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i THESIS
I
IMMPPRROOVVIINNGG SSTTUUDDEENNTTSS’’ VVOOCCAABBUULLAARRYY MMAASSTETERRYY TTHHRROOUUGGHH B
BOAOARRDD GGAAMMEESS
(A Classroom Action Research at the Fourth Grade of SDN Cengklik II Surakarta in 2009/2010 Academic Year)
By: LARASATI
K2206021
This thesis is submitted to fulfill the requirement for Undergraduate Degree in English Education Department Teacher Training and Education Faculty
ENGLISH EDUCATION DEPARTMENT TEACHER TRAINING AND EDUCATION FACULTY
SEBELAS MARET UNIVERSITY SURAKARTA
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ii ABSTRACT
Larasati. K2206021. IMPROVING STUDENTS’ VOCABULARY MASTERY THROUGH BOARD GAMES (AN ACTION RESEARCH OF FOURTH GRADE STUDENTS OF SD N CENGKLIK II SURAKARTA IN 2009/2010 ACADEMIC YEAR). Teacher Training and Education Faculty, Sebelas Maret University, Surakarta 2011.
This research is an action research. It aims to find out whether board games can improve the vocabulary mastery of the fourth grade students of SD Negeri Cengklik II Surakarta. It also identifies the phenomenon takes place when board games are employed in teaching and learning vocabulary. Moreover, this study has purposes to find out the strengths and the weaknesses of board games in teaching and learning process.
The research is conducted in two cycles. There are three meetings in the first cycle and two meetings in the second cycle. Each cycle consists of four steps, planning, implementation, evaluation, and reflection. Techniques in collecting the data are qualitative and quantitative method. In qualitative method, the writer used observational and non-observational techniques. Observational techniques consist of direct observations, field notes, and photographs, while non-observational techniques consist of interviews and document analyze. The results of the observation are in the form of field notes, interviews and photographs. The result of qualitative data is analyzed by using Constant Comparative Method (CCM). In quantitative method, the writer used tests. The test consists of pre-test and post-test. The technique to analyze the tests result is by comparing the score of pre-test and post-test. The mean score of each test was quantitatively analyzed to find out the improvement of students’ vocabulary mastery after the research action.
The results of this research show that board games can improve students’ vocabulary mastery. The improvement can be seen in the form of students’ behaviour and students’ score. The students become more active in teaching and learning process. The improvement of students’ score can be seen from the differences between pre-test and post-test. The mean score of pretest is 5.82 and it improves to 6.72 in post test 1 and it also improves to 7.50 in the post-test 2. There is also weakness in using board games, board games usually played in group so sometimes it is hard to get individual mark for the student. But through board games, students get better understanding in the meaning of vocabulary. They also get less difficulty in pronunciation and spelling.
The result of the research implies that one of the appropriate techniques to teach vocabulary is board games. Through board games, teacher can deliver material in an easy and interesting way, so the students become more active in teaching and learning process.
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iii ABSTRAK
Larasati. K2206021. PENINGKATAN PENGUASAAN KOSAKATA BAHASA INGGRIS SISWA MELALUI PERMAINAN PAPAN (PENELITIAN TINDAKAN KELAS TERHADAP SISWA KELAS EMPAT SD N CENGKLIK II SURAKARTA TAHUN AKADEMIK 2009/2010). Fakultas Keguruan dan Ilmu Pendidikan, UniversitasSebelas Maret, Surakarta 2011.
Penelitian ini merupakan penelitian tindakan kelas yang bertujuan untuk mengetahui apakah permainan papan dapat meningkatkan penguasaan kosakata bahasa inggris para siswa kelas empat SD N Cengklik II, Surakarta. Penelitian ini juga bertujuan untuk mengidentifikasi fenomena yang terjadi di dalam pembelajaran kosakata bahasa inggris yang menggunakan permainan papan. Disamping itu, penelitian ini juga bertujuan untuk mengetahui kelebihan dan kekurangan penerapan permainan papan dalam proses pembelajaran.
Penelitian dilaksanakan dalam dua siklus. Siklus I sebanyak tiga pertemuan dan siklus II sebanyak dua pertemuan. Setiap siklus terdiri dari empat tahap: perencanaan, implementasi, evaluasi, dan refleksi. Pengumpulan data dlakukan dengan menggunakan metode kualitatif dan kuantitatif. Metode kualitatif yang dipakai adalah teknik observasional dan non-observasional. Teknik observasional terdiri dari observasi langsung, catatan lapangan, dan foto, sedangkan teknik non-observasional meliputi wawancara dan analisa dokumen. Hasil observasi disajikan dalam bentukcatatan lapangan, wawancara, dan foto. Data kualitatif selanjutnya dianalisis menggunakan metode perbandingan tetap. Sementara itu, metode kuantitatif yang dipakai adalah tes, yang terdiri dari pre-tes dan post-tes. Nilai rata-rata dianalisis secara kuantitatif untuk mengetahui peningkatan penguasaan kosakata bahasa inggris siswa setelah pelaksanaan penelitian.
Hasil penelitian menunjukkan bahwa permainan papan dapat meningkatkan penguasaan kosakata bahasa inggris siswa. Peningkatan ini dapat dilihat dari sikap dan nilai siswa. Para siswa menjadi lebih aktif selama proses pembelajaran. Penigkatan nilai siswa tampak pada perbedaan antara nilai pre-tes dan post-tes. Rata-rata nilai pre-tes adalah 5,82, yang meningkat menjadi 6,72 pada post-tes 1 dan 7,50 pada post-tes 2. Penggunaan permainan papan ini juga memiliki kelemahan. Karena permainan dilakukan secara berkelompok kadang-kadang sulit untuk menentukan nilai perseorangan siswa. Namun demikian, melalui permainan ini, siswa dapat lebih memahami arti kata-kata. Kesulitan siswa dalam pelafalan dan ejaan juga berkurang.
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vi MOTTO
“Fight to work for your present world as if you would live endlessly, and do your best for the hereafter as if you would die tomorrow”
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vii DEDICATION
This thesis is dedicated to:
1. My beloved Babe and Ma’e, you are my everything
2. My beloved mbak Titik, you are the greatest sister in the whole world. Thanks for being my sister
3. My adorable little sister and brother, Dini and Tia, thanks for the love and prayers 4. All of my best friends in English
Department ’06.
