THE EFFECT OF PICTURE ANNOTATION WITH MEMORIZATIONS ON STUDENTS’ VOCABULARY MASTERY.
THE EFFECT OF PICTURE ANNOTATION WITH MEMORIZATION
ON STUDENTS’ VOCABULARY MASTERY
A THESIS
Submitted as Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements
for the Degree of Sarjana Pendidikan
By
YULIANI KARTIKA
Registration Number. 2112121040
ENGLISH AND LITERATURE DEPARTMENT
FACULTY OF LANGUAGES AND ARTS
STATE UNIVERSITY OF MEDAN
2015
DECLARATION
I have familiarized myself with the University’s Policy on Academic
integrity. Except where appropriately acknowledged, this thesis is my own work,
has been expressed in my own words, and has not been previously been submitted
for assessment.
I understand that this paper may be screened electronically or otherwise
for plagiarism.
Medan,
Desember 2015
Yuliani Kartika
Reg. No. 2112121040
ABSTRACT
Yuliani, Kartika. 2112121040. The Effect of Picture Annotation with
Memorizations on Students’ Vocabulary Mastery. A Thesis. English and
Literatur Department, Faculty of Languages and Arts, State University of
Medan. 2015.
This study was aimed to find out the effect of Picture Annotation with
Memorization on students’ vocabulary mastery. It was conducted by using
experimental research design. The population of this study was the students of
SMP Negeri 2 Gebang, Academic Year 2015/2016. This study was conducted
with two randomized groups namely experimental group and control group. The
experimental group was taught by using Picture Annotation with Memorization
while the control group was taught by using Scrabble. The data was analyzed by
using t-test formula. The analysis showed that the mean scores of the students in
the experimental group was significantly higher than the mean scores of the
students in the control group at the level of significant α= 0.05 with the degree of
freedom (df) 58 with t-observed value 5.41> t-table value 2.00. Therefore, null
hypothesis (Ho) was rejected and alternative hypothesis (Ha) was accepted. The
findings indicated that using Picture Annotation with Memorization significantly
affected the students’ vocabulary mastery.
Key words: Picture Annotation with Memorization, Students’ Vocabulary
Mastery
i
ACKNOWLEDGMENT
The greatest gratitude is expressed to Allah SWT, the Almighty and Most
Beneficial for His Grace, Guidance, Praise, Honor, and Mercy that has been given
to the writer so that she finally accomplishes her thesis entitled: “The Effect of
Picture Annotation with Memorization on Students’ Vocabulary Mastery.”
This thesis is aimed to fulfill one of the requirements for the degree of
Sarjana Pendidikan of the English Department, Faculty of Languages and Arts,
State University of Medan (UNIMED).
In completing this thesis, the writer realized that she faced some problems
and she had received the academic guidance, suggestions, and comments and got
a lot of assistance and moral support from many people. Therefore, the writer
would like to express her gratitude and special thanks to:
Prof. Dr. Syawal Gultom, M.Si., the Rector of State University of
Medan.
Dr. Isda Pramuniati, M.Pd., the Dean of Faculty of Languages and
Arts, State University of Medan.
Prof. Dr. Hj. Sumarsih, M.Pd., the Head of English and Literature
Department, Dra. Meisuri, M.A,. the Secretary of English
Department Nora Ronita Dewi, S.Pd.,S.S., M.Hum., the Head of
English Education Program, Faculty of Languages and Arts, State
University of Medan.
Dr.
Siti
Aisah
Ginting,
M.Pd.,
and
Drs.
Willem
Saragih,Dipl.,Appl.,M.Pd., her Thesis Advisors who have given
their valuable advice, suggestion, guidance and spent their precious
time in the process of completing this thesis.
Puan Suri Annisa, M.Pd., her Academic Advisor who has supported
her through out the academic years.
ii
Dra. Masitowarni Siregar, M.Ed., Prof.Dr.Busmin Gurning
M.Pd., and Rita Suswati M.Pd., her Reviewers and Examiners who
have given their precious time, guidance, suggestions, and comments.
