The Description of the Research

B. The Description of the Research

The implementation of the action planned in this research was held in a cycle. The researcher divided the cycle into four meetings. Each meeting took 80

minutes. It was conducted from April, 2010 until April, 2010. In this cycle, the researcher used short texts as the teaching materials. The cycle in this research also consisted of series of steps, namely planning the action, implementing the action, observing or monitoring the action, evaluating and reflecting the result of the observation, and revising the plan. They are explained as follows:

1. Planning the action

The action plan was made based on the problems that were mentioned in the introduction above. To overcome those problems, the researcher planned and chose interesting learning materials to solve the problems and

improve students‟ behavior during teaching learning process. The researcher chose short texts as the teaching materials. The researcher believed that short

stories could improve the students‟ vocabulary and attract the students‟ enthusiasm in teaching learning process. It is because the stories are very funny and give the students a lot of new list of vocabularies.

By using short text, it was expected that the students are able to grasp the meaning of new vocabulary easily. Besides that, the students are able to write down the words or group of words correctly. The teacher also planned to drill the students ‟ pronunciations using the words that have been prepared. So, the indicators of vocabulary mastery can be completed.

The researcher taught 80 minutes in every meeting. The researcher planned to use 10 minutes to greet the students and stated the topic. The researcher told the students that they were going to learn English by using short stories that day. It was to get the students‟ attention and interest. The researcher also gave a lot of time to drill the students. The students could drill every word until five times. The students could ask questions whenever they found problems. The researcher allocated 60 minutes to give the students a chance to learn the material by doing the worksheet and to practice The researcher taught 80 minutes in every meeting. The researcher planned to use 10 minutes to greet the students and stated the topic. The researcher told the students that they were going to learn English by using short stories that day. It was to get the students‟ attention and interest. The researcher also gave a lot of time to drill the students. The students could drill every word until five times. The students could ask questions whenever they found problems. The researcher allocated 60 minutes to give the students a chance to learn the material by doing the worksheet and to practice

Before implementing the action, the researcher conducted a pre-test on the first meeting. This test was conducted in the beginning to know the

students‟ ability about the material that would be given. The pre test was conducted on April,

2010. Besides preparing the pre-test, the researcher prepared the material, lesson plans as researche r‟s guidance in teaching vocabulary, students‟ worksheet that consisted of some tasks and also teaching equipments that are related to the action. After implementing the action, the researcher conducted a post-test. Post-test was conducted after the

last action on the last meeting of the cycle, April, 2010 to know the students‟ improvement of vocabulary mastery.

2. Research Implementation

The action plan was implemented by the researcher with the help from the teacher as the observer. This cycle was conducted in four meetings. Each meeting was divided into three terms, namely: opening, main activity, and closing.

a. First meeting

1) Opening

A pre test was conducted on April,

2010. The test started at

10.25 a.m. The bell rang. The researcher came to the class on time 10.25 a.m. The bell rang. The researcher came to the class on time

the students‟ preparation to face the test that would be done on that day. The test was a pre-test. This test was aimed to know students‟ ability about the new materials that would be given, in this case was short stories. Then, the researcher explained about the rules of the test. After that, she passed the worksheet test to the students.

2) Main activity After getting test worksheet, the students did the test individually. The students were not allowed to cheat in doing the test or to look for the answer on the dictionary. The test was about understanding the meaning of words, pronunciation of words, the use of words in context and spelling.

3) Closing After the bell rang, the researcher asked the students to collect the test worksheet on the desk. Then, the researcher checked the test worksheet whether they were complete or not.

Next, the researcher asked about the students‟ feeling. After that, the researcher gave the information that the students would get the materials in the next meeting and closed the meeting on that day Next, the researcher asked about the students‟ feeling. After that, the researcher gave the information that the students would get the materials in the next meeting and closed the meeting on that day

1) Opening The second meeting was conducted on April,

2010. The researcher and the observer came to the class at 10.25 am and then greeted the students. After greeting the students, the researcher

c hecked the students‟ attendance. No one was absent that day. The researcher distributed students‟ worksheet to the students for the

second meeting.

