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’ s t n e d u t s e h
t average score in the preilminary study (51.2 ,) cycle 1 (81.3) ,and 2
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. 1
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t the lfash cards i svery beneifcia l fo rthe students . Therefore ,i t i s d e d n e m m o c e
r t hat the lfash card sbe used to teach the pas tforms o f riregula r .s b r e v s d r o w y e
ii i v K A R T S B A . 3 1 0 2 . a d li W , a k i d n a r
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V Mastery among the Eighth Grade Student s o f SMP N 3 KLATEN . . a m r a h D a t a n a S s a ti s r e v i n U : a t r a k a y g o Y i a s a u g n e
M grammarkhususnyasimplepastt ensesangatl ahpenitngdalam i r a j a l e p m e
m recount .Recount adalah salah satu jeni stek syang seharusnya i
dpelajar ioleh siswa SMP .Sanga tdisayangkan ,banyak siswa yang mendapa t j a l e p m e m m a l a d n a ti l u s e
k a ri simple pas t tense . Berdasarkan pengajaran n a u l u h a d n e
p yang d liakukan oleh peneilit ,siswa-sisw ikela sVI IIB SMP N 3 h g n e m n e t a l
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a u b e
s tek srecount .Sehubungan dengan kondsi itersebut ,strateg i lfash cards
n a k t a k g n i n e m k u t n u n a k p a r e ti
d penguasaan riregula rverbparasiswa.Peneilitan i g e t a r t s a n a m i a g a B : n a a y n a t r e p b a w a j n e m k u t n u n a k u k a li d i n
i lfashcardsdalam n a k t a k g n i n e
m penguasaan riregula rverb dar isiswa-sisw ikela sVIIIB SMP N 3 ? n e t a l K n a it il e n e
P in iadalah Peneilitan Tindakan Kela s(PTK )yang langkah . is k e lf e r n a d , n a t a m a g n e p , n a k a d n it , n a a a c n e r e p i r a d i r i d r e t a y n h a k g n a l i n i n a it il e n e
P bertujuanuntukmembantus iswa-ssiw ikela sVIIIBSMPN3 Klaten i r a j a l e p m e m m a l a
d bentukl ampaudari riregula rv serb melalu i lfashcards. Dalam peneilitan in iterdapa tsatu pengajaran pendahuluan dan dua siklus . Prose s
. 3 1 0 2 t e r a M 8 n a d , t e r a M 6 , i r a u r b e F 6 2 l a g g n a t a d a p n a k a n a s k a li d n a p a r e n e p g i d g n a y n a it il e n e p t a l
A unakan untuk mengumpulkan data adalah catatan . a r a c n a w a w n a d , s e t , n a g n a p a l n a k if i n g i s g n a y n a a d e b r e p t a p a d r e t a w h a b n a k k u j n u n e m a t a d s i s il a n A a t a r i r a
d -rata sko rsiswa-sisw idalam pengajaran pendahuluan (51,2) ,siklu s1 ,
1 8
( 3) , dan siklu s2 (85,6) . Dapa t diilha t bahwa rata-rata sko r siswa-sisw i a
g n e
m lam ikanaikan dar i51,2- ,865 .Siswa-sisw idapa tmemoitvas idir imereka i r a j a l e p m e m k u t n
u bentukl ampau dari riregularverbsdengan baikmelalu i lfash s
d r a
c . Flash cards dapa t juga membantu siswa-sisw i dalam meningkatkan . a k e r e m a t a k a s o k
Penelti imenyimpulkanbahwamengaja rbentukl ampaudari riregular bver
i u l a l e
m lfash cards sanga t bermanfaa t bag i siswa-siswi . Oleh karena tiu , direkomendasikan bahwa lfash cards digunakan untuk mengaja rbentuk lampau
i r a
d riregula rverb.
i c n u k a t a
THE IMPLEMENTATION OF FLASH CARDS TO IMPROVE
IRREGULAR VERB MASTERY AMONG THE EIGHTH
GRADE STUDENTS OF SMP N 3 KLATEN
A SARJANA PENDIDIKAN THESIS
Presented as Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements to Obtain the Sarjana Pendidikan Degree
in English Language Education
By Wilda Prandika Student Number: 091214026
ENGLISH LANGUAGE EDUCATION STUDY PROGRAM DEPARTMENT OF LANGUAGE AND ARTS EDUCATION FACULTY OF TEACHERS TRAINING AND EDUCATION
SANATA DHARMA UNIVERSITY
YOGYAKARTA
THE IMPLEMENTATION OF FLASH CARDS TO IMPROVE
IRREGULAR VERB MASTERY AMONG THE EIGHTH
GRADE STUDENTS OF SMP N 3 KLATEN
A SARJANA PENDIDIKAN THESIS
Presented as Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements to Obtain the Sarjana Pendidikan Degree
in English Language Education
By Wilda Prandika Student Number: 091214026
ENGLISH LANGUAGE EDUCATION STUDY PROGRAM
DEPARTMENT OF LANGUAGE AND ARTS EDUCATION
FACULTY OF TEACHERS TRAINING AND EDUCATION
SANATA DHARMA UNIVERSITY
YOGYAKARTA
i
THE IMPLEMENTATION OF FLASH CARDS TO IMPROVE
IRREGULAR VERB MASTERY AMONG THE EIGHTH
GRADE STUDENTS OF SMP N 3 KLATEN
A SARJANA PENDIDIKAN THESIS
Presented as Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements to Obtain the Sarjana Pendidikan Degree
in English Language Education
By Wilda Prandika Student Number: 091214026
ENGLISH LANGUAGE EDUCATION STUDY PROGRAM
DEPARTMENT OF LANGUAGE AND ARTS EDUCATION
FACULTY OF TEACHERS TRAINING AND EDUCATION
SANATA DHARMA UNIVERSITY
YOGYAKARTA
iv
STATEMENT OF WORK’S ORIGINALITY
I honestly declare that this thesis, which I have written, does not contain the work or parts of the work of the other people, except those cited in the quotations and the references, as a scientific paper should.