Restu Balian, S.Pd., the Headmaster of SMP Negeri 2 Gebang, for
his permission in allowing the writer to do observation and research to
collect the data.
Anu Syarwan and Rafe’ah her beloved parents, Fitria Ardiyana
S.Pd.,, Nur Aidilia her lovely sisters, Putra Wijaya Manik S,PdI
her brother in law, also Bintang Aziz and Tamim Rifki Wijaya
Manik her lovely nephew and all her families for their endless love,
pray inspiration, motivation, and everything that they have given to
the writer during her whole studies up to finish. From the beginning,
they gave her the freedom and time to learn and to explore.
Her beloved friends Ayu Setiawati S.Pd., ChairunnisaS.Pd., Fitri
Muliati S.Pd., Halawatil ImanS.Pd., and Sri Rizki Pulungan S.Pd.,
and all classmates Regular A’ 2011
for their endless support,
attention prays and love which they have been giving to the writer not
only during the term of the writers’ study, but also in everyday’s
happiness and motivation.
The writer realizes that this thesis still has the paucity, she conveniently
welcomes any suggestions, comments, and advices that will improve the quality
of this thesis. She hopes that this thesis would be useful for those who are read
and interested in the field of this study.
Medan, Desember 2015
The writer,
Yuliani Kartika
Reg.No. 2112121040
iii
TABLE OF CONTENTS
ABSTRACT ............................................................................................................ i
ACKNOWLEDGMENT....................................................................................... ii
TABLE OF CONTENTS .................................................................................... iv
LIST OF TABLES .............................................................................................. vii
LIST OF APPENDICES.................................................................................... viii
CHAPTER I: INTRODUCTION .................................................................
1
A. The Background of the Study ...........................................................
1
B. The Problem of the Study .................................................................
6
C. The Objective of the Study ...............................................................
6
D. The Scope of the Study .....................................................................
7
E. The Significance of the Study ...........................................................
7
CHAPTER II: REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE ........................
8
A.
Theoretical Framework ....................................................................
8
1. Vocabulary Achievement ..........................................................
8
2. Vocabulary .................................................................................
9
3. Types of Vocabulary .................................................................. 11
a. Reading vocabulary .............................................................. 13
b. Listening vocabulary............................................................. 13
c. Writing vocabulary ............................................................... 13
d. Speaking vocabulary ............................................................. 13
4. Vocabulary Mastery .................................................................... 14
iv
5. Vocabulary Teaching Technique ............................................... 16
a. Memorization ......................................................................... 18
b. Picture ................................................................................... 19
c. Kinds of Picture ..................................................................... 20
d. Kinds of Annotation Type ...................................................... 21
e. The Advantages and Disadvantages of Using Picture Annotation
with Memorization in Teaching Vocabulary ........................ 22
6. The Procedure of Teaching and Learning Vocabulary through
Picture Annotation with Memorization .................................. 23
7. Scrabble ..................................................................................... 24
a. The Advantages of Scrabble ................................................ 25
b. The Disadvantages of Scrabble................................................ 26
c. The Scenario of Teaching with Scrabble ............................ 26
8. Assessment of Vocabulary ........................................................ 27
B. Relevant Studies .......................................................................... 29
C. Conceptual Framework ................................................................ 30
D. Hypothesis .................................................................................... 32
CHAPTER III: RESEARCH METHOD .................................................... 33
A. Research Design ........................................................................... 33
B. Population and Sample
1. Population ................................................................................ 34
2. Sample ...................................................................................... 34
C. The Instrument of Collecting Data ............................................... 35
v
D. The Procedure of Research .......................................................... 35
1. Pre- test ................................................................................... 36
2. Treatment ............................................................................... 36
3. Post- test ................................................................................. 42
E. Scoring of the Test ...................................................................... 42
F. The Validity and the Reliability of the Test ................................. 42
1. The Validity of the Test .......................................................... 42
2. The Reliability of the Test........................................................ 43
G. The Technique for Analyzing the Data ........................................ 44
H. Statistical Hypothesis .................................................................... 45
CHAPTER IV: THE DATA AND DATA ANALYSIS ............................. 46
A. The Data ....................................................................................... 46
B. Data Analysis ............................................................................... 48
1. Reliability of the Test .............................................................. 48
2. Analyzing the Data Using t- test .............................................. 48
C. Testing Hypothesis ....................................................................... 50
D. Discussion .................................................................................... 50
CHAPTER V: CONCLUSION AND SUGGESTION ............................... 52
A. Conclusion ................................................................................... 52
B. Suggestion .................................................................................... 52
REFERENCES .............................................................................................. 54
APPENDICES ............................................................................................... 57
vi
LIST OF TABLES
Table 1.1
Students’ English Score of Grade VII in SMPN 2 Gebang .......