2) Main Activity To open the lesson, she asked the students whether they ever read or heard short stories or not. The students answered “yes, Mam”. Then, the researcher asked the students to mention some short texts that they ever read or heard. Some of them mentioned some titles of short stories; this means that they understood what learning source that would be used.

After introducing the materials that would be used, the researcher began the lesson of the day by asking the students to find the meaning of some words. They tried to answer the task by looking for the answer on the dictionary. Then, the researcher and the students checked the answer together.

Next, the researcher gave a chance to the students to read the story on their own worksheet. The title was “The Flowers from the Moon”. The researcher also asked them to find out the idea of the story using words that they ever had before. They obeyed the

researcher‟s instruction. After the students finished reading the short story, the researcher asked three of the students to mention the main

idea of the story. From the students‟ answer, it could be seen that the students still made some mistakes in getting the main point of the story.

Next, the researcher drilled the students‟ pronunciation with the guiding words on the worksheet. The researcher pronounced every

word once and the students pronounced every word three times. All students obeyed the researcher‟s instruction.

Next, to check the students understanding about new vocabulary, the researcher asked the students to write down some words and find the meaning of each word. After the students finished doing the task, the researcher asked the students to pronounce the words together. Some students were shy and afraid to speak loudly. They were afraid if they made a mistake. The researcher advised them that it was only a practice.

Next, to know the students ‟ understanding, the researcher asked the students to do the next task that is to fill in the blanks in some Next, to know the students ‟ understanding, the researcher asked the students to do the next task that is to fill in the blanks in some

3) Closing After finishing the task, the researcher reviewed the material. The researcher showed all the words to the students, then, the students pronounced and mentioned the meaning of the words. If they made a mistake, the researcher gave the students choice to choose the correct answer. Most students made a mistake in pronouncing the words.

Next, the researcher had some reflection towards all the activities t hat had been done that day by asking the students‟ feeling and comment. The researcher asked “how about your feeling today?” The students answered, “very-very interesting”. Then, the researcher closed the lesson because the time was up.

c. Third meeting

1) Opening The third meeting was conducted on April,

2010. The researcher and the observer came to the class at 08.05 am. In the 2010. The researcher and the observer came to the class at 08.05 am. In the

2) Main Activity In the beginning of the lesson, all students focused on the lesson. The researcher used this chance to begin the main activity. In this main activity, the learning source used in teaching learning process was the same as before. The researcher passed a new worksheet for each student and asked the students to do the exercises.

In this meeting, the students started the main activity by finding the correct words and their meaning. After five minutes, the researcher checked the answered with the students together. Then, the researcher asked some of students to read the story. The title was ”Rainbow”. There were some pronunciation mistakes done by the students. The researcher checked the students‟ pronunciation. After that, the students and the researcher discussed the story to get the main idea. The students felt easily to grasp the main idea of the text because they have translated some difficult words before.

Next, the researcher asked the students to arrange the letters into

a good word. Then, they were also asked to find the meaning of the words. They were very busy to discuss the correct arrangement of the letters with their friends. The students who had finished discussing the correct arrangement, then they wrote their answer in the whiteboard. From the stud ents‟ answer, it could be seen that students still made mistakes in arranging the words. Then, the researcher and the students discussed the answer together.

In the middle of the activity, the researcher changed the technique in introducing the new words to the students. The researcher used the synonym to introduce the words. The students looked very interested in the new task. The students tried to find the synonymy of the words by using their dictionary. After five minutes, the researcher asked some students to answer the questions and wrote the answers on the whiteboard. The researcher and the students checked the answers together.

After checking the answer, the researcher asked the students to pay attention to some words, and then asked them to get the meaning of them. After that, the researcher asked the students to fill in the blanks in some sentences with the words that were mentioned on the students‟ worksheet. The title was “The Caliph and the Clown”. Next, the students and the researcher checked the answers together.

After checking the answers, the researcher asked some students to read the story loudly. The researcher also asked the other students to pay attention to the text. Then, the students tried to grasp the main point of the story with the researcher. The students were enthusiastic in answering the question from the researcher. Some of them were very busy to remember some of the new words that they heard before and the other discussed with their friends to find the main idea of the story.

