55 From the experimental group, there was a significant difference in the
scores of the pre-test 1 M=60.36, SD=17.947 and post-test 1 M=95.71, SD=6.901; t27=-9.489, p=0.000. Looking at the p-value which was less than
0.05, this result confirms that a picture comparison interactive medium did enhance the s
tudents’ performance in doing the vocabulary tests in the first session. In order to verify the effect
of the medium towards the students’ performance, the researcher conducted a second session towards the experimental
group. From the second session, there was also a significant difference in the scores of the pre-test 2 M=57.86, SD=18.127 and post-test 2 M=97.50,
SD=5.182; t 27=-11.967, p=0.000. The p-value which was less than 0.05 confirms that a picture comparison interactive medium did help the st
udents’ to increase their understanding about near-synonyms.
Table 4.3 The Result of Control Group’s Pre-test and Post-test: Session 1
56
Table 4.4 The Result of Control Group’s Pre-test and Post-test: Session 2
Whilst, the good news is that applying PowerPoint slides with less pictures and no direct comparison between near-synonyms could promote
the students’ performance as well. From the control group, there was a significant difference in
the scores of the pre-test 1 M=63.85, SD=15.768 and post-test 1 M=94.23, SD=9.454; t 25=-7.634, p=0.000. The p-value which was less than 0.05 reveals
that another treatment which used PowerPoint slides did enhance the students’
performance in doing the vocabulary tests in the first session. The results of the second session exhibit the similar fact. There was also a
significant difference in the scores of the control group pre-test 2 M=48.08, SD=14.972 and post-test 2 M=83.46, SD=12.944; t25=-9.816, p=0.000. Thus,
we can conclude that both picture comparison interactive medium and PowerPoint slides could help the students’ to promote their understanding about near-
synonyms. PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI
57
4.1.2 The Results of the Observation
The results of the observation show that there were some different conditions occurred between the ex
perimental and control group’ learning process
. The observant has already observed several aspects of the students’ attitude. Those are students’ positive body language, consistent focus, verbal
participation, confidence, fun and excitement, engagement question, and role during the learning process. Below are the results of the observation.
Table 4.5 The Results of the Observation Sheets
Aspects Engagement Level
Experimental Group Control Group
Students’ Positive Body Language
Very High Very High
Stude nts’ Consistent
Focus High
Medium Students’ Verbal
Participation High
Very Low Students’ Confidence
Very High Very High
Students’ Fun and Excitement
High Low
Students’ Engagement Question
Medium Medium
Students’ Role Very High
Low
Concerning the st udents’ positive body language during the learning
process in the experimental and control group, there were same conditions occurred. I
n the experimental and control group, all of the students’ body postures indicated that they focused on the learning activities. However, there were
different conditions occurr ed in the groups regarding to the students’ consistent
focus aspect. In the beginning of the lesson, some of the students in the PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI
58 experimental group used an internet access provided in the computers to browse
any other things which were irrelevant to the learning materials. Despite the misbehavior, almost all of the students started to focus on the learning activities
with minimum disruptions as the teacher began the class. In the control group, whereas, the students focused on the learning activities, sometimes half of the
students’ total number was busy talking to their friends. The teacher needed to give more attention to groups of students who tended to misbehave during the
learning activities. In t
he matter of the students’ participation during the class, most of the students in the experimental group could express their thoughtful ideas, reflective
answers, and questions relevant to the learning. Contrary with that situation, almost all of the students in the control group did not express any idea, answer, or
question relevant to the learning materials. T hey tended to respond the teacher’s
probing questions with jokes. However, the students in both experimental and control group showed a very high l
evel in the students’ confidence aspect. All of them could complete the given tasks with limited prompting and work efficiently.
Moreover, it was also indicated that they felt comfortable in seeking any help and asking questions. Nevertheless, that situation did not often occur during the
learning activities. Learning activities without any excitement would be boring. That is why
the observant also observed the students’ fun and excitement during the learning process. In the experimental group, the student
s’ fun and excitement level was considered high.
