MATERIALS DEVELOPMENT IN VOCABULARY AS BASE OF ENGLISH TEACHING IMPROVEMENT AT STATE JUNIOR HIGH SCHOOL 1 SEI KEPAYANG BARAT ASAHAN REGION.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
The most of all, the writer would like to express his gratitude to Allah
SWT, for everything that has been poured his health, ability, and safety up to the
last to the writer in completing his academic studies and this thesis.
Writing a thesis is the last academic assignment that ought to be done to
complete the study. The writer realized that many parties get involved to devote a
lot of contributions to the completing the thesis.
First, Prof. Dr. Busmin Gurning, M.Pd., being his first Adviser, a special
debt of gratitude for the fruitful ideas, attentions and suggestions, corrections, and
improvements to forming the contents of this thesis. He has been so kind and
warmest reception in many cases from beginning up to this special day.
Second, Prof. Hj. Tina Mariany Arifin, M.A., Ph.D., being the second
Adviser, should be addressed and thanked with deep appreciation because of
much of her valuable time have been given in terms of comments corrections and
suggestions for shaping the contents of this thesis. She always motivates and
encourages every student to be on time in fmishing the academic program. When
she held the post as Head of English Applied Linguistics Study Program.
Third, Prof. Dr. Busmin Gurning, M.Pd., and Prof. Dr. Lince Sihombing,
M.Pd., Head and Secretary English Applied Linguistics Study Program and also
unforgettable addressed and thanked to Farid, the administration staff for
completing the administrative procedures.
ii
Fourth, Prof. D.P. Tampubolon, Ph.D., Prof. Dr. Amrin Saragih, M.A.,
Ph.D., and Dr. Didik Santoso, M.Pd., the reviewers and examiners for the
valuable suggestions to be included in this thesis.
His deepest appreciations is undoubtedly poured to all lectures and tutors for
unconditionally transferring their valuable knowledge and experience through all
those efficacious lecture and tutorial classes. A very special expressions of
gratitude and sincere is addressed his beloved parents, Sontowirono (father) and
Sutinah (mother) for their full attention, support and endless love and his beloved
wife, Hamidah, his daughter, Noveliany and also his brother, Sugiharto, SE., and
family for their never ending loves, spirit, inseparable support and prayers. All of
his colleagues at State Junior High School I Sei Kepayang Barat, Drs. Suhardi
Afnan, The Head Master of State Junior High School I Sei Krepayang Barat who
allowed him to study and also allowed him to do the research at the school.
Finally, he would like to thank to everybody who was very important to the
successful realization of this thesis, as well as expressing his apology. to
everybody that couldn't personally mention one by one. May Allah SWT, The
Almighty be with us always.
Medan,
July20ll
The writer,
SUKIRNO
Registration Number: 082188330085
iii
ABSTRACT
Sukimo. Registration Number: 082188330085. Materials Development in
Vocabulary as a Base of English Teaching Improvement at State Junior High
School 1 Sei Kepayang Barat, Asahan Region. A Thesis. English Applied
Linguistics Study Program, Postgraduate School, State University of Medan.
2011
This research was conducted to improve English Teaching Materials. The research
focuses on the materials development in vocabulary for the junior high school
students, at State Junior high School 1 Sei Kepayang Barat, Asahan Region. It
begins with the observation, interview and questionnaires to the students and
teachers to fmd out the students' needs. It was conducted from the beginning of
September 2010 until the end of January 2011. The main objectives were to
improve English teaching and also to enhance the students' vocabulary mastery.
Based on the observation, questionnaires, and the analysis of syllabus, the existing
materials, and the students' needs, the students' needs teaching materials that help
them to improve vocabulary mastery. The majority of students' needs to learn
vocabulary that contains reading text. The students lack the ability in fmding out
main idea, specific information of the text and also vocabulary in expressing their
ideas, through writing and short conversation. From the students' answers, it is
clear that a new syllabus and materials development for students are necessary,
because the general English only covers grammatically needs of English but has
been far away from students' needs. With the Competencies-Based Curriculum
applied on the syllabus, students are expected to have competencies as in the
learning objectives as used in the whole activity of reading. The syllabus and
materials development are designed following steps: evaluating the syllabus and
objectives of teaching, evaluating the existing materials and analyzing the
recommendation of teachers, writing the draft of materials of reading, validating
the draft, and rewriting the draft.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Page
ABSTRACT ......................................................................................... .