On the last task of the third meeting, the researcher asked the students to discuss some of phrases from the story before. They were very busy to prepare the answer. Students who had finished discussing the answers, and then they wrote their answer on the whiteboard and then checked the answer with the researcher.

3) Closing In the end section, the researcher reviewed the material from the beginning. The researcher mentioned some difficult words and the students tried to guess the right pronunciation and the right meaning. The students pronounced every word three to four times.

Next, the researcher had some reflection towards all the activities that had been done that day by asking the students‟ feeling

and comment. The reseacher asked “bagaimana pendapat kalian tentang pelajaran pada hari ini ?” The students answered,

“menyenangkan bu. Banyak kosa kata baru dan gampang ingetnya”. Then, the researcher closed the lesson because the time was up.

d. Fourth meeting

1) Opening The fourth meeting was conducted on April,

2010. The researcher and the observer came to the class at 10.25 am. In the fourth meeting the researcher continued teaching the material by using short stories. To prepare the class, the researcher said “good morning” to the students. Then the teacher checked the students‟ attendance. No one was absent. Then, the researcher began the material by reviewing the last lesson and asked the students some questions dealing with the material that was given in the first and second meeting. The researcher distributed students‟ worksheet to the students for the fourth meeting.

2) Main activity Then, the researcher began the lesson by reading a story. The title was “The Magic Seeds”. The students listened curiously to the researcher ‟s story. Sometimes they made an underline for some difficult words. Then, the researcher asked the students to make a pair of discussion. The researcher asked the students to discuss the story 2) Main activity Then, the researcher began the lesson by reading a story. The title was “The Magic Seeds”. The students listened curiously to the researcher ‟s story. Sometimes they made an underline for some difficult words. Then, the researcher asked the students to make a pair of discussion. The researcher asked the students to discuss the story

The next task, the researcher asked the students to write some words that they found in the story before. Then, they had to find the meaning of the words. After that, some of students wrote their difficult words on the whiteboard. Then, the researcher and the students checked the answer together. The researcher continued the

lesson by drilling the students‟ pronunciations. The students pronounced the words three or four times.

Next, the researcher asked the students to match the words with their antonyms. The students worked in pairs. Then, the students wrote the answers in the whiteboard. The researcher checked the answers.

After that, the researcher asked the students ‟ ability in writing words. The students had to write some words they heard. The students wrote the answers on their worksheet. Then, the researcher also asked the students to find the meaning of the words. The researcher and the students discussed the answers together.

Next, the researcher asked some of the students to read the story. The story‟s title was “The Owl and the Nightingale”. The researcher also asked the students to find some difficult words on the story. After five minutes, the researcher addressed some of the Next, the researcher asked some of the students to read the story. The story‟s title was “The Owl and the Nightingale”. The researcher also asked the students to find some difficult words on the story. After five minutes, the researcher addressed some of the

The next task, the students had to find the hyponymy of some words based on the text that they ever read before. The students were very busy to find the answers. There are some students discussed the answers with their friends.

For the last task, the researcher asked the students to answer some questions about the story. The students discussed with their friends. After 5 minutes, the researcher asked some students to write the students‟ answers and then checked the answers.

3) Closing After finishing the task, the researcher reviewed the material. The researcher showed all the words to the students. Then, the students pronounced and mentioned the meaning of the words three or four times.

Next, the researcher had some reflection towards all the activities that had been done that day by asking the students‟ feeling

and comment. The researcher asked “bagaimana pelajaran dengan cerita pendek hari ini? ” The students answered, “lumayan, Bu”. The other students added “senang, bu. Tau arti katanya, jadi gampang nerjemahin bacaannya”. Then, the researcher closed the lesson because the time was up.

e. Fifth meeting

1) Opening The fifth meeting was conducted on April,

2010. The researcher and the observer came to the class at 10.25 am. In the fifth meeting the researcher continued teaching the material by using short stories. To prepare the class, the researcher said “good morning” to the students. Then the teacher checked the students‟ attendance. No one was absent. Then, the researcher began to teach the material by reviewing the last lesson and asked the students some questions dealing with the material that was given in the third meeting. Then,

the researcher passed the student‟s worksheet for the fifth meeting to the students.

