A STUDY OF VOCABULARY LEARNING STRATEGIES USED BY
FACULTY OF INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY STUDENTS
THESIS
Submitted in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of
Sarjana Pendidikan
Hanindha Sabatta Kristy 112008094
ENGLISH DEPARTMENT
FACULTY OF LANGUAGE AND LITERATURE SATYA WACANA CHRISTIAN UNIVERSITY
i
A STUDY OF VOCABULARY LEARNING STRATEGIES USED BY
FACULTY OF INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY STUDENTS
THESIS
Submitted in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of
Sarjana Pendidikan
Hanindha Sabatta Kristy 112008094
ENGLISH DEPARTMENT
FACULTY OF LANGUAGE AND LITERATURE SATYA WACANA CHRISTIAN UNIVERSITY
ii
A STUDY OF VOCABULARY LEARNING STRATEGIES USED BY
FACULTY OF INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY STUDENTS
THESIS
Submitted in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of
Sarjana Pendidikan
Hanindha Sabatta Kristy 112008094
Approved by:
Prof. Dr. Gusti Astika, MA Sesilia Rani Setyo Sari, M.Hum
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COPYRIGHT STATEMENT
This thesis contains no such material as has been submitted for examination in any course or accepted for the fulfillment of any degree or diploma in any university. To the best of my knowledge and my belief, this contains no material previously published or written by any other person accept where due reference is made in the text.
Copyright@ 2013. Hanindha Sabatta Kristy and Prof. Dr. Gusti Astika, MA.
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PUBLICATION AGREEMENT DECLARATION
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Name : Hanindha Sabatta Kristy Student ID Number : 112008094
Study Program : English Department
Faculty : Faculty of Language and Literature Kind of Work : Undergraduate Thesis
In developing my knowledge, I agree to provide SWCU with a non-exclusive royalty free right for my intellectual property and the contents there in entitled:
A Study of Vocabulary Learning Strategies Used by Faculty of Information Technology Students
along with any pertinent equipment.
With this non-exclusive royalty free right, SWCU maintains the right to copy, reproduce, print, publish, post, display, incorporate, store in or scan into a retrieval system or database, transmit, broadcast, barter or sell my intellectual property, in whole or in part without express written permission, as long as my name is still included as the writer.
This declaration is made according to the best of my knowledge. Made in : Salatiga
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A STUDY OF VOCABULARY LEARNING STRATEGIES USED BY
FACULTY OF INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY STUDENTS
Information Technology of Satya Wacana Christian University. The data were analyzed based on Schmitt's vocabulary learning strategy classifications, which are determination, social, cognitive, memory, and metacognitive strategies. The result for descriptive statistics of this study showed that determination strategies were used most frequently and social strategies were used least frequently. The result related to specific analysis of each strategy revealed that most of the participants commonly enriched their vocabulary through English media. Additionally, this study also discovered using new vocabularies in writing journal, note or report are strategies least commonly used by participants. Considerably more work will need to done by conducting a further class observation and interview in order to gain deeper analysis of the vocabulary learning strategies used.Key words: vocabulary learning strategies, non-English major, Schmitt’s classification
Introduction
Language learning and vocabulary cannot be separated since vocabulary is considered
the first step in learning language. People start their language learning by acquiring words so they can communicate and develop their language. Milton (2009) and Zhi-liang (2010) made
an analogy of language learning as a building construction. They argued that words are used as the building blocks of language. As constructing good building needs enough materials, developing language requires comprehension of a great number of words. It is argued that
vocabulary is used as a foundation in language acquisition.
Vocabulary plays an important role in language learning. It is set as one of the goals of
language learning (Nation, 2001) and plays an active part of a language (Zhi-liang, 2010). As cited in Zhi-liang (2010), Wilkins (1972) pointed that “without grammar little can be
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McCarthy (1990) pointed out that “no matter how well the student learns grammar, no matter how successful the sounds of L2 are mastered, without words to express a wide range of
meaning, communication in L2 just cannot happen in any meaningful way” (pp.265) It is
clear that people are still able to communicate using words even though the words are not
grammatically correct or pronounced perfectly.
Lightbown and Spada (2006) highlighted that using word incorrectly may lead learners to fail in communication. For this reason, language learners are expected to learn how to use
words appropriately. Mullen (1963) emphasized that learners would not be engaged to ideas or people if they are not able to use words and understand it. Accordingly, learner should
acquire a large number of vocabularies to help them develop their language skill.
