ARSIDI PUSPANINGDYAH S890809001

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IMPROVING STUDENTS’ VOCABULARY MASTERY BY USING “PLAY SCHOOL DVD”

(A Classroom Action Research to the First Grader of Kalam Kudus Christian Primary School in the 2010/2011 Academic Year)

A Thesis

Written to Fulfill One of the Requirements of Graduate Degree of English Education of Sebelas Maret University Surakarta.

ARSIDI PUSPANINGDYAH S890809001

ENGLISH EDUCATION DEPARTMENT SEBELAS MARET UNIVERSITY

SURAKARTA 2011

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i APPROVAL

IMPROVING STUDENTS’ VOCABULARY MASTERY BY USING “PLAY SCHOOL DVD”

(A Classroom Action Research to the First Grader of Kalam Kudus Christian Primary School in the 2010/2011 Academic Year)

By:

ARSIDI PUSPANINGDYAH NIM: S890809001

This thesis has been approved by the Board of Consultants of English Education Department, Graduate School of Sebelas Maret University Surakarta.

Consultant I Consultant II

Dr. Sujoko, M.A. Drs. H. Tarjana, M.A.

The Head of English Education Department Graduate School

Sebelas Maret University

Dr. Ngadiso, M.Pd NIP. 19621231 198803 1 009

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ii

BOARD OF EXAMINERS

This thesis has been examined by the Board of Thesis Examiners of the English Education Department Graduate School of Sebelas Maret University, Surakarta

On July 29, 2011

Board of Examiners: Signature

1. Chairman: 1. _____________________

Dr. Ngadiso, M.Pd

NIP. 19621231 198803 1 009

2. Secretary: 2. _____________________

Dr. Abdul Asib, M.Pd

NIP.19520307 198003 1 005

3. Examiners I: 3. _____________________

Dr. Sujoko, M.A

4. Examiners II: 4. _____________________

Drs. H. Tarjana, M.A

The Director of Graduate Degree of The Head of Graduate School of

Education Program of English Education Department of

Sebelas Maret University Sebelas Maret University

Prof. Drs. Suranto, M.Sc.,Ph.D Dr. Ngadiso, M.Pd

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iii MOTTO

“My help comes from the Lord, the Creator of heaven and earth” (Psalm 121: 2)

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iv

DEDICATION

This thesis is dedicated to my parents who have given me their love, prayer, and supports so that I can finish my study.

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v

PRONOUNCEMENT

This is to certify that I myself write this thesis entitled, “Improving Students’ Vocabulary Mastery By Using Play School DVD (A Classroom Action Research To The First Grader Of Kalam Kudus Christian Primary School In The 2010/2011 Academic Year)”.

It is not plagiarism or made by others. Anything related to other’s work is written in quotation, the source of which is listed in reference.

If then this pronouncement prove wrong, I am ready to accept any academic punishment, including the withdrawal or cancellation of my academic degree.

Surakarta, July 2011

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vi ABSTRACT

Arsidi Puspaningdyah, S890809001, “ Improving Students’ Vocabulary Mastery by Using Play School DVD ( A Classroom Action Research to the First Grader of

Kalam Kudus Christian Primary School in the 2010/2011 Academic Year)” . A

Thesis. Surakarta: English Department Graduate School Sebelas Maret University, 2011.

The objectives of this research are to know whether Play School DVD can improve students’ vocabulary mastery and to know the strengths and weaknesses when Play school DVD is applied to improve the students’ vocabulary mastery. The subject of the research was the first grader of Kalam Kudus Christian Primary School in the 2010/2011 academic year.

The procedures of the research consist of planning, action, observation, and reflection. In collecting the data, the researcher used questionnaire, interview, field notes, and test. To analyze the quantitative data, the researcher applied a descriptive statistics. It was used to compare the scores and means of the pre-test and post-test. The pre-test was conducted in the pre-research while the post-test was conducted at the end of Cycle 1 and 2. The result of the test was used to know how well the students’ vocabulary mastery is. To analyze the qualitative data, the researcher analyzed the improvement of the teaching learning process by analyzing the results of questionnaire, interview, and field notes using Constant Comparative Method.

The applying Play School DVD in the process of teaching and learning vocabulary can solve the students’ problem in mastering the four aspects in vocabulary. The result of the tests shows that Play School DVD can improve the students’ mastery in vocabulary. The improvement can be found by comparing the average score of the Pre-test and of Post-tests in Cycle 1 and 2. The average score of the Pre-test is 38.87, Post-test 1 is 66.58, and Post-test 2 is 86.25. The results of questionnaire, interview, and field notes show the strength and the weaknesses of Play School DVD. The strength when Play School DVD is applied in teaching vocabulary are: (a) it can attract the students’ attention that make them concentrate on the lesson; (b) it triggers the students’ curiosity and interest; (c) it can motivate the students to learn English; (d) it is an effective media to teach vocabulary; (e) it helps the students to get or learn real English. The weaknessess when Play School DVD is applied in teaching vocabulary are: (a) teachers can be passive and leave his/her job to the DVD; (b) long and monotonous DVD will be boring.

The researcher comes to the conclusion that there is an improvement of the students in mastering vocabulary using Play School DVD. There are also some strength and weaknessess when Play School DVD is applied in teaching vocabulary. Therefore, Play School DVD can improve students’ vocabulary mastery. Based on the result of the research, it is recommended that teachers and students should use Play School DVD as a good alternative media in reaching good vocabulary mastery.

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vii

ACKNOWLEDGMENT

The researcher would like to praise her Lord, Jesus Christ, who has enabled and strengthened her to finish this thesis. The researcher would also give a great gratitude and appreciation to:

1. Prof. Drs. Suranto, M.Sc. Ph.D. The director of Graduate School of Sebelas Maret University.

2. Dr. Ngadiso, M.Pd. The head of English Education Department Graduate

School of Sebelas Maret University.

3. Dr. Abdul Asib, M.Pd. The secretary of English Education Department Graduate School of Sebelas Maret University.

4. Dr. Sujoko, M.A. The first consultant who has guided and supported the researcher so that she could finish writing this thesis.

5. Drs. H. Tarjana, M.A. The second consultant who has given his time and patience advising the researcher in this thesis.

6. Wiwoho, M.Pd. The headmaster of SD Kristen Kalam Kudus who has given the researcher permission to conduct the research.

7. Ferdinand Nicholas Boonde, M.Pd. The researcher’s collaborator who has given help, assistance, supports, and suggestion in carrying the action of the researcher.

8. The first graders of class E as the subjects of the research for their cooperation during the action.

The researcher realizes that this thesis is still far from being perfect. Therefore, she will accept all constructive criticism mindfully and constructing suggestion is needed for the progress of the next study. May this thesis will be useful to increase the quality of the educational activities.

Surakarta, July 2011

Arsidi Puspaningdyah S890809001

commit to user CHAPTER I

INTRODUCTION

A. Background of the Study

English as a local content has already been applied in Kalam Kudus Christian Primary School since 2006. Before that, English had just been taught as an extracurricular material. The importance of English language and the increase of competitors, in this case the growing number of international primary school in Surakarta, have motivated Kalam Kudus to increase its quality, especially in English language teaching and learning.

Based on Depdiknas (2006: 402-403), the purposes of teaching English in the primary school are to develop students’ communicative competence orally in school context and to raise students’ consciousness about the importance of English. It means that to be good in English, primary school students should be able to use English orally to interact with the others in school context. Students should know about the English vocabulary in order to use it in communicating with the others.

