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6 The ELT learning model focused on the learning process for a single learner and failed to mention how the individual fit into a social
group during this process and what role this group may play. Also, there was no discussion on how a social group may gain knowledge
through a common experience.
D. Rationale
The greatest difficulty faced by the students in learning English is vocabulary mastery. In fact, vocabulary is an essential part to master the
four language skills, namely listening, speaking, reading, and writing. Therefore, to master a language easily, the students should have a stock of
vocabulary. In elementary school vocabulary has become the first priority that has to be taught to the young learners.
Problems always occur when teaching English is applied in Elementary School students. This can be proven from a pre research which
was concluded in the sixth grade students of SDN Banaran 01 Grogol Sukoharjo. From the pre research, the researcher found that the students’
vocabulary mastery is low and the students get difficulties in mastering vocabulary as follows: 1 the students got difficulties in grasping and
memorizing the meaning of the words; 2 they found it hard to write down the words correctly; and 3 they got difficulties in pronouncing the words
correctly; 4 they found difficulties in using vocabulary in sentences. So the teacher should have extra power to teach the students in Elementary School
because children have specific characteristics.
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The researcher found some psychological barriers from the students. They feel shy and afraid to ask the teacher if they find a difficulty. They are
afraid of being humiliated by their friends and their teacher if they cannot answer well. They also do not have self-confidence in answering the
questions. These problems may give a great influence to their learning process.
The other reason that causes the students’ failure is the teacher’s teaching method. Heshe is not creative when teaching the foreign language
to children. Sometimes it makes the students get bored and they also feel that the teaching method doesn’t give more chances to them to internalize
the words in their memory. The classroom situation in learning vocabulary showed that the
atmosphere was not alive, with the teacher domination of teaching vocabulary. The students show low participation in using vocabulary.
Children are unique and not small version of adults. They have their own characteristics. The characteristics cover their ways of thinking, their
attitude, their aptitude, etc. To give the best quality of teaching English to children, the teacher should know and understand them. In general, there are
some characteristics of children in learning language, as follows: a children like playing; b children talk about “here and now”; and c
children respond language well through concrete things rather than abstract things. Based on their characteristics, teaching them is different from
teaching adults. The teacher should not only explain the topics, but also
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activate their three domains cognitive, affective, and psychomotor through activities which are suitable to their characteristics.
In teaching vocabulary, the teacher should make the students understand and memorize new words and their meaning not only in a short
period of time or at the moment when the vocabulary is given, but also in a long period of time. To make the students memorize the meaning, spell,
pronounce, and use the words, the teacher should use a suitable method to teaching children. In this research, the researcher chooses the experiential
learning as a method to improve the students’ vocabulary mastery. Experiential learning is suitable with the children’s characteristics.
They like fun activities and talking about “here and now” in their learning process. Experiential learning is a great way to present, practice, and revise
vocabulary, because experiential learning is an active learning which is highly motivating for the students. Then, it will be advantageous if the
teacher uses the experiential learning method to improve the students’ vocabulary mastery. In applying this method, the researcher used simple
games and role play to improve students’ vocabulary. The success of applying this method can be seen through indicators,
they are: 1 students know the meaning of words. One of activities is playing the game. By doing so, it is easy for the students to memorize the
meaning of the words. In finding the meaning of words, students need not open a dictionary because it has already been clear through the instructions
they have practiced before; 2 Students are able to pronounce words
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correctly. The teacher gives the commands several times in a correct pronunciation in order to give examples to the students. The teacher asks the
students to pronounce the words and corrects the students’ pronunciation; 3 Students are able to spell or write words. The teacher gives some words
and asks the students to spell and write the words after the teacher has given students the correct spelling of words and writes them on the white board;
and 4 students are able to use words in a sentence. Teacher asks the students to make new commands or sentences based on the words given.
So, the researcher assumes that by using the experiential learning method in teaching learning process, vocabulary mastery of the elementary
students can be improved.
E. Action Hypothesis