Yogyakarta, October 10, 2013 The writer
v
There is nothing in this life that can destroy you
but yourself.
Bad things happen to everyone, but when they do,
you can’t just fall apart and die.
You have to fight back. If you don’t, you’re the
one who loses in the end.
But if you do keep going and fight back, you win.
Alexandra Monir.
“I can do all things throug
h Christ who lives in
me.”
Ricardo Kaka.
This thesis is dedicated to:
vi
LEMBAR PERNYATAAN PERSETUJUAN
PUBLIKASI KARYA ILMIAH UNTUK KEPENTINGAN AKADEMIS
Yang bertanda tangan di bawah ini, saya mahasiswa Universitas Sanata Dharma:
Nama : Wilda Prandika
Nomor Mahasiswa : 091214026
Demi pengembangan ilmu pengetahuan, saya memberikan kepada Perpustakaan Universitas Sanata Dharma karya ilmiah saya yang berjudul:
THE IMPLEMENTATION OF FLASH CARDS TO IMPROVE IRREGULAR VERB MASTERY AMONG THE EIGHTH
GRADE STUDENTS OF SMP N 3 KLATEN
beserta perangkat yang diperlukan (bila ada). Dengan demikian saya memberikan kepada Perpustakan 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 : 10 Oktober 2013 Yang menyatakan
vii ABSTRACT
Prandika, Wilda. 2013. The Implementation of Flash Cards to Improve Irregular Verb Mastery among the Eighth Grade Students of SMP N 3 KLATEN. Yogyakarta: Sanata Dharma University.
Mastering grammar, especially simple past tense, is very important in learning recount. Recount is one kind of texts which uses simple past tense. It should be learnt by students of junior high school. Unfortunately, many students face difficulties to understand simple past tense. Based on the preliminary study conducted by the researcher, the students of VIIIB of SMP N 3 Klaten faced difficulties in filling the past forms of irregular verbs in the blanks in a recount text. In accordance with the condition, the flash cards strategy was implemented to improve the students’ irregular verb mastery. This research is addressed to answer a question: How do flash cards strategy improve irregular verb mastery of students of VIIIB of SMP N 3 Klaten?
This research employed Classroom Action Research (CAR) in which the stages consisted of plan, action, observation, and reflection. This classroom action research aimed to help the students of VIIIB of SMP N 3 Klaten learn the past forms of irregular verbs through flash cards. There were one preliminary study and two cycles of this research. The research was carried out on February 26, March 6, and 8, 2013. The instruments used to gather the data were field notes, test, and interview.
The analysis of the data showed that there was a significant difference of the students’ average score in the preliminary study (51.2), cycle 1 (81.3), and cycle 2 (86.5). It could be seen that the students’ average score increased from 51.2-86.5. The students could motivate themselves to learn the past forms of irregular verbs well through the flash cards. It could also help the students increase their vocabulary.
The researcher concludes that teaching the past forms of irregular verbs through the flash cards is very beneficial for the students. Therefore, it is recommended that the flash cards be used to teach the past forms of irregular verbs.
viii
ABSTRAK
Prandika, Wilda. 2013. The Implementation of Flash Cards to Improve Irregular Verb Mastery among the Eighth Grade Students of SMP N 3 KLATEN. Yogyakarta: Universitas Sanata Dharma.
Menguasai grammar khususnya simple past tense sangatlah penting dalam mempelajari recount. Recount adalah salah satu jenis teks yang seharusnya dipelajari oleh siswa SMP. Sangat disayangkan, banyak siswa yang mendapat kesulitan dalam mempelajari simple past tense. Berdasarkan pengajaran pendahuluan yang dilakukan oleh peneliti, siswa-siswi kelas VIIIB SMP N 3 Klaten menghadapi kesulitan mengisi bentuk lampau irregular verbs dalam sebuah teks recount. Sehubungan dengan kondisi tersebut, strategi flash cards diterapkan untuk meningkatkan penguasaan irregular verb para siswa. Penelitian ini dilakukan untuk menjawab pertanyaan: Bagaimana strategi flash cards dalam meningkatkan penguasaan irregular verb dari siswa-siswi kelas VIIIB SMP N 3 Klaten?
Penelitian ini adalah Penelitian Tindakan Kelas (PTK) yang langkah-langkahnya terdiri dari perencaaan, tindakan, pengamatan, dan refleksi. Penelitian ini bertujuan untuk membantu siswa-siswi kelas VIIIB SMP N 3 Klaten dalam mempelajari bentuk lampau dari irregular verbs melalui flash cards. Dalam penelitian ini terdapat satu pengajaran pendahuluan dan dua siklus. Proses penerapan dilaksanakan pada tanggal 26 Februari, 6 Maret, dan 8 Maret 2013. Alat penelitian yang digunakan untuk mengumpulkan data adalah catatan lapangan, tes, dan wawancara.
Analisis data menunjukkan bahwa terdapat perbedaan yang signifikan dari rata-rata skor siswa-siswi dalam pengajaran pendahuluan (51,2), siklus 1 (81,3), dan siklus 2 (85,6). Dapat dilihat bahwa rata-rata skor siswa-siswi mengalami kanaikan dari 51,2-86,5. Siswa-siswi dapat memotivasi diri mereka untuk mempelajari bentuk lampau dari irregular verbs dengan baik melalui flash cards. Flash cards dapat juga membantu siswa-siswi dalam meningkatkan kosakata mereka.
Peneliti menyimpulkan bahwa mengajar bentuk lampau dari irregular verb melalui flash cards sangat bermanfaat bagi siswa-siswi. Oleh karena itu, direkomendasikan bahwa flash cards digunakan untuk mengajar bentuk lampau dari irregular verb.
ix
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
First of all, I would like to thank and praise my beloved Jesus Christ for
His everlasting love, blessing, wonderful grace, mercy, power, and inspiration
leading me to reach the completion of this thesis.
My great appreciation goes to the Head of the English Department and all
lecturers of the English Department of Sanata Dharma University for their
guidance and assistance during the study. I would like to express my sincerest
gratitude to Caecilia Tutyandari, S.Pd., M.Pd. for her guidance, beneficial
suggestions, motivations, valuable time, and encouragement in writing the thesis.
