THE EFFECT OF WORD WEBBING ON STUDENTS` VOCABULARY ACHIEVEMENT IN WRITING DESCRIPTIVE TEXT.

THE EFFECT OF WORD WEBBING ON STUDENTS’ VOCABULARY
ACHIEVEMENT IN
WRITING DESCRIPTIVE TEXT
A THESIS
Submitted in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements
for the Degree of Sarjana Pendidikan
By
NURHAMIDAH
Registration Number. 2113121053

ENGLISH 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,

September 2015

Nurhamidah
Reg. No. 2113121053

ACKNOWLEDGMENT
ThankS to Allah who has given the writer chance, health and unlimited
time to finish this thesis entitles “The Effect of Word Webbing on Students’
Vocabulary Achievement in Writing Descriptive Text” compiled as requirement
to get graduate title from State University of Medan.
The writer consciously realizes that this thesis would not be done without
encouragement and support. Hereby, the writer would like to thank as this thesis
has been finished.
1.

The Rector of State University of Medan, Prof. Dr. Syawal Gultom, M.Pd.


2.

The Dean of Faculty of Arts and Language State University of Medan, Dr.
Isda Pramuniati, M.Hum.

3.

The Head of English and Literature Department, Prof. Dr. Hj. Sumarsih,
M.Pd.

4.

The Head of Education Study, Nora Ronita Dewi, S.Pd., S.S., M.Hum and
The Head of Literature Study, Syamsul Bahri, S.S., M.Hum.

5.

Thesis Consultant, Dr. Rahmad Husein, M.Ed., who has patiently guided
writer to complete this thesis and given so many advices that maintains the

writer’s ability in writing a good thesis.

6.

Academic Supervisor, Johannes Jefria Gultom, S.Pd., M.Hum., who has
spent time to give advices and support during academic process of the writer.

7.

Thesis Examiners, Dr. Anni Holila Pulungan, Drs. Lidiman Sahat Martua
Sinaga, M.Hum., who have given constructive advices for the betterment of
the writer during thesis defense.

8.

All Lecturers of English and Literature Department who have taught
knowledge they have.

9.


The Department Staff, Eis Sri Wulaningsih, M.Pd., and Pantes who have
given their attention and assistance both for documents and thesis defense
needs.

10. The Headmaster of Pesantren Muhammad Saman Diski, Dra. Eli Kastuti
who gave unlimited space to the writer to conduct experiment.

ii

11. Drs. H. Jamil Tanjung and Hj. Simaryam, S.PdI, the lovely couple in the
writer’s life who unlimitedly give supports, advices and surely fund during
the completing the four hard years in Medan.
12. Nikmah Tanjung, S.ST., Mutiah, S.Pd., and Marito Julianti, siblings who
immensely give push during the dark time of the writer’s to finish
undergraduate degree.
13. Isma Eriyanti, RA Wulaningtyas, Nurul Fadhillah Lubis,

and

Chairunnisa Lubis, friends that colored writer’s life in sweet, sour and bitter

in last three years path. Dik 11 A that unexpectedly brings some flavors in
eight semesters.
14. Kreatif friends, Eka, Putri, Rita, Riska, Yosi and others that actually gave a
mental and wild time as sisterhood.
15. Students Council friends, Danti, Swarman, Rezeki, Hasbi, Yudi and all
unmentioned friends who totally gave support for the writer.
16. Kos Ceria sisters, Intan, Tina, Kiki, Ana, Mila, Ulil, Putri and all dears in
the house who gave a sweet, bitter and sour in whole day of four years.
The writer realizes there may be some mistaken, hence the writer expects
advices and critics for the betterment in the future.

Medan, September 2015
Writer

Nurhamidah
Reg.No. 2113121053

iii

ABSTRACT

NURHAMIDAH. 2113121053. The Effect of Word Webbing on Students’
Vocabulary Achievement in Writing Descriptive Text. A Thesis. English
Department. Faculty of Arts and Language. State University of Medan.
The objective of the study is to find whether Word Webbing significantly
affected the students’ vocabulary achievement in writing descriptive text in
Pesantren Muhammad Saman in Diski. The study dealt with classroom research
which was conducted three meetings. The number of students were 61 students
both control and experimental group. The data of the test was obtained through
cloze test. The data was analyzed by comparing the mean between experimental
and control group.in testing the difference of mean between two groups, the
researcher used t-test formula. The finding showed that the Word Webbing
significantly affected the students’ vocabulary achievement. The data was
obtained by finding the calculation of tobserved. It showed that the toserved (9.1) > ttable
(2.0) with α= 60 meaning null hypothesis (H0) was rejected and alternative
hypothesis (Ha) was accepted.
Keywords: Word Webbing, Vocabulary, Writing Descriptive Text

