31 Since the aim of the st
udy was to measure the students’ mastery in near- synonyms after the implementation of certain treatments, the students were asked
to do some tests. The tests required the students to choose between two synonymous words and determine which word was suitable to complete the
sentences based on the context. The results of the tests were used to show the students’ level of mastery in using near-synonyms.
Theories of visualizations proposed by Levie and Lentz 1982 and Levin et al. 1987 were used to identify how the presence of any illustrations in the
implemented learning media. Then, the theory of dual coding by Paivio 1971 and multimedia by Mayer 2005 gave the elaboration of the influence from
verbal and nonverbal information occurring in the learning medium. Theory of compare and contrast strategy proposed by Silver 2010 came as a basis to
analyze why and how this kind of strategy gave certain impacts to the students’ mastery in near-synonyms. Further, the study of computer assisted language
learning by Schofield 1995 and Holliday 1999 gave some views about how the computer use could bring certain atmosphere in the learning processes.
All of the theories gave the basic views which were relevant to this research. Those theories helped the researcher to analyze any effect of a picture
comparison interactive medium implementation. Then, it helped the researcher to answer the question of to what extent a picture comparison interactive medium
can improve students’ mastery in near-synonyms. PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI
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CHAPTER III RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
In this chapter, the researcher presents a methodology used to conduct this study. This chapter discusses the methodology systematically. The discussion
includes research methodology, research setting, research participants, research instruments and data gathering technique, and data analysis technique.
3.1 Research Method
In conducting and organizing procedures of a study, choosing an appropriate methodology is needed so that a researcher can answer questions of
the study. In this research, the researcher wanted to answer the question of to what extent a picture comparison
interactive medium can improve students’ vocabulary mastery in near-synonyms particularly. Based on the problem, an experimental
research was considered to be the most appropriate methodology in conducting this study. As cited in Cohen et al. 2007, Smith 1991 claims that it is the only
method that directly concerns with causality. The essential feature of an experimental research is that researchers deliberately control and manipulate the
conditions, conduct certain interventions, and then assess the differences of the results. This method conducts independent variables as the input and dependent
variables as the outcome of the research. In conducting this study, the researcher adhered to the procedure of an
experimental research. The steps are as follows: PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI
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1. Assigning subjects to two matched groups
The participants of the research were students of X MIA 2 and X MIA 5. In the first step, the researcher randomly assigned the samples of the study. Both
classes were then assigned to two groups. X MIA 2 was assigned to an experimental group, whereas X MIA 5 was assigned to a control group.
2. Conducting a pre-test 1
In this step, the researcher observed the students’ mastery in near-
synonyms. The researcher observed it by employing a pre-test to both experimental and control group. The test was used to measure the students’
mastery in differentiating and using near-synonyms. By conducting this instrument, the researcher tried to find out whether the students had any problems
in mastering near-synonyms.
3. Conducting an intervention and observation
This was the most crucial step in this study. Basically, the intervention employed in both groups had the same time allocation and materials which
discussed 7 pairs of near-synonyms. However, the researcher administered different learning media to each group. For the experimental group, the researcher
implemented a picture comparison interactive medium as the learning aid to learn the materials. Below are the examples of a picture comparison interactive medium
implemented in the experimental group. PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI
