Overcoming My Difficulties in Teaching Most of Third Grade Students Class A Who Could Not Memorize English Vocabulary at SDN 3 Pasir Panjang, Pangkalanbun.

ABSTRACT

Dalam Tugas Akhir ini saya membahas tentang kesulitan dalam
mengajar anak-anak kelas tiga A yang sulit menghafal kosa kata bahasa
Inggris selama saya magang di SDN 3 Pasir Panjang, Pangkalanbun
Kalimantan Tengah. Kegiatan magang dilakukan mulai 6 Januari 2014
sampai 30 Januari 2014. Posisi saya di SDN 3 Pasir Panjang adalah sebagai
asisten guru bahasa Inggris.
Ada empat penyebab dan tiga dampak masalah. Penyebab pertama
adalah saya tidak menggunakan teknik yang tepat untuk membuat mereka
mudah menghafal kosa kata. Penyebab kedua adalah saya kurang
berpengalaman dalam mengajar kosa kata bahasa Inggris. Selanjutnya,
penyebab ketiga adalah para murid tidak memiliki buku bahasa Inggris yang
sesuai, dan penyebab terakhir adalah waktu yang disediakan untuk mengajar
bahasa Inggris hanya sekali dalam satu minggu. Dampak masalah adalah
hampir semua murid mendapatkan nilai yang buruk dalam ulangan bahasa
Inggris, proses pembelajaran bahasa Inggris menjadi lambat, dan saya
kehilangan kesabaran ketika mengajar para murid di dalam kelas. Ada empat
solusi untuk mengatasi masalah saya ini yaitu saya akan menggunakan
permainan untuk mengajar kosa kata bahasa Inggris, saya akan
menggunakan kartu bergambar (flash cards) untuk mengajar kosa kata

bahasa Inggris, saya akan memberikan lembar bahan pelajaran yang
berisikan catatan kosa kata bahasa Inggris kepada para murid, dan saya
akan memberikan kelas tambahan selama dua kali dalam seminggu kepada
para murid. Kesimpulan yang saya ambil adalah saya memilih untuk
menggabungkan semua solusi yang telah saya jelaskan untuk mengatasi
masalah tersebut.

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

ABSTRACT ..................................................................................................... i
DECLARATION OF ORIGINALITY ................................................................. ii
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS .............................................................................. iii
TABLE OF CONTENTS ................................................................................. iv
CHAPTER I. INTRODUCTION .......................................................................1
A.
B.
C.
D.

E.
F.
G.

Background of the Study
Identification of the problem
Objectives and Benefits of the Study
Description of the Institution
Method of the Study
Limitation of the Study
Organization of the Term Paper

CHAPTER II. PROBLEM ANALYSIS ..............................................................6
CHAPTER III. POTENTIAL SOLUTIONS .....................................................10
CHAPTER IV. CONCLUSION .......................................................................17
BIBLIOGRAPHY
APPENDICES :
A. FLOWCHART
B. SCHOOL PROFILE
C. EXAMPLE OF FLASH CARDS


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CHAPTER I
INTRODUCTION

A. Background of the Study
The topic of this term paper is based on my internship from
January 6, 2014 until January 30, 2014 as a teacher assistant at
SDN 3 Pasir Panjang, Pangkalanbun, Central Borneo. My job
descriptions is helping the teacher to review the material. Learning
vocabulary is important as stated by Maryam Eslahcar that
“vocabulary is an inseparable part of any language learning
process. It would be impossible to learn a language without
vocabulary“ (135). Accordingly, it is necessary for teachers to teach
English vocabulary to the students.
When I had my internship, I found a problem. My problem
was I had a difficulty in teaching most of third grade students class

A who could not memorize English vocabulary. There were twenty
four students in the class. Most of the students were 8-9 years old.
They started to learn English regularly and systematically in the
third grade, so that it was difficult for them to memorize vocabulary.