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

Pages
ABSTRACT ........................................................................................................... i
ACKNOWLEDGMENT ...................................................................................... ii
TABLE OF CONTENTS...................................................................................... iv
LIST OF FIGURES .............................................................................................. vi
LIST OF TABLES ................................................................................................ vii
LIST OF APPENDICES ...................................................................................... viii
CHAPTER I. INTRODUCTION......................................................................... 1
A. The Background of Study ................................................................................ 1
B. The Problem of Study ...................................................................................... 4
C. The Objective of Study .................................................................................... 4
D. The Scope of Study .......................................................................................... 5
E. The Significance of Study ................................................................................ 5
CHAPTER II. REVIEW OF LITERATURE .................................................... 6
A. Theoretical Framework ..................................................................................... 6
1. Vocabulary ................................................................................................ 6
2. Vocabulary Achievement........................................................................... 8
3. The Principle of Teaching Vocabulary ..................................................... 10
4. Writing ....................................................................................................... 12
5. Writing Genres ........................................................................................... 13

6. Descriptive Text ......................................................................................... 13
7. Vocabulary in Writing ............................................................................... 15
8. Technique in Teaching ............................................................................... 15
9. Word Webbing Technique ......................................................................... 16
10. The Structure of Word Webbing................................................................ 17
11. The Advantages and The Disadvantages ................................................... 20
12. Teaching Vocabulary through Word Webbing .......................................... 21
B. Relevant Studies ................................................................................................ 22
C. Conceptual Framework ................................................................................. ... 23
D. Hypothesis ......................................................................................................... 25
CHAPTER III. RESEARCH METHODOLOGY ............................................. 26
A. Research Design ................................................................................................ 26
B. Population and Sample...................................................................................... 26
C. The Instrument of Collecting Data .................................................................... 27
D. The Research procedure .................................................................................... 28
E. Score of the Test................................................................................................ 30
F. The Validity and Reliability of the Test ............................................................ 31
1. Validity ...................................................................................................... 31
2. Reliability ................................................................................................... 31
G. Data analysis ..................................................................................................... 33

H. Statistical Hypothesis ........................................................................................ 33

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CHAPTER IV. ANALYSIS AND RESEARCH FINDINGS
................................................................................................................................. 3
5
A. Data .................................................................................................................. 35
B. Discussion ........................................................................................................ 36
C. Data Analysis ................................................................................................... 36
1. Reliability of the Test ................................................................................. 36
2. T-Test Formula .......................................................................................... 36
D. Testing Hypothesis ........................................................................................... 37
E. Research Findings ............................................................................................ 38
CHAPTERV. CONCLUSION AND SUGGESTION ....................................... 39
A. Conclusion ....................................................................................................... 39
B. Suggestion ........................................................................................................ 39

REFERENCES ...................................................................................................... 41
APPENDIX ............................................................................................................ 44


v

LIST OF TABLES
Pages
Table 3.1. Research Design ..................................................................................... 26
Table 3.2. Treatment in the Experimental Group .................................................... 28
Table 3.3. Treatment in Control Group ................................................................... 29
Table 4.1. Students’ Score in Experimental and Control Group ............................. 35

vii

LIST OF APPENDICES
Pages
Appendix A. Pre-Test............................................................................................. 44
Appendix B. Post-Test ........................................................................................... 46
Appendix C. Answer Key ...................................................................................... 48
Appendix D. The Result of Pre-Test and Post-Test of Experimental Group ......... 49
Appendix E. The Result of Pre-Test and Post Test of Control Group ................... 51
Appendix F. The Result of the Try Out of the Test ............................................... 53

Appendix G. The Calculation of Reliability of the Test ........................................ 54
Appendix H. The Calculation of T-Test ................................................................ 55
Appendix I. Lesson Plan ....................................................................................... 56
Appendix J. Answer Sheet ..................................................................................... 74

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CHAPTER I
INTRODUCTION
A. Background of the Study
Language as part of communication is used by human to interact each other in
case of conveying ideas, feelings and thought. As one of the most used language,
English widely known by people to communicate internationally. So, learning
English is becoming more important nowadays.
Brown (2001:232) states that a study of language includes four skills,
they are: listening, writing, speaking, and reading. These provide the ability to use
language, but in fact many students in Pesantren Muhammad Saman in Diski
cannot use the language because they do not have the knowledge about those four
language skills. So, the teacher should know the process of applying the change in
their teaching technique, especially in teaching language skills.
In encoding and decoding ideas, feelings or thoughts especially in formal
situations such as in classroom, seminar or other circumstances, one cannot
convey it without having structured vocabularies that distinguish the utterance so
listeners or readers can understand.
In the learning process, vocabulary is one of the basic elements in
achieving language skills. Clearly, vocabulary as one of the language components
and as supporting element to the mastery of the four skills very important in
learning language. By having sufficient vocabulary, students will be able to
communicate well, especially English.

