The use of reading passages in teaching vocabulary for the students of the English Department - Widya Mandala Catholic University Surabaya Repository

e-._· •.

~

CHAPTER. I
.INTRODUCTION

CHAPTER I
INTRODUCTION

1.1 The Background of the Study

is

Language
which

consists

a

means

of

human

communication

of arbitrary symbols with

meaning.

meanings are symbolized in words. Without words,
as

The

language

a vocal means of communication will not function.

other

words,

no language exists

without

words

In

(Napa,

1993:5).
Vocabulary
language

is

which

is

one of

really important in

the

components

communication

of

because

people primarily communicate by using words and they come

into contact with other people in a community with words.
The more words
understand
society.

and

they

have,

the more easily

they

will

in

their

be understood by other people

That is why every normal person is expected

keep increasing his vocabulary in line with the
of the vocabulary of his language due to the
of

science

world
reading

of

because

vocabulary

and

science can be
reading

can

development

achieved
enrich

the

knowledge as well. The reader,

case the students, must

''-'

increase

and technology (Shepherd, 1973:39).
science,

.-

In

mostly

the
by

readers'
in

this

know the meaning of words in the

2

sentences
facing.

contained

in

the reading

passage

However, sometimes, they are not

they

are

interested

reading English books because they do not understand

in
the

meaning of many words contained in those books. They have
difficulties in comprehending the reading passage because
of

their lack of vocabulary. As a result,

know

they will

and grasp all of information found in

the

not

passage

and will not get the knowledge from the passage they

are

reading as well.
Dobson
stock

(1980: 152) states that

one's

vocabulary

is very closely related to one's comprehension

in

reading because vocabulary or word meaning is an integral
part

of reading and every person should keep reading

order to
or

increase
are

words

Vocabulary,

in

his

vocabulary.

In reading,

combined together into
this

case

symbols

in

symbols

related

or words,

ideas.
will

be

meaningful to make up an idea if they are put in

context

because

through

words get their exact and full meanings

context. Without context, words become ambiguous and open
to many interpretations (Poespoprolo,
isolation
students

without any contexts are
can

!980: 48).
meaningless

only retain the words for short

in
Word~

because
time

and

then they will forget them soon.
According

to

Baker

(1972:72),

context

surrounding words that are directly connected to a

means
given

3

word and that add to its meaning.

It means that there

is

a relationship between a certain word and its surrounding
words or sentences. Thus the clues sometimes can

provide

the meaning of new words.
Vocabulary should be presented through context
enable

the

students retain the words for

Segaran

(1979:61) says that the teachers

use

context to enable the students to

of

longer

to

time.

possibly

make

identify

the

unfamiliar words. The students are expected to learn

new

words which are interrelated in the context.
According
vocabulary

should

understanding
then

being

supported

to

least

at

(1079:

7 9) ,

knowing

cover

two

things,

the meanings of the vocabulary
able

by

Koh Moh Yin

to

use

them correctly.

in

It

Krakowian's opinion (1984:27)

that learning a word should be continued
how

items

to use it in achieving communication.

is

also

which

says

until

we

know

It means

that
should

being able to learn vocabulary, the students

acquire

and

the lexical and structural meaning of

words

as

well.

The
master

the

main

purpose of learning

meaning

of

words

as

vocabulary
to

is

understand

to
and

comprehend the reading text. The ability of comprehending
the

text depends on the mastery of not only the

but also structural meaning of the printed words.

lexical
In this

4

case

the teacher should guide the students

to

the words through emphasizing the form and the
The
through

teaching

context

of vocabulary

will

word power. Through
to

from

the

quite

meani~g.

presented

is

helpful

to enrich the

the teacher

context,

help the students

words

be

which

will be

the meaning of

guess

surrounding

identify

able

unfamiliar

sentences

words,

and

paragraphs.
Moreover,
English

the

academic course programme

Department of Widya Mandala Catholic

the

University

states

that the main goal of teaching vocabulary

enable

the students to acquire the form and

words

at

is

to

meaning

of

in context, then use the words correctly which

is

in accordance with the given context.
Based on all of statements above and supported
the academic

course

programme

oi

teaching

by

vocabulary

for

students of English Department of Widya

Mandala

the

writer's reference,she chooses the reading

as

passages

as a means of teaching vocabulary in context for students
of

the

English

meaningfully

Department.

Reading

contextualized

because

all

interrelated in context. The words found
passages

contain

sentences

in

which

messages put
words

play

in

are

passages

in

words

are

the reading

logically

an important

related
role

as

symbols of meaning. Through reading passages the students

5

are

able to enrich their vocabulary and

understand

new words without opening the dictionaries,
reading it in context. Besides that,
able to
or

grasp

the totality

of

i.e.

just

not

message and grasp

by

the students will be

word meanings

of

difficult words more easily in reading passages.

at last but

the

new
And

least they are able to comprehend the
the

message

found

in

the

reading

passages to increase their knowledge as well.
Rased on the reasons above, the writer suggests
technique
more

to make the teaching of

effective

Department,
Teaching

that

and efficient for
is

Vocabulary

''The Use of
for

the

English

vocabulary

students
Reading

Students

a

of

English

Passages

of the

in

English

Department".

