CHAPTER 1
INTRODUCTION
A. Background of the Study
Vocabulary is a vital aspect in language, because it appears in every
skill of language listening, speaking, reading and writing skill. It also means
that teaching speaking, writing, reading and listening can not be separated
from teaching vocabulary. Teacher teach students how to use vocabulary and
to convey their ideas, feeling and knowledge. Vocabulary is one of language
competence, which enhance the skill in language.(Cameron 2001 : 72).
Learning vocabulary is one of the first steps of learning a second
language. A vocabulary usually grows and envolves with age and serves as a
useful and fundamental tool for communication and acquiring knowledge.
Hatch ( 1995 : 396 ) in her book Vocabulary, Semantic and Language
Education notes that High School students studying English are introduced to
800 – 1000 English word in first year, 1700 – 2000 more in second year class
and another 2500 – 3000 in third year. Therefore, it can be acquired by
students in three years at 6000 words in English. In order to achieve that
vocabulary those need to develop it.
Vocabulary development for students is not only about learning
(Cameron, 2001: 73). Students will ask what a particular word means and
how to say the word in foreign language. Students language competence will
develop if their vocabularies are also increasing. For that reason, teacher has
an important role to build the students’ vocabularies.
There are several methods and strategies which used in teaching
language to develop quantity and quality of student’s vocabulary. Teachers
use several strategies such as Direct method, Communicative Language
Teaching and Total Phsycal Response to teach vocabulary. Teacher can also
use story telling, games, songs and varied media. Accordingly, within the
field of vocabulary learning, there are many strategies suggested by the
expert, Herel and Jordan ( 2004 : 12 ) for instance argues that it is more
efficient to spent class time on the strategie of (1) using visual scaffolding, (2)
using words parts techniques to remember words and (3) using vocabulary
cards or to remember foreign language.
In order to increase student’s vocabulary mastery, teacher of Junior
High school also should apply certain strategy to provide the students with
the ability ofdistinguishing the words and mastering usage, and to enhance
the ability of using words instead of knowing the meaning only.
In vocabulary teaching, the teachers usually offer the meaning of
the words only.After learning some words, as well as their synonyms and
antonyms, the students think that theyhave enlarged their vocabulary, but this
why one lexical item is more appropriate than the other. It is helpful forthe
students to remember a large number of new vocabularies in a short time.
In Junior High Schools, some English teachers only pay attention
to the teaching of phonetics, grammar and syntax, asking students to do lots
of exercises about them so as to get good marks in the exams. Teachers pay
little attention to vocabulary teaching because they think that there is no need
to do so. They would ask the students to recite the relevant vocabulary list
and remember the Indonesian meaning, and then they will do some dictations
to check the students’ memory. The teacher’s attitude towards vocabulary
teaching also misleads their students. The students are not willing to spend
time accumulating their vocabulary. They only recite the vocabulary before
the test without knowing the usage properly. When tested, many students
willcomplain that they come across too many unfamiliar words and
expressions. As a result, a lot of mistakes appear in their test because of their
misunderstanding of the vocabulary, which will make them lose interest in
learning English.
Related to the explanation above, the study is important to explore
the teacher’s strategies in teaching vocabulary especially in Junior High
School. The researcher is interested in having a research on Vocabulary
Teaching Strategies Used by Teachers of Junior High School, because it is
important to know the dominant strategies which used by teachers in teaching
B. Reason for Choosing the Topic
Strategy in teaching vocabulary for teacher on private Junior High
School is important to assist students’s learning in all language skills, the
attention towards the vocabulary is still neglected by most teacher by leaving
the strategy in their teaching. There are some reasons why the researcher
choose this topic. The first reason is that the researcher attempt to find out
what strategies which applied by the teachers of private Junior High School in
teaching English vocabulary. The second is that the researcher wants to know
what is the dominant strategy used by teachersin teaching vocabulary.
C. Research Problem
The certain strategy can assist students learning in mastery English
vocabulary. Regarding to the topic of the research, the researcher propose the
following problem :
1. What strategies do teachers use in teaching English vocabulary on
private Junior High Schools in Cilacap?
2. What is the dominant strategy used by teacher of private Junior
High School?
D. Aim of the Study
In line with the research question above, the study will be conducted (1)
teachers, (2) to find out the dominant strategies that teacher applied in
teaching English vocabulary for students of Junior High School.
E. Clarification of Key Term 1. Vocabulary
Vocabulary is one of language component which enhances the
skill in language. Vocabulary is the first and foremost important step in
language acquisition.
2. Teaching strategies
It refers to a conceptual planning of the learning should be done
by teacher to achieve the language target.
a. Teaching
Teaching is showing or helping someone to learn how to do
something, or giving instruction, guiding in the story of something,
providing with knowledge, causing to know or to understand. (
Kimble 1987 : 264 ).
b. Strategies
Etymologically, coming from ancient Greek, the term ‘
Strategies’ means generalship or the art of war. In non- military
setting, especially education where it has taken a new meaning and
has been transformed into learning strategies. It means a specific
F. Contribution of the Study
The study is mainly to show the teacher’s strategies of Junior High
School in teaching English vocabulary. Through this study, it is expected that
it will give contribution to teaching learning field and will enrich the
literature about vocabulary teaching strategies research, as well as English
teacher.
First, the attempt to investigate the teacher’s strategies in teaching
vocabulary is expected that it will arise the English teacher awareness of the
importance of the teaching strategies. Second, the variety of vocabulary
teaching strategies can help students to learn not only to know but also to use
the words, by that awareness hopefully the teachers strives to explore their
ability to provide as many strategies as possible on the purpose of developing