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS.....................................................................
ii
TABLE OF CONTENTS.......................................................................
iv
LIST OF TABLES ................................................................................
viii
LIST OF FIGURES...............................................................................
ix
LIST OF APPENDICES........................................................................
X
CHAPTER I
INTRODUCTION
l.l The Background of the Study ................................. .
1.2 The Research Problems ...........................................
7
1.3 The Objectives ofthe Study ....................•...............
7
1.4 The Scope of the Study ...........................................
7
1.5 The Significance of the Study .................................
8
CHAPTER ll REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE
2.1 Vocabulary .. .......... .. .... ......... ... .. ....... .......................
9
2.l.l Word and its associative field..........................
t1
2.1.2 Lexical Fields or Semantic ... ................ ... .... .. .
1t
2.1.3 Word Families.................................................
11
2.1.4 Teaching Vocabulary......................................
12
iv
2.1.5 Teaching Vocabulary in context......................
14
2.1.6 Teaching Word Meaning.................................
16
2.2 Vocabulary Mastery.................................................
17
2.2.1 Synonymy .....................................................
18
2.2.2 Hyponymy .....................................................
18
2.2.3 Antonym .......................................................
19
2.2.4 Improvement of Vocabulary...........................
19
2.3 Word Fonnation ......................................................
20
2.4 Types ofVocabulary................................................
21
2.4.1 Fonnal Vocabulary.........................................
22
2.42 Conversational Vocabulary............................
22
2.5 Needs Analysis of Vocabulary ................................
22
2.6 Syllabus ................ .......................... ......... .. ..............
26
2. 7 Materials Evaluation .... .. ..... ........•.............. .. .. ... .. .....
29
2.8 Materials IJesign......................................................
30
2.9 Materials IJevelopment ............................................
32
2.10 Authentic Materials................................................
32
CHAPTER lll METHOD OF RESEARCH
3.1 The Research Design ...............................................
35
3.2 The Data and Data Source........................................
35
3.3 The Instrument of Data collection ...........................
35
3.4 The Steps in Developing Materials...........................
36
v
3.5 Trustworthiness ofthe Study.................................
37
3.5.1 Credibility.......................................................
38
3.5.2 Transferability.................................................
38
3.5.3 Dependability..................................................
39
3.5.4 Conformability ................................................
40
CHAPTER IV RESEARCH FINDINGS AND MATERIALS
DEVELOPMENT
4.1 Research Findings..................................................
41
4.2 Theoretical Model..................................................
42
4.3. The Students' Target Needs..................................
43
4.3.1 The Students' Lack oflnformation...............
45
4.3.2 The Students' Learning Needs......................
47
4.3.3 The Analysis of interview and the result of
thetest..........................................................
48
4.4 The Analysis of Existing Syllabus.........................
48
4.5 Syllabus.................................................................
51
4.5.1 The Materials Development..........................
51
CHAPTER V CONCLUSIONS AND SUGGESTIONS
5.1 Conclusions..........................................................
53
5.2 Suggestions...........................................................
54
5.2.1 Teachers.......................................................
54
vi
5.2.2 Institution .... ....... ................ .. ................... ....
54
5.2.3 Other Researcher.........................................
55
56
REFERENCES
59-106
APENDICES
vii
CHAPTER I
INTRODUCTION
1.1
The Background of the Study
Language which is composed of words and their arrangements in
meaningful units is like a transmitter, transmitting information from the speaker to
the listener or from the writer to the reader. To understand a language, we have to
invent the meaning of words as many as possible either in a sentence at least.
Therefore, it can be assumed that language is a systematic communication tool
that may transfer one's ideas or feelings through meaningful, sign, and sounds.
Because the definition of language refers to the expression of certain meanings, of
course it may not neglected that the role of words chosen. It plays an important
role as a means of understanding the meaning of words correctly. Moreover,
Wallace (1982: 9) argues that there is a sense in which learning a foreign language
is basically a matter of learning vocabulary in target language. Hence, vocabulary
is the basic aspect of language in the teaching learning activity. It means that it is
an important part of the language components like grammar, pronunciation,
spelling, etc.