Conventionally, vocabulary learning was assumed as learning form and meaning of the words (Li & Bithcener, 2010), therefore, memorizing the form-meaning association is the
aim of the learning. However, the present study of Nation (2001) pointed out that vocabulary cannot be taken apart from discourse because both knowledge of word and the skill of using
it are dynamically complex. Acquiring vocabulary is more than just knowing the form and the meaning of the words. Moreover learners are required to not only know the form and the meaning of the words but also know how to utilize the word in context.
From the debatable concepts of vocabulary learning presented above, it is emphasized that acquiring a large number of vocabularies may assist learner in communicating in the
target language. However, this also may bring some problems for the learner if they cannot utilize words and its context (of target language) appropriately. In summary, it is believed that in learning vocabulary there are two things for the learner need to be aware, which are
the need of large number of vocabulary acquisition and the need of knowing words. Word knowledge is required to help learners to grasp the meaning of words deeply and enable them
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With the purpose of acquiring high number of vocabulary and being able to utilize vocabulary correctly, it is suggested that language learners need to do certain actions in
learning vocabulary. Nation (1990) proposed some approaches of vocabulary learning. He divided the method into direct and indirect approaches. In direct vocabulary learning
approaches, learners do exercises which include word-building, guessing words from context,
learning words in list, vocabulary games and do activities that address learners’ attention on
vocabulary.
In the approach, learners’ attention is directed to some other features, such as message
conveyed by the speaker or writer. This approach makes vocabulary learning possible to take
place when the learner meets few unknown vocabulary though their attention are not focused on the learning. On the other hand, Nation (ibid) pointed out that indirect approach needs
time to cover all the features and materials as it doesn’t only focus on the vocabulary
learning. Unlike the contextualized activities used in the direct approach, the decontextualized activities used in indirect approach should be given more time.
Lightbown and Spada (2006) found out several factors that make words accessible to be learned, which are frequency, cognates and borrowed words. Through their study, they divided words into three lists that have each characteristic and chose some Latin students as
their participants. List 1 contains words such as book, sing, eye, night, and smile. Those words are easy for students to recognize because those are simple one – syllable words,
commonly occur and clearly illustrate action and objects. Even though learners may have no difficulty in knowing those words, learners still need to meet (see and hear) those words frequently and relate them to the meaning before memorizing it. The list shows the frequency
the words are seen, heard and understood which determine how difficult the words are for the learner. In line with that, Nation (2001) pointed out that in order to memorize a new word; a
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use the word in speech fluently and unconsciously grasp the meaning of the word when it appears in context. High frequency of encountering words helps learners to develop their
vocabulary. The more learners are already familiar with a word the lighter learning burden they have (Nation, 1990).
Besides the importance of frequency in vocabulary development, Lightbown and Spada (2006) discovered that borrowed words also help learners in mastering vocabulary. They put some words (hamburger, coke, walkman, taxi, pizza, hotel, internet, disco, etc.) into List 2.
All of the word in List 2 may be already familiar for learners who have never studied English before. The reason is because those words are parts of international vocabulary and
‘borrowed’ and adapted from other languages. This shows that international terms of words
are already established in learners’ mind and facilitate them to increase the number of
vocabulary.
Moreover, Lightbown and Spada (ibid) also presented some words in List 3 such as activity, international, expression, description, and so on. Unlike List 1, the words in List 3
seem more complex. Those are quite long, uncommonly used and illustrate actions and objects. However, many students of the participants know those words on a sight because those words are similar with Latin and have equivalent translation in Latin origins. Here,
cognates play a role in helping learners to recognize the words. The resemblance of the words and the meanings make learners easy to know the meaning of the new words.
Basically, acquiring vocabulary can be done through many strategies. Gu (1994)
highlighted “vocabulary learning strategies” (VLS) is the term to specify particular strategies
used by learners in acquiring a new word in the second language. A research conducted by
Gu and Johnson (1996) studied which strategies used by Chinese university students in learning English words. The study tried to relate the strategies used by measuring the number
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proficiency. Through the study, they discovered that the use of strategies did not have any impact with language proficiency, but have correlation with larger vocabulary size.
Nation (2001) described vocabulary learning strategies and encouraged learners to put more responsibility in their own learning. Brown and Perry (1991) stated that learners are
required to choose and have accurate learning strategies and grasp new vocabulary with different levels of difficulties. The learner is the one who is accurately aware of their weaknesses, strengths, and preference in their learning method (Schmitt & Schmitt, 1993),
thus, learner is in charge to know and decide what strategies are best and applicable for their vocabulary learning. Briefly, by utilizing vocabulary learning strategies, the vocabulary
learning process can also be controlled even without much help from the teacher. Learners need to have sufficient opportunities in encountering new words. Along with limited second language classroom (ibid), learners should be able to create their own chances to have contact
with new words outside the classroom.