4
Table 3.1
Research Design ........................................................................
32
Table 3.2
The Activities of Teacher and Students in Experimental
Group ..........................................................................................
35
Table 3.3
The Activities of Teacher and Students in Control Group .........
37
Table 4.1
The Result of Pre-test and Post-test in Experimental Group and
Table 4.2
Control Group ...............................................................................
49
The Result of the T- Test Calculation ........................................
52
vii
LIST OF APPENDICES
APPENDIX A The Score of Pre-Test and Post- Test by the Students of
Experimental Group ............................................................
57
APPENDIX B The Score of Pre-Test and Post- Test by the Students of
Control Group .....................................................................
58
APPENDIX C The Reliability of the Test ...................................................
59
APPENDIX D
The Calculation of T- Test ...................................................
62
APPENDIX E
Percentage Points of the T Distribution ...............................
66
APPENDIX F
Lesson Plan ..........................................................................
67
APPENDIX G
Vocabulary Test ...................................................................
94
APPENDIX H
The Key Answer ..................................................................
99
APPENDIX I
Answer Sheet ........................................................................ 100
viii
CHAPTER I
INTRODUCTION
A. The Background of the Study
Vocabulary is one of the basic elements in mastering language skills.
Students usually have many problems in mastering English words. They have
limited vocabulary to comprehend the meaning of a text; they do not know the
context of word used in the text; they cannot recognize the meaning of each word;
they are not able to hear English words from the speakers and they get difficulty
to state some sentences in English, because of that they became difficult to
communicate receptively or productively in English.
Vocabulary is a basic element to achieve the four skills of language that
are listening, speaking, reading, and writing, then, mastering vocabulary
effectively is seen as a key objective for learners. Vocabulary is considered as the
most important part to be learned by the students in school. Wilkins as quoted by
Thornburry (2002) states “without grammar very little can be conveyed, without
vocabulary nothing can be conveyed”. This statement implies if student does not
know any word of language which will be spoken, surely he or she will not be
able to communicate, even though he or she knows more about the rules to
construct the sentences. Thus, it is important for students to master vocabulary in
order to be able to communicate in English.
At the present day, everybody approve that vocabulary is important in
learning a language. Vocabulary as the basic element of language is accepted as
1
2
even the backbone of the whole language system. But, unfortunately, vocabulary
knowledge is judge as an unimportant thing to be learnt whereas the language
itself cannot be separated from vocabulary. Vocabulary teaching is a matter of
secondary importance in foreign language programs. It was considered as
something useless and time- consuming in such programs.
Marzano (2004) defines that vocabulary knowledge also plays a significant
role in overall academic success. Students who have rich vocabulary will be better
in listening, speaking, reading, and writing a foreign language. Therefore,
vocabulary affects the student’s ability in learning foreign language. Vocabulary
knowledge impacts reading and academic success. It is significant in our daily life
and can have practical as well as social and emotional consequences.