I am truly indebted to Sunarto, S.Pd., M.Pd. and Tumarmi, S.Pd., as the
principal and the English teacher of SMP N 3 Klaten, who have permitted me to
conduct this research in SMP N 3 Klaten. I also wish to express my appreciation
to the students of 8B of SMP N 3 Klaten 2012/2013 Academic Year for being
very cooperative, fun, and friendly. I would like to thank Sr. Margareth, for
being my proof reader. She is a very kind person who has given me constructive
comments.
I really thank Drs. Barli Bram, M.Ed., Ph.D., Drs. F. X. Mukarto, M.S.,
Ph.D., and Laurentia Sumarni, S.Pd., the lecturers of the English Laguage Education Study Program of Sanata Dharma University, who have given their
positive-thoughts that can inspire me to always do my very best. I would also like
to thank PBI secretariat staff, Mbak Tari and Mbak Danik, who have helped me
x
I would like to give my deepest gratitude to my lovely parents, Sukaya
and Sudarti, who always gives me encouragement, endless love, care, prayer, and
support in finishing the thesis. I thank my younger brother, Rafael Adi Febianto,
who always supported me when I was doing the thesis. I also thank my niece,
Marita Agusta Maharani, who has inspired and encouraged me to work harder in finishing the thesis. I would also thank all of my big family who always care
about and pray for me.
I truthfully want to thank my friend Agung Tri Nugroho, S.Pd., and Rr.
Putri Pratiningrum, S.Pd., for their time to check the grammatical mistakes of
the thesis, and support me in finishing the thesis. I thank Pipiet, Vita, Liliana,
and Budi for their valuable time to share action research and be my partners who
helped observe my research. My thanks go to all my best friends Umpluk, Dika,
Lindung, Sita, Friska, Hana, Nana, and Ardek for making me smile when I am down.
I would also like to thank my great friends in PBI, especially Veronica
Ulis, Shela Novitasari, Bayu Adi Pamungkas, and Bayu Wibowo, who have
become my best friends during my study in PBI and I hope that our friendship
will never end. I thank all my friends in PBI, especially class A of batch 2009.
Finally, I also want to thank all the people who cannot be mentioned one by one
and who supported and prayed for me to finish this thesis. I hope that this research
will be useful to improve knowledge.
xi
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Page
TITLE PAGE ... i
APPROVAL PAGES ... ii
DEDICATION PAGE ... iv
STATEMENT OF WORK’S ORIGINALITY ... v
PERNYATAAN PERSETUJUAN PUBLIKASI ... vi
ABSTRACT ... vii
ABSTRAK ... viii
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ... ix
TABLE OF CONTENTS ... xi
LIST OF TABLES ... xiv
LIST OF FIGURES ... xv
LIST OF APPENDICES ... xvi
CHAPTER I. INTRODUCTION A. Research Background ... 1
B. Research Problem ... 5
C. Problem Limitation ... 5
D. Research Objective ... 5
E. Research Benefits ... 6
F. Definition of Terms ... 7
CHAPTER II. REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE A. Theoretical Description ... 9
1. Standard of Content of VIII Grade Students... 9
2. Recount Text ... 10
3. Teaching Grammar... 11
a. Definition of Grammar ... 12
xii
1) Integrating both Inductive
and Deductive Approaches ... 12
2) Using Tasks that Make Clear the Relationship between Grammatical Form and Communicative Form ... 13
3) Focusing on the Development of Procedural rather than Declarative Knowledge... 13
c. Nature of Grammar... 14
d. Models of Teaching Grammar ... 15
1) Drills ... 15
2) Written Exercises ... 15
3) Grammar Practice Activities ... 15
4. Teaching Media... 16
a. Definition of Teaching Media ... 16
b. Kinds of Media ... 17
1) Non – Technical Media ... 17
2) Technical Media ... 17
c. Reason of Using Media ... 18
5. Flash Cards ... 18
a. Definition of Flash Cards ... 19
b. Possible Case of Implementation of Flash Cards ... 20
c. Flash Cards in Teaching Irregular Verbs ... 20
6. Classroom Action Research ... 21
a. Definition of Classroom Action Research ... 21
b. Aims of Classroom Action Research ... 22
c. Characteristics of Classroom Action Research ... 22
d. Models of Classroom Action Research ... 22
xiii CHAPTER III. METHODOLOGY
A. Research Method ... 25
B. Research Setting and Participants ... 29
C. Research Instruments ... 30
D. Data Gathering Technique ... 32
E. Data Analysis Technique ... 34
F. Research Procedures ... 37
CHAPTER IV. RESEARCH RESULTS AND DISCUSSION A. The Description of Implementation of Flash Cards Strategy ... 41
1. Preliminary Study ... 43
2. First Cycle of CAR ... 48
a. Planning of the First Cycle ... 49
b. Acting and Observing of the First Cycle ... 52
c. Reflecting of the First Cycle ... 57
3. Second Cycle of CAR ... 61
a. Planning of the Second Cycle ... 62
b. Acting and Observing of the Second Cycle ... 64
c. Reflecting of the Second Cycle ... 69
B. Discussion of the Implementation Flash Cards... 74
CHAPTER V. CONCLUSIONS AND SUGGESTIONS A. Conclusions ... 78
B. Suggestions ... 79
xiv
LIST OF TABLES
Table Page
3.1 The Result of the Students’ Test Score ... 31
4.1 Teaching Schedule ... 42
4.2 The Results of the Test in the Preliminary Study ... 45
4.3 The Results of the Test in the First Cycle ... 55
4.4 The Results of the Test in the Second Cycle ... 68
4.5 The Average Score of the Students’ Results ... 75
4.6 The Percentage of the Students’ Test Result in the Preliminary Study ... 75
4.7 The Percentage of the Students’ Test Result in the Cycle One ... 76
xv
LIST OF FIGURE
Figure Page
3.1 The “action research spiral” (based on Kemmis and
xvi
LIST OF APPENDICES
Appendix Page
Appendix 1. Covering Letter for the Head of SMP N 3 Klaten ... 83
Appendix 2. Research Official Statement from SMP N 3 Klaten ... 85
Appendix 3. Lesson Plan and Teaching Materials of the Preliminary Study ... 87
Appendix 4. Field Notes of Preliminary Study ... 98
Appendix 5. The Result of the test in the Preliminary Study ... 102
Appendix 6. Lesson Plan and Teaching Materials of Cycle One ... 105
Appendix 7. Field Notes of Cycle One ... 115
Appendix 8. The Result of the test in the Cycle One ... 119
Appendix 9. Lesson Plan and Teaching Materials of Cycle Two... 122
Appendix 10. Field Notes of Cycle Two ... 132
Appendix 11. The Result of the test in the Cycle Two ... 136
Appendix 12. Sample of the Students’ Irregular Verbs Test in the Preliminary Study... 139
Appendix 13. Sample of the Students’ Irregular Verbs Test in the Cycle One ... 143
Appendix 14. Sample of the Students’ Irregular Verbs Test in the Cycle Two ... 147
Appendix 15. Interview Guide ... 154
Appendix 16. Interview Results ... 157
Appendix 17. Samples of Flash Cards ... 167
1 CHAPTER I
INTRODUCTION
Chapter I presents a discussion of the thesis background which motivates
the researcher to write the thesis. There are six major concerns presented in this
chapter. Those are the research background, research problems, problem
limitation, research objectives, research benefits, and definition of terms.
