A STUDY OF VOCABULARY LEARNING STRATEGIES USED BY STUDENTS OF SEKOLAH DASAR NEGERI SALATIGA 10
THESIS
Submitted in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of
Sarjana Pendidikan
Awan Giri Dahana 112007212
ENGLISH DEPARTMENT
FACULTY OF LANGUAGE AND LITERATURE SATYA WACANA CHRISTIAN UNIVERSITY
A STUDY OF VOCABULARY LEARNING STRATEGIES USED BY STUDENTS OF SEKOLAH DASAR NEGERI SALATIGA 10
THESIS
Submitted in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of
Sarjana Pendidikan
Awan Giri Dahana 112007212
Approved by:
Dra. Martha Nandari, MA. Rindang Widiningrum, SS, M.Hum
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A Study of Vocabulary Learning Strategies Used by Students of Sekolah Dasar Negeri Salatiga 10
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TABLE OF CONTENT
Cover Page ... i
Approval Page ... ii
Copyright Statement ... iii
Publication Agreement ... iv
List of Table and Figures ... viii
Abstract ... 1
Introduction ... 2
The Study ... 7
Method of Study ... 8
Participants ... 8
Instrument of Data Collection ... 8
Procedure of Data Collection ... 8
Data Analysis ... 9
Discussion ... 9
Overall Strategies Use ... 9
The Utilization of Each Strategy Category ... 10
LIST OF TABLE AND FIGURES
Table 1. Vocabulary Strategies List ... 5
Figure 1. Overall Strategies of Vocabulary Learning ... 9
Figure 2. Metacognitive Strategies ... 10
Figure 3. Social Strategies ... 11
Figure 4. Cognitive Strategies ... 12
Figure 5. Memory Strategies ... 13
A STUDY OF VOCABULARY LEARNING STRATEGIES USED BY STUDENTS OF SEKOLAH DASAR NEGERI SALATIGA 10
Awan Giri Dahana 112007212
Abstract
In learning and teaching English, English vocabulary plays a very significant role. We need to know the strategies which the students use in learning vocabulary for helping students gain vocabulary easier. This paper investigated the use of strategies by elementary school students in their vocabulary learning. The participants of this study were 96 students
Key terms: vocabulary, Vocabulary Learning Strategies (VLS), learning strategy, young learner.
Introduction
Language learning and its vocabulary are two essential things that cannot be separated. Vocabulary is a part of language and the first step in learning language. In order to communicate and develop the language, people should start their language learning by acquiring words. Therefore, a learner should need to learn the vocabulary when he/she studies language. The previous study (Hu and Nation, 2000) has reported that learners need to know 98% of running words. It means, at most, there should be only one unknown word in every fifty running words.
The problem is that many students find it hard to learn English vocabulary. It can be understood since there are many English words. Most English words have the same meaning but they cannot replace each other. One word is only used for a certain context, such as land vs. ground, home vs. house, human vs. mankind, etc. Besides that, there are also many words that are long and difficult to pronounce and memorize for example, perpetuity, iatrochemistry, peculiar, incurable, and many others. Using word incorrectly may lead learners to fail in communication (Lightbown and Spada, 2006). 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. Thus, the use of strategy is necessary to help students in learning vocabulary.
Rasekh and Ranjbary (2003) argued that successful language learners have their own special ways of doing it. Those special ways are known as learning strategies which can help the students learning language more easily. In order to have a good skill in spoken and written text, learners should improve their ability in vocabulary through good learning strategies which learners should have. Learners have to choose the suitable strategies which can be very helpful for them in learning vocabulary.
