THE EFFECT OF APPLYING SELECT-TEACH-ACTIVATE-REVISIT TECHNIQUE ON STUDENTS VOCABULARY ACHIEVEMENT IN READING.

THE EFFECT OF APPLYING SELECT-TEACH-ACTIVATEREVISIT TECHNIQUE ON STUDENTS’ VOCABULARY
ACHIEVEMENT IN READING

A THESIS
Submitted to Partial Fulfillment of the Requirement for
the Degree of Sarjana Pendidikan

By:

ELMA MARANITA
Registration Number. 209121017

ENGLISH AND LITERATURE DEPARTMENT
LANGUAGES AND ARTS FACULTY
STATE UNIVERSITY OF MEDAN
2014

DECLARATION

Except where appropriately acknowledged, this thesis is my own work, has been
expressed in my own words and has not previously been submitted for

assessment. I understand that this thesis may be screened electronically or
otherwise for plagiarism.

Medan,

Januari 2014

Elma Maranita
NIM. 209121017

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

First and the foremost, the writer would like to express her deepest
gratitude to Allah SWT for the blessing, health and opportunity which has enabled
her to complete this thesis. She realizes that she would never have been able to
complete it without the love of Allah, the guidance of her lecturers, help from
friends, and support from her family. This thesis has been written in fulfillment of
the requirements of the degree of Sarjana Pendidikan of the English Department,
Faculty of Languages and Arts, State University of Medan.
The writer was helped by many people through their guidences, supports,

prays, comments, and suggestions. The writer would like to express her gratitude
to:
 Prof. Dr. Ibnu Hajar Damanik, M.Si., the Rector of State University of
Medan.
 Dr. Isda Pramuniati, M.Hum., the Dean of Faculty of Languages and Arts;
and Vice Deans I, II, and III.
 Prof. Dr. Hj. Sumarsih, M.Pd., the Head of English Department, and also her
reviewer and examiner, Rika, S.Pd., M.Hum., as the Secretary of English
Department, Dra. Masitowarni Siregar, M.Ed., the Head of English Education
Study Program, and all the lectures who have taught, guided, and advised her
throughout the academic years.
 Prof. Dr. Berlin Sibarani, M.Pd., her Thesis Consultant, who has given his
great supervision and spent his precious time in guiding, commenting,
suggesting, inspiring, and giving valuable insights in the process of
completing this thesis.
 Drs. Muhammad Natsir, M.Hum., her Academic Consultant and also her
reviewer and examiner, who has supported her throughout the academic
years.
 Dra. Meisuri, MA., her reviewer and examiner, who have given her precious
time to review this thesis, commented and suggested many things in

completing it.
 Drs. H. Nampati Ginting, M.Pd., Headmaster, SMP Swasta Eria Medan for
allowing her to conduct the research in the school; the English teacher, Eli
Suryani, S.Pd.., for the assistance and guidance during the research.
 Her beloved father and mother, (Alm.) Ir. Sarworo Sarbini and Indrawati for
their endless love, prays, motivation, mental and her lovely uncle and aunty,
Ir. Edi Hidayat and Ismi Delfi for their financial support.
 Her super special sisters Siska Eka Syahfitri and Dewi Julita for the joy, hope,
love and pray that they bring.

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Her best friends, Orde Koria Saragih, Idena Irawati Sihombing, Nur ’Azizah,
Kristiana Damanik, Siti Rina Anugerah, Noviandri Ananda, Rico Yunanda
Harahap, Rasta Elisa Girsang, Andi Makassau Petta Setyadi Hasyim for their
help, motivation, and support; Reguler Dik C 2009, her great class, for the
love and togetherness throughout four years; her friends, PPLT SMA/SMK
Kesatuan Meranti 2012, for many experiencies and togetherness.


The writer realizes that the content of this thesis is not perfect, so he
warmly welcomes any constructive suggestions that will improve the quality of
this thesis. She hopes it would be useful for those who are interested in this field
of study.

Medan,
Januari 2014
The writer,

Elma Maranita

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ABSTRACT
Maranita, Elma. 209121017. The Effect of Applying Select-Teach-ActivateRevisit Technique On Students’ Vocabulary Achievement In Reading. A
Thesis. Faculty of Languages and Arts. State University of Medan. 2013.
This study was conducted as an attempt to discover the effect of applying SelectTeach-Activate-Revisit Technique on students’ vocabulary achievement in
reading. It was an experimental research. The subject was students of Grade VIII,
Junior High School (Sekolah Menengah Pertama: SMP), which consisted of 68

students. The research was divided into two groups: experimental and control
groups. The instrument used to collect the data was vocabulary test. To obtain the
reliability of the test, the writer applied Kuder Richardson 21 formula. The result
of the reliability was 0.79, and it was found that the test was reliable. The data
were analyzed by using t-test formula. The analysis showed that the scores of the
students in the experimental group were significantly higher than the scores of the
students in the control group at the level of significant  = 0.05 with the degree of
freedom (df) 66, t-observed value 3.21 > t-table value 2.00. The findings indicate
that using Select-Teach-Activate-Revisit Technique significantly affected the
students’ vocabulary achievement in reading. So, English teachers are suggested
to use Select-Teach-Activate-Revisit Technique in order to improve students’
vocabulary achievement in reading.