In spite of the following studies, vocabulary learning strategies seem to be related to
five steps of foreign language vocabulary learning pinpointed by Brown and Payne (1991) (Fan, 2003; Kafipour & Naveh, 2011) obtaining sources for encountering new words, 2) drawing an apparent illustration (visual and auditory) of the forms of the new words, 3)
understanding the meaning of the words, 4) connecting the forms and the meaning of the words, 5) utilize the word.
Numerous studies have been conducted in an attempt to classify the strategies of vocabulary learning. A study by Schmitt and Schmitt (1993), categorized strategies into initial learning of new word's meaning and studying and remembering the word's meaning
once it's known (see Table 1). Nation (2001) grouped the strategies into planning (choosing what and when to focus on) which are choosing words, choosing the aspects of word
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words) consist of analyzing the word, using context, consulting a reference source in L1 or L2, using parallels in L1 and L2; processes (establishing knowledge) includes: noticing,
retrieving and generating.
Gu (1994) divided second language vocabulary learning strategies into cognitive,
metacognitive, memory, and activation strategies. Later, Gu’s taxonomy have been refined by
Fan (2003) into primary category (dictionaries strategies and guessing strategies) and remembering category (repetition, association, grouping, analysis and known word
strategies). Afterward, as one subcategory of language learning, Schmitt (1997) purposed vocabulary learning strategies based on the classification of four language learning strategies
(social, memory, cognitive, and metacognitive) by Oxford (1990) and adapted them into categories which are best to illustrate wide variety of vocabulary learning strategies.
Table 1. Vocabulary Strategy List (Schmitt & Schmitt, 1993)
Intial learning of new word’s
meaning
Use reference materials (dictionaries)
Ask others for information / work with others Analyze words from available information Create system to analyze words
Use knowledge of other language Avoidance (skip or pass new word)
Study and remembering the
word’s meaning once it’s
known
Repetition
Study the formal and grammatical aspects of a word
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The aforementioned studies in vocabulary learning strategies carried out with similar categories. In summary, the classification is divided into two major groups. First group is
initial strategy which contains of strategies that learners used when they first encounter words. Learners may use strategies of identifying of meaning by themselves or from other
sources, finding out the words knowledge deeply and setting up of vocabulary learning. Second group is association strategy which deals with mental process. This strategy includes approaches of connecting the new words with existing knowledge; manipulate them in their
mind so that they can memorize them.
Fundamentally, this concept of vocabulary learning strategies above was covered up by
Schmitt’s taxonomy. His study was conducted on 600 English learners in Japan from
different ages. In his study, Schmitt categorized vocabulary learning strategies into five basic groups of strategies that are included in discovery and consolidation strategies. Discovery
strategies is the step taken by the learner for initial discovering new words), while
consolidation strategies is used to consolidate a word once it has been discovered. Schmitt (ibid) categorized the taxonomy into determination, social, memory, cognitive, and metacognitive. Determination strategies help learners to identify the meaning of new words independently without any help from others. Learners can use these strategies by recognizing
the part of speech, using dictionary or guessing word meaning from context.
With regard to discovering words, social strategies involve cooperation with others
such as teachers, classmates, and native speakers. These strategies drive learners to make interaction to help them understand words meaning. Here, learners attempt to ask teacher for their first language translation, ask classmates for meaning, discover meaning through group
activity or interact with native speakers. After encountering new words, learners relate the new word with the existing words knowledge. These are memory strategies when learners
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meaning, using words in sentences, connecting words to its synonyms or antonyms.
Cognitive strategies are related to language manipulation or transformation process. These strategies cope with mechanical aspects rather than mental processing. It can be seen from the action of doing repetition, taking notes, highlighting new words, making list of new words,
and so on. Metacognitive strategies deal with learning process control. These strategies reflect to the ability of learners in looking for chances to learn, record, and review experiences of encountering new words. Some examples include finding some opportunities
for learning vocabulary outside classroom, continuing to learn new words for many times, skipping or passing new words, etc.
The research revealed that bilingual dictionary is the most frequently used among the
participants. Thus, Schmitt’s taxonomy was used as a starting point of this study. This study
believed that Schmitt provide more comprehensive a wide range of classification than the
other classification. Additionally, this classification was also used as fundamental theory for some previous researches. As the participants of this study were from any different level of
learning, it is believed that Schmitt’s taxonomy is suitable with this research. Additionally,
this classification was also used as fundamental as theory for several previous researches (Kudo, 1999; Kafipour & Naveh, 2011; Fan, 2003; Zhi-liang, 2010) This study was also
conducted for participants in any level of learning so that it is believed that it is suitable with this research.
