i
INDEPENDENT LEARNING STRATEGY TO DEVELOP STUDENTS’
VOCABULARY LEARNING
THESIS
Submitted in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirement for Degree of
Sarjana Pendidikan
Febriyant Jalu Prakosa 112009013
ENGLISH DEPARTMENT
FACULTY OF LANGUAGE AND LITERATURE
SATYA WACANA CHRISTIAN UNIVERSITY
iv
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@ 2013. Febriyant Jalu Prakosa and Prof. Dr. Gusti Astika, M.A
All rights reserved. No part of this thesis may be reproduced by any means without the permission of at least one of the copyright owners or the English Department, Faculty of Language and Literature. Satya Wacana Christian University, Salatiga.
1
INDEPENDENT LEARNING STRATEGY TO DEVELOP STUDENTS’
VOCABULARY LEARNING
Febriyant Jalu Prakosa
Abstract
This study aimed to examine whether or not independent learning strategy could help to
develop students‟ vocabulary learning. The participants were 9 junior high school students of
SMP Negeri 2 Tuntang, Salatiga who was in 7th grade. The data were collected through 8 series of pre-test, independent learning, and post-test of vocabulary. The findings of this study discovered that independent learning strategy could help students to acquire new vocabulary everytime it is conducted. This study also revealed that the independent learning strategy could be an alternative way in teaching vocabulary. The development of each student in conducting independent learning strategy was also included and presented in this study.
Keywords: vocabulary learning strategy, independent learning strategy, pre-test,
post-test, gain score
Introduction
Background of the Study
2
“foundation” for language learning, in this case English language teaching and learning. It is
because people now realize that by learning vocabulary, a person can begin to understand how to use a certain language. In other words, without knowing a word in a certain language, a person will be unable to interact using that particular language, especially for English meaning. Thus, to construct and communicate meaning, learners, especially those who learn English as foreign language, need to learn vocabulary first in order to construct and communicate meaning. However, vocabulary learning is not a simple matter, and we should
not just know words‟ meanings, but we also have to know how the words work in sentences
as stated by Allen (1983). Thus, people need to use what people know as vocabulary learning strategy in order to help them acquiring new vocabulary in an appropriate and effective way.
3
their textbook and find the definition by themselves. The students are encouraged to use a bilingual dictionary to find the meanings of new English words they encounter in the learning process. Hopefully, by knowing the meaning or the definition of the new words by themselves, the students can acquire new English words easily.
It is still debatable actually whether or not this strategy can effectively make the students acquire new words in target language way more easily. Therefore, there is a need to conduct a research toward this strategy to enable us to see whether independent learning strategy (of vocabulary) would be effective enough to facilitate students in acquiring new words of target language more easily or not. Thus, through this study, I hope that my findings can provide useful evidence and new facts about independent learning strategy and its implementation in real learning context.
Literature Review
There are many aspects in English learning such as grammar, vocabulary, and pronunciation. As vocabulary learning is seen as the most vital aspect in English learning these days (Allen, 1983; Carter & Nunan, 2001; Gairns & Redman, 1986), people should pay more attention to vocabulary learning, or practically to provide more portion of vocabulary learning in many English lessons all over the world. Based on that statement, vocabulary learning had been the focus of this study. In the field of vocabulary learning, people can find many types of strategy that can be used to facilitate learners in acquiring new English words and those strategies are called vocabulary learning strategies.
Before going further to discuss vocabulary learning strategies, here are some scholars‟
4
used since previous thousands of years. However, the studies on language learning strategies just started in 1960 (Oxford, 1990; cited in Asgari & Mustapha, 2011). Then, for the past twenty years, there have been rapid developments of studies in language learning strategies (Wenden and Rubin, 1987; O'Malley and Chamot, 1990 & Oxford, 1990; cited in Asgari & Mustapha, 2011). Under the general learning strategies, there is the existence of language learning strategies that covers all strategies in language learning. Subsequently, vocabulary learning strategies position is under language learning strategies, or in other words vocabulary learning strategies is defined as a part of language learning strategies (Nation, 1990; cited in Asgari & Mustapha, 2011), since vocabulary is also a part or one of the sub categories of language. Vocabulary learning strategies is also defined as the steps taken by language learners to learn or acquire new English words (Asgari & Mustapha, 2011).
