study will be carried out to describe and analyse the student learning style and their achievement in vocabulary.
E. The Significances of the Study
The results of this study are expected to contribute to 1 English learner who takes vocabulary course, 2 The lecturer of IAIN Sultan Thaha Saifuddin
Jambi and 3 Other researchers. It is expected that the findings of this research may give contribution to
English learners to recognize their own learning style types in order to find out better ways in learning English. Students with the best learning style may
accommodate their style to improve their vocabulary achievement. Meanwhile, for the English lecturers to consider the strengths of learning style to
be one of the considerations in determining various techniques and strategies in teaching vocabulary. By doing so, it will be practical for them to meet various
learners’ needs. For other researchers, this study can be used as consideration for further study,.
CHAPTER II THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK
This chapter discusses A Learner differences such as: 1 age, 2 motivation, 3 learning strategy, 4 learning style. B Types of vocabulary, and
C Vocabulary achievement.
A. Learner Differences
Students are different in a hundred ways. Good teachers have always adapted to individual students characteristics; it is part of being a flexible and
creative teacher. In order to teach effectively, the teachers need to learn their student, since some of the procedures will vary depending upon in their classes.
Most scholar and practitioners in the field today agree that both the rate and the degree of success of second language learning are affected by individual
learner differences.
8
Many also believed those learner factors such as aptitude, attitude, motivation, personality, age, cognitive style, and preferred learning
strategies need to be considered in any comprehensive theory of second language acquisition. Ellis 1985 remarked that SLA researches may knowledge the
importance of such factors in the eventual attainment of advanced levels of proficiency or in approaches has tended to ignore individual differences or
minimize their importance.
9
The learners live in different environments with their own socio-cultural background. A number of the learners live in urban areas but most of them live in
the country areas. Differences in these two types of educational settings may have great influence upon the process of teaching and learning.
Life experiences of learners living in urban areas might be far different from those of learners in the country areas. With sophisticated facilities and
equipment such as tape recorders, video recorders, televisions and computers
8
R. Ellis. Understanding Second Language Acquisition. Oxford: Oxford University Press. 1985
9
R. Ellis. Ibid
5
together with their programs. Some cities have foreigners of different nationalities. On the other hand, to rural learners these things might be strange.
Like their urban counterparts, they are familiar with things found in their environments. All of this may have influence upon the learners’ ways of thinking,
life style, learning style, and educational orientation as well as upon the types of concepts learned through their interaction with their environments. The factors of
learner differences are going to look in detail, as follow:
1. Age
One of the significance factors to be considered to teach the student is ages, since different ages lead to different competencies, needs, and cognitive
skill. For instance, children are more likely taught through playing or games while adult are recently taught through use of abstract taught. Some people claim that
children are better learner than adult. It is supported by Jeremy Harmer, children appear pick up new languages effortlessly.
10
Jeremy Harmer have divide three classifications of ages, there are: a. Young children, especially those up the ages of nine or ten in
Following ways: • They respond to meaning even if they do not understand individual words.
• They often learn indirectly rather than directly- that is they take in information from all sides, learning from everything around them rather
than only focusing on the precise topic they are being taught. • Their understanding comes not just from explanation, but also fom what
they see and hear and, crucially, have a chance to touch and interact with. • They generally display and enthusiasm for learning and a curiosity about
the world around them. • They have a need for individual attention and approval from the teacher.
10
Jeremy Harmer. The Practice of English Language Teaching third edition completely revised and updated
. Longman. p:38
• They are keen to talk about themselves, and respond well to learning that uses themselves and their own lives as main topics in the classroom.
• They have a limited attention span; unless activities are extremely engaging they can easily get bored, losing interest after ten minutes or so.
b. Adolescents, teenage students are in fact overall the best language learner: • Identify has to be forged among classmates and friends; peer approval may
be considerably more important for the student than the attention of the teacher which.
• Teenagers, if they are engaged, have a great capacity to learn, a great potential for creativity, and a passionate commitment to things, which
interest them. • Student must be encouraged to respond to text and situations with their
own thoughts and experience, rather than just by answering questions and doing abstract learning activities.