2) Main activity For the first activity, the researcher asked the students to listen what the researcher pronounced and then write the answer on the students ‟ worksheet. After that, the researcher asked the students to write the answers on the white board and discuss the answers together.

Then, the researcher asked the student‟s to find the meaning of some words. They could find the meaning in the dictionary. After five minutes, the researcher checked the students‟ answer.

Next, the students had to find the synonym of some words by matching the words in the column A to the column B. Some of the students tried to get the answer from the dictionary and the others were discussed. After 5 minutes, the researcher and the students checked the answer together. Then, the researcher addressed some students to pronounce some words that were mentioned by the researcher. The students pronounced the words three or four times.

After that, the researcher asked some students to read the story and the other paid attention to their friends. The title of the story was

“Why Bears Hibernate in the Winter”. The researcher also asked the students to write the difficult words that they found. After the students read the story, the researcher guided the students to find the meaning form the difficult words that they found. Then, the students tried to grasp the main idea of the story. The students felt happy because the story was very funny.

Next, the researcher asked the students to arrange the jumble words into a good arrangement. The students worked in pairs. Some of the students worked with their dictionary and the other tried to get the answer from the short story that they read before. After 10 minutes, the researcher asked the students to write the answer in the whiteboard. Many students raised their hand to write their answer in the whiteboard. They enjoyed this material.

For next material, the students were asked to read the story. The title was “The Necklace”. They had to grasp the main idea of the story individually then retold the story in their own words. All of the students were silent and did the instruction well. After 10 minutes, the researcher asked three of the students to retell the story. The other students paid attention to their friend who retold the story. Then, the researcher discussed with the students about the story that they heard. They felt happy with this teaching way.

The last task, the researcher asked the students to discuss some of the phrases from the text. They worked in groups. After 5 minutes, the students wrote the answer on the whiteboard.

3) Closing After finishing the task, the researcher reviewed the material. The researcher repeated some difficult words to the students. Then, the students pronounced and mentioned the meaning of the words three or four times.

Next, the researcher had some reflection towards all the activities that had been done that day by asking the students‟ feeling and comment. The researcher asked “bagaimana pelajaran dengan cerita pendek hari ini? ” The students answered, “menyenangkan, Bu”. The other students added “senang, bu. Tau arti katanya, jadi gampang nerjemahin bacaannya”. The researcher did not forget to Next, the researcher had some reflection towards all the activities that had been done that day by asking the students‟ feeling and comment. The researcher asked “bagaimana pelajaran dengan cerita pendek hari ini? ” The students answered, “menyenangkan, Bu”. The other students added “senang, bu. Tau arti katanya, jadi gampang nerjemahin bacaannya”. The researcher did not forget to

f. Sixth meeting

1) Opening

A post-test was conducted on April,

2010. The bell rang at

08.05 a.m. The researcher came to the class on time and greeted the students. After greeting the students, the researcher checked the

students‟ attendance list. The researcher also asked about the students‟ preparation to face the post-test that would be done on that day. This post-test was aimed to know the students‟ improvement of vocabulary mastery. Then, the researcher explained about the rules of the test. After that, she passed the test worksheets to the students.

2) Main Activity The students did the test individually. They were not allowed to cheat in doing the test or to look for the answer on the dictionary. The test was the same with the pre test that was done before. The materials were such as understanding meaning of words, pronunciation of words, the use of words in context and spelling.

3) Closing After the test finished, the researcher discussed the answers of test with the students. All students were very active in discussing the 3) Closing After the test finished, the researcher discussed the answers of test with the students. All students were very active in discussing the

researcher asked the students‟ feeling and comment during teaching learning process with the researcher. The researcher said thank you to

the students for everything during the research. Then, the researcher closed the discussion because the bell rang.

3. Observing and Monitoring the Action

In monitoring the implementation of this cycle, the researcher used observation to see the effects of conducting the cycle. The observation was conducted simultaneously when teaching learning process took place.

In this cycle, there were six meetings. The first and the sixth meeting of the cycle were used for testing. Then the second to fifth meeting was focused on improving vocabulary aspects and students ‟ motivation in teaching learning process. The aspects that should be improved were meaning of words, the use of words in context, pronunciation of words, and spelling. In the teaching and learning process, short texts were used to make the way of grasping the meaning easier.