Concisely, after reviewing significant roles of the strategies in vocabulary learning process, this study attempts to explore the use of strategies by non – English major students who learn English as foreign language. Therefore, this study finds out what strategies of
vocabulary learning strategies that were used by Faculty of Information Technology (FIT) students from Satya Wacana Christian University. The FIT offered English course aimed at
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observation, it found that the materials of the course was English for Specific Purposes (ESP) and offered specialized vocabulary for IT. The researcher also found that the students were
required to master a large number of IT vocabulary to assist them dealing with IT instructions which usually presents in English. This fact seemed to be an encouragement for the
researcher to conduct a study on their vocabulary learning. Particularly, this study aims at finding out what kind of strategies that Faculty of Information Technology students use in enhancing their vocabulary learning at most and at least. This study provides a brief
description of vocabulary learning strategies which may brings several contributions in the process of vocabulary learning, especially for FIT students. Through this study, by knowing
the existence of vocabulary learning strategies, the students can find out what strategies which are suitable for them so it can help them improving their vocabulary learning. Furthermore, this study also offers encouragement for teachers to introduce the existence of
the strategies so that they can help the learners to be able to apply the strategies in their learning process appropriately. Furthermore, there are two major research questions
developed to lead this study:
1. What kinds of vocabulary learning strategies were most frequently used by Faculty of Information Technology (FIT) students in English course?
2. What kinds of vocabulary learning strategies were least frequently used by the FIT students in English course?
The Study
Context of the studyThis study was administered in BIP 3 (English for Profession level 3) classes of the
Faculty of Information Technology Satya Wacana Christian University, Salatiga, Indonesia. There are two reasons why this research was conducted for IT students. The first reason was
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English vocabulary for IT to ease them understand instruction of IT which commonly used English. It was presumed that the students had to encounter many terms of IT which were
difficult for them. The second reason was that they had limited opportunity to make use of English vocabulary in their daily routine. They were also accustomed to learn English only
from the English course which was offered. For those reason, this study insisted on finding out how the students can deal with obligation to know a large amount of specialized vocabulary and cove with the limitation they have.
Method of the Study
The collected data were categorized into a categorical data. According to Fraenkel and
Wallen (2008), data can be considered as categorical data when they show the frequencies of occurrences in each category. In this study, the data simply indicated number of participants’ preferences of a particular vocabulary learning strategy. Hence this study reported the
frequency of the utilization of some approaches that were categorized into several strategies in learning vocabulary. Therefore, this study adopted a descriptive research method design in
analyzing the data. This study did simple calculation of the data and presented it through graphs and reported it in a descriptive form.
Participants
The participants of this study were 92 non-English majors’ students from Faculty of Information Technology of Satya Wacana Christian University, Salatiga. There were 66
males (72%) and 26 females (18%). The participants’ ranged from 17 to 25 years. They were
from different groups of academic year. They took Professional English 3 course which provide them with English for the introduction of technology. The participants were chosen
from three different classes of the course. They had already taken Basic English which was a course on general English.
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This present study used a close-ended questionnaire to collect data. The questionnaire was adapted from the research developed by Kafipour & Naveh (2011) which was based on
Schmitt’s vocabulary learning strategies questionnaire (VLSQ). The questionnaire had two
parts: demographic questions and main questions. The first part of the questionnaire was
expected to reveal demographic information about the participants. While, the second part included several questions relating to what strategies were used by the participants. The main questionnaire consisted of 32 likert-scale items that was divided into five categories
according Schmitt’s framework: determination, social, memory, cognitive and metacognitive.
It had 5 questions for determination strategies (A), 3 questions for social strategies (B), 10
questions for memory strategies (C), 8 questions for cognitive strategies (D) and 6 questions for metacognitive strategies (E).
Procedure of Data Collection
Before administering the questionnaire, 5 participants were chosen randomly in order to check the clarity of the questionnaire. Then, the researcher spread the questionnaire under
teacher permission before the English class was begun. The participants were asked to answer the questionnaire and return it as soon as they complete it. After all the questionnaires had been collected, the finding of the questionnaire was ready to be analyzed.
Data Analysis
The collected data were analyzed using Excel Program. Descriptive statistics were
used to answer the research question. The questions had been divided based on the VLS taxonomy that was explained before. It made the data easier to be analyzed because it showed which questions belonged to determination, social, memory, cognitive or metacognitive
strategies. Each response of the questionnaire had certain point. The collected data were put into a table and then were calculated to find the average. The result of the data analysis
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Discussion
The data was statistically analyzed to answer all the research questions. To
determine what extent the strategies were used by the participants, the discussion was divided into two parts: analysis of overall strategies use and analysis of each strategy category. The
average of overall strategy used and each category of strategies were calculated.