As an example, learners might face difficulties when they are given reading passages in the second language context; various issues have been raised regarding the second language learners’ behaviors, attitudes and perceptions to reading. Several studies (Ehram & Oxford, 1990; Anderson, 1991; Pressley & Afflerbach, 1995) have discovered that many students show substantial informal knowledge and ineffective reading skills and strategies to accommodate the reading demands of the new academic environment. There are some factors such as lack of cognitive and metacognitive strategies, extrinsic motivation and low interest which have contributed toward students’ problems in reading; there is also the factor of lacking vocabulary knowledge. Reading fluently requires accurate and automatic word recognition skills, which will enhance comprehension (Grabe, 1991). However, Anderson (1991) clarifies that for many second language readers, reading is a ‘suffocatingly slow process’. For example, students may face difficulties in understanding the meaning of the text if sentences or an entire paragraph contain even only a number of unknown words (Alderson, 1984). In most cases, the students would skip reading the sentence or paragraph. However, this action will worsen the problem further as the students will not learn the words that they skipped and thus, they will be unable to understand the text they read.
Learning strategies are defined by Oxford (1998:8) as “specific actions taken by the learners to make learning easier, faster, more enjoyable, more self directed, more effective, and more transferable to new situations. According to Schmit (1997) as stated in Meral Öztürk (nd) a vocabulary learning strategies are any strategies that result in the learning of vocabulary. Gu (1994) stated that vocabulary learning strategies are special instructional tools and ways to acquire new words in the second language by the second language learner.
Vocabulary learning strategies (VLS) such as memorizing, repeating, and taking notes on lexical words are commonly used (Schmitt, 2000 as cited in Lip, 2009). Schmitt observed that beginners use ‘shallow’ strategies for vocabulary learning such as memorization and repetition, and advanced learners use ‘deeper’ strategies such as consolidation and determination strategies (p.132).
Schmitt (2000) categorized VLS into two purposes: 1. Strategies that discover a new word’s meaning; and 2. Strategies that consolidate a word once it has been encountered. Below there is a list of VLS from Schmitt’s (2002) taxonomy, which includes a variety of different strategies and all important skills in the learner’s process:
Determination strategies are individual learning strategies, which help learners to discover the meaning of words by themselves with no assistance from peers, such as guessing
the words from the context.
Social strategies engage learners in interaction with their peers, and this helps them to learn from each other, such as observing their classmates and asking their teacher for the meaning of a word.
new word. For example, if the learner comes across the word “cat”, the learner can group the word “cat” under the category of four-legged animals because the learner already knows the image of these four-legged animals from his/her background knowledge. Another example is that the learner sees a particular action from a kind of sports on TV and guesses the name of the sport because s/he already remembers the actions associated with that sport.
Cognitive strategies do not engage learners in mental processing but is more mechanical. Repetition is one of the most commonly used cognitive strategies.Other examples are taking notes and highlighting new words,making lists of new words, using
flashcards to record new words, putting English labels on physical objects, keeping a
vocabulary notebooks, and writing the words many times.
Metacognitive strategies are strategies relating to processes involving monitoring, decision-making, and evaluation of one’s progress. Metacognitive strategies help the learner in determining appropriate VLS for learning new words.
As this study took more concern on the vocabulary learning strategies for young learners, it important to know what the meaning of young learner is. According to Sarah Phillips (1993:5) as cited in Novita Maya Hapsari (2007,p. 6) in the introduction of her book ‘Young Learners’ described young learners as: “children from the first year of formal schooling (five or six years old) to eleven or twelve years of age. However, as any children’s teacher will know, it is not so much the children’s age that counts in the classroom as how mature they are. There are many factors that influence children’s maturity: for example their culture and their environment (city or rural), their sex, their expectation of their peers and parents”.
This paper will explore the strategies of vocabulary learning among the fourth, fifth and sixth grade students of Sekolah Dasar Negeri Salatiga 10. Besides that, it is also important to know the most preferred and frequently used strategies by them in learning vocabulary. It will provide information to help English teacher in teaching vocabulary. As the result, the teacher will be able to help their students in acquiring much English vocabulary, so that the students can become better English learners. Besides, it is hoped that this study will give useful information for English learners so that they can be more aware of the strategies
that can be used for learning English vocabulary and decide the most suitable strategy for
them. The paper will report some preliminary findings of the VLS employed by these learners.
