Overcoming My Difficulties in Teaching English Vocabulary to 11 Children Aged 3-4 Years Old in Pre-Kindergarten Class at BPK Penabur.

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Maranatha Christian University

ABSTRACT

Bahasa Inggris adalah salah satu bahasa internasional yang memiliki peran penting di dunia, termasuk di Indonesia saat ini. Oleh karena itu, sedari taman kanak-kanak, anak-anak sudah mulai belajar Bahasa Inggris. Ketika saya magang di TKK BPK Penabur, saya menemukan masalah dalam mengajar vocabulary Bahasa Inggris. Hal ini sangat mengganggu dalam proses mengajar.

Ada beberapa penyebab yang timbul dari permasalahan yang saya hadapi di TKK BPK Penabur. Penyebab yang pertama adalah kurangnya

pengalaman saya dalam mengajar. Kedua, saya tidak menggunakan metode yang efektif dalam mengajar vocabulary, dan yang ketiga saya sulit

menemukan materi yang tepat untuk mengajar.

Selain dari penyebab, masalah ini memiliki dua dampak yaitu, pertama kelas menjadi ribut, kedua anak-anak menjadi kehilangan minat dalam pelajaran. Saya juga menganalisis beberapa pilihan solusi yang sesuai untuk mengatasi permasalahan saya. Solusi pertama saya akan menyiapkan diri sebelum mengajar, kedua saya akan mencari materi yang tepat untuk anak-anak. Dan ketiga saya akan menggunakan alat bantu visual dan permainan untuk

mengajar vocabulary. Solusi-solusi tersebut juga memiliki dampak positif dan negatif.

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CHAPTER I

INTRODUCTION

A. Background of Study

English as a foreign language is very important today. Since kindergarten,

children have already learned English. Nowadays, some English courses

have classes for kindergarten learners. It is because many people start to

realize the importance of learning English at early age. According to Kareem,

childhood is a potential time to learn. Good education must be given to the

children for their future. In addition, providing English education at early age

can make children learn foreign language skills in more fun and easy way

(par. 8). However, teaching English to the young learner is not an easy job for

me. According to Sutrisno, “Teaching English to young learners is not that

easy, though interesting. Teaching English to young learners needs good

teaching skills, creativity, thorough preparation, and patience.” (par. 6).

Some children may face difficulty in learning vocabulary. Therefore by

teaching English started with simple vocabulary, I want to help the children

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Maranatha Christian University learning vocabulary is really important. This term paper will discuss about my

difficulty in teaching English vocabulary to 11 children, 8 boys and 3 girls,

aged 3-4 years old in pre-kindergarten class at BPK Penabur.

The first time I taught English vocabulary there, my first task is to be a

teacher assistant. I must help the teacher to deliver the lessons. Initially I was

just assigned to distribute books and help children who have difficulty in

learning. After two until three sessions, I was assigned to teach English

lessons alone unaccompanied by the English teacher.I was nervous and

afraid to make mistakes during the teaching. Then I also found that some

children could not answer my question during the lesson. It happen because

they did not understand the lesson.

In this term paper, I am interested in analyzing this problem because I

want to improve my teaching skill especially in teaching vocabulary to

children, so that they can understand the material well. Besides, based on my

internship experiences, I think teaching vocabulary is quite challenging.

Therefore, I am going to analyze this problem to find the best solutions.

B. Identification of the Problem

The analysis of this problem is formulated in the following research

questions:

1. Why did I have difficulties in teaching vocabulary for kindergarten?

2. How did this problem influence the teaching and learning

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3. How could I overcome my difficulties in teaching vocabulary for

kindergarten?

C. Objectives and Benefits of the Study

The objective of the study are to find the causes of the problem of my

difficulties in teaching vocabulary in English to pupils of BPK Penabur,

to find out how this problem influences the teaching and learning

vocabulary process, and to find the best solutions to overcome my

difficulties in teaching vocabulary to children.

The benefit of the study for me as the writer is I can use the best

potential solutions for my career in the future. Moreover, the readers and

the institution will also get some information and explanation concerning

how to overcome the problem in teaching English vocabulary.