Notion and Waring in Cameron (2001: 72) state that vocabulary is central to the learning of a foreign language at primary level. Gower, et al. (1995:142) also states that vocabulary is important to students, and that it is more important than grammar for communication purposes, particularly in the early stages when students are motivated to learn the basic words they need to get by in the

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language. It means that learning vocabulary takes the important role in teaching foreign language especially in the early stage. Realizing the importance of vocabulary in teaching English, the English teaching in the first and second grades in Kalam Kudus primary school has been emphasized on vocabulary mastery. The vocabulary teaching is focused to help the students build up the knowledge of words in ways that will enable them to use language efficiently and successfully.

According to Ur (2010), the students should master at least 1000 items of vocabulary by the end of the sixth grade. Whereas Notion and Waring (2001: 75) give higher qualification about students’ vocabulary mastery in a year. They state that a realistic target for children learning a foreign language might be around 500 words a year. Mastering vocabulary itself, as stated by Thornbury (2002: 15), means mastering both its form and its meaning. Furthermore, Cameron (2001: 78) states that knowing about word involves knowing about its form (how it sound, how it is spelt, the grammatical changes that can be made to it), its meaning (its conceptual content and how it relates to other concepts and words) and its use (its patterns of occurrence with other words, and it particular types of language use).

From that statement above, it can be concluded that the ideal condition of the vocabulary mastery of the first graders is they are able to spell, to pronounce, to understand the meanings of words, and to use the words in sentences. The students should get, at least 60, the passing grade.

To cover the ideal condition that has been stated above, the English teachers in Kalam Kudus Primary school had applied some techniques and used media such as song and pictures, in teaching vocabulary. Unfortunately, some

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problems still occurred, especially in Class I E. They did not know how to pronounce and write the word correctly and sometimes they forgot about the meaning. They also had difficulties in using the words they had learnt to construct a simple, basic sentence. Those problems always arose and made them get low scores in doing the test. Below is the result of their pre-test based on the indicators.

Table 1.1 The Students Score Viewed from the Skills

Indicator Highest Lowest Average

Pronunciation 83.33 16.67 46.53

Spelling 80 0 34.17

Word meaning 80 35 59.17

The use of word 100 0 15.625

There were some factors causing these problems. The first factor came from the students. The students had difficulties in memorizing the words and their meanings. The students found the process of teaching and learning boring and uninteresting that made them not serious in doing the process. The students also felt unconfident to say the words because they were afraid of mispronouncing the words. They needed to be motivated. The second factor came from the teachers. The teachers themselves sometimes only reviewed the words that had been taught to the students twice. Of course, this is not enough. Webb in Ur (2010) gives the evidence that the learners need, at least, ten or may be more meaningful encounters in order to acquire a new item. It means that the teachers need more

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than ten times to review a new item. Besides, the teachers should equip themselves with various interesting media in order to make the teaching-learning process more interesting. The third factor came from the condition of the class. There were 24 students in the class. This number was actually quite big. The teacher in fact found difficulties in controlling the class. The result was the class became so noisy. This condition made the process of the teaching and learning ineffective because the teacher spent too much time to manage the class and calm the students. Sometimes her efforts did not work.

Based on the problems stated above, in this research the writer proposes to teach English vocabulary using Play School DVD as a media. Play School is Australia's most successful regular television program for pre-school children. Play School aims to extend the child's interest and encourages participation. Each program contains a story, some songs (both traditional and new) and a variety of play ideas with things to make and do.

The use of Play School DVD can be the solution to the problems because Play School DVD provides pictures of the language-in-use. It can make impossible experiences possible for its viewers and provides stimulation through its dominant sense. According to Harmer (2001:38), children understanding comes from what they see and hear, and, crucially when they have a chance to touch and interact with. It means that listening to some words is not enough. The children also need to see and interact with the words that are learnt to make a good understanding about them.

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Based on the background above, it is believed that the use of Play School DVD as the media in teaching English is an effective solution to overcome the problem of improving students’ vocabulary mastery. Play School DVD consists of some interesting sequences that can attract the students’ attention and make them interesting to learn English. The DVD has colorful and clear pictures of the words that are going to be learnt. It helps the students to have clear understanding about the meaning of the words that are going to be learnt and also helps the students easier in memorizing the word. The players in the DVD are native speakers. They will help the students in having a good and correct pronunciation and spelling. The students also learn how the words are constructed into sentences through the conversation in the DVD. Therefore, the writer would like to conduct a research about teaching vocabulary by using Play School DVD in Kalam Kudus Christian Primary School under the title “Improving Students’ Vocabulary Mastery by Using Play School DVD ( A Classroom Action Research to the First Grader of Kalam Kudus Christian Primary School in the 2010/2011 Academic Year)”.

B. Problem Statement

Based on the background of the study, the writer wanted to identify whether the use of “Play School DVD” can improve students’ vocabulary mastery. The problems can be formulated as follows:

1. Can “Play School DVD” improve the students’ vocabulary mastery?

2. What are the strengths and the weaknesses of the implementation of Play School DVD in improving the students’ vocabulary mastery?

commit to user C. The Objectives of the Study

Based on the background of the study and the formulation above, there are some objectives to be achieved in this study, namely:

1. Identifying whether “Play School DVD” improves the students’ vocabulary mastery.

2. Identifying the strength and the weaknesses of the implementation of “Play School DVD” in improving students’ vocabulary mastery in the first grader of Kalam Kudus Primary School.

D. The Benefit of the Study

The result of the research is expected to be able to give some benefits to the students, the teachers, and other researchers.

1. To the researcher

The result of this research can be used to improve the teaching and learning vocabulary in her class. By doing the research, the researcher will know whether or not Play School DVD is an effective media to improve students’ vocabulary mastery.

2. To the students

It can help the students to learn vocabulary in an interesting way. By using Play School DVD as the media in learning English especially in learning vocabulary, the students will learn a real model of English in terms of pronunciation, spelling, word meaning, and the use of word in a sentence.

commit to user 3. To the English teachers

It is hoped that by understanding the result of the study, English teachers will enrich their techniques in teaching vocabulary. They will get knowledge about teaching vocabulary using Play School DVD and use it as the alternative media to help the students improve their vocabulary mastery.

4. To other researchers

The result of the study helps other researchers in developing the techniques in teaching vocabulary. It can be used as a reference for those who want to conduct a research in English teaching process, especially in teaching vocabulary to young learners. Other researchers can also use it as a comparative resource to conduct another research about vocabulary mastery. The writer hopes that other researchers can use this study on a bigger scope in a similar research.

commit to user CHAPTER II

REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE

This chapter consists of the following sections: the theoretical descriptions, rationale, and action hypothesis. The theoretical descriptions consist of the explanation of vocabulary, the nature young learners, and the notion of Play School DVD.

A. Vocabulary

1. The Nature of Vocabulary

Richard (2001:4) states that vocabulary is one of the most recognized components of language. While Hornby (1994: 1425) adds that vocabulary is total number of words that make up a language. Furthermore, Nunan (2005: 121) states that vocabulary is the collection of words that an individual known. Clear definition is given by Crystal. He states that vocabulary of a person is defined either as the set of all words that are understood by that person or the set of all words likely to be used by that person when constructing new sentences (Crystal, 2003: 2)

From the definition above it can be defined that vocabulary is a collection of words that used by a person to construct sentences. Mastery means natural or acquired facility in specific activity (http://www.answers.com/topic/mastery). Hornby (1995: 721) states that mastery is complete knowledge or great skill. Swan, et al. (1992: 656) defines mastery as comprehensive knowledge. In line

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with the two experts, Quirk, et al. (1991: 644) states that mastery is great skill or knowledge in a particular subject or activity.

