Students` perceptions on vocabulary weekly tests in vocabulary I class - USD Repository

  

STUDENTS’ PERCEPTIONS ON VOCABULARY WEEKLY TESTS

  

IN VOCABULARY I CLASS

A THESIS

  Presented as Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements to Obtain the Sarjana Pendidikan Degree in English Language Education

  By Yohanes Tony Santoso

  Student Number: 031214081

  

ENGLISH LANGUAGE EDUCATION STUDY PROGRAM

DEPARTMENT OF LANGUAGE AND ARTS EDUCATION

FACULTY OF TEACHERS TRAINING AND EDUCATION

SANATA DHARMA UNIVERSITY

YOGYAKARTA

2008

  ad maiora natus sum I dedicate this thesis to my family

  

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

I have been so impressed, frightened, confused and delighted by the

accomplishment of this thesis. After this long journey is over, I would like to

express my greatest gratitude to my Lord, Jesus Christ, for His timeless and

amazing grace. I would never be like what I am at present without Him. My

gratefulness is worth giving to Mother Mary, to whom I always go and share my

burdens. Fiat voluntas Tua.

  In this opportunity, I would also like to express my sincere thankfulness to

Made Frida Yulia, S.Pd., M.Pd., my major sponsor, for her great assistance,

intelligent advice as well as her fresh encouragement during the accomplishment

of this little piece of hard work. I owe her a debt of gratitude for her valuable

suggestions. Having finished this project, I am enormously grateful to F.X. Ouda

Teda Ena, S.Pd., M.Pd., my co-sponsor, for his jokes, motivation and supports

from the beginning until the accomplishment of this thesis. My greatest thanks go

to all PBI lecturers, especially Drs. P. G. Purba, M.Pd., V. Triprihatmini, S.Pd.,

M.Hum., M.A., and L. Sumarni, S.Pd., the secretariat staff and librarians who

supported me during the last five years.

  My special thankfulness is addressed to my beloved family, my father

Joko Santoso, my mother Rosa Sularmi, my brothers Dony and Domi, for their

endless love, prayers, laughs and cares. Special gratitude also goes to all my

family, who always pray and motivate me to finish this project and my study as

well.

  A word of appreciation goes to Nico, mbak Lisa, Daniel, Ardi, Ucy, Rere, Budi Astika who help me much during accomplishing this thesis. My thanks also go to Datu, Dudi, Wiwid, Prast, Bhe, Bagong, Ratna, Mirta, Paul, EAD committee 2004, and all students of the English Language Education Study Program for this wonderful period of study in this university. Special thanks are also expressed to Patrick, Keke, Ada, Sr.Yusta, Reza, and Rudi.

  Inevitably, my sincere gratitude goes to my dearest friend Skolastika Anissa. Special thanks are addressed to her for being there in my joys and sorrows. I am deeply indebted to her for her companionship and moments shared together.

  I express many thanks to the following people for coloring my life: Bertanella, Lizie, Sista, Dona, Herlina, Lussy, Ipat, Yeyen, Yanris, Romo Wihong, Pr., Tante Upik, Om Hoho, bulek Eni, Romo Madyo, SCJ., BSMF communities, Sr. Antonia, HK, and Sr. Magda, FSGM, Melani, for converting this thesis into PDF, Mario Punto, and Yeni Ovia Mamanua, for her love, extreme patience, warmth, companionship, and kindness.

  Finally, I thank persons whose names cannot be mentioned one by one, who helped me in the finishing process of my thesis.

  Yohanes Tony Santoso

  

TABLE OF CONTENTS

  Page TITLE PAGE ................................................................................................... i APPROVAL PAGES ...................................................................................... ii STATEMENT OF WORK’S ORIGINALITY................................................. iv DEDICATION PAGE ..................................................................................... v ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ............................................................................. vi TABLE OF CONTENTS................................................................................. viii LIST OF TABLE ............................................................................................. xii LIST OF APPENDICES.................................................................................. xiii LIST OF FIGURE ........................................................................................... xiv ABSTRACT..................................................................................................... xv

  

ABSTRAK ......................................................................................................... xvi

  CHAPTER I. INTRODUCTION A. Background of the Research ...................................................

