaching

practice. Besides, the other English teachers in Salatiga can also apply the

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5 LITERATURE REVIEW

A. GENERAL OVERVIEW OF VOCABULARY

Vocabulary is a very crucial aspect in language learning. Students will

master a language if they master vocabulary of the language. Nation (1990)

argues that knowing a word was also defined as knowing the spelling,

pronunciation, collocations and appropriateness. Another researcher also

defines vocabulary as “a set of lexemes (the smallest unit in the meaning system of a language that can be distinguished from other similar units),

including single words, compound words and idioms” (Richards & Schmidt,

2002).

Nation (2008) in his book stated that vocabulary can be divided into

three or four levels largely on the basis of how often it occurs in the language

(its frequency) and how widely it occurs (its range), namely high frequency

words, academic words, technical words, and low frequency words.

B. THE IMPORTANCE OF VOCABULARY IN FOUR LANGUAGE

SKILLS

Vocabulary is important for developing four language skills. Some studies

indicate that students need to have good vocabulary knowledge in order to

perform well in the four language skills. Within the last few years, vocabulary

is viewed as an important aspect in second language learning. In fact, many

experts believe that vocabulary is just as important as the main skills

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1. The Importance of Vocabulary for Listening Skill

There are several studies about the relationship between vocabulary

knowledge and listening comprehension. Wang (2015) claimes that

vocabulary knowledge is the main obstacle to successful listening

comprehension for EFL learners. In other words, EFL learners will get

difficulties in listening skill when they do not have enough vocabulary

knowledge. Besides, it becomes a barrier for ELF learners to successful

listening comprehension. In any case, the study clearly identified knowledge

of the 2,000 most frequent English word families as a key proficiency

threshold for L2 reading and writing skills (Stæhr, 2008). It indicates that

2,000 frequent vocabulary that L2 learners have can lead them to success in

reading and speaking skills.

2. The Importance of Vocabulary for Speaking Skill

Vocabulary knowledge plays an important function in speaking skill.

Adolph and Schmitt (2003), argue that at least, 3,000 word families should

be mastered by L2 learners in order to communicate and understand 95

percent of the language communicated by native speakers. As a consequence,

L2 learners have to completely comprehend vocabulary of each word they

are exposed to.

Read (2004) argues that limitations in L2 learners’ vocabulary

knowledge hinder their capability to communicate effectively. A similar idea

about the importance of vocabulary for speaking skill comes from Astika

(2016) who states that students who have less vocabulary knowledge will not

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in conversation. In order to be able to negotiate meaning properly in

interactions, students must understand the sentence structure and vocabulary.

3. The Importance of Vocabulary for Reading Skill

Vocabulary influences reading comprehension of language learners.

Nouri & Zerhouni (2016) state that fluent reading depends on high-quality

lexical representation. This is based on “Lexical Quality Hypothesis” according to which learners’ ability to know words thoroughly may be one

of the best indicators of reading ability levels. Lexical knowledge is very

crucial in reading comprehension because if readers have more vocabulary

knowledge, more prior background knowledge about the given topic.

Besides, they also will have more abilities of understanding through the

context, and fewer unknown vocabulary. Thus, readers may have more

understanding of the texts (Jia, 2011).

4. The Importance of Vocabulary for Writing Skill

Vocabulary also plays an important role in the complex process of

writing which involves the coordination of many higher level and lower level

cognitive skills (Hayes, 1996; Olinghouse & Leaird, 2009; Scardamalia &

Bereiter, 1987, as cited in Wang, 2014). It means there is a relationship

between vocabulary and writing. The more EFL learners vocabulary have,

the more proficient they are in writing skill. It is caused by the richness of

words that they have, so it makes them easier to express what they want to

express in written form. It will be different with L2 or EFL learners who do

not have enough or even have less of word collection. They tend to find more

difficulties in writing. One of the main problems that EFL learners have with

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repetitively, limiting the extent of their expression (Wang, 2014).

Consequently, L2 learners should have vocabulary diversity to help them

dealing with writing skills. In some cases L2 learners get difficulties in

writing because they have very limited vocabulary knowledge.

C. VOCABULARY TEACHING TECHNIQUES

1. Teachers’ Techniques in Teaching Vocabulary

Teachers play an important role in developing students’ vocabulary

knowledge. Teachers may apply some strategies to assist their students to

enrinch their vocabulary knowledge by using some techniques in teaching

vocabulary. Techniques and strategies teachers use will determine how

students learn words. In teaching vocabulary there are some techniques that

can be used by teachers. Other reseachers also mention another vocabulary

teaching techniques such as context technique (Carl, 2003b), key word

technique (Foil & Alber, 2002), words link (Yopp, 2007), and semantic

mapping technique (Foil & Alber, 2002). Palmberg (1990), proposes that

“there are two main types of teaching methods to improve vocabulary

learning. The first focuses on the sense of L2 based exercises and activities

which stand as a main target of CLT, and has received much attention in

recent vocabulary teaching practices and materials. The second, however,

focuses on the development of learners' own L2 association”.