According to the discussion above, it can be constructed that vocabulary mastery is the competency to comprehend a collection of words and apply them to construct sentences.

2. Some Aspects of Vocabulary

Thornbury (2002: 15) states that at the most level, knowing a word involves knowing its form and its meaning. Cameron (2001: 78) states that knowing about word involves knowing about its form (how it sound, how it is spelt, the grammatical changes that can be made to it), its meaning (its conceptual content and how it relates to other concepts and words) and its use (its patterns of occurrence with other words, and it particular types of language use). Moreover, Ur (1996: 60-62) states that there are some aspects of vocabulary that should be taught or mastered by students in learning foreign language, as follow:

a. Form: pronunciation and spelling

The learner has to know what a word sound like (its pronunciation) and what it looks like (its spelling). These are fairly obvious characteristics, and one or the other will be preserved by the learner when encountering the items for the first time. In teaching, teacher need to make sure that other these aspects, both pronunciation and spelling, are accurately presented and learned.

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b. Grammar

The grammar of new item will be necessary to be taught if this is not obviously covered by general grammatical rules. An item may have an unpredictable change of form. Certain grammatical context may have some idiosyncratic way of connecting with this information at the same time as teachers teach base form. When teaching the new verb, for example, the teacher must give also its past form, if this is irregular (think, thought). Similary, when teaching about noun, the teacher may wish to present its plural form, if it is irregular (tooth, teeth).

c. Aspect of Meaning: denotation, connotation, appropriateness

The meaning of a word is primarily what it refers to in the real world, its denotation; this is often the sort of definition that is given in dictionary. For example, dog denotes a kind of animal; more specifically, common, domestic carnivorous mammal; and both dark and moist mean slightly wet.

A less obvious component of the meaning of an item is its connotation; the association, or positive or negative feeling it evokes, which may or may not be indicated in a dictionary definition. The word dog, for example, as understood by most British people, has positive connotation of friendship and loyalty.

A more subtle aspect of meaning that often needs to be taught is whether a particular item is the appropriate one to use in a certain context or not. For example, learners may not know that weep is virtually a synonym in

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denotation with cry, but it is more formal, tends to be used in writing more than speech, and is in general much less common.

d. Aspect of meaning: meaning relationship

How the meaning of one item relates to the meaning of others can also be useful in teaching. There are various such of relationship: here are some of the main ones.

1) Synonym; item that means the same, or nearly the same; for example bright, clever, smart may serve as the synonym of intelligent

2) Antonym: item that means the opposite; rich is the antonym of poor. 3) Hyponym: item that serves as specific examples of general concept: dog,

lion, mouse are hyponyms of animal.

4) Co-hyponym or co-ordinates: other items that are the ‘same kind of thing’; red, blue, green and brown are co-ordinates.

5) Superordinates: general concepts that ‘cover’ specific items; animal is the superordinates of dog, lion, mouse.

6) Translation: words or expressions in the learners’ mother tongue that are more or less equivalent meaning to the item being taught.

e. Word formation

Vocabulary items, whether one-word or multy-word, can often be broken down into their component ‘bits’. Exactly how these bits are put together is another piece of useful information-perhaps mainly for for advance learners.

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The teacher may wish to teach the common prefixes and suffixes; for example, if learners know the meaning of sub-, un-, and –able, this will help them guess the meaning of words like substandard, ungrateful, and

untranslatable. Another way vocabulary items are built is by combining two

words (two nouns, or gerund and noun, or a noun and verb) to make one item. For example: bookcase, follow-up, swimming pool.

From the explanation above it can be concluded that vocabulary mastery means the ability to spell and pronounce the words correctly, understand the meaning of words, and use the words in a correct sentence.

3. Types of Vocabulary

Thorndike and Lorge (1990: 18) state that there are four types of vocabulary as shown below:

Table 2.1 Types of vocabulary, their features, and the implications for teaching and learning

Types of

vocabulary

Number of words

Frequency Coverage of

text

Origins Implications

for teaching and learning

High-frequency words

2000 Occur

frequently in all kinds of text

About 87%

of the

running words in a

About half are from Latin,

Spend a lot of time on these words.

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texts French,

or Greek

they are

learned Academic

vocabulary

800 Occur

frequently

in most

kinds of

texts

About 8%

of the

running

words in

academic text

If learners are in upper secondary school or in tertiary education, spend a lot of time on these words. Make sure they are learned Technical

vocabulary

About 1000 to 2000 for each subject Occur sometimes frequently, in specialized texts

About 3%

of the

running words in a specialized text

About two third are from Latin, French or Greek

Learning the subject involves learning the vocabulary. Subject teachers can deal with the vocabulary,

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English teacher can

help with

learning strategies Low-

frequency words

About 123.000

Do not

occur very frequently

About 2%

or more of the words in any text

Teach

strategies for dealing with these words.

The word

themselves

do not

deserve teaching time

Based on the four types of vocabulary above, it can be concluded that high frequency words need to be given more attention in teaching English vocabulary especially in elementary level. As Nunan (2003: 136) states that learners need to learn low frequency words but, except for special needs, they are best learned after the high frequency words are known. Nation in Linse (2005: 122) also states that teachers should facilitate vocabulary learning by teaching learners useful words and by teaching strategies to help learners figure out meanings on their

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own. What is meant by useful words here are words that children are likely to encounter-words that occur in high frequency words.

4. The Advantage of Learning Vocabulary for Children

Vocabulary becomes the main part in language learning. Notion and Waring in Cameron (2001: 72) state that vocabulary is central to the learning of a foreign language at primary level. Gower, et al (1995:142) state that vocabulary is important to students. It is more important than grammar for communication purposes, particularly in the early stages when students are motivated to learn the basic words they need to get by in the language. Wilkins in Thornbury (2002:13) supports this idea. He states that without grammar very little can be conveyed, without vocabulary nothing can be conveyed. Furthermore Nation in Schreuder and Weltens (1993:115) states that good vocabulary knowledge enables comprehension.

Based on the statement above, it can be concluded that vocabulary is important for the learners, especially children, to learn a language.

5. Teaching Vocabulary

Nation (1974: 18-19) states that there are three things that must be taught in teaching a word. They are the form of word, the meaning of word, and the form and the meaning of word go together. Furthermore, Nation explains that there are some ways to teach the form of word.

commit to user a. The teacher teaches the form of word visually.

The examples of teacher teaches the form of word visually are by showing the form of word, showing the mouth movements involves in saying the word, by showing hand movements that draw the letters of word in the air, or by showing wooden or plastic letters that spell the word.

b. The teacher teaches the form of word tactilely.

Teaching the form of word tactilely means that the learners use their sense of touch. The examples of teaching the form of word tactilely are teaching the form of word by using letters made of wood, cardboard, sand paper, and so on, so the learners can feel the shape of the letter that make up the word, by using a system of writing like Braille, or by writing the word, letter by letter, on the learner’s hand.

c. The teacher teaches the form of word aurally

The example of teaching the form of word aurally are teaching the form of word by saying the word or by producing the word in morse code or some other aural code.