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For example , one day I reviewed the material about parts of the
body. Most of the students in class A did not answer my questions
because they could not remember the vocabulary. At that time, I did
not know how to review the materials effectively to the children.
This situation happened for several times during my internship.
Most of the students in the class usually could not answer the
questions when I asked them about the materials that they have
learnt.
Based on the above explanation, I would like to discuss
about handling my difficulty in teaching most of third grade students
class A who could not memorize vocabulary. I agree with the
statements in “The Analysis of the Ways to Memorize English
Vocabulary” that “memorizing vocabulary has been a big difficulty

making students lose interest in the process of learning English” (1).
I choose this topic because I am interested in teaching vocabulary
to the students to make them memorize English vocabulary easily.
In this term paper I will analyze the causes, the effects, and the best
solutions to solve my problem.

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B. Identification of the Problem
The research questions are as follow :
1. Why did I have a difficulty in teaching English vocabulary to third
grade students in class A in SDN 3 Pasir Panjang?
2. How did the problem influence the students and I ?
3. How should I solve the problem effectively?

C. Objectives and Benefits of the study
The objectives of my term-paper are to find the causes of the
problem and to describe the effects of the problem. I would also like
to find the best solutions to solve the problem. The benefit for the
teachers at SDN 3 Pasir Panjang is they will get some ideas about

teaching English vocabulary for all the students at SDN 3 Pasir
Panjang especially for the students in the third grade. The teachers
can use fun ways to teach vocabulary. The benefit for the readers is
they will know how to teach vocabulary for children. The benefit for
me is I will learn more about teaching vocabulary for the third grade
students effectively.

D. Description of the Institution
Based on the profile of SDN 3 Pasir Panjang, the school was
established on January 1, 1998 in Pangkalanbun, Central Borneo.
The location of the school is on JL. Bhayangkara Pinang Merah XV.

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The accreditation of this school is B. The motto of the school is
“the school which is clean, beautiful, safe and comfortable will foster
individuals who are intelligent, pure, and polite“. It also has some
facilities such as Internet, telephone, library, and canteen. The
headmaster at SDN 3 Pasir Panjang is Mr. Sukasman, S.Pd.SD.
There are fifteen teachers, they are : Latia, Aisyah, Ngatijah,

Noraedah, Budi, Adi, Lis, Yati, Winarsih, Dewi, Suci, Masrine, Riya,
Sutisna, Feri. There are twelve classes.

E. Method of Study
First, I get the data for my term-paper from my internship
journal, and observation. Second, I get the data from the articles
and books by conducting library research. This data is used to
analyze the causes, effects, and potential solutions of the problem.

F. Limitation of the study
The subjects of my term-paper is twenty four students of
third grade and I as a teacher assistant. The name of the class is
class A. I did my internship at SDN 3 Pasir Panjang from January 6,
2014 until January 30, 2014. My position was a teacher assistant.

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G. Organization of Term Paper
This


term-paper

starts

with

Abstract,

Declaration

of

Originality, Acknowledgements, and Table of Contents. Next, there
are four chapters on this term-paper. The first chapter is
Introduction, it is divided into seven parts, there are : Background of
the Study, Identification of the Problem, Objectives and Benefits of
the Study, Description of Institution, Method of Study, Limitation of
the Study, and Organization of Term-paper. The second chapter is
Problem Analysis that describes the causes, and the effects from
the problem. Then Chapter Three describes the potential solutions

to solve the problems along with the positive and negative effects.
The last chapter is the Conclusion. There is also a Bibliography
which is the list of the references used in this paper. Furthermore,
this term-paper also has Appendices that contain Flowchart and the
Profile of the school.

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CHAPTER IV
CONCLUSIONS

In this chapter, I would like to discuss the chosen solutions for my
problem which is difficulty in teaching most of third grade students class A
who could not memorize English vocabulary. There are four causes of the
problem namely I did not use suitable techniques to make them remember
English vocabulary easily, I lacked of experience in teaching vocabulary, the
students did not have a relevant English course book, and the frequency of
English lesson was only once a week. Moreover, the effects of the problem
are almost all children got bad marks on English quiz, the progress learning
of English lesson was slow, and I lost my temper when teaching the students

in the class. To solve the problem, there are four potential solutions. First, I
will use games to teach vocabulary. Second, I will use flash cards to teach
English vocabulary to the students. Third, I will give some copies of English
vocabulary handout to the children. Fourth, I will offer an extra class after
school twice a week.