Besides the explanation of implementing the actions above, the results of the observation of the teaching and learning process were also supported by the interviews with the students about the use of short texts in teaching vocabulary. From the observation results, it was known that there were some improvements on students‟ vocabulary. They were the mastery of Besides the explanation of implementing the actions above, the results of the observation of the teaching and learning process were also supported by the interviews with the students about the use of short texts in teaching vocabulary. From the observation results, it was known that there were some improvements on students‟ vocabulary. They were the mastery of

students‟ motivation and activities in teaching-learning process and student‟s motivation from the second to the fifth meeting.

In the second meeting, the students looked happy and enthusiastic to attend the class. They paid attention to the lesson. No one was busy with their own business. The situation was conducive because there was no noisy outside the class. Some students were active to answer the questions from the researcher when the researcher gave them some question or asked them to do the exercises. All students did the task quite well. Some students tried to answer the questions of the task, the others were quiet.

Although the students‟ motivation increased, some students were still passive. Some students were silent when the researcher asked the question to

the students. Beside passive, most students were shy to speak loudly. They were afraid if their answers were wrong. To solve this problem, the researcher gave advice to the students that it was only a practice.

In the third meeting, the students‟ motivation was good. They paid attention to the lesson. Their responses were good. The students also obeyed the researcher instruction. No students were busy with their own business in the class. All of them were seriously listened to the stories. They also did the task on their worksheet well.

In the middle of the third meeting, the students‟ motivation increased. The students were happy and enthusiastic when the researcher changed the

activity in introducing the new words. The researcher used synonymy technique in introducing the new words. It seemed that they had already understood about the term.

In the third meeting, the students still had problem in pronouncing the word. It can be seen when the researcher asked the students one by one to check the students ‟ understanding. They still made mistake to pronounce the right pronunciation. To solve this problem, the researcher asked the students to pronounce the word three or four times.

In the fourth meeting, the researcher still used short stories for teaching learning process. Before starting the lesson, the researcher just reviewed all materials from the third meeting. Good atmosphere was created in the class. When the researcher asked the students to read the story and do the task, many students raised their hand. They were also enthusiastic when discussing with their friends. Sometimes they told each other about something else. So, the researcher went around the class to monitor and guide them whether they were active to discuss with their friends or not.

In middle of the fourth meeting, the students asked to write some words on their worksheet. They could do the exercises well because there were some phonetic symbols that helped them to do the exercises. After that, the students were asked to fill in the blank sentences with the correct words.

The students felt happy and enthusiastic doing this task because they knew all of the meaning of the difficult words by discussing with their friends and also looking for the dictionary.

In the fifth meeting, the students were very active. It could be seen during the teaching-learning process. They listened what the researcher pronounced. They also could write the correct words that they heard. Most students were active and all students got attention to the lesson. In reviewing the materials, all students were active to grasp the meaning of every word.

4. Reflecting the Result of the Observation

Based on the observation results which were gathered in field notes, the researcher reflected the results of the action as follows: a) the students who were still passive were getting more active and interested when they were reading and understanding the story, b) the students were able to grasp the meaning of words when the researcher gave them some new vocabularies, c) the students were able to write the words correctly and could use the words in context, d) the students were also able to pronounce the words correctly.

Moreover, the test score in the first and sixth meeting showed the improvement result. The mean of the pre-test was 4.07, while the mean score of the post-test was 7.36.

Based on the result of the observing and the test above, it could be seen that there were increasing students‟ motivation and also the aspects of

vocabulary. All of the aspects were completed. The researcher concluded that teaching vocabulary using short texts attracted students‟ curiosity in knowing new words. Through short texts, students were encouraged to practice their ability in pronouncing and writing words correctly. Short texts also encouraged the students to be more active during teaching learning process. They became more motivated and enthusiastic in learning English which they did not tend to do something useless and got bored in the middle of teaching learning process. The improve ment of students‟ achievements in teaching learning process using short stories can be seen in the table 2.

Table 2. Improvement of the Student s‟ Achievement in Teaching Learning Process Using Short Texts

before implementing the

Source of the data after implementing the action

action Vocabulary mastery

Vocabulary mastery

1. The

students

got 1. The students understood

difficulties to understand

and grasped the meaning of

and grasp the meaning of

words easily. They also

remembered the words Observation and

words. They forgot words

and their meanings easily.

easily.

