Overcoming The Difficulty in Helping Some Four Year-Old Students At TK A Kuntum in Learning and Memorizing New English Vocabulary.

ABSTRACT
Tugas Akhir ini memaparkan analisa permasalahan yang saya temui
dan hadapi pada saat saya menjalankan kontrak magang sebagai guru
Bahasa Inggris di PG/TK Kuntum pada bulan Juni sampai Agustus 2012.
Permasalahan utama yang saya hadapi dalam mengajar anak usia 4
tahun adalah kesulitan dalam membantu mereka mempelajari dan
mengingat kosa kata Bahasa Inggris.
Penyebab dari permasalahan yang adalah anak-anak kurang fokus
dalam mengikuti pelajaran di kelas, mereka merasa asing dan tidak
terbiasa menggunakan Bahasa Inggris didalam kehidupan sehari-hari, dan
saya tidak tahu bagaimana cara mengajar yang efektif kepada mereka.
Akibatnya saya membutuhkan banyak usaha dan waktu untuk
mempersiapkan materi untuk membantu anak-anak mengingat kosa kata,
beberapa anak menjadi tidak mau mengikuti pelajaran di dalam kelas
karena mereka menemukan kesulitan mengikuti materi pelajaran, dan
beberapa anak menjadi tidak menyukai pelajaran Bahasa Inggris.
Untuk menyelesaikan masalah tersebut, terdapat tiga solusi yang
dapat dilakukan dikelas. Pertama, saya memberikan pengulangan kata.
Kedua, saya dapat memberikan kegiatan yang menarik dengan
memberikan gambar dan juga permainan kepada anak-anak. Ketiga, saya
memberikan soal-soal dalam test dan memberikan penghargaan berupa

hadiah kepada anak-anak yang dapat menjawab dengan tepat.
Berdasarkan hasil analisa tersebut, solusi terbaik yang dipilih adalah
ketiga solusi tersebut, karena dengan adanya ketiga solusi tersebut saya
dapat menyelesaikan masalah dengan baik dan efisien.

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TABLE OF CONTENT

ABSTRACT ................................................................................................ i
DECLARATION OF ORIGINALITY ............................................................ ii
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ......................................................................... iii
TABLE OF CONTENTS ............................................................................ iv
CHAPTER I. INTRODUCTION .................................................................. 1
A. Background of the Study
B. Identification of the Problem
C. Objectives and Benefits of the Study
D. Description of the Institution
E. Method of the Study

F. Limitation of the Study
G. Organization of the Term Paper
CHAPTER II. PROBLEM ANALYSIS ......................................................... 6
CHAPTER III. POTENTIAL SOLUTIONS .................................................. 9
CHAPTER IV. CONCLUSION.................................................................. 15
BIBLIOGRAPHY
APPENDIX:
FLOWCHART
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FLOWCHART
Cause 1: the children lacked of
concentration during
the lessons
Cause 2: were not familiar with
English language as it
is rarely used in their
daily lives
Cause 3: I did not know how to

teach vocabulary
effectively to the
students so that they
could not memorize
the words.

Potential Negative Effects:
1. some of the students
may get bored and
underestimate the
lesson.
2. Learning process runs
slowly.

Problem:
the difficulty in
helping four-yearold students to
learn and
memorize new
English vocabulary


Effect 1: I needed more effort
and time in preparing
the material to help the
children to memorize
the vocabulary
Effect 2: Some students were
unwilling to follow the
material in class
because they found it
difficult to keep up
Effect 3: Some students did not
enjoy learning english.

Potential
Solution I:
The teacher facilitates
the students to listen
and say the words a
couple of times

through different
activities.

Potential Positive Effects:
1. the teacher can make
sure if the children have
memorized the
vocabulary or not
2. the students can enjoy
learning the words they
are familiar with.

Potential Positive Effects:
Potential Negative Effects:
1. the teacher should
spend much time to
create different fun
activities to attract
students’ attention.
2. the children may tend

to focus more on the
pictures or games
instead of the words.

Potential Negative Effects:

Potential Solution
II:
the teacher provides
various, interesting
activities such as
employing pictures
and games in class.

Potential Solution
III:

1. some children may
become afraid of the
test and do not like

English lesson due to
the fact that it makes
them get stressful.

the teacher gives a
test and a reward for
the students who
can answer correctly

2.

Choosen Solution:

the children who do not
remember and cannot
answer the test may
ignore the words.

All solutions


1. The children will find
it easier to
remember the new
words through
playing in a fun
atmosphere.
2. The class will not be
boring.

Potential Positive Effects:
1. they are trained to
improve their memory in
the form of test.
2. they will be motivated to
answer the test because
they will get the reward.

CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
A.