Overall strategies use
As displayed in Figure 1 below, determination strategies (average=3.25) were found
as the most frequently used strategies by the participants.
Figure 1. Overall strategies of vocabulary learning
Then it was followed by metacognitive (average=3.09), cognitive (average=2.84), memory (average=2.76), and social strategies (average=2.53). From the summary of average
scores, the study revealed that social strategies were the least frequency used by the participants. As the data showed, the range of average scores were not significantly different. It shows that all the five categories are also often used by the participants.
In the following section, the utilization of each strategy category is discussed more specifically.
3,25
2,53 2,76
2,84 3,09
0 0,5 1 1,5 2 2,5 3 3,5
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1. Determination strategies
Determination strategies are a set of strategies used by the participants to figure out
new words they have met independently (Schmitt, 1997). Below, there are five statements used to investigate the use of determination strategies.
Ketika saya menemukan kosakata baru dalam Bahasa Inggris yang belum diketahui sebelumnya, saya …
A1: mengenali kata tersebut termasuk fungsi kata apa (verb/kata kerja, noun/kata benda, adjective/kata sifat,dll)
A2: memastikan apakah kata-kata tersebut merupakan kata serapan
(activity=aktivitas)
A3: menebak makna kosakata dari konteknya
A4: menggunakan kamusBahasa Indonesia – Bahasa Inggris
A5: menggunakan kamus Bahasa Inggris – Bahasa Inggris
Figure 2. Determination strategies
From Figure 2 above, it could be seen that the average of each item of determination
strategies were below 3.5. The highest average was 3.53 of A3, which means that most of the participants guessed the meaning from the context when they encountered new English
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Otherwise, using English – English dictionary seemed to be the least strategy the participants used to determine meaning of new English words. It is shown from the average of A5 which
was only 2.85. Others strategies in this category seemed not so significantly different. The average of A1 was 3.43 and A2 was 2.96.
This study assumed that most students in this study were more concerned put their concern more on discovering new words rather than deeper understanding of the usage of the words. Since they were not English major, they were assumed to have no heavy pressure in
learning English, consequently this strategy was considered sufficient for them.
2. Social strategies
Besides determining the meaning of the new words independently, the participants also used social strategy to grasp the new meanings with some helps from other people. However, the social strategy was most infrequently used by the participants. The social
strategy only had an average of 2.53 compared with others strategies.
Figure 3. Social strategies
In order to analyze the use of the social strategy, this study provided 3 statements, as seen below:
B1: meminta bantuan kepada dosen atau teman untuk mengartikan kata
B2: mempelajari kosakata bersama teman sekelas di dalam kelompok
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From Figure 3 above, the strategy of asking help from teachers or friends to get meaning (B1) had the highest average (3.14), and then followed by the strategy of B2 with an
average of 2.48 and the strategy of B2 with an average of 1.96, which was considered as the lowest average of all. It appears that the participants did not depend on help from other
people. They may depend on technology to help them to figure out the vocabulary.
3. Memory strategies
Since the participants had successfully discovered the meaning of the new words, the
participants applied some approaches that were done by connecting new words to their existing knowledge in order to keep the acquired vocabulary in mind. The approaches were
memory strategies. From the collected data, this study found that the participants used memory strategies on average of 2.76.
Figure 4. Memory strategies
Below are ten statements provided for further analysis of memory strategy utilization. C1: membuat gambar berdasarkan kata yang ditemui untuk mempermudah
mengingat kata tersebut
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C3: menghubungkan kata yang baru ditemui dengan kata -kata yang telah dipelajari sebelumnya (misal: taught dihubungkan dengan teach, big dihubungkan dengan
huge)
C4: menghubungkan kata baru dengan kata lain yang maknanya hampir sama atau berlawanan
C5: menggunakan kata -kata baru ke dalam kalimat sehingga bisa diingingat
C6: mengucapkan kata-kata baru dengan lantang saat pertama menemuinya
C7: mengingat kosakata baru dengan menggunakan flashcard (kartu pengingat berisi tulisan kata-kata Bahasa Inggris)
C8: mengingat kata melalui imbuhan kata (im-, un-, -able, -ful, -ment,ex-) C9: menggunakan gerakan saat mempelajari sebuah kata
C10:mengecek kembali kosakata yang sudah dipelajari
This study investigated that most of the participants commonly used strategy C5 in which they put the new vocabularies into sentences to make them easier to memorize the vocabulary. Figure 4 shows that C5 strategies reached the highest average of 3.34.
Nonetheless, the participants were not really familiar to use pictures of the new words when they wanted to try to keep the vocabularies in their memory. This strategy got the lowest
average (2.07) of all the strategies in memory strategy.
