in the first grade will acquire at least 500 words, 300 words in the second grade, and 200 words in the third grade.
Since the researcher focused on the second grade of Junior High School as the course book
’s user, the vocabulary requirement to be mastered for them are around 800 words. The researcher has already used sets of
West’s General Service List GSL which covers first 1,000 words GSL_1, second 1,000 words GSL_2
and academic word lists AWL for advanced learners. Each of the words is a headword representing a word family. Bauman and Culligan 1995 had already
made a version of GSL ranked in frequency order. The researcher used Bauman and Culligan’s list of frequency order in GSL_1 to figure out how far the course
books will deal with suitable vocabulary for Junior High School learners.
3. Word Frequency
In this research, word frequency refers to how many times a word occurs in a course book and in what context it occurs. In another word, we can call it as
frequency. According to Nation 1983, most frequency count is based on a sample of text with at least one million words. Frequency itself has its own
purpose. It provides a rational basis for learners vocabulary learning, like what is stated by Nation and Waring 1997. Frequency information provides a rational
basis for making sure that learners get the best return for their vocabulary learning effort by ensuring that words studied will be met often p. 17. Thus, it is very
important to know the frequent words in a course book before teachers use a certain course book and ensure that the vocabulary learned is useful for the
learners. PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI
Other experts also note the role of frequency in vocabulary learning. According to Coady and Nation 1988, word frequency in a course book has
some effects on some learners. Ten times in minimum is enough to have an effect on them. There is no exact number of frequencies which contributes to vocabulary
acquisition, but the more the better in subsequent level Nation and Wang, 1999. However, Pienemann and Johnston’s model, as stated in Gass and Mackey 2002,
suggests that regardless the frequency of input one receives, the acquisition of communicative value will hardly depend on particular developmental order.
Otherwise, it will be kept and made available when one is ready for processing and use Gass, 1997. It means that high frequency input does not necessarily
bring effects on one’s acquisition of the input. Learners can also learn words from the context in which they occur. It
provides clues for learners to guess the meaning of unfamiliar words. However, the result of learning words from context is not as great as it is expected. Although
it tends to be low, if hundreds or perhaps thousands of unfamiliar words are met, it could result in learning a number of words. And frequent words should have
effect on learners Coady and Nation, 1988. Thus, presenting the same words frequently in some contexts will provide opportunities for learners to acquire
vocabulary. According to Thomas, Pfister, and Peterson 2004 words with high
frequency usually includes functionalstructural words like in, to, of, and for. High-frequency words tend not to contain conceptual validity for an individual
word or for the text where the words occur. Words with medium frequency are those with lesser generality but frequently repeated Herdan 1964 as in Thomas et
al 2004. In this medium-frequency group, some commonly used content words may be found. He also states that words with low frequency tend to contain higher
informational value than words with higher frequency. The size of group of word types which occur only once is called ‘hapax legomena’. It indicates word
learning and vocabulary richness of a text Holmes, 1994. Nation 2002: 6 identifies four criteria of word frequency and range,
namely, high frequency words, academic words, technical words, and low frequency words.
a. High Frequency Words The words in this stage are about 2,000 word families and include most of
the 176 function words and content words. In this stage, the words can account for 80 to 95 of the running words in a text. However, it depends on what kind of
text is being counted. According to Nation 2006, teaching and learning vocabulary with high
frequency can be divided into four strands, namely meaning focused input, meaning focus output, language focused learning, and fluency development.
1 Meaning-focused Input Nation and Meara 2002 suggest that meaning focused input is included in
incidental vocabulary learning through reading and listening. In order for this strategy to occur, non-native speakers should meet three conditions. First, only a
small amount of unknown vocabulary is allowed in a text, around two per cent, or one unknown word in 50 Hu and Nation, 2000. Second, the non-native speakers
should receive large amount of input, at least one million tokens or more per year. PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI
Third, there should be more deliberate attention to the unknown word to increase the learning.