A. Research Background
Based on the 2006 Standard of Content, English teaching in Junior High
School covers four skills, namely listening, speaking, reading, and writing. In
teaching English, there are some important language components (structure and
vocabulary) to help the learners in acquiring these English four skills.
Structure or grammar is one of the basic components of language which
must be learned. Gerot & Wignell (1994: 2) state that grammar is a theory of a
language, of how language is put together and how it works. However, the
structural differences between Indonesian and English cause the students to make
some grammatical errors. In other words, Indonesian students may find
difficulties in using the correct English structure. It might be predominantly
students usually face difficulties in English grammar, for instance in doing an
exercise related to the use of the past forms of verbs.
There are many parts of grammar that cannot be ignored, such as articles,
parts of speech, modal auxiliaries, tenses, etc. However, there is a part of the
grammar that can be considered to be the most difficult thing to learn by
Indonesian students, namely, tenses. Simple past tense is an example of the
problem which is faced by eighth grade students of SMP N 3 Klaten especially in
doing an exercise about filling the past forms of irregular verbs in the blanks in a
recount text. The use of simple past tense often makes the students confused with
its complexity. Based on the researcher’s experience while doing an observation in SMP N 3 Klaten, it was noticed that the students faced difficulties in filling the
past forms of irregular verbs in the blanks in a recount text. Some students wrote “Last year, I leaved New Zealand for Bunaken Island,”instead of “Last year, I left New Zealand for Bunaken Island.”, when they were learning a recount text.
Simple past tense is one of the tenses which must be learned by the
students grade VIII in Junior High School. They are expected to be able to master
it since simple past tense is the basic knowledge to make a recount text. By
mastering simple past tense, students grade VIII will be helped to understand
short recount texts easily. The teacher has to teach simple past tense clearly to the
students in Junior High School.
Due to the previous phenomenon, the researcher tries to help the students
master simple past tense in order to be able to write the correct past forms of
not master simple past tense. For instance, the students actually did not know the
past forms of irregular verbs (such as swam, blew, and shone) when they did an
exercise although the words have already been provided. Therefore, the researcher
wants to implement flash cards as a teaching strategy to help the students
memorize the past forms of irregular verbs. The researcher chose flash cards
because this teaching media has never been used in class. Moreover, Tafani
(2009: 86) states that one of non-technical media is flash cards. Using a tool or
media is an appropriate way which makes the students easier in memorizing the
past forms of irregular verbs, especially using the flash cards.
The eighth grade students should learn English grammar to improve their
ability before learning four important English macro skills. According to Long
and Richards (1987), grammar plays a central role in the four language skills and
vocabulary to establish communicative tasks. In fact, most of the students had less
interest in learning grammar. This occurred when the researcher did an
observation. The students faced difficulties in understanding the language feature
of a recount text which used simple past tense. It was proven when the students
did not know the past forms of irregular verbs which were asked by the teacher.
Some students filled the past forms of irregular verbs in the blanks in a recount
text incorrectly, for instance, “The sun shined brightly and the scenery was very beautiful there”. It can be seen from the example that the students did not understand the verb which must be changed into the past form and the verb which
large amount. In conclusion, there are many students who face difficulties in
writing the correct past forms of irregular verbs. This phenomenon will affect the
students in arranging or writing a sentence such as using the past forms of verbs.
Therefore, language feature used in a recount text should be taught clearly
by the teacher. According to Standard of Competence 11 and Basic Competence
11.1, the students grade VIII should understand a recount text. This generally tells
about how the students can understand the meaning of short functional texts and
simple essays, namely, recount and narrative. (See appendix 3).
In order to make the teaching of a recount text for the eighth grade
students successful, there are some important factors. One of them is media.
According to Deflaur (1985: 33), media is used in teaching information and
instruction. Besides, Tafani (2009: 82) states that media provide teachers and
students with creative and practical ideas. The creativity can be shown by
improving or developing materials, media, and techniques of teaching. The flash
cards can also be an alternative way which helps the teacher to teach the past
forms of irregular verbs in the class. Bard (2002: 164) says that flash cards are
effective tool for memorizing spelling words, multiplication tables, and other
information that does not require analysis. Based on the opinions above, the flash
cards are media of teaching and enriching grammar.
There are two reasons why the researcher focuses on this area. Firstly, the
flash cards have not been implemented in the class. According to the researcher’s opinion, the strategy of using flash cards is going to help the students keep the
eighth grade students improve the past forms of irregular verb mastery, so they
can understand the past tense about the correct past forms of irregular verbs in the
blanks in some sentences in a recount text well.
B. Research Problem
In order to attain the objective of the research systematically, the following
question is raised: How do flash cards improve irregular verb mastery of students
of VIIIB of SMP N 3 Klaten?