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Combining all of the four potential solutions will be the best solution to
solve my problem. Applying all potential solutions will be effective to deal with
all causes of the problem. First, I will use an interesting teaching technique
such as flash cards and games, so that the students will be interested in
learning vocabulary. Second, I will give some copies of vocabulary because
the students do not have a relevant course book. Third, I will give an extra
English class, so that the students will learn English lesson more than once a
week. If I only use flash cards and games without giving handouts and extra
English class, the result of the learning will not be effective.
I have some suggestions for the teachers at SDN 3 Pasir Panjang that

the teacher at SDN 3 Pasir Panjang should teach the students with flash
cards and games to make the students interested to memorize vocabulary. In
addition, the teachers also should give some handouts of vocabulary and give
an extra class to make the students memorize English vocabulary better. I
believe that being a teacher should be creative, so that the students will be
motivated to memorize English vocabulary.

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BIBLIOGRAPHY

Printed Sources
Wallace, Michael J. Teaching Vocabulary. London: Heinemann Educational
Books, 1982.
Electronic Publications
Avval, Farnaz Zahedi. “Distribution of Handouts in Undergraduate Class
to Create More Effective Educational Environment.” Ijern.com. December.
2013: 1-6 Vol.1, No.12. 24 April 2014.
< http://www.ijern.com/journal/December-2013/30.pdf>
Azar, Ali Sorayaie. “The Effect of Games on EFL Learners’ Vocabulary
Learning Strategies.” International Journal Of Basic And Applied Science.
Oct. 2012: 252-256 Vol.01, No.02. 3 April 2014.


MARANATHA CHRISTIAN UNIVERSITY

B, Joyce. “Don’t Do It: 10 Things Never to Do in the Classroom.”
Busyteacher. 2007. 20 March 2014.
< http://busyteacher.org/11032-10-things-never-to-do-in-theclassroom.html>
Bleakley, Tracey. “Fun Vocabulary Games.” Ehow. 22 September 2011. 21
June 2014.

“Effective Interventions for Struggling Readers.” Education.ie. October 2012.
16 April 2014.

“Games to Teach English Learners.” Teflcertificatecourses. 2001. 3 April
2014.

Ha, Tran Thu. “Extra Classes and Learning Outcomes of Eight-year-old
Children in Vietnam.” Younglives. 2005. 2 May 2014.

MARANATHA CHRISTIAN UNIVERSITY


“How To Use Handouts Effectively.” Westminster. 2009. 20 May 2014.

Jaffe, David L, and Profesor Drew Nelson. “Academic Cheating Fact Sheet.”
Stanford. July 30 2013. 24 April 2014.

Komachali, Maryam Eslahcar. “The Effect of Using Vocabulary Flash Card on
Iranian Pre-University Students’ Vocabulary Knowledge.” International
Education Studies. June. 2012: 134-144 Vol.5, No.3. 6 February 2014.
< http://www.ccsenet.org/journal/index.php/ies/article/view/17001/12016 >
Loukotkova, Eva. Using a Coursebook in Teaching English to Young
Learners. Thesis, MASARYK UNIVERSITY BRNO FACULTY OF
EDUCATION. Brno, 8 April 2009. 27 March 2014.

Rice, Jennifer King. “The Impact of Teacher Experience Examining the
Evidence and Policy Implications.” Urban. August 2010. 20 March 2014.

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Seguin, Roger. “The Elaboration of School Textbooks.” Unesco.org
December 1989. 3 April 2014.
< http://unesdoc.unesco.org/images/0008/000869/086964e.pdf>
Selamat, Asri, et al. “Extra Classes Effectiveness in Smart Secondary School,
Johore, Malaysia.” Asian Social Science. January 2012: 111-118. Vol. 8,
No. 1. 2 May 2014

Shen, Wei-Wei. “Current Trends of Vocabulary Teaching and Learning
Strategies for EFL Settings.” Feng Chia Journal Of Humanities and Social
Science Nov. 2003: 187-224, No.7. 3 April 2014.

“The Analysis of the Ways to Memorize English Vocabulary.” Mediafile. 2012.
21 June 2014.

“The Basic of Giving a Good Lesson.” WPI November. 3 April 2014.


MARANATHA CHRISTIAN UNIVERSITY

Uberman, Agnieszka. “The Use of Games For Vocabulary Presentation and
Revision.” Why Use Games In Teaching English? January – March 1998.
Page 20: Vol.36, No.1. 3 April 2014


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