Nation (2008) states that teachers need to give attention to a word

without too much interuption to an activity like listening to a story going on.

He also suggests several ways of quickly giving attention to a word such as

use an L1 translation, use a known L2 synonym or a simple definition in the

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picture or diagram, break the word into parts and give the meaning of the

parts and the whole word (the word part strategy), give several examples of

sentences with the word in context to show the meaning, and comment on

the underlying meaning of the word and other referents.

In the field of language teaching and learning, the role of teachers

are very important. Teachers play a role as facilitators and instructors. Lu

Mei-Fang (2008) suggests that teachers (a) help students with word

knowledge (e.g., word meaning, word use, word formation, word grammar);

(b) select vocabulary to be learned; (c) facilitate students’ incorporation of new words into language that are already known; (d) provide opportunities

for student interaction with words; (e) incorporate tasks which require mental

processing; (f) avoid teaching similar words at that same time; and (g) teach

strategies for self-learning (e.g., guess in context, use glossaries for specific

jargon, use bilingual and monolingual dictionaries). The same idea with Lu

Mei-Fang (2008), McVey (2007) also suggests teachers to teach in context,

to require the use of monolingual dictionaries, to teach prefixes and roots, to

teach various forms of a new word, to encourage students to read, to teach

reading skills, to encourage students to review new language, and to give

students opportunities to use new words.

2. The Importance Vocabulary Instruction

Vocabulary instruction is a vital component in teaching language. Some

experts suggest the teachers use effective vocabulary instructions in teaching

words. The use of effective vocabulary instruction will foster students’

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targeted and effective. Explicit vocabulary instruction can be defined as the

direct and purposeful instruction of new vocabulary.

According to Astika (2014), explicit vocabulary instruction can involve

discussion about new words learners need to know, breaking words into their

components parts such us teaching word formation, deliberate introduction

of new words, and building fluency of new words. Besides, use of

dictionaries, use of context clues, or identifying parts of words in explicit

vocabulary instruction can help students to become more independent

learners (Baumann, et.al, 2003 as cited in Astika 2014). Another thought

comes from Al-Darayseh’s study (as cited in Pawlicki 2017). He suggests that explicit vocabulary instruction for students who require deliberate and

purposeful vacabulary practice should include the teaching of some key

words explicitly (directly) by using different techniques such as giving

definitions, using synonyms and antonyms, word collections, etc.

Teachers also should concern to words selection the students are

exposured to. Teachers usually choose words that will be in the text or

uncommon words that may arise in the text in purpose to make students have

good understanding of the text.

D. PREVIOUS STUDIES

It is important for English teachers to help their students to enrich

and comprehend English words to bring their students to achieve their

success in English language learning by using certain strategies or techniques

to teach vocabulary. According to the previous study conducted in Canada

by Rossiter, Abbott, and Khusnir (2016) had showed at least 75% of

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saying the word aloud, using the word in an example sentence, giving a

simple definition, writing the word, giving examples of a synonym or related

word, asking students for definitions, identifying the stress pattern of the

word, acting out the word using gestures, using supplemental materials,

discussing underlying meanings of words, identifying prefixes or suffixes,

referring to information in the course textbook, and drawing/displaying a

picture of the word.

Moving to Omani, Jabri (2008) conducted his research on vocabulary

teaching techniques that were used by teachers in an Omani government

school. The research indicated that teachers there used certain techniques to

teach vocabulary. These techniques are miming, book pictures, realia, flash

cards, drawing, defining in English and the translation technique. All of these

techniques are very useful in introducing the basic meaning of newly taught

words, but these techniques do not assure that students develop a good mastery

of vocabulary without using another technique to guarantee that they understand

and retain the new vocabulary items in the long run.

Another study about vocabulary teaching techniques also conducted by

a couple of researchers from Indonesia. The research was located in Malang,

East Java. According to Cahyono and Widiawati (2008), language teachers need

to explore various techniques in the teaching of vocabulary. They could use

teaching in context. Using intensive and extensive reading activities as a

meant of exposing students to vocabulary in context. Besides, language

teachers also need to increase students’ vocabulary knowledge by giving

training to students in the use of strategies for vocabulary learning.

Another study of vocabulary teaching techniques was conducted by

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conducted her research at SD Kristen 03 Salatiga. Her research was revealed

that the teachers used pictures, repetition and pronunciation drill frequently

in teachingvocabulary as it was suitable for young learners and easier to

check the students understanding and abilities.