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viii
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
Alhamdulillahirobbil’alamin. All praise and thanks are only for Allah SWT, The Almighty God that gives His blessing and His help so the writer can finish her thesis.
The writer realizes that this thesis could not be achieved without the help and assistance from others. Therefore, in this occasion the writer would give her appreciation to the individuals and institutions who have given their help during the process of writing so that this thesis is finally finished. She would like to express her deepest gratitude to the following:
1. Prof. Dr. M. Furqon Hidayatullah, M.Pd, the Dean of Teacher Training and Education Faculty.
2. Drs. Suparno, M.Pd, the Head of the Art and Language Education Department.
3. Drs. Martono, M.A, as the Head of the English Department of Teacher Training and Education Faculty
4. Dr. Sujoko, M.A, as the writer’s first consultant for his guidance and advice.
5. Endang Setyaningsih,S.Pd,M.Hum , the writer’s second consultant for her guidance and advice.
6. MGY Purwaningsih, S.Pd, the Headmaster of SD Negeri Cengklik II Surakarta for giving the chance and support in doing the research. 7. Dyah Nur Budiati, S.Pd, the English Teacher of SD Negeri Cengklik II
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ix
8. All of the students in the fourth grade of SD Negeri Cengklik II Surakarta in participating well in this research.
9. Her family for the love and prayers.
10.Her friends in the English Dept’06. Thanks for everything.
11.Last, thank you very much for everyone who had been the part of her life.
Surakarta, Januari 2011
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CHAPTER II REVIEW ON RELATED LITERATURE A. Theoritical Desription 1. Vocabulary Mastery……… . 7
a. Definitions of Vocabulary ... 7
b. Kinds of Vocabulary ... 8
c. The Importance of Vocabulary ... 11
d. The Definition of Vocabulary Mastery……… 11
e. Teaching Vocabulary... 12
f. Procedures of Teaching Vocabulary... 14
2. Games in Language Learning…. ... 17
a. Definition of Games……….. 17
b. Purpose of Language Games……… 18
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4. Teaching English for Young Learners……… 26
B. Rationale……… ... 26
C. Hypothesis……….. ... 26
CHAPTER III RESEARCH METHODOLOGY A. The Setting of the Research ... 27
B. The Subject of the Research ………..……….. 28
C. The Method of the Research ... 28
D. The Model of the Research... 29
E. The Technique of Collecting Data... 32
F. The Technique of Analyzing Data... 34
CHAPTER IV RESEARCH FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION A. Research Implementation... 36
1. Cycle 1 a. Identifying the Problems……….. 36
b. Planning the Action……….. 37
c. Implementing the Action………. 37
d. Observing and Monitoring the Action………. 43
e. Reflecting the Result of the Observation………. 46
2. Cycle 2 a. Identifying the Problems……….. 48
b. Planning the Action……….. 48
c. Implementing the Action………. 49
d. Observing and Monitoring the Action………. 52
e. Reflecting the Result of the Observation………. 54
B. Discussion ………. 55
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xii
CHAPTER V CONCLUSION, IMPLICATION AND SUGGESTIONS
A. Conclusion ……… 58
B. Implication ……… 59
C. Suggestions ……… 59
BIBLIOGRAPHY………... ... 63
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xiii LIST OF APPENDICES
Appendix 1. Syllabus ……… 67
Appendix 2. Lesson Plans……….. 73
Appendix 3. Pre-Research Observation Fieldnote……… 81
Appendix 4. List of Students’ Name……… 83
Appendix 5. Students’ Worksheets………... 84
Appendix 6. Test Result and Scoring Rubric... 94
Appendix 7. Transcript s of Interview……….. 97
Appendix 8. Fieldnotes………. 103
Appendix 9. Samples of Students’ Test Worksheet………. 130
Appendix 10. Photographs……….. 148
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xiv
LIST OF TABLE
Table 1. Table of kinds of vocabulary usage……… 11
Table 2. Standar Kompetensi dan Kompetensi Dasar SD……… 68
Table 3. List of Student’s Names………. 83
Table 4. Vocabulary Test Result……… 94
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xv
LIST OF FIGURE
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CHAPTER I
INTRODUCTION
A. Background of the Study
There are many elements in language, one of them is vocabulary. Nowadays, people concern vocabulary as important element of language. As what Zimmer Man stated (in James Coady: 1997), vocabulary is considered one of the most important aspects of second language learning and priority was placed on developing a scientific and rational basis for selecting the vocabulary content of language courses
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The importance of learning vocabulary inspires the Indonesian government to improve English learning system especially in vocabulary. This quotation below suggests that English should be given to the students of elementary level: “
…..memilih dan menerapkan bahasa Inggris sebagai mata pelajaran muatan
local pilihan kabupaten untuk sekolah dasar. Untuksementara diberikan di kelas
IV, V, VI “. ( GBPP Muatan Lokal Bhs. Inggris,2004 ).
Despite the attention given to English language learning by the government, there are still some problems found in English language learning. These problems also happen to the students of SD Negeri Cengklik II Surakarta. It can be seen from the mark the students get on the last semester examination. The mean of their mark in the last semester examination is 5.82. It is considered as bad mark, because the passing grade of the students in this school is 5.
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It seemed that they really found difficulties to remember and grasp the meaning of words easily.
Besides, in this elementary school as most elementary schools in Indonesia, English language learning is given to students once a week with only 60 minutes for each meeting. It is not sufficient considering English is a foreign language not the native language of the students.
To solve this kind of problems, it is a need to give treatments to students that will make them enjoy the vocabulary learning and learn it fast.
In this research the writer tried to give certain method which is teaching vocabulary through board game. But why it is game? As purposed by Scott (February, 2009) there are some areas can be improved by practicing game. First,
Cognitive: Games can assist memory, problem-solving, deduction and planning
skills. Second, Language: Many games can improve vocabulary skills. Third,
Math: Children can practice counting, learn to recognize number and engage in
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Games also help the teacher to create contexts in which the language is useful and meaningful (Wright: 1984: 1). Suyanto (2007: 117) also stated that “anak bermain karena mereka senang. Anak belajar melalui permainan. Pada saat mereka bermain bersama, anak berinteraksi satu dengan yang lain”. From this statement Suyanto want to say that beside games make a fun learning and teaching atmosphere, games also train the learners to communicate with others.