• We are able to discuss abstract issues with them. Indeed part of our job is to provoke intellectual activity by helping them to be aware of contrasting
ideas and concepts, which they can resolve for themselves-though still with our guidance.
c. Adult language learners are notable for a number of special characteristic: • They can engage with abstract thought.
• They have a whole range of life experiences to draw on. • They have expectations about the learning process, may already have their
own set patterns of learning. • Adults tend, on the whole, to be more disciplined than some teenagers, and
crucially, they are often prepared to struggle on despite boredom. • They come into classrooms with a rich range of experiences, which allow
teachers to use a wide range of activities with them. • Unlike young children and teenagers, they often have a clear
understanding of why they are learning and what they want to get out of it.
However, adults are never entirely problem-free learners, and have a number of characteristics, which can sometimes make learning and teaching problematic.
• They can be critical of teaching methods. Their previous learning experiences may have predisposed them to one particular methodological
style, which makes them uncomfortable with unfamiliar teaching patterns. • They may have experienced failure or criticism at school, which replicate
the anxious and under-confident about learning language. • Many older adults worry that their intellectual powers may be dismissing
with age.
2. Motivation
Several perspectives have been offered upon the subjective aspect of language learning, notably in the motivation. Motivation is probably the most
often used for explaining the success or failure of virtually any complex task.
11
It is easy to claim that a learner will be successful with the proper motivation and
countless studies and experiment in human learning show that motivation is a key to learning. Someone will be successful in his study if there is desire in him to
study. Desire and drive to study are called motivation. According to Gardner 1985, motivation involves four aspects: a goal, effortful behaviour, a desire to
attain the goal and favourable attitudes toward the activity.
12
These four aspects are dimensional, however and they in turn group themselves into two conceptually
distinct categories. The goal, although a factor involved in motivation, is not a measurable component of motivation. So these three components are reflected in
the measures: intensity, desire to learn English, and attitudes toward learning English.
Motivation depends on many things, too many to mention, but three of the most important motivations are variety, success and sense of purpose. We all
know that monotony is very demotivating, whilst variety stimulates interest.
11
H.D. Brown, Op Cit.
12
R.C. Gardner Social Psychology and Second Language Learning: The Role of Attitudes and motivation.
1981. London. P220
Attempting to learn something that has no meaning or relevance or purpose to students is also demotivating, whilst meaningful language stimulates curiosity in
our students, thus motivating them. If students achieve success in task, they are usually very pleased and not afraid to try again. Success is great motivator.
3. Learning Strategies
To distinguish learning strategy and learning style, this part is provided
with some concepts, which related to both terms directly and indirectly. According to willing learning strategy is a specific mental procedure for
gathering, processing, associating, categorizing, rehearsing and retrieving information or patterned skills
13
. He states that learning style is individual learner’s natural, habitual, and preferred ways of learning. From these the
definition can be explained that a learning strategy rely on the efforts of the learner themselves in acquiring of their progress in learning language, while
learning style has owned by learners naturally. Good language learners always attempt to seek the best ways to get progress in
learning; in other word they try to apply strategies for their learning. Robin and Thompson state that things that should be taken charge of learning:
1. Find your own way • You know your self best:
You need to be personally involved in mastering language. You cannot always rely on your teacher to provide you with an approach that is
specifically designed for you. 2. Plan
• Set clear goals:
13
Ken willing, Op Cit.
Clarifying your objectives will help you develop a clearer direction and will also provide you with some benchmarks to measure your
performance. • Establish a regular schedule:
Arrange your activity for studying in a day or a week regularly by considering the best time of the day.
• Plan to learn something new every day: For additional class, learn something new everyday, especially enriching
vocabulary on your own ways. • Assess the difficulty of each task:
Be familiar whether the task is difficult or not. Then adjust the study time. 3. Monitor and Evaluate
• Pay attention to your learning successes: What efforts you have done up to reaching the success.