C. Problem Limitation
This research focuses on discovering how the flash cards improve the students’ irregular verb mastery. The researcher will conduct the research using
the flash cards to know how the flash cards improve the students’ irregular verb mastery. The reason why the researcher chose SMP N 3 Klaten as the place to
conduct the research is because the researcher finds out the problem where the
eighth grade students face difficulties in filling the past forms of irregular verbs in
the blanks in a recount text when he is doing the observation.
D. Research Objective
This research is intended to see the process of how the flash cards improve
E. Research Benefits
The study is expected to give a useful contribution to the students,
teachers, and other researchers.
1. The students
The students are expected to improve their abilities to understand the past
form of irregular verb by using flash cards, so that students not bored if the
learning process is done through interesting media. Therefore, they will be
interested to learn the past forms of irregular verbs.
2. The teachers
This study is expected that the English teachers will be able to improve,
motivate, and help the students learn the past forms of verbs through the flash
cards. The study may also provide information needed by the English teachers
about using the flash cards in teaching the past forms of verbs in English class.
Hopefully, the teacher will teach better in order to solve the students’ problem. 3. Other researchers
The result of the research, hopefully, can be used as the research reference
for the next researchers who are interested in the same area and want to conduct
classroom action research in their own class. It is also expected that the next
researchers will acquire a new experience in applying methods and strategies used
F. Definition of Terms
1. Flash Cards
Mukalel (2004: 147) explains that flash cards are small cards, big enough
to carry; (1) part of sentences, (2) phrases, (3) single words, (4) minimal pairs and
so on. This card is added by single words of the present form, past form, and past
participle of irregular verbs. The students can pronounce and memorize the
irregular verbs well through the flash cards. Flash on the past form of irregular
verbs can be defined implies to flash for learning tool which can help the teacher
in teaching irregular verb. This flash card is especially used to teach the past
forms of irregular verbs.
2. Irregular Verbs Mastery
According to Greenbaum & Quirk (1990: 29), irregular verb mastery can
differ from regular verbs in that either the past inflection, or the –ed participle inflection, or both of these, are irregular. Irregular verbs either do not have the
regular –ed inflection, or else have a variant of that inflection in which the /d/ is devoiced to /t/, for instance, send-sent-sent. Irregular verb mastery is a knowledge
to understand the present verb that is changed into the past form without having
the –ed/d inflection in the end of the word. In this research, the participants can differentiate whether the verb which is added by –ed/d inflection (regular verb) or the verbs which is added by a variant of the inflection.
3. Eighth Grade Students
The eighth grade students are those who are in the second year in SMP N
observation done by the researcher, the students of VIIIB in SMP N 3 Klaten had
difficulties in understanding the past form of irregular verbs. As a result, the
students cannot write the correct past form of verbs in filling in the blanks in a
recount text. Therefore, the use of flash cards can help the students improve their
9
CHAPTER II
REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE
In this chapter, the researcher presents a discussion on some theories as the
foundation of this research. It will be divided into two parts. They are the
theoretical description and theoretical framework. The theoretical description
discusses the underlying theories which are related to the implementation of flash
cards to improve the students’ irregular verb mastery. Meanwhile, the theoretical framework concludes all relevant theories which can help the researcher to answer
the research problem.
A. Theoretical Description
The theoretical description contains related theories to this research. This
part presents five major topics. They are theories of standard of content VIII,
theories of recount text, theories of teaching grammar, theories of teaching media,
theories of flash cards, and theories on classroom action research.
1. Standard of Content of VIII Grade Students
In Indonesian curriculum 2006, Junior High School students are expected
to be able to communicate or to participate in the creation of text that serves their
daily needs to entertain themselves, to read manuals, to carry out transaction
exchange and to write simple narratives, descriptions, reports, and recounts
(Depdiknas 2006.) Unfortunately, there are some Junior High School students
genres (Sutikno, 2004). For instance, to obtain the objective in learning a recount
text, the students should achieve what are expected in standard of content. Based
on the Government Regulation No. 19, 2005, standard of content is a range of
learning materials and competence level in criteria of graduation competence,
lesson competence, and syllabus that must be completed on a certain education.
By looking at standard of content VIII, there are standard of competence and basic
competence in learning a recount text especially for reading skills are as follows:
11. Understand the meaning of short functional texts and simple essays in
a form of recount and narrative to interact with surrounding.
11.1. Read short functional texts and simple essays loudly in a form of
recount, and narrative with pronunciation, and intonation acceptably related to the
surrounding.
2. Recount Text
According to Curriculum 2006, a recount text is a text which retells past
events for the purpose of informing and entertaining. Meanwhile, Anderson
(1997: 48) states that recount is a piece of writing which tells past events usually
in order in which they happen. The purpose of recount is to give the audience a
description of what occurred and when it occurred. Hammon et al. (1992) states
that the social function of recount is to record for the purpose of informing.
Generally, a recount text explains about two important parts, namely, generic
structure and language feature. Firstly, by looking at the generic structure of a
for the reader in order to understand about the text (i,e. who was involved, where
it happened, and when it happened). Then, a recount text unfolds with a series of
events (ordered in chronological sequences). At various stages there may be some
personal comment on the event which is called as reorientation. Secondly, it is
about the language features, language features in a recount text are: (1) Proper
nouns to identify those involved in a text, (2) Descriptive words to give details
about who, when, where, what, and how, (3) The use of past tense to retell the
events, (4) Words which show the order events (for example: first, next, then).
From the explanation above, it can be concluded that a recount text has
three elements, namely, orientation, events, and reorientation or concluding
statement of the story. In a recount text, one of the language features is past tense.
3. Teaching Grammar
Chen (2009) states that grammar learning should be given enough
attention and great importance in the classroom. Besides, Gerot & Wignell (1994:
2) state that grammar is a theory of a language, of how language is put together
and how it works. The students should focus on how grammar is taught in the
classroom. However, teaching grammar in Junior High School is an important
part of language learning which is not taught as detail as in the Senior High
School. By mastering grammar, the students will be able to understand English
well in communication. By looking at the situation, the researcher elaborates the
definition of grammar, principles of grammar learning, nature of teaching
a. Definition of Grammar
Before going to know the principles of teaching grammar in learning
English, it will be better to have some definitions of what grammar is about.