4. Cognitive strategies
This study also found that the participants also made use of cognitive strategy in their
learning process. The participants did language manipulation in gaining understanding of knowledge of the new words. As indicated in the statements below, this study offered specific
analysis of the process of the participant in doing language transformation in their vocabulary learning.
D1: mengucapkan kosakata baru berulang kali
D2: membuat daftar kosakata baru
D3: menggunakan media berbahasa Inggris (game, lagu, atau film)
D4: mencatat atau menandai (menggarisbawahi atau memberi warna) kosakata baru yang saya temui
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D6: membuat catatan, jurnal atau laporan dalam Bahasa Inggris
D7: mencoba untuk tidak mengartikan kata per kata
D8: mencari kata dalam bahasa ibu (mother tongue) saya yang artinya hampir sama dengan kata baru dalam Bahasa Inggris
Figure 5. Cognitive strategies
Figure 5 illustrates that the participants used English-language media (games, songs or movies) most often to remember new words and built their vocabulary storage (D3
Therefore, learners should take their own responsibility of their learning process. By using metacognitive strategies, learners are expected to be able to control their own learning
(Schmitt, 1997). On the other hand, this data analysis yielded an observation which proved that the participants of this study used metacognitive strategies in their vocabulary acquisition process. This study used six statements to get more detailed inquiry of metacognitive strategy
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E1: mencari kesempatan untuk belajar Bahasa Inggris di luar jam kuliah
E2: menguji kempapuan saya dalam menguasai kosakata yang telah saya pelajari
E3: member perhatian khusus terhadap kata-kata Bahasa Inggris yang baru saya temui
E4: mengabaikan kata yang saya temui jika tidak mengetahui artinya
E5: menonton film, mendengarkan lagu, bermain game dalam Bahasa Inggris dengan tujuan khusus untuk memperkaya kosakata
E6: menggunakan gerakan tubuh saat saya tidak bisa mengucapkannya dalam Bahasa Inggris
showed that the participants watched movies, listened to songs, and played games in English-language (strategy of E5) more often with the aim of providing opportunities to enrich their
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In addition, this study discovered that the way the participants intentionally enriched their vocabulary storage was by watching movies, listening songs, and playing games in
English (metacognitive strategy). This ranked as the most frequently used strategies among all strategies. This approach attained the highest average score (4.22). In contrast, the lowest
average score was for the statement D6 (1.95). The participants did not frequently apply new vocabularies in their notes, journals, or reports in English.
The discussion above shows that most of the strategies were used by the participants
in learning English vocabulary. Even though the participants were not studying English as their major, they were trying to learn English vocabulary. Furthermore, this study discovered
that the participants had already been familiar with the different vocabulary learning strategies even though not all strategies were used.
Conclusion
As far as the classification of strategies was concerned, this study seemed to support
Schmitt’s vocabulary learning strategies taxonomy. The most obvious finding to emerge from
this study was that there were five types of strategies which were used in learning vocabulary.
The strategies included determination, social, cognitive, memory, and metacognitive strategies. The present study was classified into two parts. The first set of analysis examined
the overall strategies of vocabulary learning. The second part was the investigation of several items in order to analyze each categorize of vocabulary learning strategies specifically.
Returning to the research question posed at the beginning of the study, it is now clear
that this study had discovered the use of strategies by the Faculty of Information students in this study. The result of this study indicated that determination strategies were the most
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word and identified the meaning of the words without aid from someone. Besides discovering the new words meaning independently, learners may ask help from other persons in grasping
the meaning of new vocabularies which is considered as social strategies (Schmitt, 1997). Conversely, the analysis of the data reported that social strategies were the least frequently
used strategy by the students in learning vocabulary.
More specific analysis of each strategy was also reported. Applying new English vocabulary in writing reports, notes or journals was used by the participant infrequently. On
the other hand, this study indicated that the participants purposely watched movies, listened to songs, or played games in English to have their vocabulary improved. Finally, this study
concluded that in general the students are familiar enough with the strategies that can be used in learning vocabulary.
Regarding to the analysis of the findings, this study suggests several noteworthy
implications to following vocabulary learning. Taken together, this research suggests that using aforementioned strategies promote self-monitoring and self-evaluating to learners in enhancing their vocabulary learning process. Consequently, learners need to be aware of the
existence and the functions of vocabulary learning strategies. By using appropriate strategies, it is believed that they may have their vocabulary learning improved. At this stage, teachers
also play an important role in students learning process. Teachers may encourage the students by introducing the set of vocabulary learning strategies both implicitly or explicitly. Then, the
teacher also may help them choose what strategies are suitable for them so that their learning becomes more effective.