The previous studies above are the same in the general aims which

aims know the vocabulary teaching techniques used by English teachers.

Then compared to the previous studies, this study is different. The difference

is about the participants and the location of the study. The participants are

the English teachers of SMPN 6 Salatiga. This school is one of public schools

in Salatiga which is most of the students come from rural areas in Salatiga.

The findings of this study show the vocabulary teaching techniques used by

the English teachers at SMPN 6 Salatiga. This kind of topic has never been

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13 THE STUDY

A. Method of the study

This is a descriptive study which answered the following research

question, “How do the English teachers of SMPN 6 Salatiga teach

vocabulary to seventh grade students ?”. It describes vocabulary teaching techniques that the English Teachers at SMPN 6 Salatiga use in order to assist

seventh grade students to have better performance in English.

B. Context of the Study

The context in which the study conducted was one junior high school

in Salatiga which is SMPN 6 Salatiga, Central Java, Indonesia. The location

was selected because it was quite far from the modernity of Salatiga. Most of

the students came from rural areas in Salatiga. Therefore, it was important to

investigate vocabulary teaching techniques for teaching seventh grade

students in the school. Conducting the research answered the writer’s curiousity of how to teach vocabulary to seventh grade students which was

considered English as a something new because they never had it in their

elementary school before.

C. Participants

The participants of this study involved 2 the English teachers who

taught seventh grade students at SMPN 6 Salatiga. English teachers were

those who had experience in teaching English for at least 5 years, had a

degree at least a Bachelor of Education and graduated from English

Language Education Program. The reason of involving only 2 English

teachers of the school because the school only had 2 English teachers who

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14 D. Data Collection Instruments

This study used class observations and semi-structured interviews as the data

collection instruments. By using those instruments to collect the data

hopefully the study would get more valid data about the topic. The

observation used a checklist as the instrument. It was conducted in classes of

seventh grade during the teaching of vocabulary to the students. It only

focused on teachers’ vocabulary teaching techniques. Observational data

recorded on the physical environment, and then followed up with interviews

to discover participants’ responses to, perceptions of, messages contained in

and attitudes to the physical environment (Cohen et al., 2007). After that, this

study employed semi-structured interview (Zacharias, 2013) to discover

vocabulary teaching techniques the participants used.

E. Data Collection Procedures

The observations were conducted in the classrooms. The observations

was conducted when teachers taught vocabulary in seventh grade classes.

The checklist for observation was provided to collect data of how the teachers

taught their students vocabulary. Besides, the interviews were employed in

this data collection. The interviews were recorded in order to avoid missing

or loosing the important information from the interviewees.

F. Data Analysis Procedures

Data were analyzed by transcribing the interviews from the

participants. Data reduction was also employed in analysing the data. It was

done to eliminate unappropriate data from the participants. After that, it were

coded. In this data analysis, the data were classified into headings and

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participants. The data from the observations were analyzed and the data from

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16 FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION

This research aimed to answer the question “How do English teachers

of SMPN 6 Salatiga teach vocabulary to seventh grade students ?” This

section provides the analysis of the strategies used by the English teachers at

SMPN 6 Salatiga to teach seventh grade students. It shows the themes

analyzed from the observations and the interviews. It reveals that there are

two themes: explicit vocabulary instruction and teachers’ vocabulary

teaching techniques. To attain understandable discussion, the transcript of the

interviews were provided into two versions which were excerpts in

Indonesian and excerpts in English.

1. Explicit Vocabulary Instruction

Vocabulary is always defined as repertoire of someone in mastering a

languange. This research found out the definition of vocabulary itself from

two English teachers at SMPN 6 Salatiga based on their understanding.

Below are the excerpts of the participants’ opinions.

Q 1 : Menurut anda apa definisi dari vocabulary?

(In your opinion, what is the definition of vocabulary?)

Teacher 1 (Appendix 9)

Vocabulary singkatnya adalah kosa kata, perbendaharaan kata.

(In short, vocabulary is glossary, repertoire)

Vocabulary itu sepengetahuan saya itu merupakan perbendaharaan kata atau kata-kata yang (harus) dikuasai untuk bisa menguasai suatu bahasa.

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Based on the excerpts above, vocabulary is simply defined as collection of

words that someone should master. In accordance with Neuman & Dwyer

(2009), vocabulary could be defined as“words we must know to

communicate effectively; words in speaking (expressive vocabulary) and

words in listening (p.385)

Vocabulary is very crucial in the field of language. Students will master a

language if they have enough stock of words. Both English teachers who

taught seventh grade students assumed that vocabulary was the main point of

mastering four skills in language (listening, speaking, reading and writing).

The following excerpts are the evidences of teachers’ opinion toward the

importance of vocabulary.