  1 B Problem Formulation ...............................................................

  3 C. Problem Limitation ..................................................................

  3 D. Objectives of the Research.......................................................

  4 E. Benefits of the Research ..........................................................

  4 F. Definition of Terms ..................................................................

  5 CHAPTER II. REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE A. Theoretical Description ..........................................................

  8 1. Perception and Perception Process .......................................

  8 a. Selection of Stimuli ..........................................................

  12 1) Size ..............................................................................

  12 2) Change .........................................................................

  13 3) Repetition .....................................................................

  13 4) Intensity .......................................................................

  13

  5) Movement......................................................................

  14 6) Set ................................................................................

  14 b. Organization of Stimuli ....................................................

  14 c. Situation ...........................................................................

  15 d. Self-Concept ....................................................................

  15 2. Teaching and Learning Vocabulary......................................

  15 a. Teaching Vocabulary .......................................................

  16 1) Words that are Easy to Learn .......................................

  17 2) Words of Normal Difficulty ........................................

  17 3) Difficult Words.............................................................

  18 b. Learning Vocabulary ........................................................

  18 3. Test .......................................................................................

  21 a. Reliability of the Test .......................................................

  23 b. Validity of the Test ...........................................................

  25 B. Theoretical Framework .........................................................

  26 CHAPTER III. METHODOLOGY A. Research Method.......................................................................

  29 B. Research Participants ................................................................

  30 C. Research Instruments ................................................................

  31 1. Questionnaire ........................................................................

  32 2. Interview Guide.....................................................................

  33 D. Data Gathering Technique ........................................................

  34 E. Data Analysis Technique ………………..................................

  35 F. Research Procedure .................................................................

  37 CHAPTER IV. RESEARCH FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION A. The Students’ Perception on the Weekly Tests ....................

  39 1. Perceptions on the Vocabulary Teaching-Learning Process...

  39 a. Students’ Perceptions Based on the Questionnaire ...........

  40 b. Students’ Perceptions Based on the Interview..................

  41

  c. Discussion .........................................................................

  42 1) Students Have Positive Perceptions on the Implementation of Weekly Tests .................................

  43 2) Students’ Positive Perceptions Lead Them to Have Positive Behavioral Responses ....................................

  44 2. The Students’ Perceptions on the Validity of the Test .........

  46

  a. Perceptions on the Validity of the Test Based on the Questionnaire ...............................................................

  46

  b. Perceptions on the Validity of the Test Based on the Interview ......................................................................

  47 3. The Students’ Perceptions on the Reliability of the Test ......

  51

  a. Perceptions on the Reliability of the Test Based on the Questionnaire ...............................................

  52

  b. Perceptions on the Reliability of the Test Based on the Interview.......................................................

  53 4. The Students’ Perceptions on the Implications of the Test....

  55

  a. Perceptions on the Implications of the Test Based on the Questionnaire ...............................................

  55

  b. Perceptions on the Implications of the Test Based on the Interview.......................................................

  56 B. The Contribution of Students’ Perceptions

to Vocabulary Mastery ............................................................

  60

  1. The Contribution of the Students’ Perceptions on the Vocabulary Teaching-Learning Process to Vocabulary Mastery...........................................................

  60

  2. The Contribution of the Students’ Perceptions on the Validity of the Tests to Vocabulary Mastery ..............

  61

  3. The Contribution of the Students’ Perceptions on the Reliability of the Tests to Vocabulary Mastery ..........

  62

  4. The Contribution of the Students’ Perceptions on the Implications of the Tests to Vocabulary Mastery .......

  63

  CHAPTER V. CONCLUSIONS AND SUGGESTIONS A. Conclusions ............................................................................

  64 1. Students’ Perceptions on the Weekly Tests .........................

  64

  2. The Contribution of the Students’ Perceptions to their Vocabulary Mastery ................................................

  66 B. Suggestions .............................................................................

  66 REFERENCES...............................................................................................

  68 APPENDICES ...............................................................................................

  71

  

LIST OF TABLE

Table

  Page 3.1 The Coding of Participants’ Names .........................................................

  31

  

LIST OF APPENDICES

Page Appendix 1: The Questionnaire ........................................................................