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It is imperfect if vocabulary stands on its way without arranged into
sentences that convey meaning. Vocabulary in this case will be used in writing
which has main role to drive the ideas, thoughts or feeling encoding those words
into text.
Writing is one of the tools of communication that convey ideas, thoughts
or feeling indirectly through written text. This way of communication has been a
mass need where nowadays so many media can be used for writing ideas,
thoughts or feelings, media social for instance. Writing also used for
communication for distance matter.
In writing, as Hyland (2002) argued that one should master multiple skills
and the most important is vocabulary as explained above. The role of vocabulary
in writing is as basic component to build ideas, thoughts or feelings. So, it is
urgent for students to master vocabulary in case of improving writing skill.
Writing, as it is encoded to text, has genres in vary. In this case, it will be
specified in descriptive text as focus.
After being interviewed, teacher in Pesantren Muahmmad Saman in Diski
stated that the students lack of vocabulary caused by the ignorance of the new
way to improve their vocabulary in English. They use memorizing to have words
stick on their mind and it happened for many times they forgot the vocabulary
while they were speaking or writing. They wanted to utter something they already
arranged in their mind but eventually stopped because they didn’t know the
words.

3

A conventional technique of vocabulary mastery is memorizing. This
technique conducted by memorizing word by word. This technique is sufficient at
the beginning but it is no longer when it comes to be tested later on. Students only
focus on how to memorize those words without having any further understanding
how to link from one to another which has the same character or class. Once
teacher tests the vocabulary, most of students will forget because the lack of
understanding and mastery.
There are many techniques in teaching vocabulary such as Jigsaw,
Rotating Circles, Snowball, Think-Pair-Square, and Word Webbing. The
technique will be specified is word webbing which has fresh and new way of
mastery the vocabulary. Hence, fun and enjoyable is the focus of the way of
teaching vocabulary the students prefer to. This stimulates students to be active in
class and independently think how one word has connection with others.
Word webbing technique makes students easy in learning vocabulary and
improves their vocabulary. By using word webbing technique, the students can
develop their idea or their vocabulary based on their knowledge. This technique is
helpful for the students because they are not forced to memorize random words
the teacher wants. They can mention words that have connection with the given
word freely. They may use circle or square and make line to connected words and
so on. This is more interesting for students to learn for in class so all students will
have their own turn to be an active participant.
Zarei & Gilani (2013) have did a research about collaborative
techniques that includes some techniques (Jigsaw, Rotating Circles, Snowball,

4

Think-Pair-Square, and Word Webbing) to see the differences and to compare the
effectiveness of those methods. Participants were 86 male and female EFL
learners, at language institutes in Qazvin, Iran, ranging in age from 17 to 21 years
old. The learners’ level of proficiency was pre-intermediate to intermediate.
Participants were studying in five classes. Each group was randomly assigned to a
different treatment condition. After being tested, word webbing technique has the
highest mean that shown 23.11 and the range is between 18.46 and 23.11. By
reading the research, can be concluded word webbing has a high contribution to
enhance students’ vocabulary achievement. Accordingly, word webbing will be
used to see the significance of students’ vocabulary achievement in writing
descriptive text.
B. The Problem of the Study
Based on the background of the study, the problem is formulated as:” Does
the Word Webbing Technique significantly affect the students’ vocabulary
achievement in writing descriptive text in Pesantren Muhammad Saman in
Diski?”
C. The Objective of the Study
The objective of the study is to find out whether Word Webbing Technique
significantly affect students’ vocabulary achievement in writing descriptive text
than the conventional technique.

5

D. The Scope of the Study
There are many techniques or methods of teaching vocabulary, for example
showing object or picture, matching word with definition, memorizing and so on.
In this study, problem is bordered only on applying word webbing on students’
vocabulary achievement in writing descriptive text.
E. The Significance of the Study
The result of this study is targeted for:
Theoretically:
1) For other researcher: To provide information and can be a comparison to
another techniques or methods about technique of teaching English and to
be additional information to those who research the same technique
Practically:
1) English teacher: As information in expanding the way of teaching
vocabulary in class for students’ further achievement.
2) Students: As additional information to increase their ability to develop
their vocabulary achievement by using word web and as another enjoyable
way of learning English in classroom.

CHAPTER V
CONCLUSION AND SUGGESTION
A. Conclusion
This study investigated about Word Webbing technique in teaching
writing descriptive text in a form of cloze test to the eighth grade in Pesantren
Muhammad Saman in Diski. In this research, there was one problem of the study
questioned to see the significance of students’ vocabulary achievement in writing
descriptive text.
Seeing the research problem and the data analysis in the previous chapter,
it could be concluded that Word Webbing could affect the students’ vocabulary
achievement in writing descriptive text significantly. The experimental group
taught by Word Webbing had the higher score than control group taught by
Memorizing technique.
B. Suggestion
The result of this study showed the application of Word Webbing
technique could affect students’ vocabulary achievement in writing descriptive
text significantly. Seeing the conclusion above, some suggestion can be pointed
out. Firstly, it is suggested to English teacher to apply Word Webbing in teaching
vocabulary particularly in writing descriptive text because it stimulates students
well to enrich their vocabulary in case of avoiding poor writing content.
Furthermore, for students who have the problem in enriching vocabulary it is
urgent for them to learn Word Webbing to improve their ability in writing also in

39

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other skills because this technique gives students a fresh way of understanding
word without memorizing it. Lastly, for other researchers that have the same
concern in vocabulary in case of facing the same problem, hence the technique
can be developed or even more applied in other disciplines.

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