Q2 : Menurut anda apakah kata-kata penting dalam empat keterampilan berbahasa? Mengapa?

(In your opinion, is vocabulary important in four language skills? Why?)

Ya, karena vocabulary atau kosa kata ini adalah untuk mengembangkan anak (dalam empat keterampilan berbahasa), (anak) bisa bicara harus tahu kosa kata, membaca harus dengan kosa kata, mendengarkan dengan kosa kata, kemudian menulis juga harus punya kosa kata.

(Yes, it is important because vocabulary is to develop

students’ language skills. Students will be able to

speak, read, comprehend what they listen to and write if they know vocabulary)

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(In my opinion, it is very important because basically students should know vocabulary first to know the four language skills. Reading, writing, listening, speaking, they all should know the vocabulary first because it is the basic of the language. So in my opinion it is very important)

Based on the excerpts, both teachers said that vocabulary was very

important in four language skills (listening, speaking, reading, writing).

Vocabulary also played an important role in mastering four language skills

because vocabulary was the basic of language. Students should know

vocabulary first before they mastering the four language skills. Vocabulary

also could be considered as a key to success in four language skills.

According to Nguyen & Khuat (2003), they argued that vocabulary was one

component that was important in mastering four language skills (listening,

speaking, reading, writing). The statement showed that vocabulary

influenced the four language skills. Students would tend to be success in all

language skills if they had lexical diversity of the language. Based on my

experience in teaching practicum, students who had more vocabulary tended

to be proficient in English than students who had limited vocabulary.

Based on the observations (see appendix 1,2,3,4,5,6,7 & 8), English

teachers at SMPN 6 Salatiga tended to use explicit vocabulary instruction.

They used it because of many reasons. In the following are excerpts of the

reasons of the teachers using explicit vocabulary instruction.

Q 3 : Menurut observasi yang telah saya lakukan, anda cenderung menggunakan explicit vocabulary instruction dalam pengajaran kosa kata dalam bahasa Inggris. Mengapa anda menggunakan explicit vocabulary instruction?

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19 Teacher 1 (Appendix 9)

Karena anak yang baru belajar dikelas 7 SMP yang barangkali mungkin bisa kita ketahui bahwa dasar dari anak sendiri di SD nya tidak semua menggunakan atau belajar dari kelas 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 atau kelas 6 kadang anak itu ada yang baru belajar dari kelas 5 dan 6 sehingga untuk membekali supaya di kelas 7 itu dia memiliki kosa kata yang sama, kita menggunakan teknik atau disitu kita explicit vocabulary instruction. Intinya kita adalah mempermudah pembelajaran kosa kata secara langsung.

(In brief, we made learning vocabulary easier by telling the meaning explicitly)

Karena sebenarnya ya meskipun mereka itu kelas 7 SMP memang kelas 7 itu level skill dalam bahasa Indonesia, mudeng ya. Kelas 7 SMP memang mereka tapi dalam bahasa Inggris di SD itu kan tidak ada dalam kurikulum 2013 mereka baru kenal bahasa Inggris itu kalau di sekolahnya ada tambahan sih mungkin sudah pernah dengar bahasa Inggris ya, tapi kalau dari pemerintah sendiri memang bahasa Inggris itu di mulai dari SMP jadi kan bisa dibayangkan ya level SMP mereka itu mungkin sama dengan level SD nya anak-anak di luar negeri kan begitu jadi otomatis vocab yang harus saya ajarkan itu yang sangat dasar yanag bahkan, apa ya. Kayaknya kalau dipikiran kita masa seperti itu aja anak SMP gak tau tapi memang tidak tau karena memang levelnya itu sangat very low beginner, very very begginer gitu, masih sangat beginner sekali gitu. Jadi kalau mau saya ajarkan secara implicit itu memang susah gitu, jadi memang harus ini lho ini yang dipakai, yang sering dipakai ini, artinya itu ini, memang harus seperti itu karena kita harus melihat level mereka secara bahasanya sendiri, seperti itu.

(The level of the students here is very low biginner. If I teach them implicitly it will be difficult for students to recieve what I teach to them)

According to the excerpts above, both English teachers at SMPN 6

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students might not have English lesson since they were in elementary school

so in seventh grade, teachers tried to introduce English starting from the basic

vocabulary. Secondly, it made learning of vocabulary became easier. Third,

teachers looked at the level of students’ background knowledge of students’ language.

Besides, teachers used explicit vocabulary instruction in order to make

their students had the same understanding toward the words that the teachers

taught. It made students easy to determine the meaning of words. Besides, it

made teachers easier to go to the next material or topic.

Employing certain techniques of teaching should be considering from its

benefit. In the following are excerpts of teachers’ opinion toward the benefit

of the use of explicit vocabulary instruction

Q7 : Apa keuntungan menggunakan teknik tersebut?