  72 Appendix 2: The Questionnaire Blueprint .......................................................

  73 Appendix 3: The Interview Blueprint ..............................................................

  74 Appendix 4: The Results of Questionnaire ......................................................

  75 Appendix 5: Students’ Final Scores..................................................................

  83 Appendix 6: Reliability of the Instrument ........................................................

  86 Appendix 7: The Tables of the Questionnaire Results .....................................

  87 Appendix 8: The Results of Pearson Product Moment Computation...............

  89 Appendix 9: Raw Data from the Interview.......................................................

  90

  

LIST OF FIGURE

Figure

  Page 2.1 The Perceptual Process ..............................................................................

  11

  

ABSTRACT

Santoso, Yohanes Tony. (2008). Students’ Perceptions on Vocabulary Weekly

Tests in Vocabulary I Class . Yogyakarta: English Language Education Study

Program, Sanata Dharma University.

  This thesis discussed how the students perceived the implementation of

weekly tests indicated by their perceptions on the teaching-learning process,

validity of the tests, reliability of the tests and implications of the tests. There

were two questions in this research. 1) What are the students’ perceptions on the

implementation of weekly tests in Vocabulary I class? 2) To what extent do the

students’ perceptions on the weekly tests contribute to their vocabulary mastery?

  To answer the problem formulation, survey research and correlational

research were used. The survey research was employed to answer the first

research question. Meanwhile, the correlational research was made use to answer

the second research question.

  Based on the data gathered, the majority of the students perceived the

implementation of weekly tests positively. The researcher identified a link which

correlated the students’ interests, their perceptions and behavioral responses. Most

students who were interested in the weekly tests would have positive perceptions.

Having positive perceptions initiated them to have positive behavior responses,

namely they were highly motivated and confident in doing the tests. In addition,

they argued that the tests were valid and reliable. Therefore, they advised that

weekly tests should be applied in Vocabulary I class. However, it was found that

actually students’ perceptions did not contribute to vocabulary mastery.

  The students considered the implementation of weekly tests monotonous.

Therefore, the lecturers should vary the type of the test, not merely matching but

also using words more contextually, namely using words in sentences

appropriately. To improve face validity of the test in terms of how the tests look

like and time allocation, firstly, the lecturers should make the tests well designed

and correctly written by using a computer rather than a typewriter. Secondly, they

are required to ascertain that the number of test items can be done in the allotted

time. In this research, it was found out that perceptions did not have any

contribution to the students’ vocabulary mastery. Therefore, the researcher

expects that the future researcher present factors contributing to the students’

vocabulary mastery.

  

ABSTRAK

  Santoso, Yohanes Tony. (2008). Students’ Perceptions on Vocabulary Weekly

  

Tests in Vocabulary I Class . Yogyakarta: English Language Education Study

Program, Sanata Dharma University.

  Skripsi ini mengkaji bagaimana para mahasiswa berpersepsi tentang penerapan tes mingguan, yang diindikasikan oleh persepsi mereka terhadap proses belajar mengajar, validitas, reliabilitas serta implikasi dari tes tersebut. Ada dua rumusan masalah yang diajukan dalam skripsi ini. 1) Bagaimana persepsi para mahasiswa terhadap penerapan tes mingguan di kelas Vocabulary I ? 2) Sejauh mana persepsi para mahasiswa itu berkontribusi terhadap penguasaaan kosa kata mereka?

  Untuk menjawab dua rumusan masalah dalam penelitian ini, peneliti menggunakan penelitian survei dan korelasi. Peneliti menggunakan penelitian survei untuk menjawab rumusan masalah pertama. Sementara itu, penelitian korelasional digunakan untuk menjawab rumusan masalah yang kedua.

  Berdasarkan data yang diperoleh, mayoritas mahasiswa mempunyai persepsi positif tentang penerapan tes mingguan. Ada sebuah mata rantai yang menghubungkan minat mahasiswa dengan persepsi serta perilaku mereka. Secara umum, mahasiswa yang berminat pada tes mingguan mempunyai persepsi yang positif. Persepsi positif itu membuat mereka termotivasi dan percaya diri saat mengerjakan tes. Selain itu, para mahasiswa menyatakan bahwa tes yang mereka kerjakan memenuhi aspek validitas dan reliabilitas. Oleh karena itu, mereka menyarankan agar tes mingguan tetap diadakan. Meskipun demikian, ditemukan bahwa sebenarnya persepsi para mahasiswa tidak berkontribusi terhadap penguasaan kosa kata mereka.

