similar to a non-countable noun, and is roughly the opposite of a countable noun.
Example: The flock of geese spends most of its time in the field.
Since vocabulary for the beginner level usually belong to concrete noun, the researcher focused her attention on the vocabulary dealing with concrete nouns
which is classified into content word. Those vocabularies are commonly taught at the fifth grade, especially nouns knife, spoon, fork, kettle, etc. and action words
cook, wash, eat, use, etc.
2.2 Concept of Learning Vocabulary
Knowing a word is one thing but how is that knowledge acquired? In learning their first language the first words that children learn typically those used for
labeling, that is, mapping words on to concepts so that the concept, for example, of dog has a name, dog or doggies. But not all four legged animals are dogs: some
may be cats, so the child then has to learn how far to extent the concept of dog, so
pictures of dogs. In other words, acquiring a vocabulary requires not only labeling but categorizing skills.
2.2.1 Learning Vocabulary in EFL English as a Foreign Language
Every language teacher must make a difficult choice on what and how much vocabulary to teach. Furthermore, they must consider what vocabulary items to
teach first during early stages of the course and what vocabulary to leave for later on.
course decides on emphasis given
ns and Redman, 1992: 54
2.2.2 Usefulness
When making a decision about what vocabulary to teach preferentially, the teacher should take into consideration mainly usefulness of the words. Yet, what
words are actually useful? To be able to answer this question, it might be helpful to look into several aspects. In the first place, the teacher should consider the
pointed out that it is useful to provide the learner just at the early stages of the course. She
continues that it is important for the teacher to predict what words the student needs to know for talking about everyday life, people and things surrounding
immediately be put to Allen, 1983: 108.
frequency in which the particular item is used in common language.
commonly used are the ones we should teach f
, 1993: 154 However, most frequent words do not usually convey much information, being so-
i.e. grammar words and to be able to communicate, learners need considerable amount of words
bearing some meaning. McCarthy, 1992: 82 Another aspect to consider is coverage. As Harmer 1993: 154 stated, the words cove meaning. E.g. the word
McCarthy 1992: 84 also speculates on the range of an item. It is generally advisable to avoid the
vocabulary with a restricted range, since the wider range an item has, the more useful it is likely to be.
2.2.3 Learn-ability
- which
chosen vocabulary will be taught. There are a lot of reasons why words might be easy or difficult to learn. Of them all, let us mention that complicated spelling,
pronunciation or meaning might be a reason for a word to be difficult to remember. Generally, concrete things are more learnable then abstract ones,
therefore they re always taught first McCarthy, 1992: 86.
Learning a language means learning thousands of vocabulary items. Everyone has his or her own way of learning vocabulary. For some people random word lists
will seem to be the most appropriate, usually with a translation into the mother tongue. Some learners will find it effective to use vocabulary exercise in order to
acquire new vocabulary, while others will use vocabulary cards and regularly test themselves to check whether new items have been learnt. All of these methods are
effective in their own right and will suit different individual in different ways.
Based on the statement above Scott, 2003 says that there are five basic instructional methods for learning and teaching vocabulary. These methods are:
1. Definitional methods include anything where a student is given a word and a definition. The student may be given a list or words and have to look them up
in a dictionary, or the teacher may simply give an oral definition for new vocabulary words, without discussing the meaning beyond the definition.
2. Contextual methods of vocabulary instruction ask students to create a meaning for a word based on the rest of sentence paragraph. This instructional method
also teaches students how to use a new vocabulary word in the right context by writing original sentences using the new word.
3. Organizational, or semantic framework instruction, students learn relationships between and among similar words. This type of instruction
includes the use concept maps, semantic maps, and other graphic organizers. 4. Mnemonic instructional methods make use of visual images as a way to help
students learn and remember new terminology. Instead of memorizing abstract definitions, students are encouraged to picture something that helps them
associate a word with a meaning. 5. Structural methods of vocabulary instruction show students how to look at the
parts of the word for clues about what the word means. They are taught to look at root words, suffixes, affixes, and prefixes.
All of the ways above can be used in teaching-learning vocabulary process, but in this research the writer used the definitional method and Mnemonic instructional
method. Flashcard is part of Mnemonic instructional. It is visual aids with colorful writer assumes by this
learning method, the students would be much easier to memorize the vocabulary and also they would be much more understood about the meaning if they meet
with the context.
2.3 Concept of Teaching Vocabulary