It is supported by Beck (2002), who estimates that better readers may learn
as many as seven new words a day, while struggling readers and low achievers
learn one or two new words per a day. Not surprisingly, students with rich
vocabularies find more enjoyment in reading and more willing to spend time
reading. Conversely, students who do not know the meaning of a sufficient
proportion of the words in a text struggle with comprehension. As students fall
behind in their understanding of the words they encounter, gathering and
understanding information becomes tedious and difficult, and students are even
less likely to increase their understanding of facts and concepts. Pikulski (2004: 4)
states that the learners have to increase their vocabulary by around 3.000 words a
year. The number of vocabulary will influence how well someone masters the
language. Based on the statement above, vocabulary in all skills of language is
3
one of the important problems for the student in learning English; theoretically,
according to Stahl (1999) vocabulary in reading is all the words that everyone can
recognize when reading. In fact, not all students are able to master all the
vocabulary when they are reading it also in other skills of language.
In reality, vocabulary is not only sign of symbol for ideas but also a part of
how to improve language skills in the target language; vocabulary also becomes a
problem to almost all of students at any level of education. Vocabulary is assumed
as one of the major difficult aspect of language to be mastered since there are
many students who still struggle with mastering vocabulary. There are many
reasons why students have problems in vocabulary. One of the most obvious is
simply that they have problems in memorizing, pronouncing, and understanding
the words and it makes them lazy to study English mainly in reading text. In line
with the writer’s experience in Teaching Experience Practice (PPL) in grade VIII
Junior High School at SMP Negeri 2 Gebang, the writer found that the students
cannot comprehend a text well and do the exercise from the textbook because
their vocabularies were still low and it make the students think that English is not
an interested subject. Most of the students get the score below Minimal
Completeness Criteria (KKM) of English lesson for Junior High School. The
score of English test from the students can be seen in the Table 1.1.
4
Table 1.1
Students’ English Score of Grade VII in SMP Negeri 2 Gebang
Semester
Score Students Percentage Mean
1st Semester 2014/2015
ON STUDENTS’ VOCABULARY MASTERY
A THESIS
Submitted as Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements
for the Degree of Sarjana Pendidikan
By
YULIANI KARTIKA
Registration Number. 2112121040
ENGLISH AND LITERATURE DEPARTMENT
FACULTY OF LANGUAGES AND ARTS
STATE UNIVERSITY OF MEDAN
2015
DECLARATION
I have familiarized myself with the University’s Policy on Academic
integrity. Except where appropriately acknowledged, this thesis is my own work,
has been expressed in my own words, and has not been previously been submitted
for assessment.
I understand that this paper may be screened electronically or otherwise
for plagiarism.
Medan,
Desember 2015
Yuliani Kartika
Reg. No. 2112121040
ABSTRACT
Yuliani, Kartika. 2112121040. The Effect of Picture Annotation with
Memorizations on Students’ Vocabulary Mastery. A Thesis. English and
Literatur Department, Faculty of Languages and Arts, State University of
Medan. 2015.
This study was aimed to find out the effect of Picture Annotation with
Memorization on students’ vocabulary mastery. It was conducted by using
experimental research design. The population of this study was the students of
SMP Negeri 2 Gebang, Academic Year 2015/2016. This study was conducted
with two randomized groups namely experimental group and control group. The
experimental group was taught by using Picture Annotation with Memorization
while the control group was taught by using Scrabble. The data was analyzed by
using t-test formula. The analysis showed that the mean scores of the students in
the experimental group was significantly higher than the mean scores of the
students in the control group at the level of significant α= 0.05 with the degree of
freedom (df) 58 with t-observed value 5.41> t-table value 2.00. Therefore, null
hypothesis (Ho) was rejected and alternative hypothesis (Ha) was accepted. The
findings indicated that using Picture Annotation with Memorization significantly
affected the students’ vocabulary mastery.