Because there are so many kinds of games based on the problems and reasons above, the writer proposes one of them as teaching techniques as the solution for the problem of learning vocabularies. The teaching technique, which is suitable to overcome the problems, is board games. Board games provide all materials needed by the students such as the exercises to improve spelling, word understanding, pronunciation, and so on. Board games can also be an alternative technique of teaching to make the students feel fun in learning English vocabularies. The teacher also gets benefits to conduct the lesson effectively.
According to Elizabeth Stover at www.ehow.com, board games improve vocabulary just by playing them. For example, scrabble and boggle (games that included to board games) are two such games that improve vocabulary because of the nature of the game. Beside the fact that board games naturally improve vocabulary, board games are cheap. You can create your own games by repurposing old game boards or creating your own using a word processing program.
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students to learn vocabulary by knowing the real thing by pictures. Wright (1984: 81) also stated that he believes that the learners will enjoy and derive value from the board games.
Due to the facts above, the writer is interested in carrying out a study on “Improving Students’ Vocabulary Mastery through Board Games“(A Classroom Action Research at the Fourth Grade Students of SD Negeri Cengklik II, Surakarta in 2009/2010 Academic Year)
B. Statement of the Problem
1. Can board games improve student’s vocabulary mastery?
2. What happened when board games were employed in teaching vocabulary? 3. What are the strengths and the weaknesses of board games?
C. The Objectives of the Study
Generally, the study is conducted to improve the students’ vocabulary mastery at the fourth grade students of SD N Cengklik II Surakarta.
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D. The Benefits of the Study
The writer expects that the result of the study gives benefits for some aspect involved. The intended benefits are:
1. The writer hopes that this study gives contributions in improving the students’ vocabulary mastery. From the method used, it is expected that the students will also have great motivations to learn vocabulary using Board games. The implementation of word games in learning vocabulary could be a more fun way of effective vocabulary learning. Word games can be one of choices to play when the students need a pleasure simultaneously with learning vocabularies.
2. The teacher can use a new alternative to teach vocabulary. This study is expected will give more information about vocabulary learning to the teachers. Then, the teachers will more understand about problems and difficulties in vocabulary teaching. It can be an alternative for the teachers to solve the problems arises in teaching and learning vocabularies.
3. The school institutions can take the result of the study that is useful for formulating an appropriate method for teaching English through Board games and make an appropriate follow up based on it. The result of this research can motivate other English teachers to implement the same technique to solve the same problems in their class.
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CHAPTER II
THEORIES UNDERLYING THE STUDY
A. Theoretical Description
1. Vocabulary Mastery
a. Definition of Vocabulary
There are some experts who propose the definitions of vocabulary. Hatch and Brown (1995: 1) stated that vocabulary refers to a list of a set of words that individual speaker of a language might use. The definition given by Hatch and Brown means that there is more than one words that being used for a certain language.
Paul (1978: 1229) said that vocabulary can be defined as a list words, usually in alphabetical order and with explanations of their meanings, less complete than a dictionary.
Burns (1975: 295) also stated that vocabulary is the stock of words used by a person, a class or profession. From this definition it can be concluded that every individual use several different vocabularies.
The next definition is proposed by Ur (1996: 60). Ur says that vocabulary can be defined, roughly, as the words we teach in the foreign language. In this definition vocabulary is not the native language of the learners. Vocabulary is the words being taught in a foreign course.
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b. Kinds of Vocabulary
Notion (2008: 7) divides vocabulary into four levels on the basis of how often it occurs in the language. They are high frequency words, academic words, technical words, and low frequency words. These levels can be explained as bellow:
1) High Frequency Words
High frequency words are the most important group of words. These words occur very frequently in all kinds of use of the language. They are needed in formal and informal uses of the language.
The high frequency words of English have the following characteristics.
a) Each high frequency word occurs very often, so the effort of learning it will be repaid by plenty of opportunities to meet and use it.
b) The high frequency words are useful no matter what use is made of English.
c) Because of the frequency and wide range they make up a very large proportion of the running words in all kinds of texts and language use.
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2) Academic Words
Academic words are words that are not appear in daily conversation frequently, less than 25 percent of the running words in conversation are from the academic words list, but frequent and widely used within specialized area. These words are very important for learners who will use English for academic study either in upper secondary schools or technical institutes (academic words occur in all kinds of academic subject areas like Botany, Politics, Accounting, and Family Law)
3) Technical Words
Technical words occur in more specialized area than academic words. These words are very important for anyone who specializes in a particular area. There have not been many statistical studies of technical vocabulary, but it seems that at least 20 percent of the running words in most technical texts, such as anatomy text and economics text, are likely to be technical words.
4) Low Frequency words
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vocabulary), and (3) words that just occur rarely. Low frequency words have the following characteristics.
a) Each word does not occur very often.
b) Most low frequency words have a very narrow range. They are not needed in every use of the language.
c) The low frequency words make up a very small proportion of the running words in a text.
d) They are a very large group of words.
The usage of those kinds of vocabulary above can be shown from the table below.
English has an enormous spool of vocabulary. No one, even native speakers, is able to know them all. Fortunately, we do not need to know them all in order to use English. We only need to know those that are relevant to our practical purposes.
Level Number of Words Text Coverage, % High-frequency words 2,000 87
Academic vocabulary 800 8 Technical vocabulary 2,000 3 Low-frequency words 123,200 2
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c. The importance of vocabulary
The importance of vocabulary can be shown from the statements of experts below.
"Without grammar very little can be conveyed; without vocabulary nothing can be conveyed." (Wilkins 1972:111)
"When students travel, they don't carry grammar books, they carry dictionaries." (Krashen in Lewis 1993: iii)
"The more one considers the matter, the more reasonable it seems to suppose that lexis is where we need to start from, the syntax needs to be put to the service of words and not the other way round." (Widdowsen in Lewis 1993:115)
From the statements above it is clearly shown that vocabulary is the more important than the other aspects of language and it is needed everywhere people go.
d. Vocabulary Mastery
The word mastery refers to some definitions. According to Swannel (1994: 656), mastery is comprehensive knowledge. From the definition, mastery is wide; it covers all of the elements of knowledge.
