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confidently that the test which they faced was not difficult to do. Then, the researcher also advised the students to practice intensively at home by making the
simple flash cards and check the dictionary if they found the difficult words. In the end of the class, the researcher and the students prayed together based on their
own religion. During the research, the researcher asked his partner to help the researcher check and observe
the researcher’s performance and students’ behavior in the teaching and learning process through the field notes see Appendix 10
c. Reflecting of the Second Cycle
In this step, the researcher reflected what did run well and what did not run well during the implementation of flash cards in the second cycle. The reflection
in this cycle was obtained from the result of test scores, data of field notes, result of discussion with the teacher, and result of the interview.
All of the activities in the second cycle had been done well. The second cycle became the best improvement if they were compared to the improvement in
the previous cycle. The researcher made the reflection firstly fro m the students’
test result. The test consisted of twenty sentences about the past forms of verbs. The researcher made a test with the new verbs which aimed to improve irregular
verb mastery and increase vocabulary. Written exercises are a common and useful way of giving students concentrated practice of language items as stated by
Scrivener 1994: 121. Nevertheless, some students still faced difficulties in filling the past forms of irregular verbs in the blanks in some sentences although they
were good in practicing the flash cards. The researcher took some samples which were incorrect in a test.
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- My teacher bringed many books from the library this morning.
- Lala and Po weared an unique custom in Circus show.
From the two incorrect sentences in the previous page, the researcher found some evidence that the students did not understand in writing the correct
past forms of irregular verbs although the words had been discussed in the practice of using flash cards. The students did not focus on what the verbs should
be added by –edd regular verbs or changed into different forms irregular
verbs. However, they showed a good progress in doing a test in the second cycle if they were compared to the previous cycle. The test scores in the second cycle
are presented see Appendix 11. Based on the test scores in the second cycle, the average of students’ result in VIIIB class was 86.5. It showed a good progress
from the previous cycle. There were two students who obtained 70 which became the passing grade of the school.
Secondly, the researcher conducted interview for three students who gained the highest score, medium score, and lowest score. This was done to know
the students’ opinion about their understanding of the past forms of irregular
verbs. The interview was done in a break time after the class had ended. Through the interview, the researcher could make a reflection. The researcher really could
know the students’ behavior, students’ interest, and researcher’s way in teaching
toward the teaching and learning process in the second cycle. There were some samples of the results of the interview in the second cycle see Appendix 16.
In the second cycle, the researcher decided to have five questions for the interview which was addressed to three students who gained the highest, the
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medium, and the lowest test scores. The first question is about the students’
understanding about the way of using flash cards in learning the past forms of irregular verbs. The three students stated the same answer generally. They told
that the second implementation of flash cards was so clear to understand. It might be caused by the practice which was done more than once. Therefore, the students
had known the main activity in practicing the flash card which was guessing the past forms and the past participles of verbs.
“Ya, saya sangat mengerti. Cara yang baru dalam berlatih flash cards ini lebih mudah dipahami.” Aathe highest score, Wnthe medium score, and Anthe
lowest score. Yes, I see. The new steps which was used by the researcher in practicing flash
cards was easier if it is compared than the previous one
The second question is about the students’ feeling after the researcher implemented the flash cards in teaching the past forms of irregular verbs. Three
students stated the same answers that they were interested to the res earcher’s way
in teaching the past forms of irregular verbs. They stated that it made the learning English easier. In addition, it helped the students to understand the meaning and
the past form of verbs. “Mempermudah pembelajaran. Membantu pemahaman siswa dalam setiap arti
dan bentuk lampau dari kata.” Aathe highest score and Wnthe medium
score It makes the learning easier. Besides, it helps the students understand the
meaning and the past form of each verb.
“Sangat menarik. Karena berlatih flash cards, teman saya memperlihatkan kartunya sebentar yang membuat saya mudah untuk mengerti bentuk lampau dari
kata kerja.” AnThe lowest score It is very interesting. However, through practicing flash cards, my friends have
flashed the cards for a while which makes me easier to understand the past forms of irregular verbs
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The third question is about the advantage of using flash cards in learning the past forms of irregular verbs. The students who gained the highest, medium,
and lowest test scores stated that learning the verbs through the flash cards could make their vocabulary increased.
“Kemampuan saya dalam vocabulary khususnya verb jadi semakin bertambah daripada sebelumnya.” Aathe highest score, Wnthe medium score, and
AnThe lowest score My vocabulary especially verb can increase if it is compared than the previous
one
The fourth question is about the students’ difficulties in learning the past forms of irregular verbs through the flash cards. They generally stated that they
still faced difficulties to memorize the past forms of irregular verbs. It is because verb in a large amount. Sometimes, the student told that the new steps of
practicing the flash cards were so complicated. “Ya, jelas ada. Karena jumlahnya verb tu kan banyak sekali, jadi terkadang sulit
buat kita untuk menghafal dan mengerti sebanyak itu.” Aathe highest score and Wnthe medium score
Yes, I do. It is because verb in a large amount, so it makes me difficult to memorize and understand it
“Cara yang baru ini malah sedikit rumit. Ditambah lagi, saya juga kesulitan menghafal vocab yang banyak banget.” Anthe lowest score
The new steps in practicing flash cards was so complicated. In addition, It was so difficult to memorize the larger amount of verb.
From the results of the interview in the second cycle above, it could be concluded that the flash cards really made the students interested in learning the
past forms of irregular verbs. The students were accustomed to and easier in practicing the flash cards because it was done more than once.
In addition, the researcher also needed the teacher’s opinion in making a reflection. The researcher met the teacher to have a small discussion after the class
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ended. The purpose of having discussion with the teacher was to know the teacher’s view about the teaching and learning activities. The teacher concluded
that the teaching and learning process was done better than the previous cycle. This was caused by the different way in implementing the flash cards which might
be helpful to improve the students’ ability in learning the past forms of verbs. The
student also looked serious and interested joining the whole activities from the beginning until the end of the meeting.
Through what happened in the learning process, the teacher told the researcher that implementing the flash cards was very helpful for the students in
learning the past forms of irregular verbs. It was proven that the students showed a good way in practicing the flash cards. In addition, they could apply the
knowledge about what they learned from practicing the flash cards in order to have a good result in doing a test see Appendix 10.
B. Discussion of the Implementation Flash Cards
In this section, the researcher focuses on the discussion of the results of implementation of flash cards in improving VIII
B students’ irregular verb
mastery. First of all, the researcher explained about the way of practicing flash
cards. He applied the flash cards in a different way in the first cycle and second cycle. Besides, the researcher explained briefly how flash cards could improve the
students’ irregular verbs. Flash cards were used to drill the past forms of irregular verbs in front of the class, so that the students could see the cards more easily and
go through the drill. According to Scrivener 1994: 118 state that drills provide