What is the benefit of using the technique?

Anak langsung bisa mengerti apa yang kita ajarkan dan eee mungkin eee secara umum, jadi secara umum karena kan tingkat kemampuan anak satu dengan yang lain itu tidak sama, biar menyamakan persepsi.

(Students can directly understand what we teach because every student has different level of knowledge. It is used to make students to have the same perception toward the meaning of words)

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SMP karena di SD itu tidak ada. Kan meteri kelas 1 pun itu baru diajari salam good morning, good

afternoon, how are you, I’m fine kan baru seperti itu.

(In my opinion, it is more straight to the point. They would be easier to receive what teachers teach)

According to the excerpts above both teachers stated the benefit of using explicit

vocabulary instructions. Teacher 1 stated that by using the technique students

would have the same perception of the words meaning. Teacher 2 stated that by

using the technique students would be easier to receive what they have learned and

it was not beat around the bush. In a study conducted by Tahir (2017), he mentioned

that “vocabulary knowledge which has been developed through explicit vocabulary

instructions are highly effective to teach the target words, even for learners with

limited exposure to English”. He also said that “learners who were exposured to

the target words explicitly were able to acquire them better compared to their

counterparts”.

Additionally, from the observations (see appendix 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7 & 8),

the writer found that the teachers provided list of new words the students

encountered in the text and students with the teachers discussed the meaning

together. Moreover, students were asked to look up their dictionary to get the

meaning of the words independently. In accordance with Rahimi and

Sahragard (2008) as cited in Sivabalan (2013), they defined “dictionary use as a technique for learning meaning of unfamiliar words and expression”. In

addition, Prichard (2008) as cited in Sivabalan (2013) also explained that

“dictionary use means an act of looking up words that is unable to guess from the context”. From the statements were indicated that looking up their

dictionary was very helpful for students to know the meaning of unfamiliar

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It was good to discuss the meaning of words together in the classroom. It

would make students and teachers have the same perception of the meaning

of the words. Besides, it was an important tool in teaching and learning

vocabulary. Teachers should encourage students to learn vocabulary

independently by searching the words in the dictionaries.

2. Teachers’ Vocabulary Teaching Techniques

Every teacher have some ways or techniques in teaching vocabulary. It is

also done by English teachers at SMPN 6 Salatiga. Based on the observations

teacher 1 was often using pictures to help his students understood the

meaning of the new words (see appendix 4 & 7). In the other hand, teacher 2

tended to use crossword puzzles to introduce the new words about the topic

(see appendix 1 & 2). It was strengthen by the interviews section. Following

is the excerpts of the interviews

Q3 : Bagaimana cara anda memperkaya vocabulary siswa kelas 7?

(What do you do to enrich vocabulary of seventh grade students?)

Kita dengan banyak cara, mungkin dengan menggunakan misalnya gambar. Ada gambar kemudian dibawahnya ada keterangan seperti yang kemarin, misalnya disitu kita menerangkan profesi kemudian dibawahnya ada kata yang menyertai, itu salah satunya.

(We have many ways, perhaps using pictures. There were pictures and then under the pictures there was its

explanation like yesterday’s meeting, for example we

explained about profession, then bellow there were words that followed it. It was one of the examples)

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siswanya setiap tahun beda, setiap kelas beda, setiap anak beda, materi juga, untuk kurikulum kan kadang ganti kadang tidak. Yang saya lakukan itu sebisa mungkin sebenarnya sih istilahnya sih bukan memaksa sih gak tapi lebih mengarahkan anak agar seperti ini seperti ini biasanya saya meminta mereka untuk membaca yang satu, membaca bersama kemarin tuh, kalau tahun ini saya minta beberapa kelas itu untuk membaca Harry Potter bersama-sama. Setidaknya ada vocab yang mereka dapet lah, satu dua gitu. Kebanyakan saya juga memakai cross words puzzle seperti itu. Listening, listening juga, eee kemarin itu apa yang saya pakai, seperti phrases like harus me.. berdasarkan petunjuk harus menebak yang di maksud tu pekerjaan apa, yang di maksud tu hewan apa. Seperti itu yang biasanya saya pakai. (I usually ask them to read together like yesterday’s meeting. This year I ask some classes to read Harry Potter novel together. At least there are vocabulary that they get from that novel. Mostly I use crossword puzzles, listening and guessing)

Both teachers in SMPN 6 Salatiga had their own ways to enrich their

students’ vocabulary. They usually use varied attractive activities and

sources to engage their students to learn vocabulary. Based on the excerpts

above, teacher 1 tended to use pictures to explain the meaning of certain

words. It would be easier for students to understand the meaning of the words

through pictures because it could reinforce students’ memory. It was similar

with Corin’s (2002) opinion. He stated that pictures had important roles in

teaching and learning process because the use of pictures would reinforce

children’ memory. Different with teacher 1, teacher 2 often asked her

students to read a novel, Harry Potter. According to Duff, Tomblin & Catts

(2015), stated that “The prediction that reading skill could be associated with

rate of vocabulary growth is based on the premise that reading development

could potentially have a significant effect on a child's exposure to novel

(33)

24

Tomblin & Catts (2015) , he stated that “reading text can provide key

opportunities for advancement in vocabulary development”. Those

statements indicated that reading is very important in developing vocabulary

knowledge. Beside that, teacher 2 also used another ways such as crossword

puzzles, and guessing.