Nunan also explains about some ways to help the learners understand the meaning of words. They are:

a. Demonstration

In demonstration, teacher explains the meaning of word by showing an object or a cut out figure, by using gesture, or by performing an action.

commit to user b. Picture

Teacher uses photographs, blackboard drawings, illustrations cut from magazine or newspaper to teach the meaning of word. Cameron (2001: 85) adds moving images from TV, video or computer to teach the meaning of word.

c. Explanation

To explain the meaning of word, the teacher gives description, gives synonyms or opposites, puts the word into defining context, and translates the word.

In teaching vocabulary, the teacher is not only teaching the form and the meaning but also helping the learners to connect the form of a word with its meaning by presenting the form and the meaning together, so that the learners know that the words are connected to each other.

Cameron (2001:87-89) states that when learners know about a new word, either the form or the meaning of this word, their vocabulary process has begun. The word has entered the learner’s short term memory and the next teaching issue is how to build up the memory of the word so that it is available for use in the longer term. Memorizing activities are needed at the point if learning new words for the first time, and at regular intervals to recycle vocabulary, so that it stays active and ready to use.

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There are some organizational networks that are given by Cameron to make strong memory connections:

a. Thematic organization of vocabulary

b. Organization of vocabulary through relations of wholes to parts c. Organization of vocabulary in general to specific hierarchies d. Organization of vocabulary through words and antonyms

6. Motivation in Learning Foreign Language

Motivation in the classroom is an essential component. Grolnick and Ryan (1992:227) explore the central purpose of education. They state that the more significant than the attainment of specific contents taught in schools is the growth within each child of an interest and curiosity about the world around him or her and the development of a confidence and sense of competence in learning. Such a framework recognizes that achievement in school is a short-term goal whereas the enhancement of the motivation to learn is an ongoing lifelong one.

Motivation is the energy which supports students in achieving their need (Brown, 200: 161). Wlodkowski and Jaynes (1990:6) explain that in the broadest sense, motivation is a value and a desire for learning. Furthermore, Gardner in William and Burden (1997: 116) defines motivation as combination of effort plus desire to achieve the goal of learning the language plus favorable attitudes towards learning the language. Bonia (1997: 3) gives clear definition by stating that student’s motivation refers to a student’s willingness, need, desire, and compulsion to participate in and be successful in the learning process.

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From the statements above, it can be concluded that motivation is the power of the students for achieving the objectives of learning and mastery the language.

There are two kinds of motivation; intrinsic motivation and extrinsic motivation.

a. Intrinsic Motivation

Intrinsic motivation is motivation which appears without needing internal stimulus, because it has been internal to the person that is suitable with his/her need. Intrinsic motivations are inherent in learning situations and meet pupil needs and purposes. Therefore, intrinsic motivations can be said as a kind of motivation in which the learning activities started and continued based on internal drive and absolutely related to learning activities. As Brophy (1998: 126) states that intrinsic motivation applies students value (or can learn to) participate in the activity, and emphasizes on students’ interest in engaging these activity willingly.

b. Extrinsic Motivation

Extrinsic motivation is the motivation that appears because there is stimulus/ incentive from outside the individual. It is a kind of motivation in which learning activities started and continued based on external drives which are not absolutely related to learning activities. Extrinsic motivation stimulates students to engage in classroom activity effort fully because completing these activities successfully will bring them valued rewards.

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B. The Nature of Young Learner

1. The Definition of Young Learner

The age of the students is a major factor for teacher in making decisions about how and what to teach. People of different ages have different needs, competences, and cognitive skill.

According to Linse (2005: 2) young learners are defined as children between ages 5-12. Meanwhile Harley, et al. in Cameron (2001: 15) state that young learners is a group of children (7-8 years) that are studying a foreign language, they seem to pay more attention to sound and prosody ( the music of an utterance), whereas other elder children (12-14) are more attentive to cues of word order. Furthermore Brumfit (1997: 67) states that young learners is a group of children level of age five to six, where they learn language without reading and writing.

From the explanation above it can be concludes that young learners is a group of students level of age five to fourteen, where in every stage they have some characteristics suitable to their level of age.

2. Young Learners’ Characteristics in Learning Language

Young children, especially those up to the ages of nine or ten, learn differently from older children, adolescents, and adult. Harmer (2001:38) states that children learn in the following ways:

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b. They often learn indirectly rather than directly – that is they take in information from all sides, learning from everything around them rather that only focusing on the precise topic they are being taught.

c. Their understanding come not just from explanation, but also from what they see and hear and, crucially, have a change to touch and interact with.

d. They generally display an enthusiasm for learning and a curiosity about the world around them.

e. They have a need for individual attention and approval from the teacher. f. They are keen to talk about themselves, and respond well to learning that uses

themselves and their own lives as main topics in the classroom.

g. They have a limited attention span; unless activities are extremely engaging they can easily get bored, losing interest after ten minutes or so.

In line with Harmer, Scotts and Ytreberg (p. 1-3) determine the characters of children from five to seven years old in learning the language as follow:

a. They can talk about what they are doing.

b. They can tell you about what they have done or heard. c. They can plan activities.

d. They can argue for something and tell you why they think what they think. e. They can use logical reasoning.

f. They can use their vivid imaginations.

g. They can use a wide range of intonation patterns in their mother tongue. h. They can understand direct human interaction.

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Furthermore, Scotts and Ytreberg note other characteristics of the young language learner.

a. They know that the world is governed by rules. They may not always understand the rules, but they know that they are there to be obeyed, and the rules help to nurture a feeling of security.

b. They understand situations more quickly than they understand the language used.

c. They use language skills long before they are aware of them.

d. Their own understanding comes through hands and eyes and ears. The physical world is dominant at all times.

e. They are very logical-what you say first happens first. f. They have a very short attention and concentration span.

g. Young learners sometimes have difficulty in knowing what fact is and what fiction is.

h. Young children are often happy playing and working alone but in the company of others.

i. Young children love to play, and learn best when they are enjoying themselves. But they also take themselves seriously and like to think that what they are doing is ‘real’ work.

Based on the explanation above, the researcher can conclude that children need to be taught in different way due to their age, background and need to learn. They need to be motivated and treated individually.

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C. Play School DVD

1. The Notion of Play School DVD

Play School is Australia's most successful regular television program for pre-school children. It is broadcasted every weekday throughout the year on ABC1 at 9.30 am and 3.00 pm and ABC2 at 4.30 pm.

The first program was broadcasted on July 18, 1966 at 10.05am in NSW and Victoria only, but soon was broadcasted around the country. In December that same year, Play School began afternoon transmissions as well as mornings, a practice that continues to this day. Now 40 years on, over one million children view Play School each week.

Play School aims to encourage a child to wonder, to think, to feel and to imagine. The program shows two warm, caring people taking the time to be with one child. They address the child directly and personally. Into this relationship are woven the stories, songs and activities that form the fabric of Australian children's culture. Play School is successful because it satisfies our basic human need to interact with other people and to be valued by them.

Play School aims to extend the child's interest and encourages participation. Each program contains a story, some songs (both traditional and new) and a variety of play ideas with things to make and do. (http://www.abc.net.au/children/play/about.html)

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2. The Procedure of Teaching Vocabulary by Using Play School DVD

There are several steps that will be done in teaching vocabulary by using play school DVD. First, the teacher plays some sequences of Play School DVD. Second, the teacher shows up some pictures that demonstrate the meaning of the words shown up on the segment of Play School DVD.

