General Background of the Study

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CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION

This chapt er cont ains general background of t he st udy, reason for choosing t he t opic, st at ement of t he problems, object ives of t he st udy, significance of t he st udy, alphabet game, convent ional met hod and out line of t he st udy.

1.1 General Background of the Study

M an is a social being w ho alw ays needs company in his life. He has t o cooperat e w it h ot hers t o provide himself w it h t he needs of life. Therefore, he needs a means of communicat ion w hich is called language. Wit h language man can express his desire, t hought and hopes t o ot her people. In order w ords language plays a key in relat ionship among human beings as Get rude Boyd, quot ed by Nort on 1980:4, st at es: “ Language is t he most import ant form of human communicat ion. Not only is language human, it is uniquely human and t he key t o all human act ivit ies. It is vehicle t hrough w hich t he w orld can be underst ood and appreciat ed; w it hout language, people are isolat ed and helpless” . Nort on, 1980:4 How ever, t here are so many different languages in t he w orld, w hich are used by different communit ies. Therefore, as t he member of t he int ernat ional societ y, w e need t o mast er more t han just our nat ive language, in order t o be able t o communicat e and int eract w ell w it h ot her people from different communit ies. Of course, w e do not need t o mast er all of t hem, since it is impossible. The best solut ion is by learning a language, w hich is w idely used by most of people all over t he w orld. The language is English. English is as an int ernat ional language used as a means of communicat ion t hroughout t he w orld. In Indonesia, English has an import ant role in educat ion, but it is only a kind of subject t hat should be know n and mast ered by st udent s in t he classroom, rat her it is used w hen t hey ent er t heir societ y. In Indonesia, English is int roduced int o t he curriculum and considered as t he first foreign language and a compulsory subject t o be taught at junior high school, senior high school and at universit y for some semest er. Ramelan 1992:1 st at ed t hat “ English has been t aught in t his count ry as t he first foreign language since t he proclamat ion of Indonesia on 17t h of August 1945.” Teaching English in junior high school covers four skills. They are list ening, speaking, w rit ing and reading. In fact , all of t hem are very im port ant for t he st udent s t o learn. Besides, t he st udent s’ mastery of t hese skills is very import ant , it has also t he main purpose of learning English t hat is developing abilit y of communicat ion in language, bot h spoken and w rit t en. Teacher is one of t he component s t o im prove educat ion. In t his case, t he responsibilit y of an English t eacher at t he junior high school is very import ant because he or she has t he t ask t o give t he basic int roduct ion of t he first foreign language. He or she has t o int roduce English as a new language and it s element s like vocabulary English w ords, pronunciat ion, spelling and grammar or st ruct ure t hat is different from st udent ’s mot her t ongue by giving clear explanat ion about t he meaning of t he new language including how t o use it and how t o const ruct sent ences in a correct grammat ical form. Teaching English w ords vocabulary in junior high school is not an easy job, because somet imes t he t eachers oft en find t heir st udent s have difficult ies t o express t heir idea or cat ch t he meaning of w ords in paragraph because of t heir w eakness in mast ering English w ords vocabulary. These difficult ies occur since t he Indonesian English w ords vocabulary are different from English. In t eaching English w ords vocabulary t o st udent s at t he junior high school, t he first t hing should be done is int roducing t he st udent s w it h English w ords vocabulary including how t o w rit e and t o pronounce it . M oreover, t he t eachers somet imes encount er difficult ies in deciding w hat kind of t echnique t o be used in t eaching English w ords vocabulary. M any different approaches and act ivit ies can be used t o help st udent s develop t heir English w ords vocabulary. It is import ant t hat t he t eachers include English w ords vocabulary it ems t hat are part of t he curriculum as w ell as provide st udent s w it h opport unit ies t o w ork w it h it ems t hey find meaningful. Linse 2006 :134 suggest s t hat “ a number of different t echniques and st rat egies w ere provided t hat can be used w it h w ords t hat are select ed by t he t eacher as w ell st udent s-select ed it ems” . On t he ot her hand, t he t eacher must know st udent s’ int erest and needs. He or she has t o provide a variet y of act ivit ies, w hich w ill have meaning for t he st udent s and w hich w ill fost er st udent ’s desire t o learn English w ords vocabulary. He or she should t each English w ords vocabulary t hrough enjoyable act ivit ies, w hich w ill make t he st udent s memorize English w ords vocabulary easily. Therefore, learning a new language should be fun, int eract ive and excit ing. Games are among t he act ivit ies t hat make st udent s learn w hile having fun, a t eacher can use easy and int erest ing games in t eaching English, especially in t eaching English w ords vocabulary. As st at ed by Wright , et . al. 1994:1 t hat “ games help and encourage many learners t o sust ain t heir int erest and w ork” . M oreover, Agoest yow at i 2007: xiii st at es t hat “ t he use of games in learning environment w ill not only change t he dynamic of t he class, but it w ill also rejuvenat e st udent s and help t he brain t o learn m ore effect ively” . Besides games also help t eacher t o creat e cont ext s w hich t he language is useful and meaningful. In order t o make t he junior high school st udent s enjoy and are int erest ed in learning English and can improve t heir mast ery in English w ords vocabulary easily, t he w rit er proposes t he alphabet game as a t echnique in t eaching English w ords t o t he year seven st udent s of junior high school. While playing t his game, t he st udent s can learn t o make, w rit e, and also remember English w ords vocabulary w hich have been mast ered. So, it can make t hem fun in learning English.

1.2 Reason for Choosing the Topic