Naturally, this study still has some limitations. This study uses likert-scale
questionnaire as the instrument of data collection. This type of questionnaire seemed to be ambiguous for the participants. Hatch and Brown (1995) agreed participants’ response to
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unclear points so that it seemed to be a little bit difficult for the participants to understand it. Five participants involved in piloting study which was conducted before this study. It is
assumed that having bigger number of piloting participants for further study brings more benefits in measuring the clarity of the questionnaire. Other limitation also occur regard to
the finding of the data. Using questionnaire seems only discovers the superficial level of the strategies use of the participants. Since questionnaire is self report, it seems unclear whether the participants really used the strategies in their vocabulary learning. It indicates that they
may response the questionnaire according to their belief and thought about the use of strategies. It is suggested that researcher need to conduct class observation and do interview
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ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
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References:
Brown, T. S., & Perry, F. L. (1991). A comparison of three learning strategies for ESL vocabulary acquisition. TESOL QUARTERLY, 25, 661 - 670.
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25
APPENDIXES
APPENDIX A
VOCABULARY LEARNING STRATEGIES QUESTIONNAIRE
(Adapted from Kafipour & Naveh and Schmitt’s VLSQ) Yth. Rekan – rekan Fakultas Teknologi Informasi
Kuesioner ini disusun untuk mengumpulkan data dalam riset mata kuliah Bahasa Inggris di Fakultas Teknologi Informasi – Universitas Kristen Satya Wacana, Salatiga. Penelitian ini ditujukan untuk mengetahui strategi yang digunakan mahasasiswa FTI dalam mempelajari kosakata Bahasa Inggris. Partisipasi Anda dalam pengisian kuisioner ini akan sangat membantu saya dalam pembuatan skripsi untuk menyelesaikan studi saya di Fakultas Bahasa dan Sastra.
Petunjuk Umum:
Beri respon pada pertanyaan dan pernyataan di bawah ini dengan cara memberi tanda centang pada kolom yang Anda anggap paling sesuai dengan diri Anda.
Contoh:
Ketika saya menemukan kosakata baru dalam bahasa inggris yang belum diketahui sebelumnya,
saya ….
Semua informasi diri dan respon yang Anda berikan bersifat rahasia dan hanya dipakai untuk kepentingan penelitian ini. Hasil dari penelitian ini tidak akan mempengaruhi nilai Bahasa Inggris Anda.
Ketika saya menemukan kosakata baru dalam bahasa
inggris yang belum diketahui sebelumnya, saya …. 1 2 3 4 5
A1
Mengenali kata tersebut termasuk fungsi kata apa (verb/kata kerja, noun/kata benda, adjective/kata sifat, dll)
A2 Memastikan apakah kata - kata tersebut merupakan kata
26
A4 Menggunakan kamus bahasa Indonesia – Inggris A5 Menggunakan kamus bahas Inggris – Inggris B1 Meminta bantuan kepada dosen atau teman untuk
mengartikan kata
B2 Mempelajari kosakata bersama teman sekelas di dalam
kelompok
B3 Memperlajari kosakata baru langsung dari penutur asli
(native speaker)
Saat saya ingin mengingat kosakata baru dan
meningkatkan jumlah kosakata, saya …. 1 2 3 4 5
C1 Membuat gambar berdasarkan kata yang ditemui untuk mempermudah mengingat kata tersebut
C2 Mengingat kosakata baru dengan membayangkan atau
menggambarkan kata tersebut di dalam pikiran
