reading, and writing. In teaching learning process, all those skills are supported by three English elements, i.e. grammar, vocabulary, and pronunciation Nunan,
2003. Beside the knowledge of grammar and pronunciation, vocabulary knowledge is also important in understanding the language. In receptive skills,
such as reading and listening skills, vocabulary mastery is a significant point that should be considered by the learners. The more the learners master the
vocabulary, the more they comprehend the content of the texts Lehr, 2001. Learners’ vocabulary mastery has strong relation with reading comprehension and
the other skills in English. The learners’ comprehension in English skills will be better if the learners have good mastery in vocabulary, for example in reading
comprehension. Therefore, the learners’ vocabulary mastery should be improved in order to be able to give more contribution in language learning.
2.1.9 English Productive Skills: Speaking and Writing
As stated by the Nunan 2003, the English skills are divided into two parts, i.e. productive and receptive skills. Productive skills consist of speaking and
writing skills and productive means language generated by the learners in speech or writing. It means that the students can produce ideas which are expressed
through speaking or writing. Speaking is included in productive oral skill and that consists of producing systematic verbal utterances to convey meaning Nunan,
2003: 48. According to Nunan 2003: 88, writing can be defined as:
physical act of committing words or ideas to some medium, whether it is hieroglyphics inked onto parchment or an e-mail message typed into a
computer. On the other hand, writing is a mental work of inventing ideas, thinking about how to express them, and organizing them into statements
and paragraphs that will be clear to a reader.
The purpose of writing is to express an idea or feeling and it can be called as a process and a product. The writing process include the process of imagining,
organizing, drafting, editing, reading, and rereading, then the product can be in the form of essay, letter, story, and research report. According to Nation, the
students’ fluency of using vocabulary can be improved through productive skills, i.e. speaking and writing skills Richard and Renandya, 2002: 269.
2.2 Theoretical Framework
Vocabulary is a set of words which are learned when people want to learn a new language. It is one of language elements which has important role to support
the learners’ ability in understanding the language. Without understanding the words and word meanings, the people will not be able to master the language
well, especially in communication Dale and O’Rourke, 1971. As stated by Pawly and Syder 1983, if people want to use the language fluently, they need to
be able to put words together quickly in typical combinations. Therefore, the learners have to be able to master many vocabulary items in English that is
learned as a foreign language and use the words in speaking and writing fluently and accurately. In senior high school level, the learners need to be taught high
frequency and academic words that are used in daily life context in academic study. They can learn the vocabulary through context-based approach.