D. Description of Institution

I did an interview with Ms. Leticia as an English teacher at TKK BPK

Penabur Pasirkaliki 164 Bandung to find the information about BPK

Penabur school institutions at Pasirkaliki 164 Bandung. TKK BPK Penabur

Pasirkaliki 164 was established on July 9, 2012. It is a widening class of

TKK BPK Penabur 246 Bandung. In the first year, TKK BPK Penabur

Bandung 164 has had 40 students consisting of 13 Toddler students, 17

pre-kindergarten students, and 10 K1 students. TKK BPK Penabur

Pasirkaliki 164 Bandung is led by Mrs. Indriane Atmadja who is also the

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Maranatha Christian University working at TKK BPK Penabur Pasirkaliki 164 Bandung is 10 teachers,

consisting of: 3 classroom teachers, 1 religion teacher, 1 mandarin

teacher, 1 music and sport teacher, 1 admin teachers, and extracurricular

teachers. The education system in TKK BPK Penabur Pasirkaliki uses the

national curriculum, and the lessons are delivered in Indonesian and

English. The English is used to say greetings, give simple commands,

prayers, and sing songs. This institution has a vision, mission and also

motto. The vision of TKK BPK Penabur is to be a Christian educational

institution which excels in faith, knowledge and service. Their mission is to

develop the learners, potentials optimally through qualified education and

teaching based on Christian values. Moreover, TKK BPK Penabur also

has a motto which is faith, knowledge, and service.

E. Method of the study

The data for this study is based on my teaching experiences in BPK

Penabur during my internship from 07 January 2013 until 07 February

2013, and the interview with Ms Leticia, the English teacher of the school.

The data for library research are taken from electronic sources and printed

source. The data that I found is used to analyze the causes, the effects

and the potential solutions.

F. Limitation of the Study

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G. Organization of The Term Paper

This term paper is divided into several chapters. The first part of this

term paper is Abstract, the overall summary of the final paper written in

Indonesian. Second is the Declaration of Originality, and then the next

parts are Acknowledgements and Table of Contents. Chapter One is the

Introduction, containing Background of the Study, Identification of the

Problem, Objectives and Benefits of the Study, Description of Institution,

Method of the Study, Limitation of the Study, and then Organization of The

Term Paper.

Chapter Two is about Problem Analysis, in this chapter I will explain

the causes and the effects of my problem. Chapter Three is about

Potential Solutions to overcome my problem. In Chapter Four I will explain

about the conclusion of the analysis. The last part is the Bibliography and

Appendices which contain the flowchart and the transcription of the

interview with Ms. Leticia.

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CHAPTER IV

CONCLUSION

Before presenting the best solution for the problem, I would like to present the

summary of the previous chapters. The problem that I discuss is in teaching

English vocabulary to 11 children consists of: 8 boys and 3 girls aged 3-4 years old

in pre-kindergarten class at BPK Penabur. There are 3 causes of the problem, first

cause is I lacked of teaching experiences. The second cause isI did not use an

effective method in teaching vocabulary to the children. The third cause is I felt

difficult to find appropriate materials for those children. There are also 2 effects of

the problem. First, The class became noisy. Second, The children lost their

interest. Besides the causes and effect of the problem, there are three potential

solutions to solve my problem. The potential solutions to the problem are I will

prepare myself before teaching the lesson, I will find appropriate material for

children, I will using visual aids and games to teach vocabulary.

My chosen solution is combining all of the potential solutions. The reason why I

choose all of the potential solutions is because they support each other.

First I will prepare myself before teaching the lesson, so that I can give a better

instruction to the students. Then,I will find appropriate material for children.

The last one is I will using visual aids and games to teach vocabulary, I will use

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Maranatha Christian University solutions will support the other potential solutions, as a result, teaching English

vocabulary will be easier, more effective and more fun for both the teacher and the

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BIBLIOGRAPHY

Printed Sources

Harmer, Jeremy. How to Teach English. England,1998.

Paul, David. Teaching English to children in Asia. Hongkong, 2003.

Electronic Sources

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1.pdf>.

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Maranatha Christian University <http://www.asdc.org/ASDC/pdf/journals/ed_lead/el_195212_carey.pdf nina

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Maranatha Christian University Lowry, Lauren. “Build Your Child’s Vocabulary.” 2011. 02 July 2014.

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Interview