Learning a second language or foreign language involves learning the
sound system, grammar, and vocabulary of that language. Vocabulary is the
amount of collection of words of a language that is basic to listen, speak, and
write in the language. Vocabulary is one of the important elements needed in
order to master a language because it is the stock of words in a given language. It
1
2
is used to comprehend the meaning of words so that the learners may understand a
text and construct the organized sentences well. Nation (1990)
states that
vocabulary is an essential element in studying English the same as grammar,
pronunciation, spelling, sructure, etc. Vocabulary is really needed to get learners
do their language tasks effectively.
In English teaching and learning process, vocabulary is considered as a
systematic and principle approach to enable students in mastering
English
(Nation: 1990: 1). There are very strong reasons to judge vocabulary as it. First,
because of the considerable source we have good information about what to do
about vocabulary and about what to focus on. This means that vocabulary work
can be directed toward useful words and can give learners practice in useful skills.
Second, there must be a good understanding of the way deals with vocabulary, the
principle behind it, and is theoretical and experimental justification. It is an
effective approach of getting learners to study list of words out of context to face
the implicit or explicit meaning of a word precisely. Third, vocabulary has a
systematic and principle approach in which both learners and teachers see
vocabulary as being important, if not the most important element in language
learning.
In Indonesia, English is taught as foreign language as stated in the 1994
National Curriculum. English is taught from the elementary level up to the
university level. The purpose of the learning English in Indonesian curriculum is
to enable the students in using English for communication. For achieving the
purpose, learners should learn English vocabulary as a means to express their
3
messages in communication. Vocabulary is one of the basic elements in achieving
language skills. It is impossible for the students to understand what their teacher
explain without using more vocabularies.
The main goal of vocabulary learning is to increase students' vocabulary
mastery in which second language learners are in the same school system as
native speakers in order to master the four language skills in listening, speaking,
reading, and writing (Nation: 1990:22}. In relation to the goal ofEnglish teaching
and learning processs in Educational Unit Level Curriculum, ( Kurikulum Tingkat
Satuan Pendidikan : KTSPl, students' English proficiency in mastering the four
language skills, particularly in reading skill. As Wassman (1993) defines that the
broadest vocabulary needed is in the reading and listening skills. It means that
vocabulary is used as the basic elements to grasp those skills because it influences
learners' ability to translate and construct a sentence to get the meaning of each
word in English correctly.
A research report from Department of Research and Development Board
of Education and Culture, Department of Republic of Indonesia (Badan Penelitian
dan Pengembangan, Departemen Pendidikan dan Kebudayaan Republik Indonesia
: Litbang Depdikbud RI) in 1993 concluded that Indonesian Junior High School
students' ability in reading were regarded low. The conclusion comes from the
data that 76.95 % students of Grade VIII Junior High School were unable to use
dictionaries. Thus, only 5 %who were able to use dictionaries (Sugiarto, 2001}.
The conclusion implies that the students had low ability in mastering vocabulary
in English.
4
As the matter of fact, that the students in Indonesia are lacking of their
own English vocabulary. Students usually have many problems in mastering
English words. They get limited vocabulary to comprehend the meaning of a text,
they can not recognize the meaning of each word, they are not able to hear the
correct English words from the speaker, they can not compose their writing task
succesfully, and they get difficulty to state some sentences in English. Those
problems cause them to face some difficulties in communicating receptively or
productively in English. Those students' problems occured because of some
reasons, they are :
I. Teachers tend to stress teaching mostly on grammatical rules, structures,
and answer the questions of a text. They do not realize that vocabulary
should be included to teach ftrst as the basic to understand English.
Teachers tend to focus on reading comprehension without teaching the
techniques or strategies on how to recognize English word. They reject to
teach the principles of vocabulary and its theoretical and experimental
justification.
2. The students should be interested in understanding the message, from the
point of view of vocbulary learning, this interest creates a need to
understand the unknown words in the message. This is the teachers'
responsibilities to create the text that interest students.
3. English teachers almost ignore the difficult words. In this case, they need to
give some attention to the unknown word appears in a reading passage and
5
give clearer explanation about it to help students to recognize the
unfamiliar word well.
4. Most Indonesian teachers as indicated by (Sugiarto :2001) teach English
vocabulary through translation. They translate a new word in English into
Indonesian and they ask their students to memorize the words without
regarding the actual vocabulary learning strategies employed by learners.