Richard et al. (1985) as cited in Nunan (2003: 154) define that grammar is a
description of the structure of a language and the way in which units such as
words and phrases are combined to produce sentences in the language. Besides,
Joyce & Burns (1999: 4-5) also define that grammar is essentially about the
systems and patterns that are used to select and combine words.
b. Principles of Teaching Grammar
Nunan (2003: 158-160) states that there are three principles for teaching
grammar. They are integrating both inductive and deductive methods, using tasks
that make clear the relationship between grammatical form and communicative
function, and focusing on the development of procedural rather than declarative
knowledge.
1) Integrating both Inductive and Deductive Approaches
According to Nunan (2003: 158), the teacher uses the deductive and
inductive approaches absolutely in teaching grammar. In inductive approach, the
teacher teaches the lesson from an example to grammatical point in the learning
process and then the teacher is going to give an exercise to help the students in
mastering grammatical rules. On the contrary, in deductive approach, the teacher
gives the lesson by teaching a grammatical point and giving some examples. It
applying the inductive or deductive approach, the students will find it easier in
learning grammar.
2) Using Tasks that Make Clear the Relationship between Grammatical
Form and Communicative Function
In this principle, the teacher has to give students the tasks related to
grammatical form as much as possible in order to make students accustomed to
learning grammar. On the other hand, Nunan (2003: 159) states that however, it is
expected that grammar tasks given by the teacher do not only focus on
grammatical form but also are able to be related to the communicative context. In
other words, grammar is used in a context which shows the correlation between
communicative function and grammatical form as clear as possible.
3) Focusing on the Development of Procedural rather than Declarative Knowledge
Declarative knowledge means knowing language rules, whereas
procedural knowledge means being able to use the knowledge for communication
as stated by Nunan (2003: 160). He also explains that the teacher should focus on
the procedural knowledge in order to make the students be able to apply
knowledge which they have in daily conversation in learning grammar. In other
words, it is also aimed to help the students in communication.
By looking at the three principles in teaching grammar above, the
researcher decides them as guidelines in doing the research. Moreover, those are
c. Nature of Grammar
According to Larsen (2003: 13), there are six statements about the nature
of grammar. One of them is that grammar is arbitrary which is related to the
problem of irregular verbs in this research. He also states that English language
employs a particular form to convey a particular meaning. For instance, in
understanding the past forms of verbs, the English uses –ed, -d, or –ied to mark the past tense of regular verbs. In other words, it can be said that those are
arbitrary.
On the other hand, the researcher wants to explain further that irregular
verbs are the real problem faced by the students. Irregular English verbs are one of
the important features of English. It is because the students use a lot of irregular
verbs in speaking and less in writing. Rozakis (2003:29) states that irregular
English verbs are those verbs that fall outside the standard patterns of conjunction
in the language in which they occur. Irregular English verbs are often the most
commonly used verbs in the language. Rozakis (2003:33) also says that no pattern
is followed when the past and past participle are formed. Instead, there are many
different forms.
For instance, there are some irregular English verbs in which vowel
changes and is added by – n in the end of the word, such as begin, began, begun. Meanwhile, in other verbs, there is a consonant change from – d into – t, such as lose, lost, lost. Irregular English verbs are those verbs that do not end in – ed in the past tense. In other words, the endings of irregular verbs differ from those of
d. Models of Teaching Grammar
In order to give the students some oral or written practices, the teacher
should use the activities carefully to restrict the language needed and require the
use of the target items in teaching grammar. According to Scrivener (1994:118),
there are some typical restricted which use activities, such as drills, written
exercises, and grammar practice activities.
1) Drills
Scrivener (1994:118) states that drills provide oral practices of selected
sentences. It is used to make the students accustomed to use grammar point. It
also helps the students to memorize the change of sentence pattern in part of
subject, object, or verb. The aim of drilling is to improve accuracy in doing oral
practices of selected sentences.
2) Written Exercises
Written exercises are a common and useful way of giving the students
concentrated practices of language items as stated by Scrivener (1994:121).
Written exercises aim to help the students become familiar with the use of verbs
in English especially in filling in the blanks in a text.
3) Grammar Practice Activities
Scrivener (1994:123) states that grammar practice activities are designed
to focus on particular items of grammar. For example, a teacher gives a grammar
quiz for two teams. The teacher asks the students to write a verb on the board. The
By doing the three activities, the teacher can help the students understand
the models of teaching grammar, so that the students are easier in learning
grammar and do not get bored easily.
4. Teaching Media
In order to have a clear understanding about the teaching media, the
researcher provides explanation on the definition of media, kinds of media, and
three reasons for using media.
a. Definition of Teaching Media
Before discussing the flash cards as a teaching media, the researcher is
going to discuss the meaning of media. In general, media can be any object or
agreement of object which is used as a device by human with the parallel
meaning. Media is used in teaching instruction and information (Deflaur, 1985:
33), therefore, media is on decision whether it is used in teaching instruction or
giving information for the students in learning.
Using media in language teaching process is one of the common things
which is used to achieve the goal of learning in the school. Besides, a teacher
should have variety in teaching by using interesting media. It makes the students
not get bored. Certainly, using media in teaching language is a technological
innovation that prevails nowadays to help the teacher give the information or
transfer the knowledge to the students. Tafani (2009: 82) says that, “media provides teachers and students with creative and practical ideas. In other words,
Dawson (2003: 2) also says that, “the use whatever methods or media were appropriate for the learners and the task, acknowledging that words can be a
powerful and efficient means of conveying ideas even for the youngest children”. Therefore, the components of teaching and learning process are related to one
another. One of them is media. Using media is helpful in the teaching learning
process to transfer the material to the students. One of the important things of the
use of media is to make the students be more interested and motivate them in
learning the subject.
b. Kinds of Media
Media help the teacher to present the material in efficient time and
stimulate students in getting information more readily. According to Tafani (2009:
86), “in the teaching English as a second or foreign language, there are two kinds of media in the language teaching process”. They are:
1) Non-Technical Media : Blackboards, whiteboards, magnet boards,
flannel boards, pegboards, flash cards, index cards, wall charts,
posters, maps, scrolls, board games, mounted pictures, photos,
cartoons, line drawing, object regalia, pamphlets, leaflets, flyers,
equipment operation manuals, puppets, newspapers, and magazines.