Besides, teachers also had some ways to reinforce vacabulary students

have learned at the previous meeting. Teachers did some reviews to enrich

students’ repertoire. They reviewed the words that disscussed in the last

meeting so that students could remember the words they learned. Based on

the observations, the teachers often used crossword puzzles as the exercises.

It was good to give students that exercises because crossword puzzles offer

an entertaining way for reviewing vocabulary. According to Njoroge,

Ndung’u & Ganthigia (2013, 313-321) as cited in Puspita & Sabiqoh (2017),

stated that crossword puzzle was a game that made the teaching and learning

process interesting and funny, and gave students much opportunity to

practice and the sentence pattern and vocabulary. They also added, crossword

puzzle was a suitable game used to help students to master vocabulary easily

by giving students opportunities to remember as much as possible

vocabulary, for there would be mamny words given as cues that should be

understood by them in order to be able to fill the squares with the appropriate

words too. Students could do it individually or in pairs in the classroom as a

race with other students or even given as homework.

Reinforcement was also important to do to make students retained what

they learned in the class. English teachers at SMPN 6 Salatiga also did

(34)

25

by using games, puzzles, matching, pictures and many other ways.

According to Tavil and Isisag (2009), “Games is also good way to promote vocabulary teaching”. It proved that games were one of the effective ways to

teach vocabulary.

Based on the observations, teacher 2 usually reviewed what she taught at

the previous lesson by disscussing the homework (see appendix 1 & 2).

Teacher 2 said reinforcement can be done by reviewing what students have

learned in the previous meeting. Following is the excerpts of the interviews.

Q4 : Bagaimana cara anda agar siswa kelas 7 mengingat vocabulary yang telah anda ajarkan?

(What do you do to make your seventh grade students remember vocabulary that you have taught?)

Ya, kalau saya sering eee menggunakan juga disitu misalnya dengan puzzle, misalnya dengan game, misalnya dengan matching, misalnya dengan ada instruksi kemudian dengan menunjukkan mana yang termasuk dalam kosa kata itu. Kita sering gunakan itu jadi tidak cuma satu namun banyak. Ada game, ada disitu puzzle, matching, ada gambar dan banyak lagi.

(Yes, I often used for example puzzles, games, matching. We do not used only one way but many ways. There were games, puzzle, matching, pictures and many other ways)

(35)

26

selalu diingatkan, selalu dipaksa mengingat lah istilahnya.

(What I usually do is I recall, I reviewing what they learn in the previous meeting)

According to the teachers’ statements, they used not only one activity but

collaborative activities to review the vocabulary students learned. Based on

the observations, teacher 2 was often using repetation to makesure that her

students understood the meaning of the words. She usually asked her students

to repeat the words after her (see appendix 1 & 2). It was proved by the

statement of teacher 2 in the interview section. She stated that students must

be always reminded of words they have gotten during the lesson so that what

they learned was not lost.

Giving repeated attention to vocabulary was also needed because useful

vocabulary needed to be repeated again and again to ensure it was learned to

avoid forggeting of the words. Nation (2001) said that most learning

vocabulary needed repeated attention to the item that being taught. By

retaining students’ attention with the words being taught, the students could

easily remember the meaning of the words and used it in sentemces correctly.

This technique was usually used to reinforce the words that had been taught

by the teacher.

There was also some activities or exercises that both teachers used for

effective teaching vocabulary. Teacher 1 and teacher 2 had their own opinion.

They had different ways to teach English. In the following are excerpts of the

evidences of teachers’ opinion toward the use of activities or exercises that

were effective to teach vocabulary in the classroom.

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27

(In your opinion, what kind of activities or exercises are effective to teach vocabulary in class)

Latihan yang biasa saya gunakan ini adalah karena kita mengajarkan secara klasikal ya tentunya kita menggunakan paper based test jadi kita menggunakan itu, mungkin ada matching ada disitu deskripsi kemudian ada juga disitu filling gap kadang ada juga disitu yang harus menjawab pertanyaan dengan uraian.