Moreover, The 2006 English Curriculum for Junior High School does not
cover the idea of teaching vocabulary effectively because it contains all the four
language skills in listening, reading, speaking, and writing. The problems occur
when reading becomes the main goal of teaching and learning processes; the
students are forced to know the meaning of the whole words in the text, but they
lack of vocabulary mastery. The curriculum also urges that the procedures of
presenting a standard competency is divided into four steps i.e. the building
knowledge of the field; the modeling of the text, the join construction of the text,
and free and independent construction of the text. It suggests these procedural
steps to guarantee the teaching learning process so that the students can achieve
the whole competences. However, the facts indicate that the English teaching in
Indonesia has not been satisfactory. A survey conducted by the Department of
Education and Culture of the Republic of Indonesia (Departemen Pendidikan dan
Kebudayaan: Depdikbud, 1990) reported that teachers (95,4% of state and 91,9
% of private school ) admitted that the English instruction was unsuccessful.
The problems were also found by the researcher as a teacher of English in
State Junior High School I: Sekolah Menengah Pertama Negeri (SMP N) 1, Sei
6
Kepayang Barat, Asahan Region. Through his observation there were still many
students faced difficulties in comprehending the reading text and express their
ideas through writing. This problem was also faced by the students in Grade IX.
The researcher can see the fact through the students' ability in speaking, writing,
and the results of the test. For the last three years the score of English in National
Examination (Ujian Nasional : !lli) at SMP N 1 Sei Kepayang Barat are still
unsatisfactory, through the researcher observation and interview, the students face
some problems in comprehending the reading text and the test consist of 80 %
reading text that needs enough vocabulary to comprehend the reading text. Due
to these problems, there should be an attempt to develop the teaching materials for
Junior High School especially in terms of vocabulary that is in line with the needs
of Junior High School students.
Realizing the fact happens in the field that students who learn English in
Indonesia face some difficulties in establishing and increasing their own English
vocabulary, there are some previous researchers that have already done the
discussion about vocabulary, however the writer realizes
that the students'
problem in vocabulary mastery is caused by many reasons, one of them is
concerned with the teaching materials. Realizing the fact happened in the field
that the students face some difficulties in increasing their vocabulary, the writer
tend to develop teaching materials based on the students' needs, that are suitable
to their environment.
7
1.2
The Research Problems
In relation to the background of the study that has been presented
previously, the problems are formulated as follows:
1. How is the teaching materials in terms of vocabulary appropriate with the
Junior High School students' needs?
2.
What vocabulary materials should be used by the English teachers of State
Junior High School 1 Sei Kepayang Barat, Asahan Region to meet the
students' needs?
1.3
The Objectives of the Study
The objectives of the study
are to answer the research questions,
especially in line with the development of teaching materials i.e vocabulary in
order to improve English Teaching in Junior High School especially in SMP N I
Sei Kepayang Barat, Asahan Region. The main objectives of this study are :
I.
To match the teaching materials in terms of vocabulary appropriate with
the Junior High School Students' needs.
2. To find out what vocabulary materials are used by the English teachers of
State Junior High School 1 Sei Kepayang Barat, Asahan Region, in teaching
vocabulary to meet the students' needs.
1.4
The Scope ofthe Study
In line with the background of the study in the previous discussion, there
are some efforts in the development teaching materials, especially in terms of
8
vocabulary to develop English teaching in Junior High School.
This study focuses on The Materials Development in Vocabulary for Junior
High School students. The developement teaching materials are to improve
English teaching that focused on the grade VIII Students at SMP N I Sei
Kepayang Barat, located in Asahan Region. The school is choosen because the
researcher is an English Teacher at that school, where the researcher can easily
conduct his preliminary study by observing and interviewing some of his students.
1.5
The Significance of the Study
The findings of the study is expected to be relevant and useful for the
students and the teachers of English theoretically and practically.
Theoretically, this study will contribute some advantages for theoretical
knowledge to develop teaching materials in vocabulary especially for the Junior
High School students as well as for the teachers, and the base for further research
in conducting a research that is related to the improvement of teaching materials
in vocabulary.
Practically, the results of the study are expected provide some valuable
information for english foreign learners in overcoming their problems and
difficulties in establishing and increasing their vocabulary. Meanwhile, this study
will provide some information for the English teachers in order to decide and
choose the best method in teaching English to develop students' ability in
increasing the vocabulary mastery.
