Knowing a Word Vocabulary Learning

Situational Language Teaching. People who support this method believes that language should be taught by practicing basic structure in meaningful-based situation activities. A priority was placed on developing appropriate vocabulary content in a course. 4. Audio-Lingual Method This method was developed during the World War II in the United States. At that time, there was a need for people to learn foreign language rapidly for military purpose. This method is developed based on the principles of behaviour psychology. It has several characteristics as follow: 1 New material is presented in the form of dialogue. 2 Based on the principle that language learning is habit formation, the method fosters dependence on mimicry, memorization of set phrases and over-learning. 3 Structures are sequenced and taught one at a time. Structural patterns are taught using repetitive drills. 4 Little or no grammatical explanations are provided; grammar is taught inductively. 5 Skills are sequenced: listening, speaking, reading and writing are developed in order. 6 Vocabulary is strictly limited and learned in context. 7 There is abundant use of language laboratories, tapes and visual aids. 8 There is an extended pre-reading period at the beginning of the course and a repetition on the language mode done as accurately and quickly as possible. 5. Community Language Teaching This language learning method was developed by Charles Curran in the 1970 and well known as the counselling learning. Teacher’s role is as counsellor knower, and students’ role is as client learner. This method has several characteristics as follow: 1 Native language is permitted among the students. 2 Translation will be provided by the teacher. 3 Students apply the target language independently when they feel enough to do so. 4 Students are encouraged to express how they feel about the learning process. 6. Direct Method The direct method, also called as the natural approach, developed towards the end of the 19th century. It was established in Germany and France, and became widely popular in the United States. It represents critical reaction to the teaching methods of the grammar translation method. Teachers were frustrated by the limit of the grammar translation method in term of its inability to create communicative competence of the students. Thus, they began to experiment with a new way of teaching language called the direct method. The general goal of the direct method is to enable students to use foreign language to communicate. The name “Direct Method” comes from the way of teaching that meaning is conveyed directly in the second language through demonstration and visual aids. This learning method has several characteristics as follow: 1 Classroom instruction is conducted exclusively in the target language. 2 Only everyday vocabulary and sentences are taught. 3 Oral communication skills are built up in a carefully grabbed progression organized around question-and-answer exchanges between teachers-students in small, intensive classes. 4 Grammar is taught inductively. 5 The mother tongue is never used. There is no translation. 6 New teaching points are introduced orally. 7 Concrete vocabulary is taught through demonstration, objects, and pictures; abstract vocabulary is taught by association of ideas. 8 Both speaking and listening comprehension are taught. 9 Correct pronunciation and grammar are emphasized. Considering the proficiency level of the 7th grade students of SMP N 15 Yogyakarta, and the basic concept of the multimedia which will be developed, the researcher decided to refer to the Direct Method principles in developing the multimedia. The Direct Method principles obligate teacher to teach vocabulary through demonstrations, objects, pictures, and association of ideas which is considered as the best way to teach vocabulary to beginner by some expert. Moreover, the grammar has to be taught deductively which seems to be best match the concept of the multimedia.

f. Presenting Vocabulary

The term presenting vocabulary is something which often neglected by the teacher. When it comes to the vocabulary learning, we may associate it with vocabulary learning through reading, through listening, through writing, and through speaking. Indeed, those activities are very important in learning vocabulary. Nation 2008: 1 also developed four strands in vocabulary development program which consists of intensive reading, listening, speaking, and writing. But then he added that the practice has to consist no more than one unknown word in every 50 running words. This fact indicates that before we come to those activities, there should be an introduction to the vocabulary, a phase which is often neglected. Moreover, according to Thornbury 2002: 75 many learners expected that they will be presented with the vocabulary, rather than just finding it by themselves. Those statements indicate the importance of presenting vocabulary before teacher can go further exercises. Furthermore, Thornbury 2002: 75 stated that there are three main way to present vocabulary which are translation, illustration, and verbal means. 1. Translation This method of presenting vocabulary has been widely used in English classes at many levels. This method of presenting vocabulary has the advantage of being the fastest route to access a word’s meaning. It is very practical and mostly applied when dealing with incidental new vocabulary encounter in many classes. However, the advantage of the application of this method may lead student to have an over-reliance on translation, which indicates that students fail to develop their independent English lexicon. 2. Illustration An alternative way to present vocabulary is by illustrating or demonstrating its meaning. This alternative way of presenting vocabulary can be done either by using real object realia, pictures, or demonstration.