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From those definitions above, we can conclude that vocabulary mastery is the students’ awareness of understanding stock of words learned as foreign language as the result of a complete series of teaching and learning process.
e. Teaching Vocabulary
According to Ur (1996: 60) there are six elements need to be taught in teaching vocabulary. They are, (1) Form: pronunciation and spelling; (2) Grammar; (3) Collocation; (4) Aspect of meaning: denotation, connotation, appropriateness; (5) Aspect of meaning: meaning relationship; (6) and Word formation
The approaches use to teach vocabulary mostly depends on who are the beginners and what are the teaching aims, according to www.tesol-ua.org the approaches are:
1) Use of Realia
It may be done by bringing real objects to classroom such as postcard with book, pen, schoolbag, vegetables and everything that is worth to be brought to the classroom. Even the classroom environment, such as: a chair, a table, a board, can also be used.
Realia is a vital part in presenting vocabulary at the beginners’
level, where pupils learn words, using concretes.
2) Pictures
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ways. There are: pictures, blackboard drawings, wall pictures,
charts, photos from magazines.
3) Context
Though challenging sometimes is in reality a good technique. Use the words in a real environment or context.
4) Mime and Pantomime
It may be done with the help of gestures and facial expressions and also through actions. This technique is useful for explanation of the actions and grammar items.
5) Playing
Use numerous educational games. Playing make the lesson lively and interesting.
6) Start with Irregular Verbs
Students memorize much needed words, starting with irregular verbs then nouns, adjectives and so on. Everyday at least students learnt 3 to 5 words.
7) Last Pages
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f. Procedures of Teaching Vocabulary
According to Cross (1991:11-13) the procedure of teaching vocabulary can be divided into three stages, they are as follows:
1) Presentation
In this stage, the teachers can use various techniques to teach vocabulary. Below are lists of method to give on presentation
according to Kwiatkowska (April, 2007).
a) Concise definition.
Definition is suitable method for upper-beginners and relies on giving the definition of given word. It can be simple,
unnecessary precise and scientific definition, given by the
teacher. It can be the definition from the dictionary. This is a
good method in mobilization of students to the usage of
dictionaries.
b) Explanation (description and example)
This is such a technique which is assigned to be utilized with
upper-beginners, who already have some knowledge of
English. It is essential for the teacher to bear in mind, that
while explaining certain words he should use the language that
is comprehensible for the students. Moreover, the information
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c) Give Illustration (pictures, objects)
This may be the most useful method in language teaching,
since it can be used in different ways. Those “aids” are used to
explain the meaning of words or to create a situation and
concept.
d) Make Demonstration (acting, mime)
This technique is useful for explanation of the actions and
grammar items. Such concepts as: jumping, smoking; are easy
items to explain through performing those actions. Mime,
action is a great fun for children who like acting and moving
very much.
e) Synonyms
This technique relies on explanation of meaning of new word
by giving other word, which students know and understand,
and which means nearly the same .For example: little-small,
huge-big etc. The number of synonyms appearing in textbooks
is reasonable, in this way they can be introduced rather early.
f) Antonyms
In this technique teacher explains the meaning of new word, by
giving its opposite, if students know the word meaning
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g) Do Translation.
Translation is a method which is used when it allows saving the time during the explanation of new vocabulary item.
2) Practice
In this stage, the teacher gives exercises to the students in order to practice the subject items being learnt. Below are several exercises that can be used by the teacher in this stage.
a) Singing songs and playing games b) semantic field and semantic mapping c) key word method
d) vocabulary exercises e) regular review 3) Production
Production also known as revision assists the learning process, so it needs to be done regularly.
Hatch and Brown (1995: 373-390) stated that there are five essential steps in vocabulary learning:
1) Encountering new words 2) Getting the word form 3) Getting the word meaning
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Based on the statement, new vocabulary is firstly derived from the source. After getting the words, the learner can find out what the words refer to in real life by visual, auditory representation or even the combination of them. By looking the representation, the learner is expected to judge the appropriate meaning of the words. The teacher’s job in vocabulary teaching process is making a strong memory connection for both the words and meanings for her students. Using the word in a sentence is the last step for checking the students’ vocabulary mastery not only in understanding the word and its meaning but also in placing it in a proper context.
2. Games in Language Learning
a. Definition of Games
Khan in Suyanto (2007: 117) stated that “permainan adalah aktivitas yang dilakukan berdasarkan aturan tertentu”. From this definition, Khan wants to define game as an activity played with certain rules. It means that when we played game we have certain boundaries, whether it is seen or unseen.
Costikyan in Huyen & Nga (November, 2003) stated that game is a form of art in which participants; termed players, make decisions in order to manage resources through game tokens in the pursuit of a goal. In this definition Costikyan wants to say that in a game there are should be players as the master mind to achieve the goal.
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sometimes used as an educational tool. In this definition, beside it have rules, game also gives pleasure to the players and educating them in the same time.
From those definitions above it can be concluded that game is an enjoyable activity done by following certain rules to achieve the goal and sometimes it is used as an educational tool.
b. Purpose of Language Games
Wright et al at Dalton (February, 2006) said that with the use of games, the teacher can create various contexts in which students have to use the language to communicate, exchange information and express their own opinions.
Huang in Huyen & Nga (November, 2003) has the conclusion that "learning through games could encourage the operation of certain psychological and intellectual factors which could facilitate communication heightened self-esteem, motivation and spontaneity, reinforcing learning, improving intonation and building confidence."
In summary, the purpose of games is to build the confidence of the players in the learning processes.
c. Values of Games
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"motivating and challenging" "effort of learning", and "language practice in the various skills." From this statement games have the values to bring relaxation and fun for students, catches student’s interest, and creates an active teaching learning process.
Wright et al in Dalton (February, 2006) stated that games help and encourage many learners to sustain their interest and work. Games also help the teacher to create contexts in which the language is useful and meaningful. Games give profits to both teachers and learners. For the teachers games help them to create context in teaching language and for the students games support them to do their hobbies or task.