The most of all, the writer would like to express his gratitude to Allah
SWT, for everything that has been poured his health, ability, and safety up to the
last to the writer in completing his academic studies and this thesis.
Writing a thesis is the last academic assignment that ought to be done to
complete the study. The writer realized that many parties get involved to devote a
lot of contributions to the completing the thesis.
First, Prof. Dr. Busmin Gurning, M.Pd., being his first Adviser, a special
debt of gratitude for the fruitful ideas, attentions and suggestions, corrections, and
improvements to forming the contents of this thesis. He has been so kind and
warmest reception in many cases from beginning up to this special day.
Second, Prof. Hj. Tina Mariany Arifin, M.A., Ph.D., being the second
Adviser, should be addressed and thanked with deep appreciation because of
much of her valuable time have been given in terms of comments corrections and
suggestions for shaping the contents of this thesis. She always motivates and
encourages every student to be on time in fmishing the academic program. When
she held the post as Head of English Applied Linguistics Study Program.
Third, Prof. Dr. Busmin Gurning, M.Pd., and Prof. Dr. Lince Sihombing,
M.Pd., Head and Secretary English Applied Linguistics Study Program and also
unforgettable addressed and thanked to Farid, the administration staff for
completing the administrative procedures.
ii
Fourth, Prof. D.P. Tampubolon, Ph.D., Prof. Dr. Amrin Saragih, M.A.,
Ph.D., and Dr. Didik Santoso, M.Pd., the reviewers and examiners for the
valuable suggestions to be included in this thesis.
His deepest appreciations is undoubtedly poured to all lectures and tutors for
unconditionally transferring their valuable knowledge and experience through all
those efficacious lecture and tutorial classes. A very special expressions of
gratitude and sincere is addressed his beloved parents, Sontowirono (father) and
Sutinah (mother) for their full attention, support and endless love and his beloved
wife, Hamidah, his daughter, Noveliany and also his brother, Sugiharto, SE., and
family for their never ending loves, spirit, inseparable support and prayers. All of
his colleagues at State Junior High School I Sei Kepayang Barat, Drs. Suhardi
Afnan, The Head Master of State Junior High School I Sei Krepayang Barat who
allowed him to study and also allowed him to do the research at the school.
Finally, he would like to thank to everybody who was very important to the
successful realization of this thesis, as well as expressing his apology. to
everybody that couldn't personally mention one by one. May Allah SWT, The
Almighty be with us always.
Medan,
July20ll
The writer,
SUKIRNO
Registration Number: 082188330085
iii
ABSTRACT
Sukimo. Registration Number: 082188330085. Materials Development in
Vocabulary as a Base of English Teaching Improvement at State Junior High
School 1 Sei Kepayang Barat, Asahan Region. A Thesis. English Applied
Linguistics Study Program, Postgraduate School, State University of Medan.
2011
This research was conducted to improve English Teaching Materials. The research
focuses on the materials development in vocabulary for the junior high school
students, at State Junior high School 1 Sei Kepayang Barat, Asahan Region. It
begins with the observation, interview and questionnaires to the students and
teachers to fmd out the students' needs. It was conducted from the beginning of
September 2010 until the end of January 2011. The main objectives were to
improve English teaching and also to enhance the students' vocabulary mastery.
Based on the observation, questionnaires, and the analysis of syllabus, the existing
materials, and the students' needs, the students' needs teaching materials that help
them to improve vocabulary mastery. The majority of students' needs to learn
vocabulary that contains reading text. The students lack the ability in fmding out
main idea, specific information of the text and also vocabulary in expressing their
ideas, through writing and short conversation. From the students' answers, it is
clear that a new syllabus and materials development for students are necessary,
because the general English only covers grammatically needs of English but has
been far away from students' needs. With the Competencies-Based Curriculum
applied on the syllabus, students are expected to have competencies as in the
learning objectives as used in the whole activity of reading. The syllabus and
materials development are designed following steps: evaluating the syllabus and
objectives of teaching, evaluating the existing materials and analyzing the
recommendation of teachers, writing the draft of materials of reading, validating
the draft, and rewriting the draft.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Page
ABSTRACT ......................................................................................... .