More than half of the students’ total number looked very PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI
59 interested in using the picture comparison interactive medium. They focused on
operating the medium with or without the teacher’s guidance. The different condition happened in the control group. The students’ fun and excitement level
in the control group could only be considered low. In spite of some students of the control group which looked enthusiast during the learning process, all of the
students complained and asked the teacher to show any movie for them. The last aspect is the students’ role in the learning process. The students’
role during the learning activities in the experimental group was in a very high level since all of the students needed to operate the medium actively. In the
control group, in contrast, the learning process tended to be teacher-centered by using PowerPoint slides.
Thus, the observation resulted the finding that there were some different situations occurred in the experimental and control group during the learning
process. The different level of the students’ engagement occurred in the students’
consistent focus, verbal participation, fun and excitement, and role aspect.
4.1.3 The Results of the Interviews
To discover the contribution of a picture comparison interactive medium to the
students’ learning, it is not enough to infer from how were the result tests and students’ behavior during the learning process. The researcher also needed to take
account of the interview results in order to figure out the students’ perception
towards any difficulties in mastering near-synonyms, media used to teach them, and media they wanted to have. The following table is the summary of the
interviews. PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI
60
Table 4.6 The Results of the Interviews
Experimental Group Control Group
The experimental and control group students considered English to be one of difficult subjects they had.
Most of the students stated that they had not mastered lots of vocabularies. All of the students admitted that they had a lot of difficulties in distinguishing
near-synonyms. The students considered that the
learning aid a picture comparison interactive medium played a
significant role in helping them to understand the near-synonyms.
The students considered that the learning aid PowerPoint slides could
help them to learn the near-synonyms.
The students liked the medium a picture comparison interactive medium
because it was appealing, attractive, interactive, and easy to be understood.
The students considered the learning aid PowerPoint slides good and easy
to be understood but they wanted more pictures and colors on it.
Some of the students suggested that the teacher should have compared the pairs
of the near-synonyms side by side in one slide.
The students preferred to learn English by using any visual and kinesthetic elements as the means.
The experimental and control group students argued that English was one of difficult subjects they had at the school. It was because they needed to have a
lot of vocabularies to learn in order to support their skills in English. However, most of them admitted that they did not like studying vocabulary because it was
burdensome. They used to study English vocabulary by memorizing the words one by one and translating them into their first language without figuring out
deeper understanding of the words. Studying vocabulary in such method tended to make them feel bored. Moreover, they said that their retention towards the
vocabularies had been memorized was bad. Therefore, most of the students stated that they had not mastered lots of vocabularies.
61 Concerning the difficulties they might have in mastering near-synonyms,
all of the students admitted that they faced problems in answering the questions in the pretest 1 and pretest 2. They said that they had not studied near-synonyms
before so that they faced a lot of difficulties in differentiating one word and the others. Consequently, they might not be able to show a satisfying performance in
answering the tests. From the experimental class, all of the interviewed students admitted that
they liked the picture comparison interactive medium. They considered the medium appealing and attractive so that they were interested to study near-
synonyms. It was because the design was colorful and contained a lot of pictures. Moreover, the medium was interactive enough because it required the students to
operate the medium by themselves. Through this way, the students could position themselves as active subjects in learning the materials by figuring out the answers
of the provided questions from the medium. Hence, it could trigger the students to feel challenged in mastering the materials. The result was they could foster their
understanding about near-synonyms. They used to learn vocabularies by being passive subjects who directly looked for any difficult vocabularies on any
dictionary without trying to stimulate their critical thinking first. Besides, they argued that reading a dictionary could easily make them feel bored and burdened.
By bringing an appealing design to the medium, the researcher su
ccessfully raised the students’ enjoyment during the learning process. Moreover, the medium could help the researcher to maintain the students’ interest
until the learning process was over. The interviewed students stated that the PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI