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TABLE OF CONTENTS
ABSTRACT ...........................................................................................
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT ....................................................................
TABLE OF CONTENTS......................................................................
LIST OF TABLES ................................................................................

LIST OF APPENDICES ......................................................................

Page
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CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION..........................................................
A. The Background of the Study .......................................
B. The Problem of the Study .............................................
C. The Scope of the Study .................................................
D. The Objective of the Study ...........................................
E. The Significance of the Study .......................................

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CHAPTER II REVIEW OF LITERATURE .....................................
A. Theoretical Framework .................................................
1. Reading Skill .............................................................
2. Vocabulary ................................................................
3. Types of Vocabulary .................................................
4. Meaning in Vocabulary .............................................
5. Learning Vocabulary.................................................
6. Teaching Vocabulary ................................................
7. Vocabulary Achievement ..........................................
8. The Relationship Between Vocabulary and
Reading Skill ............................................................
9. Descriptive Text ........................................................
10. Select-Teach-Activate-Revisit Technique ..............
11. Teaching Vocabulary through STAR Technique ....
12. The Advantages and Disadvantages of STAR
Technique ...............................................................
13. The Using of STAR Technique in Real Classroom

in Teaching Vocabulary ........................................
14. Assessment ..............................................................
B. Conceptual Framework .................................................
C. Hypothesis .....................................................................

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CHAPTER III RESEARCH METHOD .............................................
A. Research Design............................................................
B. Population and Sample ..................................................
C. The Instrument for Collecting Data ..............................
D. The Procedures of Research ..........................................
E. Scoring the Test .............................................................
F. The Validity and Reliability of the Test ........................
G. Technique for Analyzing the Data ................................

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CHAPTER IV DATA ANALYSIS AND RESEARCH FINDING ...
A. The Procedure of Research ...........................................
B. Data ...............................................................................
C. Data Analysis ................................................................

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CHAPTER V CONCLUSION AND SUGGESTION ........................
A. Conclusion ....................................................................
B. Suggestion .....................................................................


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REFERENCES ......................................................................................
APPENDICES .......................................................................................

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LIST OF TABLES
Page
Table 3.1 Research Design. ..................................................................... 32
Table 3.2 Teaching Procedure in Experimental Group ........................... 35
Table 3.3 Teaching Procedure in Control Group .................................... 36

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LIST OF APPENDICES
Page
APPENDIX A The Score of the Pre-Test and Post-Test of
Experimental Group ......................................................
APPENDIX B The Score of the Pre-Test and Post-Test of
Control Group ...............................................................
APPENDIX C The Calculation of the Reliability of the Test ...............
APPENDIX D The Calculation of the T-Test .......................................
APPENDIX E Table of Distribution t ...................................................
APPENDIX F Lesson Plan ...................................................................
APPENDIX G Pre-Test and Post-Test Question Sheet .........................
APPENDIX H The Answer Key ...........................................................
APPENDIX I Examples of Answer Sheet ...........................................

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CHAPTER I
INTRODUCTION
A. The Background of the Study
According to Brown (2001), language is a system of arbitrary
conventionalized vocal, written, or gestural symbols that enable members of a
given community to communicate intelligibly with one another. English language
is the most important one in the world. It is not only as an international
communication means but also to access the science and technology. In Indonesia,
English is very important for students of all levels to master in order to be able to
communicate with other people from foreign countries. It also taught at all levels,
from elementary school level up to university level. Become an important subject,
students are expected to master English.
In order to improve their English, there are four language skills that should
be learned by the students. They are reading, writing, listening and speaking skill.
As one of the basic language skills, reading must be developed by continual
practice. Students do not only read the text, but also understand the information
from the reading text. Reading cannot be separated with vocabulary. It is one
element that links the four skills of speaking, listening, reading and writing all
together. According to Jordan (1997) “Teaching vocabulary is such an important
task in teaching English because vocabulary achievement relates to all language
learning and it concerns to all four language skills.” It is in line with educational
unit oriented curriculum (KTSP 2006) “Students are intended to able to listen,
speak, read, and write in learning English.” It is impossible to master one of them