The third step is the teacher plays the segment of Play School DVD. The teacher asks the students to listen to the pre taught vocabulary. When the students think that they hear one of the words from the pre taught vocabulary, they raise their hands. The teacher pauses DVD and then asks the students what word he/ she heard. The teacher rewinds the DVD so that the students can listen to the word again. The teacher pauses DVD and asks the students to imitate what is said by the native in the DVD. By doing this activity, it is hope that the students will practice on how to pronounce the words correctly and acknowledge the word when it is constructed in a sentence. The teacher also encourages the students to interact with the Play School presenters by singing along and doing action as requested.

Fourth, the teacher shows the pictures of the pre taught vocabulary again and asks the students to spell the word. The teacher then writes the word on the board and asks the students to pronounce it. The fifth step is the teacher plays the segment of Play School DVD again and pauses on the segment where the pre taught vocabulary used. The teacher says the phrase or sentence where the pre taught vocabulary is constructed into and asks the students to repeat the sentence.

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The final step is the teacher asks the students to make a phrase or sentence based on the word of pre taught vocabulary (Uni-Bridge English Language Program Curriculum 2010/2011 Level 1 School Program).

3. The Advantages of the Using of Play School DVD

Using video to support the teaching and learning process will offer some unique instructional features. Video gives student one more way to experience abstract content. Judy (2003: 309) states that video make impossible experiences possible for their viewers and provide stimulation through our dominant sense. It provides the opportunity to show the students phenomena that would be either impossible or dangerous to view personally.

The advantages of video, in this case is the advantages of Play School DVD, in learning the language are obviously explained by Harmer (2001: 282). There are some reasons why video can add a special, extra dimension to the learning experience:

a. Seeing language-in-use

It means that the students not only hear the language but also see the language itself. The language is conveyed through expressions, gestures, and other visual clues.

b. Cross-cultural awareness

Video uniquely allow students a look at situations far beyond their classroom. This is especially useful if they want to see, for an example, typical

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British ‘body language’ when inviting someone out, or how American speaks to the waiter. Video is also a great value in giving students a chance to see such things as what kinds of food people eat in other countries, and what they wear.

c. Motivation

For all the reasons so far mentioned, most students show an increased level of interest when they have to see the language in use as well as hear it, and when this is coupled with the interesting task.

In line with Harmer, Allan (1991: 48-49) states that there are four advantages of using video in language teaching and learning. They are:

a. Video presents realistic ‘slice of life’

Video can allow the students to see the ways people communicate visually as well as verbally. It shows obviously the example of language in use. So, video is a good means of bringing ‘slice of living language’ into the classroom.

b. Video gets students talking

The right video material can get the students talking. Its vivid presentation of settings and characters can be used to set scene for role play. It also can present a case with such impact that it sparks off fierce debate. So that video can be a stimulus to genuine communication in the classroom by bringing out different opinion within the group.

commit to user c. Video provides visual support

Video helps the students in understanding a foreign language because the students are not only listening to the words but also see the word used. Video helps the students concentrate because it provides a focus of attention while they listen.

d. Video offers variety and entertainment

As people expect to enjoy the experience of viewing, so do the students. They bring the same expectations to the experience of viewing video in the classroom. The combination of variety, interest and entertainment that can derive from video makes it an aid which can help develop motivation in learners.

4. The Disadvantages of the Using of Play School DVD

Watching a video can also be a passive experience. Judy (2003: 311) also states that watching motion video can be a passive even boring experience for the learner. That is why teaching methods must be used which instead turn it into a springboard for student action and interaction.

E. Rationale

Vocabulary takes an important role in learning the language, especially for the students in early stage. Without knowing the vocabulary, it is almost possible

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that the student cannot use the language because knowing the vocabulary means knowing its form, its meaning, and knowing how to use it.

Based on pre observation stated in the background of the study, it was found that the students got difficulty in spelling and pronouncing words correctly, they found it difficult to memorize the meaning of the word and construct the word into a simple, basic sentence.

There were some reasons why such problems occurred. First, it happened because the students only had short term memories about the words they learnt so that they often forgot about the word, either the form or meaning easily. Second, they felt unconfident to say the word. They were afraid of mispronounce the word. Third, they had difficulty in using the word to construct sentence. The last reason was that they got bored with technique that was usually applied in the teaching learning process, in which they only memorized the word and had test about it.

To overcome such a condition, a good media in teaching vocabulary was needed. As stated in the previous section that young learners understanding come through hands and eyes and ears and that the physical world is dominant at all times. Play School DVD enables students to have an experience with the real picture of the word. Besides, it enables students to see language in use. It also provides the students with songs and activities to interact with. So, it is hoped that by using Play School DVD, the students will have full understanding about the vocabulary they learnt, either the form or meaning, and how to use the word.

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Watching the Play School DVD, the students will hear how each word is pronounced by the native speaker. The same word will be pronounced again and again so that the students will get a clear and right pronunciation. Through this step, it is hoped that the students’ problems in pronouncing will be solved. The teacher then will show some pictures related to those words. The teacher will ask the students to spell and write the word. Through this step, it is hoped that the students’ problem in spelling will be solved.

The procedures in teaching vocabulary by using Play School DVD also help students to memorize the word well. Repeating the words and showing their pictures several times through the activities in Play School DVD will help the students to acquire the words well. From the Play DVD School, the students will also learn how certain words are put in a simple sentence. Students will use it as a model to make a simple and basic sentence using the words they have learnt. It is hoped that the students’ problem in making simple basic sentence can be solved.

Based on the explanation above, it can be assumed that Play School DVD can help the students to improve their vocabulary mastery.

F. Action Hypothesis

Related to the previous description of the related theories and the basic assumption above, the researcher formulates the action hypothesis as follows: The use of Play School DVD can improve students’ vocabulary mastery.

commit to user CHAPTER III

RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

In this chapter, the researcher elaborates a research methodology including setting of place and time of the research, the subject of the research, the method of the research, the procedure of research, technique of collecting data, and technique of analyzing data. They would be explained in the following parts:

A. The Setting and Time of the Research

This research was carried out at Kalam Kudus Christian Primary School Surakarta, Central Java. This school is located at two different places. The first until the fifth grade is located at Jl. S. Parman 42, Surakarta. The sixth grade is located at Jl. R.M Sangaji 24, Surakarta in the same place with Kalam Kudus Christian Junior High School.

Kalam Kudus Christian Primary School which is located at Jl. S. Parman 40 has 20 classes which are divided into Grade 1 until Grade 5. Each grade has 5 classes. Each class consists of 28 to 30 students. Because of lack of class, the first and the second grade go to school in shift. The first grade’s lessons are from 07.00 until 10.10 and the second grade’s lessons are from 10.15 until 13.30. The period will be changed every month.

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This classroom action research was conducted from November 2010 up to April 2011. Below is the time table.

