BACKGROUND OF THE RESEARCH

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CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION

This chapter describes the role of textbook in language teaching and learning, the role of vocabulary, and some previous research on vocabulary. In general, this chapter covers the background of the research, problem identification, problem limitation, problem formulation, research goals, and research benefits.

A. BACKGROUND OF THE RESEARCH

Nowadays, the use of textbooks is widespread throughout schools and courses in the world. According to Andrew Littlejohn as in Tomlinson 1998: 190, although conferences, journals, and workshops are able to be used to spread new ideas, textbooks have been there to be the most powerful device for spreading new ideas in language teaching. It is indicated by the number of publishers in the world which increases year by year. It is in line with what Hutchinson and Torres 1994: 315 say that a textbook is “an almost universal element of ELT English Language Teaching”. In other words, a textbook can be found almost in every English language class in the world. In Indonesia, almost every language program, course, or class is also equipped by at least one textbook as the teaching learning material. For some rich institutions, the textbook might not be the only learning resource. Other resources like workbook, teacher’s guide, and cassettes even supplement the use of textbook. For some institutions where finance becomes a problem, the teaching and learning resource may not be as complete as the rich ones have. However, the existence of a textbook, at least one, can still be found in English language teaching and it becomes the guidance for teacher and students in teaching and learning English. Byrd 2001 also states that a textbook serves as a content and teachinglearning activities provider, which determines what happens in a classroom. Byrd’s statement confirms that a textbook really takes part in English teaching and learning activities. This shows how important a textbook is in ELT. Behind the importance of a textbook as a guideline, however, teachers should be aware of their being unconsciously replaced by the textbook itself. Instead of participating in deciding what to teach and how to teach next based on today’s students’ development, they just rely on the ready-made textbook and believe the author knows what is good for them Hutchinson and Torres 1994: 315. This research on vocabulary used in a textbook is conducted due to the importance of vocabulary in language learning. Of course a textbook consists of a lot of words and they are what the students learn and they also serve as a medium to learn the other language skills and elements presented in it. Vocabulary is seen as basic to communication. Krashen 1987 in Lewis 2008: iii states that “when students travel, they do not carry grammar books, they carry dictionaries”. And that is what we experience in our daily life. When we travel to foreign country, we rarely bring grammar books. Instead, to make our communication easier with the people there, what we need is dictionary, which helps us find the appropriate words to avoid misunderstanding. Lexis is very important in communication because “a lexical mistake often causes misunderstandings, while a grammar mistake rarely does”, as suggested by Sinclair 1996 as cited in Lewis 2008:16 and Wilkins as cited in Lewis 2008:16 with his well-known statement, “without grammar little can be conveyed; without lexis nothing can be conveyed”, emphasizing that vocabulary is a very crucial input in language learning. This is supported by what Gass and Selinker 2001: 449 and Gass 1988 say that vocabulary or lexicon may be the most crucial language component for learners as the errors may interfere with communication. In Indonesia, it is very surprising that research by Nurweni and Read 1999 reveals that on average, students in Indonesia had vocabulary knowledge of only 1226 English words referring to type, falling far short from the number of 3000-5000 word range where it is the threshold level needed for independent reading of unsimplified texts. In terms of breadth quantity and depth quality of vocabulary knowledge, only a small number of students were close to the threshold level. It is something teachers should note in English education in Indonesia, considering that vocabulary is very important language learning input and element. This research concerns with the vocabulary coverage of a Junior High School JHS textbook which is now used in schools that have implemented Curriculum 2013. It also deals with the word recycling in the textbook. The same research done by Alberding 2006 highlights the use of a commercially produced textbook required to teachers in many English courses in Japanese universities. Whereas, every group of students had different needs and background knowledge. This, then, raised some question regarding to the vocabulary level, which might be appropriate for certain group but might not be appropriate for the others. Fortunately, the research shows that the vocabulary level in the textbook was appropriate for the groups of students using it. However, the textbook did not contain enough vocabulary items for a year-long course and enough spaced repetition of the vocabulary items. Thus, other significant supplementary materials were suggested to extend vocabulary learning beyond the textbook. Almost the same research findings come from Matsuoka and Hirsh 2010 toward their analysis of an ELT textbook. The findings also suggested that it only provided minimal opportunities for students to develop vocabulary knowledge beyond frequency and academic words. It shows a need to supplement the textbook with an extensive reading program and other programs with rich input to promote vocabulary development. Another research on vocabulary coverage by Hsu 2009 also finds that vocabulary levels of the textbooks he examined did not seem to be in line with the one claimed by the publishers. This finding, then, results in suggestion for teachers to raise their awareness of considering vocabulary level when choosing an English textbook. The same research on vocabulary use was also done by Kusumaningrum 2014. The research also deals with vocabulary coverage in a Junior High School textbook. What makes Kusumaningrum’s research different with this research is that her research used a textbook which was designed and published for Curriculum 2006, while this research used a textbook which was designed and published for Curriculum 2013. The research concluded that recognizing the 2,000 most frequent types would not bring 95 text coverage. Thus, some types needed to be pre-taught. The textbook also contained little types with more than five-time occurences. However, the textbook was still appropriate with Junior High School students using Curriculum 2006. As stated above, vocabulary is seen as a very important part in language learning. Vocabulary is considered as one parameter for the success of language learning. Inadequacy of vocabulary may result in more serious effects than grammatical errors do. Thus, many ways are done by teachers to improve students’ vocabulary, either receptive or productive one to promote their vocabulary development. The new Curriculum 2013, in which the Ministry of Education and Culture publishes several English textbooks also raise some questions for the researcher dealing with the vocabulary content. The book is used by a number of schools in Indonesia which has implemented the new curriculum. However, students in each school have their own background knowledge which is different with the ones in other schools. Schools in urban area may need a book providing high level vocabulary due to the facilities there, like internet connection, which helps students improve their vocabulary more quickly. Unlike schools in urban area, many schools in rural area are lack of facilities. There is no internet connection, television or CD player, even enough books to support their learning and thus it affects their vocabulary level. This condition leads to the different needs of every school in Indonesia. Those phenomena then evoke the researcher to do this research. Since When English Rings the Bell is a new textbook, this research tries to elaborate the vocabulary items used in the textbook and their suitability to help teachers make decisions of how to use the textbook to support students’ learning achievement.

B. PROBLEM LIMITATION