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without mastering vocabulary. In order to communicate well a foreign language,
students should master a number of vocabularies and should know how to use
them accurately. In other word, vocabulary mastery has important role in gaining
the ability of good English.
Based on the writer’s experience during the teaching practice program at
SMA KesatuanMerantiAsahan, she found that there were still many students who
had not enough vocabulary yet. The students found that it was boring to be
learned, because the teacher usually applied the same technique in teaching
vocabulary. The teacher gave a reading text, asked them to find the difficult words
and gave the meaning, and finally asked the students to read and memorize the
words. This technique was commonly used but it did not have any impression and
enjoyment for the students. The result was that the students might not be
interested anymore in learning vocabulary and even get bored. Beside it, most of
Indonesia teachers teach vocabulary ordering the students to open their
dictionaries when they face unknown meaning of certain words. Sometimes the
teacher then solves by giving the meaning of the words without any follow-up that
the words are not practiced in communication.
From the previous observation, the writer could say that most of students
faced many problems in mastering English words. The problems are (1) getting
less motivation to study English, (2) the usual teaching method was in appropriate
one, the class become monotonous, (3) no reinforcement, so the students get
bored, (4) teaching material merely focus on the student handbook, and (5) no
teaching media was relevant. Spears (2000) states “ A lack of vocabulary is

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indeed a significant obstacle to good reading comprehension, and so acquiring a
stock of new vocabulary words is crucial if you hope to become a better reader.”
In other word, if the students want to have good English, they have to improve
their vocabulary achievement because learning new words is a long life activity
even for people who have finished their study.
Nation (1990) states that there are two reasons why learners are not being
able to say what they want to say. First, they do not know enough vocabulary and
second, they are unable to put this vocabulary to productive use. From that fact, as
teachers, we must have perspective insights for the students need and we must
make our students know many words in English because vocabulary is one of the
important aspects in language mastery. So, to create participation of students in
the classroom in order to increase the student’s vocabulary, a teacher needs to
improve students’ activities.
Thus, to solve these problems, the teacher can use several techniques. The
aim of using a variety of techniques is to make of the particular lesson easy and
motivate students to learn and understand. The teaching technique should make
students enjoy the lesson and should make them not bored in learning English. So,
the students can speak, read, write and listen by using vocabulary as a
fundamental element and the students can finish their assignment without thinking
that English is very difficult. One of many techniques is by using STAR
technique. STAR technique is an effective technique to solve the problem in
students’ vocabulary mastery. It has a close relationship with reading
comprehension because to master a whole text in reading comprehension, it is

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needed enough vocabulary. Therefore, while applying this technique, students are
given before, during, and after reading activity. STAR technique can be also
applied to solve the problem of boredom because it prevents students to get bored
with conventional teaching method by looking for the words meaning in
dictionary.
Based on the explanation above, the research will be conducted by
applying STAR technique in teaching vocabulary to the students.

B. The Problem of the Study
In relation with the background of the study, the problem is formulated in
the form of a question as follows: “Is there any significant effect to the students’
vocabulary achievement in reading by using Select – Teach – Activate – Revisit
Technique?”

C. The Scope of the Study
In Junior High School’s KTSP curriculum, the students are expected to be
able to listen, speak, read, and write in English. To achieve these four basic skills,
students should have enough number of vocabularies. So this study focuses on
applying STAR technique on students’ vocabulary achievement. The vocabulary
words that are discussed by the students are connected with reading
comprehension text. In this case, the texts used are descriptive text because in
syllabus one of the kinds of text for the 8th grade of Junior High School is
descriptive text, which focus on describing person.

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D. The Objective of the Study
The objective of the study is to find out whether STAR Technique
significantly affects students’ vocabulary achievement in reading.

E. The Significance of the Study
The result of the study is expected to be useful theoretically and
practically. Theoretically, the result of the study is expected to be useful for the
readers to enrich their horizon in theory of English learning and for the
researchers for their further study.
Practically, the result of the study is expected to be useful for:
1.

English teachers, as an alternative teaching resource to give them more
information about another strategy which can be applied in teaching
vocabulary in order to improve their competence in teaching

2.

English learners, to enable them to improve their vocabulary achievement

3.

The candidate of English teachers, as the additional information for their
future teaching in the classroom

CHAPTER V
CONCLUSION AND SUGGESTION
A. Conclusion
After analyzing the data, it is concluded that the using of STAR technique
significantly affects the students’ achievement in vocabulary achievement, since
the t-test > t-table (3.21 >2.00; df=66, α=0.05). The applying of STAR technique
in teaching vocabulary achievement enables the students to explore their ideas
with their own words and to remember the information of the words in long term
memory. It means the null hypothesis (Ho) is rejected and alternative hypothesis
(Ha) is accepted because there is significant effect of applying STAR technique
on students’ vocabulary achievement.

B. Suggestion
Based on the finding, it is suggested that:
1. English teacher should use STAR technique in teaching vocabulary in
reading because it enables the students to remember the words of the text
in long term memory.
2. The textbook writer should write and suggest the reader to use STAR
technique in solving students’ problem in vocabulary achievement.
3. The readers who are interested for further study related to this research
should explore the knowledge to enlarge their understanding about how to
improve vocabulary achievement in reading by applying STAR technique.

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