• Pay attention to the learning successes of others: Be sure how others learn better may work for you
• Experiment to determine your modality preference: Be familiar with preferred ways of better learning for certain task
• Notice which strategies work and which don’t: Keep using strategies that work best for you and try working with
classmate if certain strategy doesn’t work. • Experiment and note reaction:
When you use a new idiom try to watch the listener reaction if he as for clarification you have probably use it in appropriately.
4. Learning Style
Some statements mention that education, ultimately, must come to grip the different learning needs of individual learners. They, however, state that there is
still no connection between theory and practice in identifying learner’s needs. They add that some educators today are raising critical questions about the ways
in which students learn. This effort and related research focus on student learning skill and learning style.
Language teaching today is humanistic. Teachers are responsible for taking students affective needs into consideration. Teachers initiate activities from
which students can learn, and then step aside to assist as needed. Moreover, Sardiman 2007 emphasizes that determining the purpose of
learning, actually should be connected and suited with learners’ characteristics.
14
He adds that having knowledge about learners’ characteristics will be very useful in selecting the accurate ways in teaching. Viewing learners’ needs are important
enough to promote language learning; students’ preferred ways of learning become main consideration of many recent investigations. It is based on research
evidence that moving from student learning style will meet their needs. Each learner has hisher own preferences and the ways in learning a
language. Having different preferred ways show that each learner has hisher own learning style. Educators attempt to define learning style differently. Willing
1988 state that learning style is individual learner’s natural, habitual, and preferred ways of learning.
15
Moreover, Nunan 1991 defines it like the following:
Learning style refers to any individual preferred ways of going about learning. It is generally
considered that one’s learning style will result from personality variables, including psychological and
cognitive make-up, socio-cultural background, and educational experience.
16
Different terms are used to refer to different types of learning style. Willing 1988 uses the terms of concrete, analytical, communicative, and
authority-oriented for learning style types.
17
The characteristics of each type usually performed are as follows:
Type 1: Concrete Learners a. In class they prefer to learn by game.
14
Sardiman. Interaksi dan motivasi Belajar. Jakarta: Rajawali Perss.1992.p.120
15
Ken Willing. Op. Cit.p1
16
David Nunan. 1991. Language Teaching Methodology. New York: Prentice Hall, Ltd.
17
Ken Willing. Op. Cit
b. In class they prefer to learn by pictures, films, and videos.
c. They like to learn by talking in pairs. d. At home, they like to listen cassettes.
e. In class they like to listen cassettes. f. They like to go out with the class and practice English.
Type 2: Analytical learners a. They like to study grammar.
b. At home they like study English books c. They like to study alone.
d. They want the teacher to let them find their mistakes.
e. At home they like to learn by reading newspapers.
Type 3: Communicative learners a. They want the teacher let them find the rules
of structural items being taught. b. They like to speak to native speakers.
c. They like to talk friends in English. d. At home they like to watch TV in English.
e. They like to uses English in shops, buses, etc. f. They like to learn English by hearing them.
g. They like to learn by conversation. h. They want the teacher to let them find their
own mistakes. Type 4: Authority-Oriented learners
a. They want the teacher to give them the rules of structural items being taught.
b. They like the teacher to tell them all their mistakes.
c. They like the teacher to explain everything to them.
d. They like to write everything in their notebooks.
e. They like to have their own textbooks. f. In class they like to learn by reading.
g. They like to study grammar. h. They like to learn English words by seeing
them. Rubin and Thomson 1982 categorize learners into two types. They are
known as rule learners and intuitive learners.
18
The characteristics of both types are shown as following:
Type 1: Rule Learners These learners prefer a highly structured approach with
much explanation in mother tongue, graded exercises, constant correction, and careful formation of rules. They
are very analytical, reflective, and reluctant to say anything in foreign language that is not grammatically
perfect. Type 2: Intuitive learners
These learners rely more on intuition, the gathering of examples, and imitation. They are willing to take risks.
B. Types of Vocabulary