Key words: Picture Annotation with Memorization, Students’ Vocabulary
Mastery
i
ACKNOWLEDGMENT
The greatest gratitude is expressed to Allah SWT, the Almighty and Most
Beneficial for His Grace, Guidance, Praise, Honor, and Mercy that has been given
to the writer so that she finally accomplishes her thesis entitled: “The Effect of
Picture Annotation with Memorization on Students’ Vocabulary Mastery.”
This thesis is aimed to fulfill one of the requirements for the degree of
Sarjana Pendidikan of the English Department, Faculty of Languages and Arts,
State University of Medan (UNIMED).
In completing this thesis, the writer realized that she faced some problems
and she had received the academic guidance, suggestions, and comments and got
a lot of assistance and moral support from many people. Therefore, the writer
would like to express her gratitude and special thanks to:
Prof. Dr. Syawal Gultom, M.Si., the Rector of State University of
Medan.
Dr. Isda Pramuniati, M.Pd., the Dean of Faculty of Languages and
Arts, State University of Medan.
Prof. Dr. Hj. Sumarsih, M.Pd., the Head of English and Literature
Department, Dra. Meisuri, M.A,. the Secretary of English
Department Nora Ronita Dewi, S.Pd.,S.S., M.Hum., the Head of
English Education Program, Faculty of Languages and Arts, State
University of Medan.
Dr.
Siti
Aisah
Ginting,
M.Pd.,
and
Drs.
Willem
Saragih,Dipl.,Appl.,M.Pd., her Thesis Advisors who have given
their valuable advice, suggestion, guidance and spent their precious
time in the process of completing this thesis.
Puan Suri Annisa, M.Pd., her Academic Advisor who has supported
her through out the academic years.
ii
Dra. Masitowarni Siregar, M.Ed., Prof.Dr.Busmin Gurning
M.Pd., and Rita Suswati M.Pd., her Reviewers and Examiners who
have given their precious time, guidance, suggestions, and comments.
Restu Balian, S.Pd., the Headmaster of SMP Negeri 2 Gebang, for
his permission in allowing the writer to do observation and research to
collect the data.
Anu Syarwan and Rafe’ah her beloved parents, Fitria Ardiyana
S.Pd.,, Nur Aidilia her lovely sisters, Putra Wijaya Manik S,PdI
her brother in law, also Bintang Aziz and Tamim Rifki Wijaya
Manik her lovely nephew and all her families for their endless love,
pray inspiration, motivation, and everything that they have given to
the writer during her whole studies up to finish. From the beginning,
they gave her the freedom and time to learn and to explore.
Her beloved friends Ayu Setiawati S.Pd., ChairunnisaS.Pd., Fitri
Muliati S.Pd., Halawatil ImanS.Pd., and Sri Rizki Pulungan S.Pd.,
and all classmates Regular A’ 2011
for their endless support,
attention prays and love which they have been giving to the writer not
only during the term of the writers’ study, but also in everyday’s
happiness and motivation.
The writer realizes that this thesis still has the paucity, she conveniently
welcomes any suggestions, comments, and advices that will improve the quality
of this thesis. She hopes that this thesis would be useful for those who are read
and interested in the field of this study.
Medan, Desember 2015
The writer,
Yuliani Kartika
Reg.No. 2112121040
iii
TABLE OF CONTENTS
ABSTRACT ............................................................................................................ i
ACKNOWLEDGMENT....................................................................................... ii
TABLE OF CONTENTS .................................................................................... iv
LIST OF TABLES .............................................................................................. vii
LIST OF APPENDICES.................................................................................... viii
CHAPTER I: INTRODUCTION .................................................................
1
A. The Background of the Study ...........................................................
1
B. The Problem of the Study .................................................................
6
C. The Objective of the Study ...............................................................
6
D. The Scope of the Study .....................................................................
7
E. The Significance of the Study ...........................................................
7
CHAPTER II: REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE ........................