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS.....................................................................
ii
TABLE OF CONTENTS.......................................................................
iv
LIST OF TABLES ................................................................................
viii
LIST OF FIGURES...............................................................................
ix
LIST OF APPENDICES........................................................................
X
CHAPTER I
INTRODUCTION
l.l The Background of the Study ................................. .
1.2 The Research Problems ...........................................
7
1.3 The Objectives ofthe Study ....................•...............
7
1.4 The Scope of the Study ...........................................
7
1.5 The Significance of the Study .................................
8
CHAPTER ll REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE
2.1 Vocabulary .. .......... .. .... ......... ... .. ....... .......................
9
2.l.l Word and its associative field..........................
t1
2.1.2 Lexical Fields or Semantic ... ................ ... .... .. .
1t
2.1.3 Word Families.................................................
11
2.1.4 Teaching Vocabulary......................................
12
iv
2.1.5 Teaching Vocabulary in context......................
14
2.1.6 Teaching Word Meaning.................................
16
2.2 Vocabulary Mastery.................................................
17
2.2.1 Synonymy .....................................................
18
2.2.2 Hyponymy .....................................................
18
2.2.3 Antonym .......................................................
19
2.2.4 Improvement of Vocabulary...........................
19
2.3 Word Fonnation ......................................................
20
2.4 Types ofVocabulary................................................
21
2.4.1 Fonnal Vocabulary.........................................
22
2.42 Conversational Vocabulary............................
22
2.5 Needs Analysis of Vocabulary ................................
22
2.6 Syllabus ................ .......................... ......... .. ..............
26
2. 7 Materials Evaluation .... .. ..... ........•.............. .. .. ... .. .....
29
2.8 Materials IJesign......................................................
30
2.9 Materials IJevelopment ............................................
32
2.10 Authentic Materials................................................
32
CHAPTER lll METHOD OF RESEARCH
3.1 The Research Design ...............................................
35
3.2 The Data and Data Source........................................
35
3.3 The Instrument of Data collection ...........................
35
3.4 The Steps in Developing Materials...........................
36
v
3.5 Trustworthiness ofthe Study.................................
37
3.5.1 Credibility.......................................................
38
3.5.2 Transferability.................................................
38
3.5.3 Dependability..................................................
39
3.5.4 Conformability ................................................
40
CHAPTER IV RESEARCH FINDINGS AND MATERIALS
DEVELOPMENT
4.1 Research Findings..................................................
41
4.2 Theoretical Model..................................................
42
4.3. The Students' Target Needs..................................
43
4.3.1 The Students' Lack oflnformation...............
45
4.3.2 The Students' Learning Needs......................
47
4.3.3 The Analysis of interview and the result of
thetest..........................................................
48
4.4 The Analysis of Existing Syllabus.........................
48
4.5 Syllabus.................................................................
51
4.5.1 The Materials Development..........................
51
CHAPTER V CONCLUSIONS AND SUGGESTIONS
5.1 Conclusions..........................................................
53
5.2 Suggestions...........................................................
54
5.2.1 Teachers.......................................................
54
vi
5.2.2 Institution .... ....... ................ .. ................... ....
54
5.2.3 Other Researcher.........................................
55
56
REFERENCES
59-106
APENDICES
vii
CHAPTER I
INTRODUCTION
1.1
The Background of the Study
Language which is composed of words and their arrangements in
meaningful units is like a transmitter, transmitting information from the speaker to
the listener or from the writer to the reader. To understand a language, we have to
invent the meaning of words as many as possible either in a sentence at least.
Therefore, it can be assumed that language is a systematic communication tool
that may transfer one's ideas or feelings through meaningful, sign, and sounds.
Because the definition of language refers to the expression of certain meanings, of
course it may not neglected that the role of words chosen. It plays an important
role as a means of understanding the meaning of words correctly. Moreover,
Wallace (1982: 9) argues that there is a sense in which learning a foreign language
is basically a matter of learning vocabulary in target language. Hence, vocabulary
is the basic aspect of language in the teaching learning activity. It means that it is
an important part of the language components like grammar, pronunciation,
spelling, etc.