  Para mahasiswa menganggap bahwa penerapan tes mingguan masih monoton. Oleh karena itu, para dosen pengajar Vocabulary I hendaknya membuat tes yang lebih bervariasi, tidak hanya menjodohkan, tetapi juga bagaimana menggunakan kosa kata lebih kontekstual, yaitu menerapkan kosa kata ke dalam kalimat. Untuk memperbaiki validitas tampilan dari tes, terkait dengan tampilan tes dan alokasi waktu, pertama, para dosen hendaknya membuat tes dengan desain yang baik dan ditulis dengan benar menggunakan komputer, bukan mesin ketik. Kedua, mereka hendaknya memastikan bahwa jumlah soal dapat dikerjakan sesuai dengan waktu yang tersedia. Dalam penelitian ini, diketahui bahwa persepsi mahasiswa tidak berkontribusi terhadap penguasaan kosa kata mereka. Oleh karena itu, peneliti mengharapkan peneliti yang akan datang dapat menemukan faktor-faktor yang berkontribusi terhadap penguasaan kosa kata para mahasiswa.

CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION This chapter presents background of the research, problem formulation,

  problem limitation, objectives of the research, benefits of the research, and definition of terms.

A. Background of the Research

  “In foreign language teaching, vocabulary has for a long time been a neglected area” (Taylor, 1990: 1). Pride of place has been given to ‘structure’ or, latterly, ‘functions’. Further, course books only provided little guidance about vocabulary items which made teachers hard to satisfy their students’ demand for ‘words’. Fortunately, this condition no longer obtains. In recent days, many newer course books include word study sections. Nevertheless, teachers are still required to be aware of the methodologist available to introduce and consolidate new vocabulary items. Accordingly, there is a great demand of an appropriate vocabulary teaching which will be helpful to give fundamental basic to English learners.

  The research is to highlight weekly tests which are applied in Vocabulary I class in the English Language Education Study Program of Sanata Dharma University. In the class, weekly tests are held to build students’ mastery of English vocabulary. In addition, it is aimed to measure the progress of students’ performance during the semester. There is a great demand of an appropriate

  1

  2 vocabulary teaching. Hence, the researcher would like to investigate the implementation of weekly tests as a part of vocabulary teaching and discover whether they support the vocabulary learning.

  Vocabulary I course administers thirteen weekly tests in one semester. Therefore, there are thirteen tests which are held each week in the semester. By having weekly tests, the students are expected to know the meaning of the English items of the 3000-word level especially in Indonesian (Dosen-dosen Program Studi Pendidikan Bahasa Inggris, 2006: 84). “Vocabulary mastery is becoming aware of a word, remember it, and have some ideas of its meaning then translate into the L1” (Leverrets, 2006). In learning English as a foreign language, English learners must be alert of the significance of vocabulary mastery. Vocabulary mastery is an essential element for an English learner to have. For that reason, mastering English vocabulary will determine whether s/he will be successful or not in learning English. Likewise, the English learners cannot enhance their English skills without having enough vocabulary mastery foundation. On the contrary, they are in the stage of having enough vocabulary mastery when reaching the point where they do not need to translate the word in order to use it in a sentence.

  Furthermore, the research depicts the students’ perceptions on the implementation of weekly tests in Vocabulary I class. Altman, Valenzi, and Hodgetts (1985: 84) declared that the way the students perceive on something, whether in a positive way or in a negative way, influences their behavioral responses. If the students perceive the implementation of the weekly tests

  3 positively, their behavioral responses will be positive too, which will then support the course goal achievement. Nonetheless, if the students perceive the implementation of the weekly tests negatively, their behavioral responses will also be negative too, which will hinder the course goal achievement. Thus, through the research, the researcher would like to make certain whether the students’ perceptions on the implementation of the weekly tests really influence their achievements.