(Exercise that usually I use is paper based test because we teach it classically. It can be matching, descriptive text, fill in the gap or essay)

Yang biasanya anak ingat, yang biasanya mereka malah diingat terus itu ya itu yang didengarkan sama yang dilihat biasanya. Jadi entah mereka mendengarkan lagu gitu misalnya yang lebih sering diingat itu atau melihat video atau membaca novel itu yang lebih sering diingat oleh anak. Menurut saya itu lebih efektif, secara acquisition nya itu sih efektif cuma secara waktu kan kita yang harus pintar mengaturnya, seperti itu.

(In my opinion, what students always remember is usually things that they see and listen to. It can be listening to songs or reading novels. I think it is more effective)

Both teachers had different opinion of researcher’s question. They used

activities and exercises to support their teaching and learning vocabulary.

Teacher 1 prefered to use paper based test because he taught English

classically. In other hand, teacher 2 believed that something that students

could see and listen to was the effective way to students to learn vocabulary.

So teacher 2 tended to use songs and novels to support her vocabulary

teaching. According to Murphey (1992), as cited in Phisutthangkoon &

(37)

28

vocabulary such as using the words of a song, dictating a song, using a song

for gap-fill, cloze or for correction, integrating songs into project work,

practicing pronunciation, stress, and intonation. By singing songs, students

are taught lessons with fun atmosphere which can create very positive effect

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29 CONCLUSION

This study has described vocabulary teaching techniques used at

SMPN 6 Salatiga. Based on the findings and discussion of the study, it can

be concluded that both English teachers who teach seventh grade students at

SMPN 6 Salatiga assumed that vocabulary is very important. They used

certain techniques of teaching vocabulary. They used explicit vocabulary

instruction because they believe that the technique is quite effective to be

used for students there. Besides, one of the teachers also employed task-based

learning using paper based test because he taught English classically. Yet

both teachers supported their vocabulary teaching using some interesting

activities such as matching, guessing words, cross words puzzles, songs, etc.

during teaching and learning process to engage the students to learn new

vocabulary.

In conclusion, teachers’ teaching techniques should be appropriate for

student’s level. If teachers use inappropriate techniques, it will bring impact

for their students.

Hopefully the findings of this study provide an understanding for

English teachers of junior high school dealing with teaching vocabulary. It

could also give insight to English teachers how to teach vocabulary to

students effectively by using appropriate vocabulary teaching techniques.

For the next study, it is important to consider some points. The writer

hope that the similar study about vocabulary teaching techniques can be

conducted with more participants and in longer time. It makes the findings

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30 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

First of all, I would like to say thank to my Saviour, Jesus Christ because

without his blessing and grace, I will never complete this thesis well. Thank

you for my thesis supervisor, Mr. Prof. Dr. Gusti Astika, M.A and Mr.

Antonius Wahyana, M.A as my examiner for the best and helpful guidance

in completing my thesis.

In completing this thesis was also supported by people around me. I

would like to say thank to my mother, Sri Murti, my father, Bambang

Subiyanto, and my brother, Anjar Bagus K. Thank you for the love,

encouragement and prayer during I studied at Universitas Kristen Satya

Wacana until now.

A special thank for my lovely boyfriend, Yusuf Sugiarto W. for the love,

motivation, support, and prayer. I would like to say thank to my friend, Novia

Australiani Idadi for helping me in deciding the school to conduct my

research. To my sisters in my boarding house “ASA”, Ester, Lois, Vita and

Hera. Thank you for making my day colorful and intertaining me in the midst

of completing my thesis. To my best friends in this faculty, Zenallis Gisela

Betzy Purwoto, Tasya Rosalina Handoko, Vega Arinita Margono and Reny

Rulina Tarigan thank you for making some beautiful memories. Last but not

the least, I would like to say thank to participants, Mrs. Elfiana Dewi Pratiwi,

S.Pd and Mr. Edi Yanto, S.Pd for the good cooperation during the data

collection process.

I really thank to you all people who are involved and supported the

completion of this thesis because without all of you, my thesis will never

(40)

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35 APPENDIXES

APPENDIX 1

Table Checklist Observation 1

Observer : Kristi Meisa Kurnianti Date/ Time of Observation : 12 February 2018

Teacher : Mrs. Elfiana Dewi Pratiwi

Grade Level : VII F

Topic : Occupations

Explicit Vocabulary Instruction

(embedded in content lesson) Observed

Not

Observed Notes for Discussion

1. Teacher provides explicit vocabulary techniques embedded into the content lesson.

√

Telling the meaning of words explicitly

e.g : pull out → memadamkan send → mengirim

1. Teacher reviews words

learned from previous lessons. √

Review the previous lesson by disscussing the homework

2. Teacher provides a list of new words students will encounter

in the text. √

3. Teacher introduces new words and explains the meanings of

these words. √

4. Students are asked to share what they already know about

the meanings of new words. √

5. Teacher builds on students’ prior knowledge of word

meanings. √

6. Teacher uses active and generative activities to embed and support vocabulary development during the content lesson (e.g., word sorts, games, word riddles, art/drawing, sentence challenges, etc.).