Table 3.1 The Time Table of the Research

NO ACTIVITIES MONTH/YEAR

Nov 2010

Dec 2010

Jan 2011

Feb 2011

Mar 2011

April 2011

1. Doing pre-research V

2. Writing a proposal V

3. Preparing the instruments V

4. Conducting the research V V

5. Collecting the data V V

6. Analysing the data V V

7. Writing a report V

B. The Subject of the Research

The subject of the research was the students of class 1 E of Kalam Kudus Christian Primary School. They were 24 students. They came from almost the same social and economic status. Almost all of their parents were entrepreneurs and almost all of the students were Chinese.

commit to user C. The Method of the Research

In this research, the researcher used action research method. Related to the action research method, there are some definitions of action research. Wallace (1998:4) explains that action research is “done by systematically collecting data on your (teachers) everyday practice and analyzing it in order to make some decisions about what your practice should be. While McKernan (2003:5) defines action research as a systematic self-reflective scientific inquiry that is done by practitioners to improve practice.

The researcher used action research because the researcher wanted to solve problems in teaching vocabulary as well as the attempt to know the students improvement in mastering vocabulary by using Play School DVD.

D. The Procedure of Action Research

The researcher used action research as a spiral steps that consist of four stages. As stated by Richard (1996: 13), the four stages are planning, action, observation, and reflection. In each cycle, the procedures of research were as follows:

1. Planning

After identifying the problems, the researcher and the collaborator made a plan about what kind of activities that would be carried out in the action. It included making the lesson plan, preparing the material, and preparing observation sheets to record students’ activities.

commit to user 2. Action

The researcher gave pre-test and post-test to the students. The researcher taught vocabulary using Play School DVD which followed the steps in the lesson plan. There were two cycles in this research in which each cycle consists of three meeting.

3. Observing

The activity was observing the teaching and learning process done by the researcher and the students. It included the interaction between the teacher and the students, the way the teacher explained the material, and the way she answered the students’ questions. So, everything that happened during the teaching and learning process would be recorded. In this activity, the collaborator took an important role. He was the one who observed the teaching and learning process and took note. As stated by Nunan (1992:120) that collaborator is needed to create multiple perspectives and to broaden interaction.

4. Reflection

Doing the reflection, the researcher together with the collaborator and some students as the representatives evaluated the process of the teaching and learning and the result of the implementation of Play School DVD in teaching vocabulary. The result of the reflection was used to make the next cycle better than the previous one.

commit to user The scheme of Action Research is reflected as follows:

E. Data Sources

The data of the research were collected from the procedure and activities of teaching and learning process using the Play DVD School and the scores of vocabulary test. The result of the teaching in the form of post-test was compared with the pre-test.

Action

Observing

Reflection

Planning

commit to user The sources of the data in this research were: 1. Event

It was all the action of the teaching and learning process using Play DVD School which was done in two cycles. It also included the activity of doing tasks and exercises.

2. Documents

They were books and teaching materials used by the teacher in teaching English. Other documents such as students’ previous test result and works were also taken and analyzed.

3. Information Data

Information data means all the data that were taken from interview and questionnaire.

F. Technique of Collecting Data

There were two kinds of data, quantitative and qualitative, that were needed for the research. The researcher collected quantitative data by giving tests. The researcher gave the students a pre-test and a post-test in order to know their vocabulary mastery before and after being taught using Play DVD School. It was to know whether the students’ vocabulary mastery improved or not. The questions of the test were based on the blue print.

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The qualitative data were collected by doing observation, interview, and giving questionnaire.

1. Observation

In observation, the researcher asked the collaborator to observe the process of the teaching and learning process done by the researcher and the students. The collaborator watched and noted all the activities happened during the process. He made the report in the form of field note.

2. Interview

The researcher interviewed the students and collaborator about their personal perception, experiences, opinion, and ideas related to the teaching and learning process in the class.

3. Questionnaire

To get more comprehensive data, the researcher also gave the students questionnaire to fill in. The researchers used closed-ended items questionnaire as suggested by Burns (2010: 82). These are items which there is limited choice of answer. The researcher gave the students a statement and they should give their opinion by ticking the Yes or No box.

commit to user G. Technique of Analyzing Data

To analyze the quantitative data, the researcher applied a descriptive statistics, comprising the highest and lowest score and finding the mean. To measure the students’ mastery on the vocabulary test, the researcher used the percentage correlation formula as follow:

Where:

S = the students’ mastery in %

R = the students’ right answer

N = the maximum number of the whole answer

SM = Standard Mark (100)

After analyzing the scores of the written test, the researcher compared the mean of the pre-test and of the post-test result by using the formula:

∑ 葈 Where:

ᰀ = mean (the score)

SX = the total score

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The qualitative data were analyzed by using Constant Comparative Method as suggested by Strauss and Glasser in Lincoln and Guba (1985:339). Constant Comparative Method or CCM is analyzing the data by comparing one category to another constantly. They say that in general, the data analysis proceses include data reduction, data classification, data synthetis, and ended by action hyphotesis. The following is a brief step related to the statement above;

1. Comparing incidents applicable to each category.

In this step all incidents occurred in the data will be coded into as many as categories as possible.

2. Integrating categories and their properties.

The researcher will begin to note the relationship among the concept. For these relationships to emerge, however, it will be necessary for the researcher to have noticed all the concepts.

3. Delimiting the theory.

It refers to the theory and category reduction from the result of two previous steps. As the patterns of relationship among concepts become clearer, the researcher ignores some of the concept initially noted but evidently irrelevant to the inquiry. When the numbers of categories are reduced, the theory itself becomes simpler.

4. Writing the theory.

This is the final step that the researcher is making the final judgment of his findings and putting it into words to be shared with other people.

commit to user CHAPTER IV

RESEARCH RESULT AND DISCUSSION

A. Introduction

As has been mentioned in Chapter I, the purposes of the research are to know whether the use of Play School DVD improves students’ vocabulary mastery and to find the strengths and weaknesses when Play school DVD is applied in teaching vocabulary to the first graders of Kalam Kudus Christian Primary School.

According to the result of the preliminary study, the first graders of Kalam Kudus Christian Primary School, especially Class IE, had difficulties in: (a) pronouncing words; (b) memorizing words, both the forms and their meanings, and (c) using words in a sentence.

From the preliminary study, it was found out that the problems arose because of three aspects. The first one came from the students. They had difficulties in memorizing the words and their meanings. The students found the process of the teaching and learning boring and uninteresting that made them unserious in doing the process. The students also felt unconfident to say the words because they were afraid of mispronouncing them. The second aspect was from the teacher. The teachers sometimes only reviewed the words that had been taught to the students twice to four times. Besides, the teachers should equip themselves with various interesting media in order to make the teaching-learning process

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more interesting. The last aspect was the classroom situation. There were 24 students in the class. This number was actually quite big. The teacher in fact found difficulties in controlling the class. The result was the class became so noisy. This condition made the process of the teaching and learning ineffective because the teacher spent too much time to manage the class and to calm the students which were sometimes did not work. Therefore, a new technique is needed to work out those problems. The researcher decided to use Play School DVD as the media in conducting this action research.

B. Preparation of Action Research

To identify the students’ problems in vocabulary mastery, the researcher observed the class to see the teaching-learning process done by the teacher and the students, and conducted a pre-test.

A pre-test was conducted on Tuesday, February 28th, 2011. The purpose of doing the pre-test was to identify the students’ vocabulary mastery. Before the test was applied, it had been tried out in another class. The purpose was to get a valid and reliable instrument.

The total number of students was 24 and all of them joined the pre-test. According to the result of the pre-test, it can be concluded that the students’ vocabulary mastery was low. It was shown by their scores. Below is the chart of the complete distribution of the students’ scores of the pre-test.