Background of the Study
In this global era it is really necessary to learn English language as it

is needed in a lot of countries. Schools are thereby facilitating students to
be proficient and skillful in English language. Considering its importance,
schools teach English to children since kindergarten stage.
Learning English language cannot be separated from learning
vocabulary. It may be true, as Richards and Rogers mantain, that
“Vocabulary is one of the most important aspects of foreign language
learning” (32). Furthermore, it is stated by Brummitt-Yale in “Effective
Strategies for Teaching Vocabulary” that “It may seem common sense that
the more times we are exposed to English word, the stronger our
understanding becomes” (par.2). By learning and mastering English
vocabulary, the students can recognize, memorize and understand
English language better. Dene states that “An increased vocabulary will
help students communicate with others” (par.1). Therefore, it is advisable
to make students’ English vocabulary increase by not only making them
learn the words during the lesson but also saving them in their memory so
as to help them communicate in English.


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However, learning and memorizing English vocabulary might be difficult
for some children. Kelly maintains that “Some children have difficulty
processing and memorizing” (par.1). Moreover, Drake states that
“Learning new words is easy but remembering them is much more difficult”
(par.1). Since one cannot instanly be capable of acquiring the new
language, the teaching methodology then holds an important role.
When I was teaching at TK Kuntum during my apprenticeship, I found
most of my students in TK A had difficulty in learning and memorizing the
vocabulary well. No matter what and how I taught them, they still
considered it difficult to learn and memorize the vocabulary. Thereby, I
would like to discuss the possible solutions to overcome the difficulty in
helping some four-year-old students in learning and memorizing new
vocabulary in English language.

B. Identification of the Problem
In this paper, I would like to analyze the following research

questions:
1. Why was it difficult for me to help some four-year-old students in
TK A memorize new vocabulary in English language?
2. How can the problem affect the teaching and learning
vocabulary in class?
3. How is it to overcome the difficulty of helping four-year-old
students in memorizing new vocabulary in English language?

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C. Objective and Benefit of the Study
Based on the statements of the problem that have been mentioned,
the objectives of the study are to find the causes and the effects of the
problem and to present the best solutions to deal with the problem.
The benefit of this paper for the teachers at PG/TK Kuntum is to give
the information about how to help the students of 4 year olds in
learning and memorizing new vocabularies in English language. For
the readers, they can hopefully gain new insights in teaching
kindergarten students. Last of all, as a writer, if someday I want to be a
teacher in kindergarten, I will know how to overcome similar problem,
and I will also increase my knowledge in English teaching
methodology.

D. Description of the Institution
In the brochure entitled Menerima murid Baru Tahun Ajaran 2012 –
2013) PG/TK Kuntum was established in 1988. This school is located
at Cipaganti no 144, Bandung. Kuntum is an abbreviation of Kuingin
Tumbuh. It is a school that has a goal to give its students the best
education since their early age. This kindergarten has five classes,
namely Kelas Mungil for two year olds, Kelas Kecil for two and a half
until three year olds, Kelas Besar for three and a half year olds, TK A
for four year olds, and TK B for five year olds. This school offers to
enhance the knowledge and creativity of the children though reading,
speaking, writing, drawing and colouring pictures, playing games and

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other varieties of teaching techniques. It provides a Mandarin class,
English class, Math class. Moreover, Kuntum’s goals are to build
students’ good attitude and to make them have confidence, as well.
(source: brochure entitled Menerima murid Baru Tahun Ajaran 2012 –
2013)

E. Method of the Study
I employed my apprenticeship journal based on my apprenticeship at
TK A Kuntum to help me to get the information required. I also did a library
research for my paper through some books and articles from the Internet
in order to get data to support my analysis.

F. Limitation of the Study
This paper will focus on how to overcome the difficulty in helping some
four-year-old students in learning and memorizing new vocabularies in
English language. The subjects of the research are five four-year-old
students at TK A Kuntum and I as one of the English teachers. The
teaching duration is two hours each day. School days are from Monday to
Friday. My period of apprenticeship started in July and ended in
September 2012. In this paper I would like to discuss the causes of why it
was difficult to help the four-year-old students learn and memorize words,
the second is about the effects which are related to the problem, and also
the solutions to the problem.

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G. Organization of the Term Paper
This Term Paper consists of four chapters, preceeded by
Acknowledgments, Abstract, and Table of Contents. The first chapter is
Introduction, which consists of Background of the Study, Identification of
the Problem, Objectives and Benefits of the Study, Description of the
Institution, Method of the Study, Limitation of the Study, and Organization
of the Term Paper. The second chapter contains problem analysis. Then,
the third chapter is potential solutions, which includes two positive effects
and also two the negative effects of the solutions. The fourth chapter is
Conclusion, followed by bibliography and the appendix, which contains the
flowchart.