  B. Problem Formulation

  The research problems are formulated as follows:

  1. What are the students’ perceptions on the implementation of weekly tests in Vocabulary I class?

  2. To what extent do the students’ perceptions on the weekly tests contribute to their vocabulary mastery?

  C. Problem Limitation

  There are several subjects in the English Language Education Study Program of Sanata Dharma University. Nevertheless, the research is limited to one subject, namely Vocabulary I class. The researcher chooses the Vocabulary I class since in this class, the students deal with the implementation of vocabulary weekly tests. Moreover, there are three classes of Vocabulary I class, namely A, B, and C. Class A is the biggest class among other classes. It is chosen to be the

  4 research population since biggest number means a lot in providing representative data for the research.

  The research focuses on two main points. Firstly, it would like to describe the students’ perceptions on the implementation of vocabulary weekly tests in the academic year of 2007/2008. Secondly, due to the identification of the scope, it investigates the correlation between the students’ perceptions on the weekly tests and their vocabulary mastery which is shown in their final scores.

  D. Objectives of the Research

  In relation with the questions in the problem formulation, there are two objectives presented in the research. The first objective is to unveil the students’ perceptions on the implementation of weekly tests in Vocabulary I class. The second objective is to offer a general description as to what extent the students’ perceptions on the weekly tests contribute to their vocabulary mastery.

  E. Benefits of the Research

  The investigation of the research is aimed to give beneficial contributions, expectantly for the students who join Vocabulary I class, the lecturers who implement weekly tests in teaching vocabulary class, other researchers, and generally for all the readers.

1. Students of Vocabulary Class

  The research provides information about what actually the general perceptions of the students on the implementation of weekly tests in Vocabulary I

  5 class. The research also investigates the correlation between their perceptions and their final achievements at the end of semester.

  2. Lecturers

  The research provides the lecturers with the knowledge of perception and its connection with the students’ achievements in mastering vocabulary. As a result, the lecturers are likely encouraged to build atmospheres which encourage the students to have positive perceptions which will lead them to have positive behavioral responses.

  3. Other Researchers

  The researcher hopes that the research could inspire the future researchers who will conduct similar research and further discussion on the implementation of vocabulary weekly tests in teaching-learning activities.

  4. General readers

  For general readers, the researcher hopes that the research may enrich and broaden their knowledge of language teaching techniques, especially on the implementation of vocabulary weekly tests.

F. Definition of Terms

  This section presents several key terms and their definitions dealing with what the researcher intends to discuss throughout the research. The objective is to make clarification and to avoid any misconception about the research.

  6

  1. Perception In Oxford Advanced Learners (Hornby, 1995: 977), perception is defined as “the way you notice things, especially with the senses.” In Collins Co-build

  

English Dictionary for Advanced Learners (Sinclair, 2001: 1142), perception is

  “the way you think about it or the impression you have of it.” According to Altman, et al. (1985: 85), perception is perceived as “the way stimuli are selected and grouped by a person so that they can be meaningfully interpreted.” Another definition stated by Gibson (1975: 13) argues that perception is the process of extracting information from stimulation emanating from the objects, places, and events in the world around us. Meanwhile, Huffman (1997: 97) affirms “perception is the process of selecting, organizing, and interpreting sensory data into useful mental representations of the world.” In the research, perception deals with the students’ thoughts, feelings, and views about the implementation of weekly tests in Vocabulary I class.

  2. Mastery In Webster New and Explorer Dictionary and Thesaurus (1999: 319), mastery is perceived as “dominion, superiority, possession or display of great skill or knowledge.” While in Oxford American Dictionary and Thesaurus, mastery is “dominion, sway, comprehensive knowledge or use of a subject or instrument” (Oxford, 2005: 922). More to the point, in Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary (Hornby, 1995: 822), mastery is stated as “great knowledge about or understanding of a particular thing.” In the research, ‘mastery’ is great possession of English vocabularies the students have after having vocabulary weekly tests.

  7

  3. Vocabulary I In the English Language Education Study Program of Sanata Dharma

  University, there are two Vocabulary classes, namely Vocabulary I and II. In the research, the researcher merely centers on Vocabulary I class. It is defined as one of the elective subjects which holds vocabulary teaching and learning. Further, it pursues one goal, namely “enabling the students to know the meaning of the English vocabulary items especially in Indonesian” (Dosen-dosen Program Studi Pendidikan Bahasa Inggris, 2006: 84).