Then, as I mentioned previously in the introduction, this study focused on a vocabulary learning strategy called independent learning strategy where learners were encouraged to learn vocabulary autonomously. Related to the independent learning, Sokmen (1997) argued that learners need to be helped to learn vocabulary on their own (as cited in Kalajahi and Pourshahian, 2012, p. 139). This research finding might provide a support toward the argument from Sokmen since independent learning strategy requires the students to be able to learn or acquire vocabulary by themselves. However, even though learning vocabulary independently is seen as a good method for developing vocabulary learning, Zheng (2012) finds out that in China, most of the students fail to learn vocabulary independently because of the influence of teacher-centered classroom which is applied in almost all places in China since the ancient times; the teacher-centered classroom limits
students‟ independence in learning. As another EFL country, just like China, Indonesia used
5
applied in many schools and other educational institutions in Indonesia, Indonesian students‟ learning style is seen to be more independent. Thus, the independent learning strategy is worth applying.
Relevant Research Findings
Some scholars have found that the use of vocabulary learning strategies is very
helpful in developing learners‟ vocabulary learning or acquisition, as the research findings of
Bastanfar and Hashemi (2010) also discovered that several vocabulary learning strategies attached in local Iranian Pre-University book enabled the learners there to learn new English words more easily and the learners there also became more proficient in using English. Furthermore, Zheng (2012) in his research finding stated that vocabulary learning strategies made vocabulary learning easier. Accordingly, vocabulary learning strategies should be
conducted to ease or facilitate students‟ vocabulary learning.
6
and intentional (intended learning). Here based on those two types of vocabulary learning, this independent learning strategy can be considered as an intentional vocabulary learning strategy, not an incidental one, because the students focused on learning vocabulary consciously, or in other words, the students realized that they are involved in a particular vocabulary learning process using a certain vocabulary learning strategy.
Some say that incidental learning can give better result than learning vocabulary intentionally, but Alemi and Tayebi (2011) in their research concluded that intentional vocabulary learning is better than incidental vocabulary learning. The research finding of Alemi and Tayebi (2011) shows that the result of the t-test they had conducted involving 30 Persian students from different majors passing the General English Course at Sharif University of Technology indicates that the participants‟ mean score of incidentally acquired vocabularies was 2.90 (M=2.90, SD=0.95), the mean score of etymology-based intentionally learned vocabularies was 2.63 (M=2.63, SD=0.88), and the mean score of meaning-based intentionally learned vocabularies was 3.03 (M=3.03, SD=0.80). Consequently, based on the particular research findings mentioned above (meaning-based intentionally vocabulary learning that gets the highest mean score), independent learning strategy as an intentional vocabulary learning process should be conducted more frequently in the process of students‟
vocabulary learning in order to develop students‟ vocabulary. After that, since this
7
Then, related to the autonomous learning style of this independent learning strategy, Kafipour, Shokrpour, and Yazdi (2011) found out that the participants of their current study preferred individual learning style more than any other learning styles. This finding showed that the students learnt well when they worked alone. They could remember the information they learnt for a longer time when they studied alone. Furthermore, understanding new materials was easier and quicker when the learners learnt the materials alone. Progress in
learners‟ learning was good when the learners worked by themselves. However, it cannot be
said that the learners learnt the best when they worked alone since individual learning style was found as a minor learning strategy and there are still may other strategies that can be applied in the learning process. However, the focus of this study was still on the implementation of independent learning strategy and the findings above shows supports why this study needs to be conducted.
8
can learn and acquire the new English words more feasibly as the translations provide the definitions to be more specific (as cited in Ali, Ayub, Baki, and, Mukundan, 2012, p. 28). Moreover, students felt more comfortable and familiar with the use of their mother tongue in a bilingual dictionary and it makes them comprehend the essence of the translation more (Chen, 2008; cited in Ali, Ayub, Baki, & Mukundan, 2012). Similar research findings came
from Tsai and Chang (2009). They found that “dictionary use” was the most frequently used
strategy among their student participants, and these research findings about the advantage of
dictionary use in learners‟ translation strengthen the need of conducting this study about
independent learning strategy in vocabulary learning by involving dictionary use method.