According to Scott (February, 2009), there are literally hundreds of games that have been designed for children and adults today. Some of the general benefits include learning:
1) That you cannot always win 2) How to take turns
3) Team work
4) To be more patient 5) Risk taking
6) Anticipation skills 7) Memory
8) Colour and shape recognition 9) Pattern recognition
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But as well as these general benefits, there can be more specific benefits for learning that are related to other forms of learning, including:
1) Basic counting and mathematics
2) Word recognition
3) Problem solving
4) General knowledge
5) Writing (numbers and words)
In summary, games are useful and effective tools for both students and teacher, which should be applied in vocabulary classes.
d. Types of Games
According to Hadfield (1998: 4), there are two kinds of games, that is, competitive games and co-operative games. Competitive games are games where the players or teams compete to be the first to reach the goal. And co-operative games are those ones where the player or team works together towards a common goal.
3. Board Games
a. Definition of Board Games
Board game is a game in which counters or pieces are placed, removed, or moved on a pre-marked surface or "board" according to a set of rules. (www.en.wikipedia.org/wiki/boardgames/html/)
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special design board as a central tool. In this board the players' status, resources, and progress are tracked using physical tokens. Many kinds of board games use dice and/or cards as tools.
From the definitions above it can be concluded that board game is a game which counters or pieces are placed, removed, or moved on a specially design board. It means that to play board games we have to use a special board made to play those games only.
b. Kinds of Board Games
There are a numbers of different kinds of board games can. There are war games, strategy games, sport games, word games, etc. but, not all of those games can improve vocabulary. According to Stucky (December, 2008) there are six board games that develop language skills, they are
1) Mad Gab-an excellent game for learning the importance of stress in words. 2) Taboo-learn to describe an action, idea, or thing using different words. 3) Cranium-develops word finding, spelling, unscrambling, and vocabulary
skills.
4) Scattergories-a game that requires you to express yourself quickly. 5) Balderdash-learn to use creative word expression.
6) Scrabble-an all time classic that builds vocabulary and spelling.
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Differ from others above Huntley at www.tefl.net said that the bingo game would be one of the later stages of the process of covering a language point
So, in order to follow the advice of those experts above, in this research researcher is going to use three games that the researcher consider it as the most appropriate games to teach vocabulary, the games are as follow:
1)Scrabble
Scrabble is a board game in which words are formed from letters in patterns similar to a crosswords puzzle; each letter has a value and those values are used to score the game. (wordnet.princeton.du/perl/webwn)
Another definition of scrabble from www.wiktionary.org, Scrabble is a board game in which players draw letter tiles and take turns to make interlocking words like a crossword, scoring points according to the letters played and their positions on the board. (en.wiktionary.org/wiki/Scrabble)
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Scrabble makes the players think and think again about finding new word. In short, scrabble is a great game to play to improve vocabulary mastery
2)Bingo
Bingo is a vocabulary building game designed specifically for young and very young learners (kindergarten and early elementary grades) with a very low level of Basic English.
The games featured here are relatively simple, but clear enough for young learners to grasp quickly and challenging and exciting enough for students to maintain motivation and focus their concentration.
3)Crossword Puzzle
Crosswords are an excellent way to improve your vocabulary. They help you remember words that you have already learned, and can even help you learn new words.
Crossword puzzle is the combination of crossword and puzzle. In this game beside the blocks to put the letter there are also pictures to help students to figure the word being asked. It makes this game more interested because it is different from the usual crossword and it is full color. Young learners tend to attract to something with many colors in it.
c. Values of Board Games
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tasks or changing the language requirements of the challenge. And also the use of board games as part of school literacy can give the perceived benefits of:
1) Repetition and over-learning (i.e. the repetition of something until it becomes second nature and increases the speed of recall);
2) Incorporating some forms of repetitive learning into game situations to increase enjoyment and help concentration and time on task;
3) Providing foundational knowledge for other more complex learning.
It is very cheap, easy, and useful to use board games as an alternative method to improve vocabulary mastery.
4. Teaching English for Young Learners
Singleton (1989: 242-245) stated that there are some reasons for teaching English at primary level, namely: 1) the need to expose children from an early age to an understanding of foreign cultures so that they grow up tolerant and sympathetic to others; 2) the need to link communication to understanding of new concept; 3) the need for maximum learning time for important languages the earlier you start the more time you get; 4) the advantages of stating with early second language instruction so that the language can be used as a medium of teaching.
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a) Young learners are only just beginning their schooling, so that teachers have major opportunity to mould their expectations of life in school. inhibitions which older children sometimes bring to their schooling.
d) Their learning can be closely linked with their development of ideas and concepts, because it is so close to their initial experience of formal schooling.
e) They need physical movement and activity as much as stimulation for their thinking, and the closer together these can be the better.
Since children have those special characteristics, teaching English for them cannot be regarded similarly as teaching adult. Not all of the English teaching methods can be used to teach young learners. It should be based on their needs and characteristics.
B. Rationale
Teaching vocabulary for young learners is different to teaching vocabulary to adults. Young learners nearly hard to concentrate when attends a teaching and learning process. Because of that, we need to find the way to attract them to learn.
One way is by using board games. Board games are enjoyable and educating in the same time. Young learners will give attention to something fun, so, we can hold their attention with board games because board games is a fun way to learn.
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Teaching vocabulary using those games above is really possible. Beside the games are easy played, there are pictures displayed to make it more attractive. Even the learners would not realize that they are in the middle of learning process. It is important to make young learners not realize that they are learning, because the word “learning” sometimes give them pressure. That is way board games are beneficial to improve students’ vocabulary mastery in elementary school.
C. Hypothesis
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CHAPTER III
RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
A. Research Setting
This classroom action research was held in SD Negeri Cengklik II Surakarta. The school is located in Jl. Letjen Sutoyo no.16 Cengklik, Nusukan, Surakarta. Geographically, SD Negeri Cengklik II Surakarta has a strategic place. This school is near to the main road; therefore, it is easy to get transportation. Actually, there are some other buildings borders SD Negeri Cengklik II Surakarta. There are SD Negeri Cengklik I and SMA N 5 Surakarta in the north side, Letjen Sutoyo Street on the west side, SMA N 6 Surakarta on the south side and sport field of SMA N 6 Surakarta on the east side. The location of SD Negeri Cengklik II Surakarta is in educational environment where there are many other school surrounding it. Beside SMA N 5 Surakarta, SMA N 6 Surakarta, and SD Negeri Cengklik I Surakarta, there are also Tunas Pembangunan University and also Tunas Pembangunan Vocational school. This environment make the students’ learning environment is quiet and safe enough to conduct teaching and learning process.