8
A.
Theoretical Framework ....................................................................
8
1. Vocabulary Achievement ..........................................................
8
2. Vocabulary .................................................................................
9
3. Types of Vocabulary .................................................................. 11
a. Reading vocabulary .............................................................. 13
b. Listening vocabulary............................................................. 13
c. Writing vocabulary ............................................................... 13
d. Speaking vocabulary ............................................................. 13
4. Vocabulary Mastery .................................................................... 14
iv
5. Vocabulary Teaching Technique ............................................... 16
a. Memorization ......................................................................... 18
b. Picture ................................................................................... 19
c. Kinds of Picture ..................................................................... 20
d. Kinds of Annotation Type ...................................................... 21
e. The Advantages and Disadvantages of Using Picture Annotation
with Memorization in Teaching Vocabulary ........................ 22
6. The Procedure of Teaching and Learning Vocabulary through
Picture Annotation with Memorization .................................. 23
7. Scrabble ..................................................................................... 24
a. The Advantages of Scrabble ................................................ 25
b. The Disadvantages of Scrabble................................................ 26
c. The Scenario of Teaching with Scrabble ............................ 26
8. Assessment of Vocabulary ........................................................ 27
B. Relevant Studies .......................................................................... 29
C. Conceptual Framework ................................................................ 30
D. Hypothesis .................................................................................... 32
CHAPTER III: RESEARCH METHOD .................................................... 33
A. Research Design ........................................................................... 33
B. Population and Sample
1. Population ................................................................................ 34
2. Sample ...................................................................................... 34
C. The Instrument of Collecting Data ............................................... 35
v
D. The Procedure of Research .......................................................... 35
1. Pre- test ................................................................................... 36
2. Treatment ............................................................................... 36
3. Post- test ................................................................................. 42
E. Scoring of the Test ...................................................................... 42
F. The Validity and the Reliability of the Test ................................. 42
1. The Validity of the Test .......................................................... 42
2. The Reliability of the Test........................................................ 43
G. The Technique for Analyzing the Data ........................................ 44
H. Statistical Hypothesis .................................................................... 45
CHAPTER IV: THE DATA AND DATA ANALYSIS ............................. 46
A. The Data ....................................................................................... 46
B. Data Analysis ............................................................................... 48
1. Reliability of the Test .............................................................. 48
2. Analyzing the Data Using t- test .............................................. 48
C. Testing Hypothesis ....................................................................... 50
D. Discussion .................................................................................... 50
CHAPTER V: CONCLUSION AND SUGGESTION ............................... 52
A. Conclusion ................................................................................... 52
B. Suggestion .................................................................................... 52
REFERENCES .............................................................................................. 54
APPENDICES ............................................................................................... 57
vi
LIST OF TABLES
Table 1.1
Students’ English Score of Grade VII in SMPN 2 Gebang .......
4
Table 3.1
Research Design ........................................................................
32
Table 3.2
The Activities of Teacher and Students in Experimental
Group ..........................................................................................
35
Table 3.3
The Activities of Teacher and Students in Control Group .........
37
Table 4.1
The Result of Pre-test and Post-test in Experimental Group and
Table 4.2
Control Group ...............................................................................
49
The Result of the T- Test Calculation ........................................
52
vii
LIST OF APPENDICES
APPENDIX A The Score of Pre-Test and Post- Test by the Students of
Experimental Group ............................................................
57
APPENDIX B The Score of Pre-Test and Post- Test by the Students of
Control Group .....................................................................
58
APPENDIX C The Reliability of the Test ...................................................
59
APPENDIX D
The Calculation of T- Test ...................................................
62
APPENDIX E
Percentage Points of the T Distribution ...............................
66
APPENDIX F
Lesson Plan ..........................................................................
67
APPENDIX G
Vocabulary Test ...................................................................
94
APPENDIX H
The Key Answer ..................................................................