2) Technical Media : Audiotapes, audio recorders, record
players, videotapes, video players, radio television, telephone, films,
film projector, computer software, hardware, multimedia lab, filmstrip,
Flash cards which are one of non-technical media are going to discuss in
different part.
c. Reason for Using Media
Lueck (1988: 48) expresses that teachers must use media because the use
of auditory stimulation in the classroom makes the impression vague. Therefore,
the use of visual and the involvement of other senses are needed.
The eighth grade students of Junior High School, who learned English,
need a help from the teacher to have a clear insight. Media is one of the tools
which can be used by the teacher to present the material. Media are used to help
the students in achieving the desire of learning outcomes. It is because the use of
media in the teaching and learning English can help the students to recall the
material that has been given easily. The students will be helped during the
teaching and learning process by using media in the classroom. They are also able
to retain most of the words given and recall them later in the next activities.
Therefore, media are very helpful for the students. In other words, media of
education is able to put the important basic for development in studying and
memorizing the material stay permanently in the students’ memory.
5. Flash Cards
In order to get a clear insight about flash cards, the researcher provides the
definition of flash cards, possible case of the implementation of flash cards, and
a. Definition of Flash Cards
Charles (2009: 123) states that flash cards are especially useful for
memorizing vocabulary words and their definition, dates in history and their
significance, and picture artwork or other items that you will be responsible for
identifying. The flash cards can be used at the beginning of a unit to present and
practice new vocabularies. Mukalel (2004: 147) states that flash cards are small
cards, big enough to carry on them, such as part of sentences, phrases, single
words, minimal pairs and so on.
Besides, the flash cards also have some advantages in the learning process.
According to Micheloud (2009), there are some advantages of using the flash
cards in the classroom, namely, (1) the system is effective to use for
distinguishing tenses, (2) the cards are easy to be prepared (everyone can make
flash cards by drawing any illustration according to the purpose of teaching), (3)
the cards are easy to be carried around (as they are only a stack of card, it is easy
to be carried), and (4) the cards are easy to be used (cards are only transferred of
flash from back to front).
Generally, the flash cards are study tools, pieces of paper that are used as a
learning aid. The purpose of using flash cards is for memorizing the words. Flash
cards are useful for teaching grammar, especially at the meaningful/
communicative step. A teacher can prepare the flash cards easily and store them
easily in well grouped packs. The flash cards do not need a specific size. The flash
cards can be displayed casually and easily by the teacher or the students in group
b. Possible Case of the Implementation of Flash Cards
By looking at the example of the implementation of teaching irregular
verbs throughout flash cards, the researcher finds a possible case of the
implementation of flash cards in the teaching process based on Dewi’s journal (2011). A teacher can explain the lesson by showing the cards (which contains
picture or written words) toward the students. The cards have been arranged for
the students. While showing the cards, the teacher asks the students to read the
words loudly. It is aimed at knowing the students’ pronunciation. If the students make some mistakes, the teacher gives the example of pronouncing the words
correctly. The teacher is not going to change the flash cards before the students
pronounced it correctly. Then, he asks them one by one to pronounce. They have
also to change the irregular verbs of the words from the first form into the second
form and the third form. After finishing that activity, the teacher gives an
examination in order to evaluate the teaching and learning process.
c. Flash Cards in Teaching Irregular Verbs
A teacher as a facilitator should accommodate the students by finding out
some interesting ways of teaching. It is done in order to make the students feel
interested in the lesson. The teacher can use flash cards for teaching irregular
verbs in a recount text. The role of flash cards will make the studying process be
easy to demonstrate a serious attitude and go through all classes attentively. Flash
cards can really help the students who have difficulties in learning English words
(Martin, 1987: 54). Therefore, flash cards are suggested to provide an input of
In the beginning of the class, the teacher will explain the flash cards. If the
teacher uses the flash cards to drill the past forms of irregular verbs, she/he should
show them in front of the class, so the whole class can see the cards easily and go
through the drill. After the students start to pronounce the past form and past
participle of irregular verbs in the cards, the teacher can start to flash the cards for
a second and the students have to tell what the card is. That is why they are called
flash cards.
6. Classroom Action Research
This part presents the discussion of classroom action research. They are
the definition, aims, characteristics, and models of classroom action research.
a. Definition of Classroom Action Research
Kemmis and McTaggart as quoted by Nunan (1992: 18) state that action
research is a group of activity and a piece of descriptive research carried out by
the teacher in her/his own classroom, without changing the phenomenon under
investigation. Meanwhile Harmer (2001: 344) argues that action research is a
series of procedures in which teachers can engage to evaluate the success of
certain activities and procedures.
By the definition of classroom action research above, it can be concluded
that action research is research carried out by the teacher in the classroom in order
to improve the aspects of the teaching or to evaluate the success of certain
b. Aims of Classroom Action Research
Each kind of research must have a goal in order to solve the problem
which is being researched. Elliot (1991: 49) states that the fundamental aim of
action research is to improve practices rather than to produce knowledge.
Meanwhile, according to Cohan and Manion as cited by Nunan (1992: 18), “the aim of action research is to improve the current state of affairs within the educational context in which research is being carried out”. Therefore, classroom
action research is used since the aim of the study is to improve the students’ irregular verb mastery through the flash cards.
c. Characteristics of Classroom Action Research
Kemmis and McTaggart arguments as quoted by Nunan (1992: 19), there
are three characteristics of classroom action research. They are: (1) it is carried
out by practitioners (for the purpose, classroom teacher) rather than outside
researchers, (2) it is collaborative, and (3) it is aimed at changing things.
d. Models of Classroom Action Research
In this research, the researcher decides to adopt Kemmis and McTaggart’s model (1988: 14). The steps of classroom action research are based on Kemmis and McTaggart model’s, namely planning, acting, observing, and reflecting.