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The time of the research was arranged based on the school’s academic schedule. Therefore, the writer conducted the research in the second semester of academic year 2009/2010 from April to June.
B. The Subject of the Research
The subject of the research was the fourth grade students of SD Negeri Cengklik II Surakarta. This class consists of 37 students. They are 14 boys and 23 girls.
The writer chose class IV as the subject of the research based on the fact that several of the students are cleverer and some are very active while the others have low achievement in English especially on vocabulary. It seems that some of them do not have willingness to study. This unwillingness can be seen from their behavior in English lesson time, from the observation of teacher’s class and from the first day of the research, researcher had seen that some students are asleep and some even making their own conversation with friends. The researcher conducted the study through teaching and learning process by employing board games in teaching vocabulary. The researcher acted as the teacher and the English teacher acted as the observer.
C. The Method of the Research
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research is to gain understanding of teaching and learning within one’s classroom and to use that knowledge to increase teaching efficacy/student learning. Classroom action research helped the researcher to discover what works best in a certain classroom situation as what stated by Zuber-Skerrit (1982)
"Through systematic, controlled action research, higher education teachers can become more professional, more interested in pedagogical aspects of higher education and more motivated to integrate their research and teaching interests in a holistic way. This, in turn, can lead to greater job satisfaction, better academic programmes, improvement of student learning and practitioner’s insights and contributions to the advancement of knowledge in higher education."
In this study, the classroom action research is conducted to solve the problems that appear in teaching and learning of vocabulary. The purpose of the research is to improve the students’ vocabulary mastery through board games and can give the best solution from the problem that appears during the teaching and learning process on the fourth grade of SD N Cengklik II Surakarta. This class Action Research is carried out by the writer as a practitioner who implemented the action and the English teacher helped the researcher by being the observer.
D. The Model of Action Research
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Plan
Reflection
Step I
Action & Observation
Revised Plan Reflection
Step II
Action &
Observation Revised Plan Next Cycle
Figure 1. Cycles of Action Research
The four elements above can be explained, as follows: 1. Planning the action.
The writer prepared everything related to the action as follows: a. Preparing material, making lesson plan, and designing the steps in
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b. Preparing sheets for classroom observation. It is prepared to know the situation and condition of the teaching and learning process when the technique is applied.
c. Preparing teaching aids needed, for example copies worksheets of picture or word list of board games, chalk, blackboard, duster, and so on.
d. Preparing test. It was done to know whether students’ vocabulary mastery could be improved or not. Thus it can be identified how effective the technique is.
2. Implementing the action
The writer conducted teaching and learning vocabulary through board games. The real implementations were generally presented as follows:
a. The writer prepared materials containing some exercises and practices taken and adapted from the source.
b. The writer distributed copied material according to the number of the students.
c. The writer gave short explanation and guided the students to understand, practice and do the exercise of board games.
d. The writer gave examples of board games that would be performed for other students in the class.
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f. After doing board games, the teacher and the students reviewed materials and gave some evaluation.
g. The writer asked the students’ feeling and their comment dealing with board games had been performed.
3. Observing or monitoring the action
The writer as the practitioner observed the students’ activities when teaching and learning process occurred. The result of the observation was written on field notes as the data. The English teacher as observer gave some input and suggestion to the practitioner.
4. Reflecting the result of the observation
In this step, the researcher as practitioner made an evaluation and investigation towards what she had observed in order to find out the strengths and weaknesses of the teaching activity that had been carried out. Through the observation, the teacher can see whether the students are active or passive during the teaching and learning process.
5. Revising the plan
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E. The Technique of Collecting Data
In this research the researcher used observation, photograph, interview, and test to collect the data:
1. Observation
Observation is an effective technique to learn about the method used by the teacher, the condition of the clasroom, and the responses given by the students towards the method given by teacher.
This technique done by the researcher to observe students’ behavior and activities during the teaching and learning process. This observation focused on the development of students’ vocabulary mastery through board games. The researcher acted as an active participant teacher and also observer. The researcher observed the process of teaching and learning with the help of the English teacher as observer.
The researcher made field notes and took some photograph describing the students’ learning process. Photographs were taken to record activities happened in the class. It could give real description about teaching learning process.
2. Interview
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3. Test
The researcher gave vocabulary tests to the students. There were pre-test and post-test which are used to collect the data of the improvement. Test was conducted to verify whether or not board games helped to improve the students’ vocabulary mastery.
F. Technique of Analyzing the Data
After collecting the data, the writer then analyzed the data. There are two ways in analyzing the data; they were qualitative and quantitative method. In this research the qualitative data were analyzed by using Constant Comparative Method, while the quantitative data were analyzed by comparing the results of the tests. The writer analyzed the result of the observation during the teaching and learning process by using Constant Comparative Method as suggested by Strauss and Glasser in Moleong (2004:288-289). They said that in general, the data analysis process includes data reduction, data classification, data synthesis, and ended by action hypothesis. They are as follows:
1. Data Reduction
From the observation of each cycle the smallest unit that has close relationship with the research problems was found. After that the researcher gave codes for every unit in order to know where the data come from, whether it from the fieldnotes, interviews, photographs, etc.
2. Categorization
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3. Synthesis
To synthesis the researcher looked for the relationship between one category to the others. After that the researcher gave a label related one category to the others again.
4. Stating “Action Hypothesis”
Formulate proportional statements that come from the data.
The quantitative data were analyzed by calculating the mean of pre-test and post-test. Ary, Donald and Jacob (1979: 150) mention that the mean of pre-test and post-test can be calculated with the formula as follows:
N x
x
N y y
In which:
x = Means of pre-test scores
y = Means of post-test scores
N = Number of pairs
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CHAPTER IV
RESEARCH FINDING AND DISCUSSION
A. Research Implementation
This research was held in two cycles. The writer divided first cycle into three meetings. Each meeting took 60 minutes. It was conducted in 21st April 2010, 28th April 2010, and 12th May2010. Meanwhile, the second cycle included two cycles. In both, first and second cycles, the writer used “Animals” and “Foods and Drinks” as the topics. She conducted the second cycle on 26th May 2010 and 7th June 2010. Every cycle in this research consists of series of steps, namely identifying the problems, planning the action, implementing the action, observing or monitoring the action, evaluating and reflecting the result of the observation, and revising the plan. They could be explained in the following parts.