Therefore, based on the statements and research findings mentioned, this independent learning strategy can be seen as an attempt to help learners in acquiring new English vocabulary, especially in acquiring the vocabulary on their own. Consequently, Nation (2001) argued that strategy training has been proved really helpful in improving students‟ strategic knowledge (as cited in Kalajahi and Pourshahian, 2012, p. 138), and as a result, there was a need for strategy training and extensive explanation about the independent learning strategy for the learners in this study in order to make the learners familiar with the implementation of independent learning strategy in their vocabulary learning process. As Bastanfar and Hashemi (2010) in their research also found that the training for learners are very useful in making the learners improve their vocabulary learning. Thus, it can be said that strategy training is much needed here. In the training, the students were given clear instruction about the vocabulary learning strategy, just like Zheng (2012) mentioned, instruction on vocabulary leaming strategies can help students understand more about the learning strategies they use. Furthermore, according to the research findings of Kalajahi and Pourshahian (2012), another
9
being trained, the students can develop their autonomy in learning. Thus, they could also apply or practice the independent learning strategy they are conducting in their English vocabulary learning more easily - because the characteristic of this independent learning strategy is autonomy and strategy training helped the learners to develop their autonomy in learning before they apply the independent learning strategy. By doing so, hopefully the students were accustomed to use the particular strategy (independent learning strategy) in their vocabulary learning so that from that moment on they can get the best result in learning or acquiring new English vocabulary or even to develop their own vocabulary learning based on the independent learning strategy. Moreover, there are other advantages that learners can get from the vocabulary learning strategy based on two of five research findings from Mizumoto and Takeuchi (2009). First, the learners can get higher vocabulary test scores;
second, learners‟ motivation will increase. Therefore, after discovering many advantages of
vocabulary strategy training from various scholars‟ research findings, I can say that there was
a big need to conduct vocabulary strategy training for the learners.
10
vocabulary learning through the vocabulary strategy that they learn from vocabulary learning strategy training.
Research Question
Then, based on all arguments and research findings mentioned previously, there is a need to conduct a specific study about independent learning strategy including giving an intensive training to the learners about it and also the examination of its effectiveness in real vocabulary learning context in order to answer these questions: “How can independent
learning strategy develop students‟ vocabulary learning?” and “Can independent learning strategy help students improve their vocabulary learning effectively?”
Purpose of the Study
This study aimed to see how independent learning strategy could develop students in acquiring new words in English learning as a foreign language context. Some scholars
believe that independent learning strategy is helpful in students‟ learning. However, there is
still a call for a deeper look to the strategy to answer those questions above - whether the strategy is really helpful or not - and this requires a research toward the strategy to be conducted. Thus, this study aimed to find out whether the independent learning strategy could be developed into an effective strategy in vocabulary learning process or not by conducting the strategy itself and testing it (through vocabulary pre-tests and post-tests for the students) later on.
Significance of Research
11
the strategy can be applied in many vocabulary learning conditions and can help learners of English to enhance and acquire new words better.
Besides, the findings of this research may trigger other questions for conducting further research in vocabulary learning strategies, especially the implementation of independent learning strategy in vocabulary learning or acquisition. Further study may be conducted in comparing the effectiveness of the appliance of this independent learning strategy for vocabulary learning with other vocabulary learning strategies and also in the development of this independent learning strategy.
The Study
Method
12
every meeting there were also some sets of pre-tests and post-tests and the results of the tests were used to find the gain scores for the pre and post-tests in every meeting; the gain scores were aimed to measure the effectiveness of this independent learning strategy in developing
students‟ vocabulary. Then, at the end of the study, the students‟ pre-test and post-test results
– which contain their new-words learning results – were collected as portfolio; the portfolio
then was used as another tool to reflect students‟ vocabulary learning development by calculating all pre-test, post-test, and gain scores before.
Participants of the Study
Nine grade seven students of SMP Negeri 2 Tuntang, Salatiga, Central Java, Indonesia participated in this study. Those students came from the same class and all of them were also learning English in their schools. However, it was possible that they also had different background knowledge of the use of English because the students came from different background. I chose this group of English learners because they matched all the criteria I need for being the participants in this study. Those criteria were first, attending formal school, second, have been learning English at school, and third, have their own dictionary that were used as their independent learning tool in this study.
