Teaching and Learning Vocabulary

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CHAPTER II LITERATURE REVIEW

A. Definition

1. Teaching and Learning

What does teaching mean? Teaching is work of teacher. There are some definitions about teaching. “Teaching is obviously an intensely practical undertaking” Bowen, 1994:2. According to Jack C. Richards, teaching is approach in terms of methods, or products that offer teachers predetermined models to follow. Teaching depends upon the application of appropriate theory, the development of careful instructional designs and strategies, and the study of what actually happens in the classroom 1992:16 How about learning? Human being never stops learning in their lives. “Learning is a relatively permanent change in behaviour or in behavioral potentially that result from experience and can not be attributed to temporary body states such as those induced by illness, fatigue or drugs.”Hergenhahn and Mattew, 1997:6. Similarly, learning can be defined as “an experiential process resulting in a relatively permanent change in behaviour that can not be explained by temporary states, maturation, or innate response tendencies.”Steohen, 1995:2. Jerome Bruner reminds us that learning is most often figuring out how to use what already knows in order to go beyond what currently thinks 1992:11 commit to user 5 From those statements, we can make conclusion that teachers need to be able to show that they know their subject. They should be able to give clear instructions and examples as many as possible and have answers to the student’s questions. We will do some changes in behaviour, thought, etc when we learn about knowledge and skills in order that we can apply what we have learned in our lives.

2. Vocabulary

Without grammar, there is a very little thing can be conveyed, without vocabulary, there is nothing can be conveyed. This is how the linguist David Wilkins, summed up the importance of vocabulary learning. His view is echoed in this advice to the students from a recent course book Dellar H and Hocking D, Innovation, LTP: “If you spend most your time studying grammar, your English will not improve very much. You will see most improvement if you learn more words and expressions. You can say very little with grammar, but you can get almost anything with words Thornury, 1992:13 Recognition of the meaning and making potential of words meant that vocabulary becomes a learning objective in its own right. In 1984, for example, in the introduction to Cambridge English Course, Swan and Walter wrote that vocabulary acquisition is the biggest component of any language. If you do not know enough vocabulary, you will not be able to express yourself adequately” McCarthy, 1990:2 commit to user 6 In addition, Coady also states that vocabulary is central to language of critical importance to typical language learner 1997:5 According to Linda Taylor, in order to live in the world, we must name it. Names are essential for the construction of reality. Without name, it is difficult to accept the existence of an event, a feeling. Naming is the means whereby we attempt to order and structure the chaos and flux the existence, which would otherwise be an undifferentiated mass. By assigning names we impose a pattern and a meaning, which allows us to manipulate the world 1992:2 We can make conclusion that the first time for someone studying a language is vocabulary. To express something, we must know about many words on other hand we can easy to show what we mean.

B. The Ways of Teaching Vocabulary