1. Cycle 1
a. Identifying the problems
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seemed that they really found difficulties to remember and grasp the meaning of words easily.
b. Planning the action
Before implementing the action, the writer and the teacher gave the students a pre-test. The pre test was conducted on Thursday, April 15th 2010. It was conducted to know the students’ basic knowledge about the topic, and it would be compared with the post test in the end of the cycle to know the improvement. The writer prepared the materials, students’ worksheet, a lesson plan as teacher’s guidance in teaching vocabulary and everything needed in the action. The action plan would be implemented by the writer. Meanwhile the teacher observed the whole process during the process of teaching and learning in the classroom.
c. Implementing the Action 1) First Meeting
The first meeting was conducted on Wednesday, April 21st 2010. In the first meeting the writer chose “Animals” as a topic and chose “Scrabble” as a kind of board games would be played. After coming to the class and greeting the students, the teacher checked the students’ attendance. Next, the teacher talked about “animals” as the topic they would learn. Then, the teacher asked the students whether they have pets or not. The teacher asked the students to mention names of pets they have at home in English.
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When the teacher asked the students to mention the names of each picture some student didn’t answer it. Ensuring the students understood about the pictures, the teacher continued to explain that the students would play board games dealing with animals. The teacher explained that the rule of the game was to fill the empty blocks on the scrabble board with the letters that the teacher had prepared and formed it into names of animals. To make the explanation clearer, the teacher gave an example in the board.
After that the teacher divided the students in to four groups. The students were divided into four groups based on their sitting row. Each group chose their own leader. The students in each group enthusiastically discussed the name of animal they used in the board game. Some of the groups got noisy in discuss the name. Knowing the crowd happened in certain group, the teacher asked them not to speak too loudly and not to disturb the other groups. The students obeyed the teacher’s command.
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To know the winner of the game, the teacher asked the students to discuss the answers of questions in that game. The teacher asked the students to mention the meaning and to pronounce of each word. The discussion which was done also has function to correct the answers of each group. Having finished the discussion, the teacher announced the winner of that day. Then, the teacher gave a reward to the winner as an appreciation.
Next, the teacher gave some reflection towards all activities had been done that day by asking the students’ feeling and their comment. The teacher asked “bagaimana pendapat kalian tentang permainan hari ini?” Some students said “game ini terlalu sulit Bu”, “sebelumnya kami tidak pernah diberi game semacam ini Miss”. Then, the teacher gave response and some advice due to the students’ complaints and she closed the lesson because the time was up.
2) Second Meeting
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The teacher began the main activities by explaining the rules of “crossword puzzle” game. The teacher also gave an example of that game. In doing the task, the students were divided into four groups based on their sitting position. Each group had to choose the leader to make job distribution easier. While the students discussed their strategy, the teacher prepared four boards to play the game in front of the class. The teacher gave fifteen minutes for each group to accomplish the task. The students did the task seriously. There were some groups who made a circle to discuss the task. The other groups sat on their chair and also make a discussion. The leader of each group has his owns strategy to finish the task as soon as possible. There were some students who read the LKS to find the answers, and the rest used their thought and memories to do so. The answer should be written in boxes provided in the board. When the time was up, the teacher asked each group to sit back on their chair.
After that the students and the teacher held the discussion. The teacher, followed by the students, read the words the students wrote on the board. There were many different answers from the students. They looked happy when their answers were right, but they looked sad when their answers were wrong.
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“crossword puzzle” game. The students answered “menyenangkan buk, gamenya gampang”. The teacher felt glad hearing the students answer.
After finishing the discussion, the teacher closed the lesson and gave announcement to the students that for the next meeting there would be another board game to play. The students seemed excited.
3) Third Meeting
This meeting was conducted on Wednesday, May 12th 2010. In the third meeting the teacher chose “Foods and Drinks” as the topic and chose “Bingo” as the game. To start the class the teacher greeted the students used English. Then, the teacher checked the students’ attendance. The teacher began the lesson by reviewing the last lesson. The teachers showed some pictures of animals and asked the students to say it names loudly in English. In this meeting most of the students could say the animal’s name correctly, but they sometimes mispronounced it.
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showed some new pictures of foods and drinks with a name on it and asked the students to say it names loudly.
The teacher explained that today the students will play "bingo", she explained the procedure to play "Bingo" is matching the pictures that will be given to them with the words teacher wrote on the board. The pictures provided are drawing "foods and drinks". In this game when they have an image in accordance with the writing on the board they must shout "Bingo". In doing the task, the students were divided into groups of four based on their registered number. While the students discussed their strategy, the teacher prepared the board to play with. Early in the game the children were embarrassed shouting "bingo" they just raised their hands shyly. But moments later halted children excited and yelling "bingo" with full of spirit.
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In this third meeting the rest of the time was used to do the first posttest. The students had to finish the post test in twenty minutes. After finishing the test, the teacher closed the lesson and gave announcement to the students that for the next meeting there would be another board game to play.
d. Observing and Monitoring
In monitoring the implementation of board games in teaching vocabulary, the writer used test, observation, and interviews to the students as the consideration to make a decision dealing with the next steps. The test was given in the form of post-test one. The observation was done simultaneously when teaching and learning process happened. The observation was made based on the fieldnotes that written by the observer and the teacher. Then interviews were taken from the conversation that taken place in teaching and learning process.
Based on the fieldnote taken by the writer and observer, the observation of the meeting in research action can be explained as follows:
1) First Meeting
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instead of “∫ i: p”. After that she showed some pictures of animals so that students became more enthusiastic to guess the pictures in English. Many students could guess them correctly but some of them mispronounced the word. Before giving the right answer for the picture, the teacher discussed the answer to the other students first. The teacher expected that the students could fix the mistakes of their friends.