Those four steps are included in one cycle. Therefore, the researcher who
B. Theoretical Framework
By looking at the Indonesian curriculum 2006 which is implemented in
teaching and learning process, the researcher should be able to understand various
types of recount texts. The researcher decided to use a recount text which became
the basic in making the materials in the teaching and learning process. Hammon et
al. (1992) state that a recount text is both spoken and written text. In learning
recount, the students must learn the language features of recount. One of them is
simple past tense. Simple past tense is part of the grammar that can be considered
to be the most difficult thing that must be learnt by the eighth grade students of
SMP N 3 Klaten. However, grammar learning should be given enough attention
and great importance in the classroom as stated by Chen (2009).
Based on the observation, the eighth grade students of SMP N 3 Klaten
faced difficulties in understanding the past forms of irregular verbs. It could be
seen that the students could not write the correct past forms of irregular verbs in
filling the blanks in a recount text. It became the teacher’s responsibility to help students master grammar especially the simple past tense.
Knowing the real condition in the class, the researcher used flash cards to
improve the students’ irregular verb mastery. The researcher used a theory of flash cards proposed by Charles (2009). Flash cards are especially useful for
memorizing vocabulary words and their definition, dates in history, and their
significance, and picture artwork or other items that they will be responsible for
identifying. In order to apply the strategy of flash cards, the researcher conducted
There are four stages which are used to conduct the research using flash cards,
namely planning, acting, observing, and reflecting. The researcher put the stages
of acting and observing into one step.
Through the condition in practicing the strategy of flash cards, most of the
students could not memorize the past forms of irregular verbs which they had
learned before. It is caused by every student having their own capacity in
memorizing the past forms of irregular verbs. After the flash cards are
implemented in the teaching and learning process, the researcher is going to see
whether students’ irregular verb mastery has improved or not. In this research, flash cards were being concerned to improve the students’ irregular verb as the theory proposed by Charles (2009). In conclusion, by applying the strategy of
flash cards in the research, it was expected that the student could increase their
25 CHAPTER III
RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
This chapter presents the methodology used in the research. To achieve the
objective of the research, the writer applies the following methodology which is
divided into six sections: (1) research method, (2) research setting and participant,
(3) research instruments, (4) data gathering technique, (5) data analysis technique,
and (6) research procedure.
A. Research Method
In this study, the researcher employed classroom action research (CAR) as
the research method. Kemmis and McTaggart as quoted by Nunan (1992: 18) state
that action research is a group of activity and a piece of descriptive research
carried out by the teacher in his or her own classroom, without changing the
phenomenon under investigation. This classroom action research was conducted
to overcome the problem encountered in class and to help the teacher increase the
quality of learning and teaching process.
In this research, the researcher conducted CAR based on Kemmis & McTaggart’s model (1988: 14). According to Kemmis and McTaggart (1988),
action research process shows a self-reflective spiral of planning, acting,
observing, reflecting, and re-planning as the basis for understanding how to take
action to improve an educational situation. There are two cycles applied in
conducting this research through action research. The figure of action research
Figure 3.1 The “action research spiral” (based on Kemmis and mcTaggart 1988:
Based on the Kemmis and McTaggart’s model, there are the basic activities in conducting action research. The activities can be elaborated as
follows:
1. Planning
Planning was the first stage of the research procedure. This activity
covered the problem identification. It was the most important stage in conducting
the research because by knowing the problem, the researcher could find a good
solution to solve it. After identifying the problem, the researcher started to make a
lesson plan as a planning before doing an action in the teaching and learning
process. The lesson plan consisted of the activities which had been done by the
researcher and the students. The activities were divided into three activities,
namely pre activity, whilst activity, and post activity. In this research, the
researcher conducted the preliminary study and two cycles which aimed to know
the improvement of the students’ irregular verb mastery in VIIIB class of SMP N 3 Klaten.
2. Acting and Observing
After making a plan, the researcher combined the action and observation
as one stage. Those stages were done together when the researcher explained the
lesson. The researcher acted out the lesson plan which was arranged in the
teaching and learning process. The problem faced by VIIIB students of SMP N 3
Klaten was filling in the blanks by using the past forms of irregular verbs in a
recount text. The researcher did the action by explaining the past forms of verbs
the past forms of irregular verbs and pronounce the verbs by using the flash cards.
The action was aimed to solve the problems.
In the observation time, there were the teacher and the researcher’s partner who aimed to monitor and observe the researcher when he was doing the action.
The observation consisted of some aspects, such as the researcher’s performance, students’ behavior, and students’ response in the learning process. The researcher
also observed what was happening in the teaching and learning process by taking
a note about the class situation including the students’ participation and students’ response.
3. Reflecting
After implementing the action and observation, the researcher interviewed
three students who gained the highest score, medium score, and lowest score in
doing the test. The interview was done when the students had break time after
their class. The result of interview became a reflection for the researcher to do
what would be improved on the lesson plan in the next cycle. Besides, the
researcher also shared with the teacher who became the observer in doing action
research. He wanted to know the teacher’s view during the learning process. Those purposed to know what was needed to improve during the implementation
of flash cards. In this stage, the researcher could observe whether the acting
activity had resulted any progress or not in the teaching and learning process.
Besides, the researcher provided the test related to the past forms of
irregular verbs. It aimed to see whether the students improved their abilities in
the preliminary study and two cycles. The test score was very useful to help the
researcher make a reflection for what should be improved in the next cycle.
Through test score, the researcher could know the individual’s ability, so he could give more practice during implementing the flash cards.
B. Research setting and participants
The research aims to describe how the process of the activities in the class
using the flash cards can increase the students’ irregular verb mastery. For the reason, the subject who was observed in this study was the eighth grade of SMP N
3 Klaten. The researcher chose the students of VIIIB which consisted of 16 girls
and 22 boys. The research was conducted from February until March 2013. When
conducting the research, the researcher t