Learning a second language or foreign language involves learning the
sound system, grammar, and vocabulary of that language. Vocabulary is the
amount of collection of words of a language that is basic to listen, speak, and
write in the language. Vocabulary is one of the important elements needed in
order to master a language because it is the stock of words in a given language. It
1
2
is used to comprehend the meaning of words so that the learners may understand a
text and construct the organized sentences well. Nation (1990)
states that
vocabulary is an essential element in studying English the same as grammar,
pronunciation, spelling, sructure, etc. Vocabulary is really needed to get learners
do their language tasks effectively.
In English teaching and learning process, vocabulary is considered as a
systematic and principle approach to enable students in mastering
English
(Nation: 1990: 1). There are very strong reasons to judge vocabulary as it. First,
because of the considerable source we have good information about what to do
about vocabulary and about what to focus on. This means that vocabulary work
can be directed toward useful words and can give learners practice in useful skills.
Second, there must be a good understanding of the way deals with vocabulary, the
principle behind it, and is theoretical and experimental justification. It is an
effective approach of getting learners to study list of words out of context to face
the implicit or explicit meaning of a word precisely. Third, vocabulary has a
systematic and principle approach in which both learners and teachers see
vocabulary as being important, if not the most important element in language
learning.
In Indonesia, English is taught as foreign language as stated in the 1994
National Curriculum. English is taught from the elementary level up to the
university level. The purpose of the learning English in Indonesian curriculum is
to enable the students in using English for communication. For achieving the
purpose, learners should learn English vocabulary as a means to express their
3
messages in communication. Vocabulary is one of the basic elements in achieving
language skills. It is impossible for the students to understand what their teacher
explain without using more vocabularies.
The main goal of vocabulary learning is to increase students' vocabulary
mastery in which second language learners are in the same school system as
native speakers in order to master the four language skills in listening, speaking,
reading, and writing (Nation: 1990:22}. In relation to the goal ofEnglish teaching
and learning processs in Educational Unit Level Curriculum, ( Kurikulum Tingkat
Satuan Pendidikan : KTSPl, students' English proficiency in mastering the four
language skills, particularly in reading skill. As Wassman (1993) defines that the
broadest vocabulary needed is in the reading and listening skills. It means that
vocabulary is used as the basic elements to grasp those skills because it influences
learners' ability to translate and construct a sentence to get the meaning of each
word in English correctly.
A research report from Department of Research and Development Board
of Education and Culture, Department of Republic of Indonesia (Badan Penelitian
dan Pengembangan, Departemen Pendidikan dan Kebudayaan Republik Indonesia
: Litbang Depdikbud RI) in 1993 concluded that Indonesian Junior High School
students' ability in reading were regarded low. The conclusion comes from the
data that 76.95 % students of Grade VIII Junior High School were unable to use
dictionaries. Thus, only 5 %who were able to use dictionaries (Sugiarto, 2001}.
The conclusion implies that the students had low ability in mastering vocabulary
in English.
4
As the matter of fact, that the students in Indonesia are lacking of their
own English vocabulary. Students usually have many problems in mastering
English words. They get limited vocabulary to comprehend the meaning of a text,
they can not recognize the meaning of each word, they are not able to hear the
correct English words from the speaker, they can not compose their writing task
succesfully, and they get difficulty to state some sentences in English. Those
problems cause them to face some difficulties in communicating receptively or
productively in English. Those students' problems occured because of some
reasons, they are :
I. Teachers tend to stress teaching mostly on grammatical rules, structures,
and answer the questions of a text. They do not realize that vocabulary
should be included to teach ftrst as the basic to understand English.
Teachers tend to focus on reading comprehension without teaching the
techniques or strategies on how to recognize English word. They reject to
teach the principles of vocabulary and its theoretical and experimental
justification.
2. The students should be interested in understanding the message, from the
point of view of vocbulary learning, this interest creates a need to
understand the unknown words in the message. This is the teachers'
responsibilities to create the text that interest students.
3. English teachers almost ignore the difficult words. In this case, they need to
give some attention to the unknown word appears in a reading passage and
5
give clearer explanation about it to help students to recognize the
unfamiliar word well.
4. Most Indonesian teachers as indicated by (Sugiarto :2001) teach English
vocabulary through translation. They translate a new word in English into
Indonesian and they ask their students to memorize the words without
regarding the actual vocabulary learning strategies employed by learners.