Research instrument
As the study is aimed to examine the capability of the independent learning strategy to
develop students‟ vocabulary learning, pre-test and post-test were used in this study in order
13 Data collection
The data were collected through conducting 8 series of pre-test, independent learning by using dictionary, and also post-test. Therefore, in each meeting, each student experienced doing pre-test of a certain vocabulary list, and after that, each student was given a reading passage where the vocabulary list were taken. The reading passage was used by the students to determine which words that they considered difficult and had to find the meaning in the dictionary. For the last step, each student did post-test from the same vocabulary list in order to see their vocabulary development after conducting the independent learning strategy. After those process, the students‟ pre-test and post-test scores were calculated in order to see the gain scores of each pre and post-test of every student in every meeting. By compiling and analyzing these students‟ vocabulary lists and also the students‟ pre-tests and post-tests gain scores, I was able to gather more convincing data and I was also able to easily measure their level of vocabulary understanding after doing this independent learning. Not only that, I was also able to determine whether or not this independent learning is helpful for students‟ vocabulary development after reflecting to the students pre-test and post-test scores along with the gain scores they obtained.
Data Analysis
The data obtained in the form of pre-test scores, post-test scores, and also gain scores
were processed and presented in the form of charts of students‟ overall gain score and also students‟ individual pre and post-test. The charts were aimed to help in taking a closer look to
the development of students‟ vocabulary both individually in each meeting and also generally
14
learning strategy worked with each student and also to explain the result of its usage for each student specifically.
Findings and Discussion
Through this section, I would like to present the findings of my research which was conducted in order to see whether or not independent learning strategy could develop
students‟ vocabulary. The findings are presented in the form of graphs of students‟ overall
gain scores and also students‟ individual pre and post-test scores along with their individual
gain scores as well as the explanation for each graph.
Figure 1. Overall Learning Gain Score of the Students
The overall learning gain score of the students was calculated from the gain scores of their pre-test and post-test scores in every meeting. Then, the average gain score of each meeting was counted and presented in the Figure 1.
15
to the sixth, students‟ scores improved to 25.28 and 33.17 points, but in the seventh meeting,
the scores went down again to 30.22 points. However, in the final meeting, the students‟ gain
score went up to 46.20 points. This fluctuation of scores could have happened since the students did not always prepare themselves (conducting independent learning using dictionary) well. Also, the students were not always in good mood and good physical condition when they were involved in this study, and it may affect their performance.
The following sections present individual results of students‟ progress in learning vocabulary.
Figure 2. Individual Pre-Test and Post-Test Scores of Student 1
Figure 2 shows that the first student got 34.00 points of gain score in her first meeting, and in her second meeting, her gain score went up to 52.00 points. However, in her third meeting, her gain score went down to 15.00 points. Then, in her fourth and fifth meeting, her
gain score went up again to 23.00 and 25.00 points. The first student‟s gain score went down
again in her sixth meeting to 11.50 points. Afterward, in her seventh meeting, the first
student‟s gain score went up again to 34.00 points, and in her last meeting, her gain score
16
From Figure 2, it can be seen that overall, the first student always obtained gain scores in this study, and it may mean that the first student gained some new vocabulary through this 8 series of pre-test, self learning, and post-test activity. Not only that, through Figure 2 it can also be seen that the first student obtained her highest gain score in the second meeting (52.00 points) and her lowest gain score in the sixth meeting (11.50 points). The highest gain score could have been achieved because of the relatively low pre-test score that the first student obtained in the second meeting (31.00 points), while the materials given in
the second meeting was not too hard to master and it is believed that the first student‟s
motivation in involving herself in this study was still high, so that she could use dictionary properly to master the vocabulary and prepare for the post-test. As a result, she obtained 83.00 points of post-test score in her second meeting. Then, the lowest gain score she achieved could be affected by a relatively high pre-test score that the first student achieved in her sixth meeting (57.00 points), while it is believed that in this sixth meeting the first student faced a difficulty in finding the unknown new words in the dictionary or in other words did not prepare well for the post-test, so that she could only achieve 68.50 points of post-test scores.