The Study
The aims of this research are to identify the vocabulary learning strategy most preferred and frequently used by 96 students which from the fourth, fifth and sixth grade of Sekolah Dasar Negeri Salatiga 10 who are young learners. The goals of this research were to find out the most commonly used strategy by the fourth, fifth and sixth grade students of Sekolah Dasar Negeri Salatiga 10 in learning vocabulary.
statements of social strategy. The SILL uses a 5 (five) liker – scale for which the learners are asked to indicate their response to strategy description. Since the strategies cover all areas of learning, the writer only selected some questionnaire items that could be used for learning vocabulary. As a result, the modified questions consisted of only seventeen items instead of fifty. They were 5 (five) of memory strategy, 3 (three) of cognitive strategy, 4 (four) of
Determination strategy, 3 (three) of metacognitive strategy, and 2 (two) of social strategy.
The subject of the study were the fourth, fifth and sixth grade students of Sekolah Dasar Negeri Salatiga 10 which consist of 96 students in total. Three classes were used to gain valid data about the frequency of language learning strategies used by the students. Then, the writer prepared the Oxford SILL by choosing and editing some items that were connected to vocabulary learning. The questionnaire was translated into the Indonesian language so that they could understand the statements.
Discussion
After the data were gathered, it was statistically analyzed to answer the research question. 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. The general table consists of the averages responses in the five strategies. They are Memory strategy, Cognitive strategy, Determination strategy, Metacognitive strategy, Social strategy.
Overall strategies use
The table below illustrated the summary of subjects’ responses to the statement:
0 frequently strategy used by the participants is Metacognitive strategy with average 3.01, then followed by Social strategy with average 2.74, Cognitive strategy with average 2.56, Memory strategy with average 2.26 and the last is Determination strategy with average 2.19. The data showed that the range of average scores was not significantly different. It shows that all the five categories are also often used by the participants.
In the following section, the writer is going to describe the average use of each strategies starting from the highest to the lowest one.
1.
Metacognitive Strategies.
Metacognitive strategies are the strategies frequently used by the students with average 3.01. There were 3 statement asked to the students. The statements are:
Q13: I try to find as many ways as I can to use my English. Q14: I pay attention when someone is speaking English. Q15: I look for people I can talk to in English.
The Following Figure is the average use of the statements based on the responses given by the subject
0 someone is speaking English (question 14) was also frequently used by the participants. The average of Q14 was 3.43. The least average is in the statement number 15 (I look for people I can talk to in English.) which is only 2.16 in average.
This study discovered that most students in this study were more concerned on deeper understanding of the usage of the words and how they could use and practice their English in the learning process whether inside or outside the class. Consequently this strategy was considered sufficient for them.
2.
Social Strategies
Social strategies are the second strategies on the list of strategies used also by the subject with average 2.74. There were 2 statements asked to the students. The statements are:
Q16: I ask native speaker to correct me when I speak English. Q17: I learn English together with other students.
2.2
Besides determining the meaning of the words from the context and the usage of the words, the participants also used social strategy to grasp the new meanings with some helps from other people.
From The 2 statements asked to the students in this strategy, statement number 17 (I learn English together with other students) is statement with the highest average (3.28). The least average is in the statement number 16 (I ask native speaker to correct me when I speak English) which is only 2.21 in average. It appears that the participants tend to be a cooperative learner in finding out the meaning of new words. They may depend on their friends to help them figure out the vocabulary.
3.
Cognitive Strategies
This study also found that the participants also used cognitive strategy in their learning process. Cognitive strategies were the strategies that were third frequently used by the participants with average 2.56. There were 3 statements asked to the students. The statements are:
Q6: I say or write new English words several times.
Q7: I write notes, messages, letters, or reports by dividing it into parts that I understand. Q8: I try not to translate word-for-word.
0 statement with the highest average (2.72), so the participants more often said and wrote the new English word tried not to translate word-for-word (statement number 8) which is only 2.38 in average. It is clear that the participants did language manipulation in gaining understanding of the new words.
4.
Memory Strategies
Memory strategies are the fourth strategies used by the subject with average 2.26. There were 5 statements asked to the students. The statements are:
Q1: I use new English words in a sentence so I can remember them.
Q2: I remember a new English word by making a mental picture of a situation in which the word might be used.
Q3: I use flashcards to remember new English words. Q4: I physically act out new English words.