1.2 The Statement of the Problem
Based on the points presented as the background

study, the main problems to be solved are formulated
thi~

&3

of

follows:

1.2.1

kinrls of passages can be used
Wh~t

vocabulary in the English Department
1.2.2 What

is the procedure for teaching

using the passages ?

for

teaching

?

vocabulary

by

6

1.3 The Objective
Being
reading

of the Study

fully

passages

context,

the

entitled

"The

Vocabulary

conscious of the important
in

the

writer
Use

teaching

decided
of

to

Reading

of

role

of

vocabulary

in

write

the

Passages

for the Students of the

in

English

thesis
Teaching

Department"

with the following objectives:
1.3.1 To describe the kinds of reading passages which can

be

used

for

teaching vocabulary in

the

English

De par tmen t.
1.3.2 To elicit the procedure for teaching vocabulary

by

using reading passages.

1.~

The Significance of the Study
I t

an

is

hoped

alternative

that

this

study

be

of teaching vocabulary

in

useful
the

as

English

Department.

1.5 The Scope and Limitation of the Study

Being

aware of how broad the topic of thi'<

"'t"riY

will be, the writer finds it necessary to limit the scope
of

this

discussion
which
of

are

study.
are
in

reading

The

reading

materials with

accordance

with

the

passages

under

various

topics

student's

level

proficiency. The ideal subject of this study

is

the

7

students

of

the

English Department in

the

first

and

second semester who are taking vocabulary course.

1.6 The Methodology
This

study

is a library research

in

which

the

writer collects theories and materials from books.

1.7 The Definition of Key Terms
There are some key terms that should be defined
order

to

avoid misunderstanding. Those

terms

in

will

be

explained as follows:
Vocabulary
According

to Kufaishi

(1988:2) vocabulary is

total number of words in a language an individual

the

knows;

and those words are used as a vehicle of the language
express

one's

idea.

In

other words,

vocabulary

to

is

a

number of words possessed by the students.
In this study the writer focuses her study on
reading vocabulary that Mangieri et.nl.
the
a~

printed

derive
word

words for which a

(1932:~!)

child

the

d~!lne

/anyone)

can

the correct meaning. Therefore, the meaning of
can

words or

be determined from
associated

the

familiar

with the other

a

surrounding

words in context.

Reading Passages

A

reading

passage is a short

article

which

is

8

organized

in such a way to convey a certain

(as stated by Kho K.G.
the

students

who

articles,
Reading

the

language

short

stories,

used for

in a

It can be in the form of

histories,
passages

1972:10). It is usually

learn

comprehension class.

information

reading

scientific

anecdotes

in this study refer to

the

etc.

intensive

reading which is done inside the classroom. Besides that,
reading

form

of

reading materials (such as passages, compositions and

so

on),

passages

of

refer to the context in

which the sentences are related

the

one

with

the

others.
Reading

According

to

Bouchard

(1976:1)

reading

is

a

complex activity dependent upon the thinking and language
ski 1 1

of

the reader. While Widdowson

(1978:85)

states

that reading is not simply a matter of recognizing

given

and

their

fixed

meaning as they occur in context

with

dictionary signification, but It Is a matter of
value

by

the

process of

states

(1982:10)

that

active

,.~nie
•

.....

A

......

··o

creating

interpreting.
is

" ' · · ...L Cl.
- 'J. J.1
l'IIU

:1ot

exercises, but it also involves getting the meaning
the

text.

ability

Shepherd

(1973:8)

defines reading

of the students to think about

the

as

from
the

information

presented by the author. Thus, from the above statements,
the

writer

concludes

that

reading

means

recognizing

9

relationship

of elements of the text, and

understanding

ideas presented by the author, and getting the message of
the text.

Teaching.
Kimble
define

and

Garmezy

in

Douglas

Brown

(1987:6)

teaching as showing or helping someone

to

learn

how to do something, giving instructions, guiding in

the

study of something, providing with knowledge, causing

to

know or understand.

1.8 The Organization of the Study

There
the

with

are five chapters presented in
following

introduction

which

study,

statements

study,

significance

study,

of

of

the

of

the

background

of

the

the problem,

objectives

of

the

the study,

limitation

of

the

definitions

of

study. Chapter

chapter

study
is

discusses about

methodology,

organization

organization :

this

key
II

terms

and

concerns

with

review of related literature. Chapter !!! deals with some
considerations of using reading passages in the
of

teaching

vocabulary. Chapter IV deals with the use of

passages

in

the teaching of vocabulary, and

deals with conclusion and suggestions.

reading

chapter

V