Background of the Study

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CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION

A. Background of the Study

Today, many elementary schools in Indonesia choose English as local subject choice. That decision is based on Peraturan Menteri Pendidikan Nasional Permendiknas no. 22 tahun 2006 about “standar isi”. In that rule, the government allows elementary schools in Indonesia to explore and improve their own competency. The competency deals with art and language skill. Almost all elementary schools in Indonesia choose English as local subject besides their own local language. English is chosen by almost elementary schools because it is useful for the students’ daily life. This language is used to face globalization era in which English is as the international language. The purpose of implementing teaching English in elementary school is to develop the students’ language accompanying action. In the other words, the final purpose of teaching English is the students not only know and understand the language, but also use the language for communication. Introducing English as foreign language for elementary students will make the students accustom to that language. Brumfit 1991: vi says that elementary school is the best time to learn language as well because the earlier students start learning language the more time they get. It is also stated that the chances of becoming more proficient in the target commit to user language will be higher when a child is introduced to a second language at an early age www.teachingenglish.org.ukthinkmethodologyyounglearner. After learning vocabulary, the students are expected to be able to pronounce, understand the meaning, spell and use the words properly. Learning language is successful when learners can use the language in communication, both oral and written. The four skills in communication are listening, speaking, reading and writing. To comprehend the four skills, vocabulary mastery should be reached. Decarrico in Celce and Murcia, 2001: 285 says that “vocabulary learning is central to language acquisition, weather the language is as first, second, or foreign language.” It means that vocabulary mastery is important for all languages. Communication cannot run smoothly without good vocabulary mastery. Realizing that the vocabulary mastery is also important in English acquisition, the teachers should internalize the vocabulary for the students. Just memorizing the equivalent meaning of the foreign or second language is not enough for the students because when they communicate in a real situation, sometimes they forget what the meaning is; moreover, the students cannot apply the words in communication. Cameron in http:scribd.comdoc.vocabulary-mastery says that “Persons said to ‘know’ a word if they can recognize its meaning when they see it”. The recognition of vocabulary includes four aspects: forms pronunciation and spelling, words usage, meaning, and grammar for advance. After reaching those aspects, the learners are expected to use the words appropriately according to the context. It means that they can internalize the words in their mind. When the students commit to user have internalized the words in their mind, they can also apply the words in the real communication. Based on the writer’s pre-observation on the third graders of SDN Sidorejo Lor 1 Salatiga in the 20092010 academic year, the studdents had problems dealing with vocabulary mastery. First, they couldnot pronounce the words correctly. Second, they found it hard to remember words and words meaning. Third, they found it hard to spell words correctly. The last they could not use words in proper context. Those problems above arise because of some factors. Firstly, factors from the students theirselves. They did not particpate in the teaching learning process. Some of them just chatted each other and played with their friends. The teacher always reminded them to pay attention to the lesson, and even the teacher should scold them. The second factor coming from the teacher. In English lesson, the teacher just asked the students to do a lot of assignments from the LKS. She just gave the meaning when the students asked about some difficult words. The last factor is the condition of the class. The communication just occured when the students found difficulties in doing the assignments. There was no discussion and teamwork among students and teacher. The lesson was just doing assignment. It made the students could not pronounce, remind word meaning, spell, and use words properly. Third year student is categorized as young learner. In this stage, vocabulary mastery is crucial, so the words should be internalized appropriately. Based on the writer’s pre-observation in the third year students of SDN Sidorejo Lor 1 Salatiga, teaching English as foreign language is not easy. The teacher tries hard to make the commit to user students remember the words. The teacher also uses media, such as picture, to help the students comprehend the aspects in understanding words pronunciation, spelling, grammar, and usage. The use of the picture is very helpful, but sometimes students feel difficult to organize and associate the words they have learned. Besides pictures, the teacher can use word webs to demonstrate word association. Decarrico in Celce and Murcia 2001: 288 says that the teaching of words through word association techniques has proven to be a successful way to learn a large number of words and retain them over time. This technique can be collaborated in teaching the four skills to help students learn words. This is a good technique before, during, and after activity to improve students’ vocabulary. According to Decarrico in Celce and Murcia, 2001: 288, “Word Webs is an activity that helps bring into consciousness relationships among words in a text and helps deepen understanding by creating associative networks for words.” Based on what is stated above, learning vocabulary is not only remembering the equivalent meaning of words in L1 and L2, but also understanding how to pronounce, spell, and use the appropriate words in certain context. One technique to teach vocabulary to young learners is by demonstrating the diagram. Word webbing is the diagrams which can be used as the technique which can help students retain their vocabulary understanding. By using word webs, students can see and understand the relationship among words. After understanding the relationship among words, the students are expected to be able to apply them in the sentence and even real communication. commit to user Considering the importance of the technique in teaching vocabulary, the writer decides to conduct a research on “Improving Students’ Vocabulary Mastery by Using Word Webs A Classroom Action Research on the Third Grade of SDN Sidorejo Lor 1 Salatiga in the 20092010 Academic Year” .

B. Problem Statement