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The Chart of Pre-test Scores

The chart shows that one student got 80.83. Two students got above 60, and 21 students got below 60. The highest score is 80.83 and the lowest is 12.92. Those resulted 38.87 for the average of this test. A complete data about students’ pre-test result can be found in Appendix 6.c.

Another important consideration was about the students’ score viewed from their skills. The average of students’ score in pronouncing the word was 46.53, in spelling the word was 34.17, in understanding word meaning was 59.17, and in using the word in a sentence was 15.625. For more complete data, it can be found in Table 4.1.

0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24

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Table 4.1. The Students’ Scores on Vocabulary Mastery on Pre-test Viewed from Their Aspects.

Vocabulary Aspects Highest Lowest Average

Pronunciation 83.33 16.67 46.53

Spelling 80 0 34.17

Word meaning 80 35 59.17

The use of word 100 0 15.625

The percentage of the students based on the result of their scores viewed from their vocabulary aspects can be seen in Table 4.2 below.

Table 4.2 The Percentage of the Students Based on the Result of Their Scores Viewed from Their Vocabulary Aspects.

Vocabulary Aspects <60 ≥60 – 79 ≥80

Pronunciation

18 students 4 students 2 students

75.00% 16.67% 8.33%

Spelling

17 students 5 students 2 students

70.83% 20.83% 8.33%

Word meaning

10 students 12 students 2 students

41.67% 50.00% 8.33%

The use of word

21 students 1 student 2 students

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The level of the students’ vocabulary mastery can be seen in the following table.

Table 4.3 The Level of Students’ Vocabulary Mastery Based on Their Pre-test Result

Percentage Interpretation Number of students (N=24)

81-100 Very good -

61-80 Good 3 students

41-60 Fair 5 students

21-40 Poor 13 students

1-20 Very poor 3 students

From the table above, it can be seen that the vocabulary mastery of 21 students (87.5%) were low and 3 students (12.5%) were at Good level.

C. Research Implementation

1. Description of Cycle 1

In Cycle 1, the researcher carried out four meetings. Cycle 1 was conducted from March 2nd to March 14th, 2011. After the fourth meeting, Post-test 1 was carried out. Each cycle consisted of planning, action, observation, and reflection.

commit to user a. Planning Action

The researcher and the collaborator prepared for the action. The preparation included: designing lesson plans, preparing assessment, preparing Play School DVD, preparing pictures and preparing observation list. The lesson plans were designed for four meetings. It consisted: (1) General Instructional Goals; (2) Specific Instructional Goals; (3) Learning Source; (4) Material; (5) Teaching and Learning Activities; and (6) Assessment. The vocabulary material for the first meeting was “Animal”, for the second meeting was “Dinosaur’s Parts of the Body”, for the third meeting was “Fruits and Vegetable”, and for the fourth meeting was “Color”. All the materials were taken from Play School DVD.

After designing lesson plan, the researcher and the collaborator prepared the assessment. The assessments were in the form of multiple choice and essay with 16 questions that covered the instructional objectives in the lesson plan. The next activity was preparing Play School DVD. The researcher chose suitable sequence from Play School DVD. She then searched the pictures that were suitable with the play. After that, the researcher and the collaborator prepared observation instrument. The collaborator and the researcher would use field note in observing the teaching and learning process done by the researcher and the students.

commit to user b. Action

1) First meeting

The first meeting was on Wednesday, March 2nd, 2011. The researcher and the collaborator entered the class at 10.55 A.M. The class was so noisy. The students had just finished having their break. It needed about 10 minutes to calm down the students and made them ready to have a lesson. The researcher then greeted the students. The researcher prepared all the media and learning sources. She turned on the LCD and plugged in to her note book.

In pre-vocabulary activity, the researcher played the Play School DVD. When she played the Play School DVD, the students were so happy. They sat on their seat and watched it enthusiastically. When the researcher stopped the play in order to go to the next step on her research, some of the students said,” Lho miss,

jangan dimatikan”. The students loved watching Play School DVD.

After playing the DVD, the researcher showed some animal’s pictures to the students. She asked the students to pay attention to the pictures. The researcher wanted the students to recognize the picture when they saw it on the DVD. So, on this step, the researcher did not allow them to speak out what picture it was.

In whilst-vocabulary activity, the researcher played the Play School DVD again. The researcher then asked the students to raise their hand every time they heard or saw some kind of animals mentioned in the DVD. At first the children did not give any responses. They did not raise their hands even though they heard

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or saw any kind of animals mentioned on the DVD. So, the researcher paused the DVD and gave the model to the students. Having been sure that the students understood what to do, the researcher played the DVD again. When she played the DVD, some students then raised their hands. The researcher then paused the DVD, asked the students what they had heard. She continued the DVD and did the same steps until all animals had been mentioned by the students.

The researcher then stuck the pictures on the board and asked the students to spell the word. But, only some students did the spelling. The researcher then encouraged the other students to do the spelling. She asked the passive students to spell the word. The researcher corrected the students when they misspelled the words. She then wrote the word on the board, below the picture. The researcher played the DVD again and asked the students to repeat after the native speaker on the DVD saying the name of every animal in the pictures. Then the researcher showed the pictures to the students one by one. First she showed the picture of a lion, and then asked the students by saying, “What picture is it?” The students answered it by only saying, ”lion”. Then the researcher gave the model. She said, “It is a lion.” The researcher showed another picture and asked the students to answer it as the model she gave.

In post-reading activity, the researcher gave the assessment to the students and they were given 10 minutes to finish it. Next, the researcher showed the picture to the students and asked them to say the names of the animals in the picture. The class ended at 12.10 A.M.

commit to user 2) Second Meeting

It was Monday, March 7th, 2011. The researcher and the collaborator came to the class at 07.30 A.M. It was the second lesson of the day. The students were still fresh. They were not too noisy today. The researcher then greeted the students and said, “English is easy”. The students answered it by saying, “Yes!”. Nobody was absent today.

The researcher turned on the LCD, but it did not work well. She tried to overcome the problem with the LCD. While she fixed it, the class became noisy. She asked the students to wait until the LCD could work again. It took 5 minutes to fix the LCD until it could work well. After the LCD was ready, the researcher played the DVD and asked the students to watch it. While they were watching it, they laughed, sang, and moved imitating the person on the DVD. Play School DVD really worked to calm down the students.

The researcher then paused the DVD. She showed some pictures and asked the students to look at them. She explained that the topic on that day was dinosaur’s parts of the body.

In whilst-reading activity, the researcher played the DVD again. The researcher asked the students to raise their hands when they heard or saw one of the pictures on the DVD. They were so enthusiastic raising their hands. Sometimes they mispronounced the words. The researcher then rewound the DVD, asked the students to listen to it and to imitate what the native speaker said on the DVD. The researcher then stuck the pictures on the board and asked the

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students to spell the word. Only half of the students did the spelling. The researcher then pointed some of inactive students to spell the word. It worked. They did the spelling even though sometimes they still made mistake in spelling the letter.

In post-vocabulary activity, the researcher gave the students the assessment and they were given 5 minutes to finish it. The researcher checked the students’ work. The class ended at 08.10 A.M.

3) Third Meeting

The third meeting was on Wednesday, March 9th, 2011. The researcher and the collaborator entered the class at 10.55. The students were not ready for the lesson. They were sweaty and noisy. They had just had their break. The researcher gave them time to wipe their sweat. While waiting for the students’ readiness, the researcher prepared all the media needed for teaching. After all getting ready, the researcher greeted the students and said, “English is easy.” The students responded it by saying, “Yes”. The researcher checked the students’ attendance. There were two students who were absent today, I Putu Elang and Patricia.