17
Figure 3 shows that in the first meeting, the second student got 23.00 points of gain score and her gain scores at her second to third meeting went up to 29.00 and 35.00 points. However, in her fourth meeting, her gain score went down to 10.00 points. After that, from
the fifth to the sixth meeting, the second student‟s gain scores improved to 17.50 and 46.00
points. Even though in her seventh meeting the second student‟s gain score went down again to 32.00 points, in her last meeting, the second student got her highest gain score in this study (54.30 points).
18
Figure 4. Individual Pre-Test and Post-Test Scores of Student 3
Through the first and second meeting, the third student achieved exactly the same
gain scores (23.00 and 23.00 points). The third student‟s gain score went up to 37.50 points in her third meeting. In her fourth meeting, the third student‟s gain score went down to 17.00
points. Then, in the fifth meeting, the third student got her highest gain score (60.00 points), but the score went down again to 20.00 points in her sixth meeting. However, from the
seventh meeting to her last meeting, the third student‟s gain scores went up to 31.00 and
46.00 points.
Figure 4 generally shows that the third student always obtained gain score in every meeting of this study, just like two previous students. It can be inferred that the third student also acquired new vocabulary through this study. The condition when the third student got her lowest gain score in the fourth meeting (17.00 points) may indicate that the third student did her fourth post-test with not enough preparation, just like the second student. This can be
proven by looking into the third student‟s fourth pre-test score (43.00 points) which was her
19
points of her eighth post-test score, 60.00 points higher than her fifth pre-test score (25.00 points).
Figure 5. Individual Pre-Test and Post-Test Scores of Student 4
The fourth student got 25.00 points of gain score in her first meeting, and in the
second meeting, her gain score went down to 9.00 points. The fourth student‟s gain score
went up in the third meeting when she obtained 20.00 points, but went down again in her fourth meeting when she got 17.00 points. The fourth student got 12.50 points of gain score
in her fifth meeting. Then, the fourth student‟s gain score went up again in her sixth meeting
when she gained 23.00 points. The gain score went down one more time in the seventh meeting, but not too low from the previous meeting because the fourth student gained 20.00 points, and in her final meeting, the fourth student could achieve her highest gain score which is 52.00 points.
20
the fourth student seemed to find those new words quite easily in the dictionary and could achieve way higher score in the post-test (60.00 points). Then, her lowest gain score (9.00 points) was achieved in the second meeting when her pre-test score was her second highest (34.00 points), but the post-test score was only 43.00 points. It is believed that it was due to
the fourth student‟s inability to find the new words given in that meeting, not because of
lacking motivation in learning. The lowest gain score was obtained in the second meeting, an early meeting, when students were still spirited in involving themselves in this study, so it is believed that the factor was not the lack of learning motivation.
Figure 6. Individual Pre-Test and Post-Test Scores of Student 5
The fifth student here had a unique graph of gain score, because he experienced not obtaining any gain score once in his fourth meeting. His gain score from first meeting was 17.00 points and went up in the second meeting to 26.00 points. The gain score then went down in the third meeting to 22.50 points. After not obtaining any gain score in the fourth
meeting, the fifth student‟s gain score went up to 2.50 points, not far more than 0.00. Then, in his sixth to seventh meeting, the fifth student‟s gain score improved to 40.00 and 45.00 points. For his final meeting, the fifth student‟s gain score went down again to 40.00 points,
21
Even though the fifth student had experience not achieving any gain score in his fourth meeting, from his other 7 meetings, the fifth student obtained gain scores. This may indicate that the fifth student still acquired new vocabulary in this study, just like other students did. Then, through Figure 6, it can be seen that the extremely low gain scores from the fourth and fifth meeting may be happened because of two different factors. First, his fourth pre-test and post-test scores which were exactly the same (60.00 and 60.00 points). As a pre-test score, 60.00 points is a relatively high score, which means that the vocabulary given were not too difficult for the fifth student. By achieving exactly the same score in the pos-test, it may indicate that the fifth student did not prepare at all for the post-test. The second, his fifth pre-test and post-test scores were 30.00 and 32.50 points, and this may be affected by the fifth student not yet mastering the vocabulary given combined with not enough preparation for the post-test, so that both pre-test and post-test scores were low. Then, in the seventh meeting, the fifth student was believed to did the preparation for the post-test properly, so that he improved his score a lot from 26.00 points in the pre-test to 71.00 points. The difference was 45.00 points and it was his highest gain score.