C3
Menghubungkan kata yang baru ditemui dengan kata - kata yang telah dipelajari sebelumnya (misal: taught
dihubungkan dengan teach, big dihubungkan dengan
huge)
C4 Menghubungkan kata baru dengan kata lain yang
maknanya hampir sama atau berlawanan C5 Menggunakan kata-kata baru ke dalam kalimat
sehingga bisa mengingat
C6 Mengucapkan kata - kata baru dengan lantang saat
pertama menemuinya
C7
Mengingat kosakata baru dengan menggunakan
flaschcard (kartu pengingat berisi tulisan kata-kata bahasa Inggris)
C8 Mengingat kata melalui imbuhan kata (im, un, able,
-ful, -ment, ex-)
C9 Menggunakan gerakan saat mempelajari sebuah kata C10 Mengecek kembali kosakata yang sudah dipelajari D1 Mengucapkan kosakata baru berulang kali
D2 Membuat daftar kosakata baru
D3 Mengunakan media berbahasa Inggris (game, lagu, atau
film)
D4 Mencatat atau menandai (menggarisbawahi atau
memberi warna) kosakata baru yang saya temui D5 Memberi label dalam bahasa inggris pada benda - benda
tertentu
D6 Membuat catatan, jurnal atau laporan dalam bahasa
Inggris
27 D8
Mencari kata dalam bahasa ibu (mother tongue) saya yang artinya hampir sama dengan kata baru dalam bahasa Inggris
E1 Mencari kesempatan untuk belajar kosakata bahasa
Inggris di luar jam kuliah
E2 Menguji kemampuan saya dalam menguasai kosakata
yang telah saya pelajari
E3 Memberi perhatian khusus terhadap kata - kata bahasa
Inggris yang baru saya temui
E4 Mengabaikan kata yang saya temui jika tidak
mengetahui artinya
E5
Menonton film, mendengarkan lagu, bermain game
dalam bahasa Inggris dengan tujuan khusus untuk memperkaya kosakata
E6 Menggunakan gerakan tubuh saat saya tidak bisa mengucapkannya dalam bahasa Inggris
28
APPENDIX B
DESCRIPTIVE STATISTICS FOR VOCABULARY LEARNING STRATEGIES QUESTIONNAIRE
30
77 682011016 19 L 4 2 5 5 4 2 1 1 3 5 4 4 5 2 2 2 2 5 4 5 5 5 3 2 5 5 4 3 4 1 5 2
78 Brian 20 L 5 2 5 5 2 1 1 1 1 5 5 5 5 2 1 3 1 4 2 5 2 1 2 4 1 2 1 5 2 5 1
79 682011604 19 L 5 5 5 5 5 2 2 2 1 5 3 3 3 1 3 3 2 5 2 1 5 1 2 1 4 1 1 3 5 1 5 3
80 672011246 18 P 3 3 4 4 4 4 3 2 2 4 3 3 2 4 2 1 2 4 3 2 4 4 2 2 3 2 3 3 3 3 4 3
81 682011050 19 L 3 3 4 4 4 3 3 2 2 2 3 2 3 4 4 3 2 2 3 3 3 2 2 2 1 2 4 4 3 4 3 4
82 672011016 18 L 4 2 4 3 3 3 3 2 2 3 3 4 2 2 1 2 3 1 3 2 4 3 2 2 3 2 3 2 2 3 5 4
83 672011010 19 L 4 4 4 3 4 2 3 2 2 1 3 3 4 3 1 3 1 4 5 1 5 1 1 1 3 3 4 4 3 2 5 1
84 672011079 19 P 3 2 4 4 1 3 3 2 2 3 3 3 4 4 2 2 1 3 3 1 5 3 2 2 3 3 2 5 4 1 5 3
85 672011119 19 L 4 3 5 3 3 3 1 2 1 2 2 3 3 4 1 3 2 3 4 1 5 3 3 1 2 1 3 4 3 3 5 3
86 692009040 23 L 3 3 4 3 3 4 2 2 2 3 4 5 5 2 2 3 2 3 4 2 5 3 2 2 3 2 3 3 3 2 5 3
87 672011192 18 L 4 3 4 2 2 3 2 2 4 3 5 4 4 5 3 3 2 3 3 2 5 4 4 3 3 3 2 3 3 3 5 4
88 682010010 19 P 3 3 2 3 2 4 3 2 2 4 3 3 4 4 2 3 3 4 4 3 5 4 3 2 3 2 3 3 4 2 4 2
89 672011018 19 L 3 2 4 2 3 2 3 2 2 4 1 3 3 1 1 1 2 3 1 1 4 2 1 1 3 3 3 3 4 3 5 2
90 672011089 19 L 4 3 4 2 5 3 1 2 2 3 5 5 4 2 1 4 3 5 5 3 5 5 2 3 4 3 5 5 4 1 5 4
91 672009257 21 L 4 4 3 3 3 3 3 2 3 4 3 4 4 2 2 2 2 3 3 5 5 3 3 3 3 2 3 4 4 2 5 3
92 672011026 19 P 3 3 4 2 2 3 2 2 2 3 2 3 4 3 2 2 3 3 4 3 4 3 3 2 3 3 4 3 3 2 4 3
316 272 325 321 262 289 228 180 190 283 281 303 307 270 191 226 196 289 286 218 378 303 222 179 281 222 268 282 285 224 388 260
3,43 2,96 3,53 3,49 2,85 3,14 2,48 1,96 2,07 3,08 3,05 3,29 3,34 2,93 2,08 2,46 2,13 3,14 3,11 2,40 4,11 3,29 2,41 1,95 3,05 2,41 2,91 3,07 3,10 2,43 4,22 2,83 average (total)
Average (item)
1707
3,25 2,53 2,76 2,84 3,09
2089 TOTAL