  4. Weekly Test Weekly test is a kind of test which is held every week in one semester.

  Vocabulary I class in the English Language Education Study Program of Sanata Dharma University implements weekly tests as a strategy to build the students’ vocabulary mastery. In each test, the students are expected to master certain section of their handbook which has been determined. The researcher attempts to discuss the students’ perceptions on weekly tests and how those perceptions influence their vocabulary mastery. Therefore, the discussion about weekly test through the research is about its implementation and effects on the students’ vocabulary mastery.

CHAPTER II REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE To give fundamental theory to the research, the researcher discusses

  theories and claims which contribute to the flow of discussion. There are two elements discussed in this chapter, theoretical description and theoretical framework. In theoretical description, the researcher discusses theories which are relevant to the research while in the theoretical framework, the researcher relates the theories to the research.

A. Theoretical Description

  The theories are pertinent since they can either help to solve the research problems or enlarge particular knowledge of the topic. Those theories consist of theories about perception and perception process, teaching and learning vocabulary and test.

1. Perception and Perception Process

  Perception turns out to be an indispensable issue to discuss. Actually, the definitions of perception can be derived from some sources. Leontive (1981: 31) perceived perception as “the process in which the existence of the objects and phenomenona is reflected in a person’s consciousness.” That process happens by the help of someone’s organs, namely eyes, ears, tongue, nose and skin. The student might identify things, environments and events around him/her deliberately by the help of sensory organs. In a nutshell, perception can be

  8

  9 interpreted as the conscious mental process of attaining, selecting, organizing and interpreting the information by the help of sensory organs.

  Robbins (2001: 121-122) stated that perception is a process by which individuals organize and interpret their sensory impressions in order to give meaning to their environment. He also claimed that in reality the role of perception is significant as the students’ behaviors are founded on their perceptions of what reality is, not on the reality itself. In the light of Robbins’ statement, it is clear that perception is understood as a process which leads the students to systematize what occurrences around them before grabbing the meaning.

  According to Haire (1956) as cited in Leontive (1981: 31), perception is defined as “a process in which the individual recognizes information, fits the information and compares the information with the previous one which is stored in the person’s memory.” It means that as soon as an individual receives the stimuli, s/he categorizes the stimuli. Subsequently, s/he will recall her or his memory to create a judgment whether in the past s/he has already received the same stimuli or not. In case s/he has already received the stimuli before, s/he then will recognize the stimuli. The stimuli might be in the form information, events, or experience.

  Truly, Haire’s claim about perception is similar to the definition declared by Altman, Valenzi, and Hodgetts (1985: 85). According to them, perception is “the way stimuli are selected and grouped by a person in such a way that the stimuli can be meaningfully interpreted.” That statement means that perception is

  10 generated by stimuli surroundings which can be in the form of sensory and cognitive information. If the student receives the stimuli, s/he then will identify them and attempt to recall his or her memory whether in the past s/he has acquired the same stimuli or not. In case s/he has the same stimuli, s/he then will recognize them.

  Another description about perception is also acknowledged by Warga (1983: 207). He acknowledged that perception is a meaningful translation from physical energy that we feel or sense. In other words, Warga’s statement implied that when the student senses or feels the form of physical energy, s/he would make an effort to understand it as a message in the brain as a sensation.

  Afterwards, the combination of sensations would be translated into meaning. Therefore, it can be concluded that perception is gained when the student attains the meaning from the physical energy which s/he has already sensed and felt.

  Perception is also considered as the process of information extraction, as stated by Forgus (1966: 1). This claim means that perception is the process of selecting or sorting out the information acquired. While Kreitner and Kinicky (1992: 26) added that perception is a mental and cognitive process that enables us to interpret and understand our surroundings.

  Rooted in those definitions, the researcher comes to a conclusion that perception is a mental and cognitive process which leads individuals to organize and to interpret stimuli in order to elicit meaningful translation in the brain. Everyone has his/her own point of view of particular things that s/he experiences in the environment. Thus, it is normal for different person to perceive the same

  11 event or incident differently. This phenomenon then guides them to have different behavioral responses. Altman, et al. (1985: 86) stated that in perceptual process, it is necessary to select and group the stimuli so that individuals can interpret them meaningfully.