√ Teacher uses crossword puzzles to _{teach vocabulary of occupations}

7. Teacher uses informal opportunities as words arise during the lesson to explicitly teach word meaning.

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36

Practice Opportunities Observed Not

8. Repeated exposure to new words is provided during the

lesson. √

Teacher asks the students to repeat the words of occupations after her

9. Students encounter the new words and relevant previously learned words in multiple contexts, including oral and written activities.

√

10. Teacher provides sufficient time during the lesson for students to practice new words.

√

After the students know the words of occupations, the are asked to write a simple text about their friend’s family job

11. Practice is extended over time through the use of word walls

or other activities/resources. √

Teacher uses writing activities

12. Computer-based activities are used to provide students with extended practice, when appropriate.

√

13. Practice is extended through homework assignments given

14. Teacher provides students with in-class time and

opportunities for independent practice of newly learned vocabulary strategies.

√

Scaffolding Student Strategies Observed Not

15. Teacher scaffolds students in developing strategies to make them independent vocabulary learners.

√

16. Teacher models using context and word analysis cues as a strategy for determining word meaning.

(46)

37 17. Teacher models strategies for

using word structure and components (prefixes, roots, suffixes) to derive the meaning of unfamiliar words.

√

18. Reference materials such as computer software, textbook glossaries, reference books, and dictionary/thesaurus are available in the classroom.

√

Assessment of Student

Learning Observed

Not

19. Teacher encourages students to demonstrate understanding of word meaning through a variety of oral and written activities embedded into the content lesson.

√

20. Teacher regularly monitors student understanding by conducting frequent informal checks of individual and small group work throughout the lesson.

√

21. Teacher uses formal written assessments to document

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38 APPENDIX 2

Teacher : Mrs. Elfiana Dewi Pratiwi

Grade Level : VII G

Topic : Occupations

Not

√

Review the previous lesson by disscussing the homework

in the text. √

these words. √

meanings. √

√ Teacher uses crossword puzzles to _{teach vocabulary of occupations}

√

(48)

39 9. Repeated exposure to new

words is provided during the lesson.

√ Teacher asks the students to repeat _{the words of occupations after her}

√

12. Practice is extended over time through the use of word walls or other activities/resources.

√

at the end of the lesson. √

√

18. Teacher models strategies for using word structure and components (prefixes, roots, suffixes) to derive the meaning of unfamiliar words.

(49)

40 19. Reference materials such as

computer software, textbook glossaries, reference books, and dictionary/thesaurus are available in the classroom.

√

Not

√

(50)

41 APPENDIX 3

Teacher : Mr. Edi Yanto

Grade Level : VII A

Topic : Descriptive text

Not

√

in the text. √

these words. √

meanings. √

√

(51)

42 9. Repeated exposure to new

words is provided during the lesson.

√ Teacher asks the students to repeat _{the words of occupations after her}

√

12. Practice is extended over time through the use of word walls or other activities/resources.

√

at the end of the lesson. √

√

18. Teacher models strategies for using word structure and components (prefixes, roots, suffixes) to derive the meaning of unfamiliar words.

(52)

43 19. Reference materials such as

computer software, textbook glossaries, reference books, and dictionary/thesaurus are available in the classroom.

√

Not

√

(53)

44 APPENDIX 4

Teacher : Mr. Edi Yanto

Grade Level : VII C

Topic : Occupations

Not

√

in the text. √

these words. √

Teacher uses pictures to introduce words of occupations

meanings. √

√

Institutional Repository | Satya Wacana Christian University: Vocabulary Teaching Techniques Used by English Teachers to Teach Seventh Grade Students at SMPN 6 Salatiga

VOCABULARY TEACHING TECHNIQUES USED BY

ENGLISH TEACHERS TO TEACH SEVENTH GRADE

STUDENTS AT SMPN 6 SALATIGA

ENGLISH LANGUAGE EDUCATION PROGRAM

FACULTY OF LANGUAGE AND ARTS

UNIVERSITAS KRISTEN SATYA WACANA

VOCABULARY TEACHING TECHNIQUES USED BY

ENGLISH TEACHERS TO TEACH SEVENTH GRADE

STUDENTS AT SMPN 6 SALATIGA

ENGLISH LANGUAGE EDUCATION PROGRAM

FACULTY OF LANGUAGE AND ARTS

UNIVERSITAS KRISTEN SATYA WACANA

TABLE OF CONTENTS