Q5: I remember new English words or phrases by remembering their localities on the page, on the board, or on a street sign.
Figure 5: The average of responses given by the students in Memory strategy
0
Question 9 Question 10 Question 11 Question 12
From the 5 statements asked to the students in this strategy, this study assumed that most of the participants commonly used statement number 5 in which they remember new English words or phrases by remembering their localities on the page, the board, or a street sign. Figure 4 shows that statement number 5 reached the highest average of 2.66. The least average is in the statement number 3 (I use flashcards to remember new English words.) which is only 1.85 in average. This study analyzed that the participants also used their visual memory to keep the vocabulary in mind.
5.
Determination Strategies
Determination strategy was the most infrequently used by the participants since it only had an average of 2.19 compared to other strategies. It is a set of strategies used by the participants to figure out new words they have met individually (Schmitt, 1997). There were 4 statements asked to the students. The statements are:
Q9: To understand unfamiliar English words, I make guesses.
Q10: When I can’t think of a word during a conversation in English, I use gestures. Q11: I read English without looking up every new word.
Q12: If I can’t think of an English word, I use a word or phrase that means the same thing.
From the 4 statements asked to the students in this strategy, it could be seen from Figure 6 above that statement number 9 (To understand unfamiliar English words, I make guesses.) was the strategy with the highest average (2.38). Furthermore, the strategy of never looking up every new word when reading English passage was also frequently used by the participants. This strategy reached an average of 2.31. The least average is in the statement number 10 (When I can’t think of a word during a conversation in English, I use gestures.) which is only 1.96 in average.
Conclusion
Returning to the research question stated at the beginning of the study and the result of the data analysis, it can be concluded that this study has found the use of strategies by the students of Sekolah Dasar Negeri 10 Salatiga. The result showed that metacognitive strategies were the most frequently used strategies by the participants of this study. According to Schmitt (2000), metacognitive strategies provide processes involving monitoring, decision-making, and evaluation of one’s progress. This strategy also helps the learner in choosing appropriate vocabulary learning strategies for learning new words. Metacognitive strategies are very significant to many learners since they have problems in observing their own errors Oxford (1990). Moreover, through these strategies, learners will improve their self-monitoring and self-evaluating process. Learners may also discover the meaning of words by themselves without any helps from their peers which is considered as determination strategies (Schmitt, 2000). The analysis of the data reported that determination strategies were the least frequently used by the participants in the learning vocabulary.
they have not yet been aware about what learning strategies are and how it might be very useful for them, this study suggests that the teacher should help the learners by introducing the set of vocabulary learning strategies. After that, the teacher also helps them in choosing the strategy which is suitable for them so that they can improve their vocabulary learning and the learning process become more effective. Yet again, to sharpen learners’ vocabulary learning strategies, the teacher may provide several tasks and assignments which are relevant to each strategy.
The writer hopes that there will be other researchers who will study and analyze
deeper about the learning strategies so that they can complete this research and we can get
better understanding about learning strategies and how it is important to students, teacher, as
well as the teaching and learning process. Other research can be carried to studies on the
individuals’ differences of language learner from primary to university level, they can be
conducted both in qualitative and quantitative approaches. In addition, the study can
investigate the effect of culture, home environment, peer group, effective teaching method or
Acknowledgement
This thesis would not have been completed without the help and support from many people. Therefore, I would like to express my sincere appreciation and gratitude to the following people who have assisted me in completing this thesis. First, I would like to thank ALLAH SWT, the One who gives me strength, spirit, and guidance to finish this thesis. All ED teachers thank you for all knowledge, understanding, and things that have been shared.
Moreover, I would like to express my sincere gratitude to Dra. Martha Nandari, MA., my supervisor, I thank to his kindness and patience in giving good suggestions for me so that I could finish this thesis.
I wish to express my gratitude to my examiner Debora Tri Ragawati, S. S., MA-ELT, without whose knowledge and assistance this study would not have been completed.
I would also like to thank to my participants, all 4th, 5th, and 6th grade students in SD Negeri 10 Salatiga for giving me chance to collect the data in SD Negeri 10 Salatiga.
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