  Sensor’s Perception, Stimuli selection of organization and Behavioral

stimuli interpretation of

response stimuli

Figure 2.1 The Perceptual Process

  (Altman, et al., 1985: 85) From Figure 2.1, it can be observed that perception may exist with stimuli as a starting point. Stimuli can be defined as forms of physical energy that strike our sensory receptor (Warga, 1983: 207). The physical energy contains light, heat, pressure, and many others. While the organs of our body such as eyes, ears, nose and skin are categorized as the sensory receptors. Sensory receptors function as means to transmit the messages acquired to the brain. The stimuli are selected first in the brain before the messages are being interpreted. The selected stimuli then will be elicited in the form of information. The information which has been organized and interpreted inside the brain then generates the translation of external energy. Afterward, it would be called sensation. Furthermore, after inferring the information, the brain then converts the information into meanings. The outcome of the meaningful translation of the information is entitled perception. It is obvious that sensation is different from perception. Sensation is

  12 the translation of external energy while perception is the sensation’s meaningful translation itself.

  Moreover, perception might come up from several factors. There are four of the most vital factors which influence someone’s perception on particular things (Altman, et al., 1985: 86). Those factors are selection of stimuli, organization of stimuli, situation and self concept.

a. Selection of Stimuli

  It is not possible for a student to focus on all stimuli. S/he will only focus on a small number. This process is known as selection. It turns out to be one reason why every student perceives something differently. Each student tends to select stimuli which conform to his/her basis interest. On the contrary, s/he tends to ignore the stimuli or events which are not comfortable. This statement is in accordance with Gibson (1985: 66). He argued “people have a propensity to ignore factors or cues which might make them feel discomfort.” The different levels of threshold among people also take role in causing people to select the interested stimuli and to perceive something differently.

  According to Warga (1983: 208-209), there are six factors affecting the students to select the stimuli, namely size, change, repetition, intensity, movement, and set.

1) Size

  According to Warga (1983), size is significant. It means that it really affects the selection of stimuli since size truly grabs someone’s interest. Surely, an

  13 advertisement which is written with big bold letters on the board will grab someone’s interest and attention to read more than just small letters.

  2) Change

  It is interesting to notice some changes which happened around. In many cases, changes will enable us to avoid boredom and lead us into a more comfortable situation. Therefore, change contributes to the way people select the stimuli around.

  3) Repetition

  To build such a learning habit for the students, a teacher might need to administer weekly tests during the teaching-learning in the class. The results of weekly tests which will determine the students’ final score at the end of semester will force them to study hard in each test. This kind of repetition forces them to realize the importance of weekly tests. Furthermore, weekly tests will encourage them to have self learning habit.

  4) Intensity

  Warga (1983: 209) acknowledged “up to a point, the louder you shout, the better you will be heard. The intensity of stimulus-your voice-makes it stand out above other stimuli, so that listeners are forced to keep their mind on you.” This statement wishes to utter that the voice people produce when speaking determines whether the listener will pay attention or not. As stated by Warga (1983), the louder voice people generate, the better the listeners take notice on them.

  Nevertheless, too loud voice will make the listeners ignore since they feel it is

  14 annoying. Therefore, “it is expected that people speak not too loud but with tolerable volume, rhythm, articulation and intonation” (Purnomo, et al., 2005: 19).

  5) Movement It is more attractive to see moving things rather than unmoving ones.

  When having such a presentation in the class, students will pay more interest to slide show produced by Microsoft Power Point rather than just transparencies using OHP. The moving things attract viewer better to follow the instruction or the explanation given. It is clear that movement affects people in selecting the stimuli acquired. However, Purnomo, et al. (2005: 19) added that unimportant movement will annoy the viewer. It means that people should keep the unimportant movements away to avoid making the viewer annoyed.