In terms of the familiarity of a text, Nation 2006 suggests that teachers can make use of specially written or simplified material with appropriate language
level, containing around 95 familiar words. Those texts can be used in reading and listening activities. In class, teachers‟ instruction and interaction with learners
are also a good source of listening input. If teachers use high vocabulary words, then learners have enough opportunities for vocabulary learning.
If an extensive reading program is well-managed, well-designed, it can also provide opportunities to learn and develop vocabulary knowledge. A good
extensive reading program, based on what Nation and Wang 1999 state, a provides interesting materials in which learners know 98 of the running words,
b inspires learners to read at least one book every two weeks, c encourages learners to read at least three books at the same level before reading those at
higher level, d encourages learners to learn the unknown words in the texts deliberately, and e facilitates learners to talk and write about what they read with
enough amount of time, not much. 2 Meaning-focused Output
Learning from meaning-focused output refers to learning through speaking and writing, from receptive skill to productive skill. According to Nation and
Meara 2002, the use of vocabulary in productive skill can be increased by designing activities which encourage learners to use new vocabulary, providing
opportunities for learners, such as speaking activities in groups, to negotiate the PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI
meanings of unknown words, and encouraging learners to use partly known words in speaking and writing to increase their knowledge of the words.
Negotiation of meaning is a powerful aspect in learning vocabulary through speaking Nation, 2006. However, the proportion of negotiation of words learned
through spoken communication activities is still small. Nation adds that to design speaking tasks which facilitate vocabulary learning, some considerations should
be put into account. Those are: i the target vocabulary should be included in the written input, ii the vocabulary should be used when performing the tasks, iii it
is necessary to provide various opportunities in the task for learners to use the vocabulary, iv learners are required to use the vocabulary in different way from
the one in the written input. Learning from meaning-focused output can also happen in writing activities.
Nation, 2006 proposes that useful writing activities require written or spoken output as a source of information to write about. For example, the Internet is a
good media for learning vocabulary since it provides learners opportunities to communicate and discuss through writing which includes negotiation of
vocabulary. Besides, synthesizing information from some texts can also be a useful written input as a source of vocabulary learning.
3 Language-focused Learning Nation, 2006 explains that vocabulary learning though language focused
learning occurs in many opportunities, such as giving deliberate attention through activities like intensive reading, making use of word cards, pre-teaching of
vocabulary, and deliberate learning. The most obvious place for direct vocabulary PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI
learning is in intensive reading activities. Intensive reading requires teachers and learners to work together in a text, looking at the language features and content.
From vocabulary perspective, teaching unknown words can be solved by pre-teaching them, giving the meanings directly, giving training in using strategies
of guessing from context, analyzing word parts, and using dictionary. The selection of which one to use depends on whether it is high frequency or low
frequency word, whether it is important in the text, the nature of the word, and the context in the text.
4 Fluency Development For sure, for fluency development, unknown words are not included.
Learners do not learn new vocabulary, but learn how to make the best use of vocabulary that they already know or learn before. According to Nation and
Meara 2002, developing vocabulary fluency needs several conditions. It requires familiar materials in a large number, focuses on the message, and enough pressure
to learn at higher level. Vocabulary fluency development does not focus specifically on vocabulary or grammar anymore. Above that, it aims to develop
fluency in listening, speaking, reading, or writing. Nation and Meara add that there are two approaches in developing
vocabulary fluency. The first approach is repetition. It involves repeated practice on the same material so that learners can perform it fluently. The activities can be
repeated reading, 432 technique learners speak for four minutes, three minutes, and two minutes about the same topic, but to different learners, the best recording
learners make repeated attempts to record their best-spoken text, and rehearsed talks.
The second approach is making many connections and associations with a known word. It involves using a known word in various contexts and situations.
The activities can be speed-reading practice, extensive reading, continuous writing, and retelling activities. It aims at developing vocabulary system with
good order. Fluency is gained by controlling the language system and using the known word in various contexts and situations well and efficiently.