Moreover, The 2006 English Curriculum for Junior High School does not
cover the idea of teaching vocabulary effectively because it contains all the four
language skills in listening, reading, speaking, and writing. The problems occur
when reading becomes the main goal of teaching and learning processes; the
students are forced to know the meaning of the whole words in the text, but they
lack of vocabulary mastery. The curriculum also urges that the procedures of
presenting a standard competency is divided into four steps i.e. the building
knowledge of the field; the modeling of the text, the join construction of the text,
and free and independent construction of the text. It suggests these procedural
steps to guarantee the teaching learning process so that the students can achieve
the whole competences. However, the facts indicate that the English teaching in
Indonesia has not been satisfactory. A survey conducted by the Department of
Education and Culture of the Republic of Indonesia (Departemen Pendidikan dan
Kebudayaan: Depdikbud, 1990) reported that teachers (95,4% of state and 91,9
% of private school ) admitted that the English instruction was unsuccessful.
The problems were also found by the researcher as a teacher of English in
State Junior High School I: Sekolah Menengah Pertama Negeri (SMP N) 1, Sei
6
Kepayang Barat, Asahan Region. Through his observation there were still many
students faced difficulties in comprehending the reading text and express their
ideas through writing. This problem was also faced by the students in Grade IX.
The researcher can see the fact through the students' ability in speaking, writing,
and the results of the test. For the last three years the score of English in National
Examination (Ujian Nasional : !lli) at SMP N 1 Sei Kepayang Barat are still
unsatisfactory, through the researcher observation and interview, the students face
some problems in comprehending the reading text and the test consist of 80 %
reading text that needs enough vocabulary to comprehend the reading text. Due
to these problems, there should be an attempt to develop the teaching materials for
Junior High School especially in terms of vocabulary that is in line with the needs
of Junior High School students.
Realizing the fact happens in the field that students who learn English in
Indonesia face some difficulties in establishing and increasing their own English
vocabulary, there are some previous researchers that have already done the
discussion about vocabulary, however the writer realizes
that the students'
problem in vocabulary mastery is caused by many reasons, one of them is
concerned with the teaching materials. Realizing the fact happened in the field
that the students face some difficulties in increasing their vocabulary, the writer
tend to develop teaching materials based on the students' needs, that are suitable
to their environment.
7
1.2
The Research Problems
In relation to the background of the study that has been presented
previously, the problems are formulated as follows:
1. How is the teaching materials in terms of vocabulary appropriate with the
Junior High School students' needs?
2.
What vocabulary materials should be used by the English teachers of State
Junior High School 1 Sei Kepayang Barat, Asahan Region to meet the
students' needs?
1.3
The Objectives of the Study
The objectives of the study
are to answer the research questions,
especially in line with the development of teaching materials i.e vocabulary in
order to improve English Teaching in Junior High School especially in SMP N I
Sei Kepayang Barat, Asahan Region. The main objectives of this study are :
I.
To match the teaching materials in terms of vocabulary appropriate with
the Junior High School Students' needs.
2. To find out what vocabulary materials are used by the English teachers of
State Junior High School 1 Sei Kepayang Barat, Asahan Region, in teaching
vocabulary to meet the students' needs.
1.4
The Scope ofthe Study
In line with the background of the study in the previous discussion, there
are some efforts in the development teaching materials, especially in terms of
8
vocabulary to develop English teaching in Junior High School.
This study focuses on The Materials Development in Vocabulary for Junior
High School students. The developement teaching materials are to improve
English teaching that focused on the grade VIII Students at SMP N I Sei
Kepayang Barat, located in Asahan Region. The school is choosen because the
researcher is an English Teacher at that school, where the researcher can easily
conduct his preliminary study by observing and interviewing some of his students.
1.5
The Significance of the Study
The findings of the study is expected to be relevant and useful for the
students and the teachers of English theoretically and practically.
Theoretically, this study will contribute some advantages for theoretical
knowledge to develop teaching materials in vocabulary especially for the Junior
High School students as well as for the teachers, and the base for further research
in conducting a research that is related to the improvement of teaching materials
in vocabulary.
Practically, the results of the study are expected provide some valuable
information for english foreign learners in overcoming their problems and
difficulties in establishing and increasing their vocabulary. Meanwhile, this study
will provide some information for the English teachers in order to decide and
choose the best method in teaching English to develop students' ability in
increasing the vocabulary mastery.