22
The sixth student obtained two exactly the same gain scores in his two first meeting (20.00 and 20.00 points) and then his gain score went down in his third meeting when he got
12.5 points. After that, in his fourth meeting, the sixth student„s gain score improved to 23.00
points, but again, his gain score went down far enough to 2.50 points in his fifth meeting. Then, in the sixth meeting, the sixth student could obtain his highest gain score (55.00
points). Nevertheless, in his seventh meeting, the sixth student‟s gain score went down again
to 12.00 points. In his last meeting, the sixth student managed to improve his gain score to 49.50 points.
Basically, the sixth student always achieved gain scores in his participation in this study, so it may indicate that the sixth student also acquired new vocabulary through his
participation in this study. Afterward, there was no specific reason why the sixth student‟s
gain score went down very low in his fifth meeting, but it may be affected by his absence in the actual test of the fifth meeting, and that made him had to attend an additional post-test by himself and he seemed not well-prepared back at that time, so it can be inferred that this had influenced his performance in this post-test. After that, through Figure 7, it can also
be seen that the sixth student‟s highest gain score was obtained in his sixth meeting when he
23
Figure 8. Individual Pre-Test and Post-Test Scores of Student 7
Figure 8 shows that in her first meeting, the seventh student achieved 51.00 points of gain score which was her highest gain score. Then, in the next two meetings, the seventh
student‟s gain scores went down to 22.00 and 12.5 points. In the fourth meeting, the seventh student‟s gain score improved again to 29.00 points, but the gain score went down once more
to 25.00 points in her fifth meeting. The seventh student managed to improve her gain score in the sixth meeting to 43.00 points, but, again, the gain score went down in her seventh meeting to 37.00 points. In the last meeting, the seventh student could achieve 49.00 points of gain score, better than the previous meeting.
Even if the gain scores of the seventh student went up and down, the seventh student succeeded to obtain gain score in every of her meeting of this study. As the other students did, this may also indicate that the seventh student acquired new vocabulary. Figure 8 also
shows that the seventh student‟s highest gain score was obtained in her first meeting (51.00
24
already mastered the vocabulary given. As a preparation for the post-test, the seventh student seemed to put only a little effort to obtain a quite high score, 80.00 points.
Figure 9. Individual Pre-Test and Post-Test Scores of Student 8
The eighth student gained 32.00 points in her first meeting, and her gain score went up in the second meeting when she achieved 34.00 points. Then, in her third meeting, the
eighth student‟s gain score went down far enough to 7.50 points. In the fourth meeting, the
eighth student‟s gain score went up to 17.00 points, and even in the fifth meeting she was
able to achieve her highest gain score, which was 57.50 points. After that, in the sixth meeting, the eighth student went down again to 26.00 points. However, her gain scores in her last two meetings went up to 32.00 and 46.00 points.
Like previous students, the eighth student‟s gain scores went up and down, but
25
be because of the lack of preparation she had before the post-test. As a result, she could only achieved 50.00 points in her post-test. Then, as her highest gain score, the eighth student was able to achieve 57.50 points in her fifth meeting. It is believed that the eighth student prepared well before the post-test of the fifth meeting so that she could obtain 80.00 points. It was far better than her pre-test score (22.50 points) which may indicate that actually she did not master the vocabulary given in the fifth meeting at first.
Figure 10. Individual Pre-Test and Post-Test Scores of Student 9
From Figure 10, it can be seen that the ninth student obtained 31.50 points of gain score from her first meeting and went down to 29.00 points in her second meeting. Her highest gain score was achieved in her third meeting, which was 62.50 points. In the fourth
meeting, the ninth student‟s gain score went down again to 44.00 points and the decrease
continued to her fifth meeting when she obtained 25.00 points. The gain score went up in the sixth meeting (34.00 points), but, the score went down again to 29.00 points in the seventh meeting. However, the ninth student managed to improve her gain score to 49.00 points in her last meeting.