According to Nation 2006, the characteristics of fluency development are: i involving no unknown vocabulary, grammatical features, or discourse features;
ii existence of pressure or encouragement to perform at faster speed; iii message-focused aiming at message production or comprehension; iv involving
language use in a large number. In level of words or phrases, like numbers, time sequences, greetings, etc, the activities can be teacher saying words or phrases
quickly while learners pointing to what is being said, or done productively by doing vice versa.
b. Low Frequency Words
Low frequency words in each person are actually different. Some of the low frequency words are more technical words for some others. Nation and Waring
1997: 17 explain the purpose of word frequency in course book. Its purpose is frequency provides rational basis for learn
ers‟ vocabulary learning. It occurs many times in order to ensure the word will be studied and remembered often. So
that, it is better for teachers to know the frequent words in a course book before they use it. Furthermore, it is also important for teachers to know the vocabulary
in order to meet the goal of the study. PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI
According to Thomas, Pfister and Peterson 2004, high frequency usually includes functionalstructural words like in, to, of, and for. In the high frequency,
the words do not contain conceptual validity for an individual word or for the text where the words occur. In medium frequency, the words are frequently repeated
but they are lesser generality. Furthermore, content words are commonly found in medium frequency. The last is low frequency. It contains higher informational
value rather than higher frequency. Nation 2006 proposes four strategies in dealing with low frequency words,
namely guessing words from context, deliberate learning using word cards, using word part analysis to help memory, and dictionary use.
1 Guessing Words from Context
According to Nation and Meara 2002, the most useful strategies of all is guessing from context. However, in order to be successful in guessing, learners
should know 95-98 of the tokens in a text. In other words, the unknown word to guess should be surrounded by supporting context which learners can
comprehend. The success of this strategy also depends on learners‟ listening and reading skill. Besides, based on guessing procedures proposed by Clarke and
Nation 1980, guessing strategy will be successful if learners are able to follow the idea presented in the text and they have background knowledge of the text
Coady and Nation, 1988. In second language learning area, guessing meaning form context is included in meaning-focused input strand. After successfully
guessing the meaning of a word, direct learning of the same word should be followed to support the learning.
2 Deliberate Learning Using Word Cards PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI
Using word cards in vocabulary learning is included in deliberate one. Deliberate vocabulary learning is more effective than incidental vocabulary
learning since it is more focused and goal oriented Nation and Meara, 2002. In order to be successful in this strategy, Nation 2001 suggests a set of learning
guidelines through the use of word cards, which are: i retrieval rather than recognition; ii the use of appropriately sized groups of cards; iii repetition
spacing; iv word aloud repetition; v word processing; vi interference avoidance; vii serial learning effect avoidance; and viii the use of context when needed.
3 Helping Memory Using Word Parts This strategy helps learners memorize unfamiliar words by analyzing its
parts. According to Coady and Nation 1988: 107, an unknown word can be a
nalyzed by checking its “prefixes and stem, as a clue to its meaning”, for example, the word apposition, which comes from the words ap- a form of ad-,
pos, and -ition . The meaning of apposition can be obtained by relating “the
meaning of the parts to the meaning of the whole word” Nation and Meara, 2002:
45. This strategy requires practice and learning. However, according to Nation and Meara 2002: 45, “word part analysis is not a reliable means of guessing, but
it is a very useful way of checking on the accuracy of a guess based on context clues”.
4 Dictionary Use Nation and Meara propose that there are some types of vocabulary;
monolingual, bilingual, or bilingualized. They can be used receptively to support listening and reading or productively to support speaking and writing. There are
some sub skills in using dictionaries, as suggested by Nation and Meara. PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI
Dictionary use involves numerous sub skills such as reading a phonemic transcription, interpreting grammatical information,
generalizing from example sentences and guessing from context to help choose from alternative meanings
p.46. c. Academic Words
Academic words are words that are used in academic from most of all disciples. In this academic word, the words are not in the most frequent 2000
words of English. The academic word covers around 8.5 to 10 running words in academic text. Commonly, people who are in this stage already know the most
frequent 2000 words. d. Technical Words
Each discipline has its own term or technical words. Some of technical words consist of high frequency and academic words. Although they are common,
they are narrowed in special area. Such as the word cost and price, they have different usage in economics field. The technical word covers less than 1000
words.
4. Course books