In pre-vocabulary activity, the researcher played the DVD and asked the students to watch it. Before doing that, the researcher explained to the students the topic that would be learnt that day. The topic of the day was fruit and vegetable. There were two people on the DVD who acted selling and buying in a fruit stall. The students were attracted to watch the DVD. While watching it, the students

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moved and sang imitating the native on the DVD. The researcher then paused the DVD and showed some pictures to the students. They paid attention on the pictures and sometimes gave comment by saying the names of fruits and vegetables on the picture.

In whilst-vocabulary activity, the researcher played the DVD again and asked the students to raise their hands when they heard or saw the picture. The students enthusiastically raised their hands and mentioned the names of fruit and vegetable on the DVD. The researcher paused the DVD when the students raised their hands and rewound it so that the students could listen to the right pronunciation of the words that mentioned by the native on the DVD and then imitated it. The researcher then asked the students to spell the word and she wrote it on the white board.

In post-vocabulary activity, the researcher gave the assessment to the students and they were given 10 minutes to finish it. The class ended at 12.10 P.M.

4) Fourth Meeting

The fourth meeting was on Monday, March 14th, 2011. The researcher entered the class at 7.35 A.M. She greeted the students and checked their attendance. Nobody was absent on that day. The students were in a good condition. They were ready to have the lesson that day. They were calmly sitting

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on their chair. The researcher prepared all the media and learning sources. She turned on the LCD and plugged in to her note book.

In pre-reading activity, the researcher played the Play School DVD’s sequence. It was about color. The researcher then stuck some fruits and vegetables pictures on the board. She asked the students to pay attention on it.

In whilst-vocabulary activity, the researcher played the DVD, and asked the students to raise their hands when they heard or saw the pictures or words related to color mentioned on the DVD. The researcher then paused the DVD, asked the students to say the word. Next, she rewound the DVD, asked the students to listen to the word and to pronounce it imitating the native on the DVD. When all the words had been pronounced well, the researcher then pointed at the picture of a lemon that had been stuck on the board. She asked the students, “What color is the lemon?”. The students answered it by saying, “Yellow”. The researcher then said, “It is yellow”. She asked the students to imitate her. The researcher then pointed to another picture. She pointed to zucchini’s picture and asked the students, “What color is the zucchini?”. Some of the students said, “Green”, but the other said, “It is green”. The researcher did this step until the students mentioned all the colors of the pictures on the board. Next, she wrote the names of the colors below each picture and asked the students to spell it.

In post-vocabulary activity, the researcher gave the assessment to the students. She gave 5 minutes to the students to finish the assessment. The class ended at 8.10 A.M.

commit to user c. Observation of Cycle 1

The observation was conducted by the researcher and the collaborator. It was held during the teaching and learning process. The focuses of the observation were the teaching and learning process which included the researcher and the students, and the learning progress. Observation takes an important role in this research because it is a record of things that happened during the action. The result of the observation is used to see the progress in the teaching and learning process.

1) The Teaching and Learning Process of Cycle 1

The process of teaching and learning was done based on the procedure of teaching vocabulary by using Play School DVD. Both the researcher and the students did every step carefully. Generally it can be said that good condition was created in Cycle 1. The researcher always came on time to the class. She had prepared all the media used for the research and started the lesson when everything was ready.

For the first and third meetings, the researcher was busied to calm down the students. They were so noisy when the researcher and the collaborator came into their class. It was because they had their lesson just after they had their long break. It was about 30 minutes break. The researcher tried to get their attention, then, played the Play School DVD. When the Play School DVD was played, the students turned silent. They seemed to enjoy watching the Play School DVD.

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At the first meeting, the students were still reluctant to respond what was asked by the researcher to do. But in the next meetings, the students could respond to what the researcher asked to do. The students could follow the researcher’s instructions in the teaching-learning process. When the researcher asked them to watch the DVD, they were really happy. But when they were asked to watch the DVD again, they seemed unhappy. It seemed that they did not like to watch the same sequence in the DVD twice. To overcome such problem, the researcher gave another activity. They were asked to find out the pictures that had been showed before on the DVD, to listen to what the native said, and to imitate it. The researcher also helped the students by rewinding the DVD containing the word given twice or three time so that the students could listen to the word well.

In four meetings, the researcher tried to help the students in spelling the word. Some students still got difficulties in spelling the letter. She repeated to spell the letter so that the students could get better understanding in spelling those letters.

In constructing the word learnt into a simple sentence, the researcher gave a model to the students. When she asked the students to repeat the sentence, they did not feel any dificulties, but when the researcher asked the students to make another sentence as the model and the word given, some students got difficulties. They felt unconfident to say the sentence. The researcher then motivated them and corrected the sentences that were wrong. She also explained why those sentences were wrong.

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The researcher also assisted the students in doing the assessments given. The researcher checked whether the students did the assessment as the researcher asked or not. Some students still got difficulties in doing the assessment related to spelling and using of word in a sentence. The problem occured because some of them did not know how to write the word or sentence.

In the teaching and learning process, the researcher and the students built a good interaction. Some students showed their motivation by actively answering the questions from the researcher. They also asked questions to the researcher when they did not understand things related to the topic. There was a good communication between the researcher and the students.

2) Learning Progress of Cycle 1

The learning progress that was reached by the students can be seen from their involvement during the teaching learning process, from the result of their assessment, and from the result of pre-test. Some students were actively answering the questions given by reseacher, even though a few of them were still passive in the class. The result of the assessment also showed that their

vocabulary mastery was quite improved. To know whether there was an

improvement on the students’ vocabulary mastery, the researcher analyzed the result of the students’ Post-test and compared to the result of their pre-test.

commit to user B. Implication

The result of the research shows that the teaching vocabulary using Play School DVD can improve the students’ vocabulary, especially for the first graders of Kalam Kudus Christian Primary School.

Based on the result of the research, English teachers should take Play School DVD as one good alternative media in teaching vocabulary.

C. Suggestion

Having conducted the research about improving students’ vocabulary mastery by using Play School DVD at Kalam Kudus Christian Primary School, the researcher would like to give some suggestions as follow:

1. To other teachers

a. Before implementing Play School DVD in teaching learning process, the

teacher should adjust the level of students in learning English and choose the suitable the sequences in Play School DVD, so that the material is not too easy or too difficult for the students. When the material is too easy or too difficult for the students, it will make them lost of motivation.

b. It is better not to play the DVD too long so that it will not get the students

bored. Just picks the sequence that suitable for the topic and creates more activities on it.

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c. It is better to show pictures about the topic before playing the Play School

DVD. It will prepare the students to get into the topic and prepare them for what they are going to see. In that case, it is recommended that the teacher prepares some interesting and clear pictures.

d. A teacher should be active in teaching process.

2. To other students

a. Students have to understand that mastering vocabulary needs a good and

appropriate media and technique. When the students apply a good and appropriate technique, the process of mastering vocabulary will be easier.

b. Teaching English by using Play School DVD is an alternative technique

that can be applied in mastering vocabulary.

3. To other researchers

a. They can use this research as additional and comparative information to

conduct better researches related to vocabulary mastery.

b. When doing the research using Play School DVD, it is recommended to

prepare everything excellently to make an excellent result as it is hoped.

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