99
APPENDIX I
Answer Sheet ........................................................................ 100
viii
CHAPTER I
INTRODUCTION
A. The Background of the Study
Vocabulary is one of the basic elements in mastering language skills.
Students usually have many problems in mastering English words. They have
limited vocabulary to comprehend the meaning of a text; they do not know the
context of word used in the text; they cannot recognize the meaning of each word;
they are not able to hear English words from the speakers and they get difficulty
to state some sentences in English, because of that they became difficult to
communicate receptively or productively in English.
Vocabulary is a basic element to achieve the four skills of language that
are listening, speaking, reading, and writing, then, mastering vocabulary
effectively is seen as a key objective for learners. Vocabulary is considered as the
most important part to be learned by the students in school. Wilkins as quoted by
Thornburry (2002) states “without grammar very little can be conveyed, without
vocabulary nothing can be conveyed”. This statement implies if student does not
know any word of language which will be spoken, surely he or she will not be
able to communicate, even though he or she knows more about the rules to
construct the sentences. Thus, it is important for students to master vocabulary in
order to be able to communicate in English.
At the present day, everybody approve that vocabulary is important in
learning a language. Vocabulary as the basic element of language is accepted as
1
2
even the backbone of the whole language system. But, unfortunately, vocabulary
knowledge is judge as an unimportant thing to be learnt whereas the language
itself cannot be separated from vocabulary. Vocabulary teaching is a matter of
secondary importance in foreign language programs. It was considered as
something useless and time- consuming in such programs.
Marzano (2004) defines that vocabulary knowledge also plays a significant
role in overall academic success. Students who have rich vocabulary will be better
in listening, speaking, reading, and writing a foreign language. Therefore,
vocabulary affects the student’s ability in learning foreign language. Vocabulary
knowledge impacts reading and academic success. It is significant in our daily life
and can have practical as well as social and emotional consequences.
It is supported by Beck (2002), who estimates that better readers may learn
as many as seven new words a day, while struggling readers and low achievers
learn one or two new words per a day. Not surprisingly, students with rich
vocabularies find more enjoyment in reading and more willing to spend time
reading. Conversely, students who do not know the meaning of a sufficient
proportion of the words in a text struggle with comprehension. As students fall
behind in their understanding of the words they encounter, gathering and
understanding information becomes tedious and difficult, and students are even
less likely to increase their understanding of facts and concepts. Pikulski (2004: 4)
states that the learners have to increase their vocabulary by around 3.000 words a
year. The number of vocabulary will influence how well someone masters the
language. Based on the statement above, vocabulary in all skills of language is
3
one of the important problems for the student in learning English; theoretically,
according to Stahl (1999) vocabulary in reading is all the words that everyone can
recognize when reading. In fact, not all students are able to master all the
vocabulary when they are reading it also in other skills of language.
In reality, vocabulary is not only sign of symbol for ideas but also a part of
how to improve language skills in the target language; vocabulary also becomes a
problem to almost all of students at any level of education. Vocabulary is assumed
as one of the major difficult aspect of language to be mastered since there are
many students who still struggle with mastering vocabulary. There are many
reasons why students have problems in vocabulary. One of the most obvious is
simply that they have problems in memorizing, pronouncing, and understanding
the words and it makes them lazy to study English mainly in reading text. In line
with the writer’s experience in Teaching Experience Practice (PPL) in grade VIII
Junior High School at SMP Negeri 2 Gebang, the writer found that the students
cannot comprehend a text well and do the exercise from the textbook because
their vocabularies were still low and it make the students think that English is not
an interested subject. Most of the students get the score below Minimal
Completeness Criteria (KKM) of English lesson for Junior High School. The
score of English test from the students can be seen in the Table 1.1.
4
Table 1.1
Students’ English Score of Grade VII in SMP Negeri 2 Gebang
Semester
Score Students Percentage Mean
1st Semester 2014/2015