  6) Set

  According to Warga (1983: 209), set is defined as an emotional disposition which manipulates perception. Set guides someone to interpret sensation attained into a meaningful message which is based on his/her wish to perceive. For example, a university student will have TOEFL test next week, s/he must expect the test is long and complicated. Further, his/her time to do the tests is also limited. Therefore, s/he will study seriously to prepare for the TOEFL test.

b. Organization of Stimuli

  After information has been screened, it must be organized so as to become meaningful. “This is the second factor influencing perception where the brain makes an effort to select certain items of information and then to put them

  15 together in a meaningful way” (Altman, et. al., 1985: 87). This is called organization. The fundamental role of organization is formulating the complexity of information becomes effortless for someone to interpret.

  c. Situation

  “The situation which influences someone to perceive can be in the form of someone’s familiarity with, expectations about, or his or her past experience” (Altman, et al., 1985: 89). It can be concluded that situation may be the combination between someone’s past experience with his or her expectations. If someone has bad experience on something in the past, s/he will tend to perceive negatively when acquiring the same stimuli in advance. On the contrary, in case s/he has good experience towards something, s/he will have good expectation to achieve when similar thing happens in the future.

  d. Self-Concept

  Warga (1985: 90) stated “what is called self-concept is the way we feel about and perceive ourselves.” The self-concept is essential since our psychological image of ourselves determines much of what then we perceive and do. If the student sees himself/herself as a persistent student, s/he will likely to be persistent no matter difficulties in learning await.

2. Teaching and Learning Vocabulary

  The researcher aims to investigate the students’ perceptions on the vocabulary weekly tests. Hence, discussing learning and teaching vocabulary in the section is very fundamental. Historically, in foreign language teaching,

  16 vocabulary has not been given an adequate amount of attention for a long time.

  Many course books merely prioritize structure and function. In actual fact, vocabulary can support learners to learn the skills of the language. Burton (1982: 99) declared that vocabulary should be given to the students suitably, hence they are able to learn four skills of language, namely listening, speaking, reading and writing better. This claim implies that English vocabulary is very important language component in learning a language.

  In this section, there are two parts of discussion, namely teaching vocabulary and learning vocabulary. These two parts will offer an appropriate context to interpret vocabulary as an important basis in English language.

a. Teaching Vocabulary

  English in recent days has been used as the lingua franca of international communication, scientific and modern technology, trade and political exchange.

  Hence, it plays a central role to transmit information in the world. Mastering English now grows to be an obligation, not only for prestige but more than that for the sake of knowledge to compete in the globalization. Realizing this fact, vocabulary as the basic element in mastering English should be taught in an appropriate way. There is a need to conduct teaching vocabulary in order to introduce a number of English words as a basic step to learn English.

  Brown (1987: 7) claimed ”teaching is guiding and facilitating learning, enabling the learner to learn, setting the conditions for learning.” It means that teaching provides learners guidance and offers supporting condition to learn. According to Lado (1964: 120), in the past, vocabulary was taught mostly by

  17 translation. In addition, it was assumed that putting across the meaning was the whole of teaching vocabulary. However, Lado (1964) affirmed that putting across the meaning is just a small part of vocabulary teaching. Further, he added that in order to be able to use a word, the form of the word must be taught first. In addition, for smoothness in speaking and quick understanding in listening, a large amount of practice is ultimately needed.

  Lado (1964: 121) stated “teaching vocabulary varies for easy words, words with normal difficulty and words with special problems.” Teacher should be able to recognize those three types of words so that s/he is capable of implementing a strategy for special types of words.

  1) Words that are Easy to Learn

  “Words that are similar in form and meaning to the first language are easy to learn” (Lado, 1964: 127). He affirmed that those words usually fall into patterns of correspondence of sounds and stress and can be taught quickly in such patterns. Thus, this type of words should be taught for listening and reading rather than for speaking and writing. The examples of those words are nation, mission,

  

combination, variation, and many others. The class may repeat them to reinforce

  their hearing and they may read them for the same purpose. To be detailed, he suggested the item is repeated and given in the native language if necessary.

  2) Words of Normal Difficulty

  According to Lado (1964: 128), “words of normal difficulty are best taught in contextual areas, such as food, clothing, language, education, and many others.” To be detailed, it is helpful to use a connected context illustrating words

  18 which are taught. He implied that additional words can be taught as alternatives to those chosen in the connected context. For example, if the area is sport, various sports can be learned as alternatives. Thus, if the conversation gives football as the choice of the speaker, volley ball, basket ball, base ball, tennis and badminton can be learned as alternatives.

3) Difficult Words

  “Because differences with the first language, some words and sets of words are especially difficult to teach and to learn” (Lado, 1964: 129). The use of

  

in, on, at as prepositions of location may cause the students confused. Therefore,