26
points), but managed to get far better post-test score (70.00 points). This may indicate that the ninth student prepared really well for her post-test. After that, her lowest gain score was on her fifth meeting when she achieved 22.50 points, which was her second best pre-test. It may also mean that the vocabulary in that meeting were included into the ones that she could handle the best. However, she may only put a little effort on her post-test preparation, so she could only obtain 47.50 points. Even so, based on the data on Figure 10, the ninth student gain scores can be considered high and she consistently obtained gain scores in 8 meetings. Thus, it can be said that this student could really make use of the independent learning
27 Conclusion
28
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
This thesis would not have been finished without the support of many sides. I would like to thank Jesus Christ, my savior, who guided me in writing my thesis through His way. I wish to express my gratitude to my supervisor, Bapak Prof. Dr. Gusti Astika,
M.A., who was abundantly helpful and patient in guiding me to accomplish this thesis. My
29 REFERENCES
Alemi, M., & Tayebi, A. (2011). The influence of incidental and intentional vocabulary acquisition and vocabulary strategy use on learning L2 vocabularies. Journal of Language Teaching and Research, 2 (1),81-98.
Ali, Z., Ayub, A. F. M., Baki, R., & Mukundan, J. (2012). Second language learners‟ attitudes towards the methods of learning vocabulary. English Language Teaching, 5
(4),24-36.
Allen, V. F. (1983). Techniques in teaching vocabulary: Teaching techniques in English as a second language. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Asgari, A., & Mustapha, G. B. (2011). The type of vocabulary learning strategies used by EFL students in University Putra Malaysia. English Language Teaching, 4 (2), 84-90.
Bastanfar, A., & Hashemi, T. (2010). Vocabulary learning strategies and ELT materials a study of the extent to which VLS research informs local coursebooks in Iran.
International Education Studies, 3 (3),158-166.
Carter, R., & Nunan, D. (2001). The Cambridge guide to teaching English to speakers of other languages. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Dai, W., & Yang, W. (2011). Rote memorization of vocabulary and vocabulary development.
English Language Teaching, 4 (4),61-64.
30
Hassanzadeh, M., Khatib, M., & Rezaei, S. (2011). Vocabulary learning strategies of Iranian upper-intermediate EFL learners. International Education Studies, 4 (2), 144-152.
Kafipour, R., Shokrpour, N., & Yazdi, M. (2011). Learning styles and levels of vocabulary learning among Iranian EFL learners. European Journal of Social Sciences, 25 (3),
305-315.
Kalajahi, S. A. R., Pourshahian, B. (2012). Vocabulary learning strategies and vocabulary size of ELT students at EMU in Northern Cyprus. English Language Teaching, 5
(4), 138-149.
Mizumoto, A., & Takeuchi, O. (2009). Examining the effectiveness of explicit instruction of vocabulary learning strategies with Japanese EFL university students. Language Teaching Research, 13 (4), 425-449.
Nation, I. S. P. (2001). Learning vocabulary in another language. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Pora, Y. (2003). Enrich our vocabulary through readings and idioms: Memperkaya kosa kata kita melalui bacaan dan idiom. Yogyakarta: Pustaka Pelajar.
Tsai, C. C., & Chang, I. C. (2009). An examination of EFL vocabulary learning strategies of students at the University of Technology of Taiwan. International Forum of Teaching and Studies, 5 (2), 32-38.
Zheng, S. (2012). Studies and suggestions on English vocabulary teaching and learning.
English Language Teaching, 5 (5),129-137.
32 Appendix B
Sample of reading passage used
There are many kinds of boats.
One kind of boat is called a sailboat. A sailboat uses the wind to move. Wind makes a sailboat move in the water. The wind pushes the sailboat. Wind fills the sails. The sailboat moves when the wind blows.
One kind of boat is called a motorboat. A motorboat uses a motor to move. The motor gives power to the boat. The motorboat moves when the motor is running. The motorboat makes a loud noise.
One kind of boat is called a rowboat. A rowboat needs people to move it. People make a rowboat move in the water. People use oars to move a rowboat. Oars are long and flat. Oars go into the water. A rowboat moves when people use the oars.