Interview

They also got difficulties

They translated words from

when they had to translate

Indonesian into English or

the words from Indonesian

vice versa easily.

into English or vice versa.

2. The students could not 2. The

students could

pronounce

the words

pronounce most of the

correctly. They still made

words correctly.

mistakes to pronounce the words.

3. The students still made 3. The students could write

mistakes when they wrote

the words correctly. They

words. For example when

also could arrange the

the students found a word

letters into a correct word.

which has double letters.

There were no mistakes in

Most of the students forgot

writing the words

to write the second letter. Most of the students also made mistakes when they did the exercises in arranging some letters into

a correct word.

4. The students could only 4. The

students could

pronounce,

understand,

pronounce, understand

remember, grasp and use

remember, grasp and use

words in context about 25

words in context about 75-

% of them.

80 % of them.

Students‟ motivation

Students‟ motivation

1. The students were less 1. The students were more

interested during teaching

active and enthusiastic

learning process

during teaching learning process. They started to ask and answer the questions.

2. The students did not have 2. The students had more

full concentration during

concentration to do the

teaching learning process.

exercises.

3. The students liked doing 3. They did not do something

something useless during

useless during teaching

teaching learning process

learning process.

4. The students did the 4. The students liked having

exercises individually.

discussion with their friends.

Test The mean score of pre-test : The mean score of post-test :

5. Research Findings

From the table above, the students‟ improvement could be seen. The improvements were students‟ vocabulary mastery and also students‟

motivation. From the vocabulary aspects, the students understood and grasped the meaning of words easily; they could pronounce and write the words correctly. They could pronounce, understand, remember, grasp and use the words in context about 75 until 80 % of them. The examples were prince, daughter, dream, different, quarrel, sky, sea, chuckled, purple, captured, reason, freedom, etc. Then, the improvement also could be seen on the students‟ scores of test. There was an improvement of the mean score between the pre-test and post-test, from 4.07 to 7.36. Beside that, there was also an improvement of students who had scored more than the minimum standard score, in this case

60. The data of the students‟ score of pre-test and post-test showed that there was an improvement of students who achieved the minimum standard score, from 2.8 % of students became 94.3 % of students . It proved that there was a significant improvement of the students‟ scores. Then the difference between the pre-test and post-test scores was

3.30; while the coefficient of the t-test between the pre-test and post-test was

19.29. Meanwhile, the t-table for 35 students is 2.04. Since is higher than , it means that there is a significant difference between pre-

test and post-test score. Next, the students ‟ motivation increased when the short text were used. The indicators showed that they were more active and enthusiastic during the teaching learning process. They asked more questions than before. They also raised their hands to answer the questions. Next, they had more concentration to do the exercises. They did not do something useless during teaching learning process and like having discussion with their friends.

Considering the facts of some improvements dealing with teaching vocabulary by using short texts above, finally, the researcher decided to stop the cycle. There were some reasons for stopping this research only in one cycle. They were as follows:

a) The aspects of vocabulary mastery were completed. The students understood and grasped the meaning of the words easily, they could pronounce the words correctly, they could write the words correctly, and they also could use the words in context appropriately. Beside the vocabulary mastery, the students‟ motivation also increased. They were more active and attractive during teaching learning process. They also had more concentration to the lesson; they did not do something useless a) The aspects of vocabulary mastery were completed. The students understood and grasped the meaning of the words easily, they could pronounce the words correctly, they could write the words correctly, and they also could use the words in context appropriately. Beside the vocabulary mastery, the students‟ motivation also increased. They were more active and attractive during teaching learning process. They also had more concentration to the lesson; they did not do something useless

b) There was an improvement of the mean score between the pre-test and post-test, from 4.07 to 7.36. From the pre-test and post-test score, there was also an improvement of students who had scored more than the minimum standard score, in this case 60, from 2.8 % became 94.3 %.

c) The researcher only had limited time to conduct the research. The school gave two weeks to finish the implementation of the research. It was because the school would hold a mid term test for all the students.