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CHAPTER IV
CONCLUSION

In this chapter, I would like to present the best solutions to overcome
the problem. The problem is when doing my apprenticeship as an English
teacher at TK Kuntum, I had difficulty in helping some four-year-old
students who had a problem in learning and memorizing new vocabulary
in English language. The causes are the children lacked consentration
during the lessons, they were not familiar with English language as it is
rarely used in their daily lives, and I did not know how to teach vocabulary
effectively to the children. The effects are I needed more effort and time in
preparing the material to help the children to memorize the vocabulary,
some children were unwilling to follow the material in class because they
found it difficult to keep up, and some children may not enjoy learning. The
three potential solutions are the teacher facilitates the students to listen
and say the words a couple of times through different activities, the
teacher provides various interesting activities such as employing pictures
and games, and the teacher gives a test and a reward for those who can
answer correctly.
Based on the analysis, the best solution among the three potential
solutions are all of the solutions that have been mentioned in the previous

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chapter. I prefer choosing all of the three potential solutions because the
three solutions are important to overcome the difficulty in helping the
students to learn and memorize new English vocabulary. The first solution
is the teacher facilitates the students to listen and say the words a couple
of times through different activities so that the teacher can make sure if the
children have memorized the vocabulary or not and the students can enjoy
learning the words they are unfamiliar with. The second solution is the
teacher will give an interesting activities so that the students will find it
easier to remember the new words through playing in a fun atmosphere
and the class will not be boring. The three solution is the teacher will give
a test and a reward for the students who can answer correctly so that they
are trained to improve their memory in the form of test and they will be
motivated to answer the test because they will get the reward. Therefore,
applying the three solutions to help the students learn and memorize
English vocabulary better is needed to overcome the problem, and bring
benefits to the students.
To sum up, the teachers, should give their best performance to make
their students memorize the vocabulary well. Furthermore, they need to
build and rise the quality as well as creativity in teaching kindergarten
students particularly in English class. Hence, the students can learn and
also get the best education.

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BIBLIOGRAPHY
Printed Sources
Richards, Jack C. And Theodore S. Rodgers. Approches and Methods in
Language Teaching. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1986.
Thornbury, Scott. How to Teach Vocabulary. Upper Saddle River: Pearson
Education, 2006.

Electronic Sources
“How to Help Students Remember Their Vocabulary Words.” eHow
Education. 1999 – 25 October 2012.
.
“How to Make Your Child Study Without Anyone Telling Them.” Ygoy
Health Community. 2010-2012.
.

Menerima Murid Baru Tahun Ajaran 2012-2013 Brosur. Bandung. PG/TK
Kuntum, 2012.

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“Language-Based Learning Disabilities.” 1997- October 2012.
.
“Vocabulary Strategies” Your Dictionary Grammar. 1996 – 5 October 2012
.
“What Teachers Do Every Day”. 2012.
.
Barclay, Shelly. “Ways to Memorize Vocabulary Words.” eHow Education.
1999 – 27 October 2012. .
Brummitt-Yale, Joelle “Effective Strategies for Teaching Vocabulary.” K12
Reader. 2008- 19 September 2012.
.
Dene, Penelope “Vocabulary Strategies for English Language Learners.”
eHow Education. 2012- 20 September 2012.
.
Drake, Adam. “How to Help a Student Memorize Words.” eHow Education.
1999 – September 2012.

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.
Gavin, Mary. “Motivating Kids to be Active.” Kids Health. 1995-2013 – 15 October
2012. .
Harris, Robert “Some Ideas for Motivating Students.” Virtual Salt 1991 - 28
Novermber 2012.< http://www.virtualsalt.com/motivate.htm>.
Kelly, Crystal MA.Ed., and Linda Campbell, Ph.D. “Helping Strugling
Readers.” New Horizons for Learning.
.
Levene, Susan. “Helping Children Learn To Read.” Onlineworksheet.
December 1998 – Novermber 2012.
.
Lewis, Jared. “How to Get Kids to Focus in the Classroom.” Ehow. 1999 –
October 2012.
Moss, dim Lauralee. “Common Misbehavior of Children in a Classroom”
Ehow.1999 – October 2012. .
Susan. “What Every Vocabulary Teacher Needs to Know.” Busy Teacher. 2007 – 25
September 2012. .

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The Univ. of Alabama Center for Academic. Success 124 Osband 3485175. “How To Remember New Words.” Ctl. 2012.
.
Thorne, Glenda. “10 Strategies to Enhance Students' Memory” Center for
Development and Learning.1992 – October 2012.
.
Vernon, Shelley Ann “Get exciting results using these brilliant games,
activities and stories so your 3-5 year old children love
learning English.” Teaching English Games. 2006 – 2012.
.
Vernon, Shelley Ann. “Discover How Your Pupils Can Learn To Speak
English 2x As Fast When They're Excited About
Learning...UsingHundreds of FUN ENGLISH GAMES” Teaching
English Games. 2006 – 2012.
.
Weirus, Weirus “The Use of Games For Vocabulary Presentation and
Revision.” Tefl Games. 2010 – 2012. .
Wolf, Lynn. “How to Get the Unfocused to Focus.” Ehow Education. 1999.
.

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