After the discussion asked the students to play the scrabble game, the students seemed very excited. This game made every single student came forward and gave the answer in the board. From this step the teacher expected that the students could be more active. Since this game was played in group, some students were very noisy in discussing the game. The teacher had to warn them to stay quiet. In the end of the game the teacher announced the winner of the game and gave them reward. The teacher expected the students to be motivated by giving rewards. After the game done, because of the limited time the teacher had to end the lesson and said goodbye.
2) Second Meeting
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game to transfer the new vocabularies to the students. This game still played in group. By dividing the students in group she expected that the students could be more communicative. In playing this game the teacher gave some hints to the students, they had to guess the names of the animals with the helping of the hints. Many students succeeded in finding the answer. Several students failed and looked sad. In the end of the game the teacher gave reward to the winner.
3) Third Meeting
In this meeting students got a new topic. The topic was “foods and drinks”. Before starting the lesson the teacher reviewed the last material. After sure the students were ready to get a new topic she began the lesson. First, she asked the students “what is your favorite food?” . She asked this question to guided students mind to the new topic. After that she showed some pictures and asked the students what is the name of the food and drink in the picture. Some students had difficulties in answering this question. They know the Indonesian word, but many of them did not know the English. For example, many of them did not know the English word of “bakso” they kept saying “bakso” instead of “meat ball”. It proved that some students had low vocabularies in meaning aspect.
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about matching the pictures they had with the teacher’s pictures. The teacher wrote the name of food or drinks she had in the blackboard. The group, who brought the picture the teacher mentioned, quickly raises their hand and yelled “BINGO”. With this game the teacher expected that the students could recognize the name of the item they brought by its picture. It was so noisy but that was fine since it reflected the students’ activeness. The students’ activeness also reflected their improved motivation and improved quality of vocabulary class. The winners of the game were group 1 and 7. The teacher gave reward to the winner.
e. Reflection
The result in cycle I was not satisfying yet because there were some weaknesses during the implementation of the action. Many students were still made mistakes in pronouncing the words. Some of them also still weak in grasping the meaning of new words. Moreover, board game was a technique that employs cheerfulness and requires more participation from the participants. In practicing this game, the students usually made a noise which disturbs the other class. This condition caused the students were out of control. The detailed of the reflection can be explained as bellow:
1) First meeting
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Some students still made mistakes in pronouncing some words correctly. They also did not have confidence to pronounce the words loudly.
Because board games mostly played in groups, the students tended to be noisy. The students tended to make noisy when discussing the answer of the task. Therefore, it was needed to give warning to the students who were too noisy. But the use of group also give benefit by helped the students to do the activity in cooperative way.
2) Second meeting
The second meeting was mostly for the game but firstly she reviewed the vocabulary learned on the previous meeting. She paid more attention to repeat the vocabularies that she felt difficult for the students. Then, the rest of the time was used to play the game. The students who did not win looked sad. It could be seen that they had more motivation to join the lesson and activity. 3) Third meeting
In the third meeting, students got a new topic. It was “foods and drinks”. It needed more time to explain this topic. In this meeting students had difficulties in getting the English vocabularies for some Indonesian words at first. The teacher helped the students by showing them some pictures and playing bingo. The bingo game was meant to improve student’s meaning understanding and pronunciation ability.
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There was an improvement on the students’ vocabulary after the first cycle. However, from the test result, the writer knew that some of the students still often mispronounce words. From the tests score it can be seen that the improvement of the pronunciation test score was not satisfying enough, there is only 1.87 point improvement from 5.67 (1-2 correct answer from each student) in pre-test to 7.54 (less or more 2 correct answer from each student) in post test 1. Based on the fact, the teacher thought that having the second cycle was necessary. The result of the tests can be seen below:
Vocabulary test result
W : Written test point (multiple choice (1 point for each correct answer) + arrange jumbled letters (2 point for each correct answer))
commit to user necessary to conduct the second cycle. To solve the problems that appeared in cycle I, the writer and the English teacher revised the plan in order to complete the next cycle so the weaknesses would not occur anymore. The plan in cycle II would be more focus on students’ participation in playing board games, improving students’ behavior from passive to be more active, and improving students’ vocabulary mastery especially on aspect meaning and pronunciation. 2.Cycle 2
a. Identifying the problems
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meanings. So, she designed activities to improve the students’ pronunciation and understanding in this cycle.
b. Planning the Action
In this cycle, the writer and the English teacher planned to solve the problems in the first cycle by focusing students’ participation in playing board games, improving students’ behavior from passive to be more active, and improving students’ vocabulary mastery especially on the aspect of meaning and pronunciation. In cycle II, the teacher still used “animals” and “food and drinks” as the topic. The teacher expected the students’ motivation and achievement increased; therefore, the objectives of the study can be achieved. Before doing the second cycle, the writer prepared the lesson plans. Posttest also would be given in the end of the cycle.
c. Implementing the action 1) The first meeting
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The teacher began the main activities by re-explaining the rules of “crossword puzzle” game. Ensuring all students understood, the teacher then gave a printable crossword puzzle board to each student.
After finishing the preparation, the teacher let everyone start the game. The teacher gave 20 minutes to the students to finish the task. The fastest in filling the words in the board became the winner. In this game, the students looked so enthusiastic when thinking of the words. Some, even knocking their pen to their head, maybe they thought it would make the answer came out of their head. Different student needed the different time in searching the words. It could be seen from the time that was needed by the students. Smart students needed shorter time than the idle ones.
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announced four students who win the competition. The winner of the game then received a reward from the teacher.
After the discussion finished, the teacher made reflection of today’s lesson. The teacher asked, “What do you think about these games today?” The students answered, “menyenangkan, gampang gamenya miss.” Then, the teacher closed the lesson.
2) The second meeting
The second meeting was conducted on Monday, June 7th 2010. The teacher chose “animals” as the topic and chose “scrabble” as the board game would be played. Before the teacher began the lesson, she greeted the students. The teacher began the lesson by reviewing the last lesson. Then she began the main activities by re-explaining “scrabble” rules. Ensuring all the students understood, the teacher firstly began the game by dividing the students into groups of four based on their sitting line.
. Then the first group was asked to come forward and started the game. The teacher provided five minutes for each group to perform the game in front of the class. Each group should find words as much as possible in five minutes. The teacher also explained that the next groups were not allowed to repeat the words mentioned by the groups before. Each group should mention the difference words. After that the teacher ordered the first group to continue the game.
