PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI

CHAPTER I

INTRODUCTION

This chapter introduces four main parts of the study. Firstly, research

background elaborates the reasons why the study is conducted. Secondly, research

questions which contain two questions. Thirdly, research significance which

identifies the contribution of the study. The last is definition of terms that defines

key words or phrases specifically used in the study.

A. Research Background

Communication is one of the activities in life. According to Charles W.

Keidler (1999), language is a system of symbols through which people

communicate. The symbols may be spoken, written, or signed with the hand.

Communication is used to deliver our ideas, thoughts, and emotions to those

around us. People will communicate using a lot of vocabulary that they have

learned. Vocabulary will help the students to communicate and deliver some

information to others. Therefore, the students need to choose the correct diction,

word or vocabulary.

In Indonesia, English is a foreign language which is taught in the schools

since English has become an international language. It is also used by most

communities in the world. People have known that they use spoken and written

words every single day to communicate with others. Since that vocabulary

becomes the basic competence in learning English before the four skills and it is

1
 PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI

an important element in teaching English. Moreover, the teacher and students will

get the same thought by using appropriate and correct vocabulary.

Hatch and Brown (1995) state that vocabulary is the foundation to build

language which plays a fundamental role in communication. In the other words

vocabulary is very important in languange building and is the main priority in

learning English. People can express their ideas and understand the other basic

competence well by mastering vocabulary. Beginner students of Junior High

School will study basic English to learn about simple words or things in their

surroundings. Thus it is expected that students are able to understand simple

English used in daily context through mastering vocabulary first.

Since vocabulary mastery has always been an important part of English as

a foreign language, the teachers need to pay attention seriously in teaching

vocabulary, especially to the beginner students. The researcher chose a school in

Yogyakarta which was SMP Maria Immaculata. This school is located in Brigjen

Katamso Street No. 4 Yogyakarta and it is a school under the auspices of

Marsudirini Foundation. In its development, a lot of citizens entrust their

children’s education to SMP Maria Immaculata Yogyakarta therefore, in 1993

this school added 6 local paralel classrooms. On 25 February 2005, this school

obtained the first accreditation which had score A. Then, in the second

accreditation, the school also obtained the A score. In 2013, SMP Maria

Immaculata carried out the process of accreditation again and the result was A.

The character education at SMP Maria Immaculata is a value education

and moral education that aims to develop the learners’ ability to give good
 PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI

decisions in accordance to the God’s will. Character education is the process of

formation of attitudes and behaviors that are latently resolved and automated

through the process of repetitive learning.. SMP Maria Immaculata Yogyakarta

implemented a program of character building from a young age. So it can play an

active role both in the classroom, school, family, and in the community. In this

process the students will grow in terms of: self-discovery, discipline, cooperation,

responsibility, humility, and commitmen. This school also taught about life skill

to help the students face their problem of life and life naturally without feeling

pressured, independently, pro-actively, and creatively to find the solution of life

problems.

The students of SMP Maria Immaculata Yogyakarta come from various

economic status, most of them are from the middle to lower class. It can be

proven by a lot of parents come to school to ask a dispensation of school’s

payment or SPP even though the government has helped them with BOS and also

cross-subsidized that can help each other. This case happens when the mid-term

test and final test will be implemented. Therefore, each school needs an

appropriate educational curriculum to the characteristics of the school and the

daily life experiences of the students. The curriculum must contain of diversity so

that it can produce relevant graduates.

Based on the researcher’s teaching experience, the problems that always

occur when teaching English in a seventh grade student of SMP Maria

Immaculata is the students’ vocabulary which is low. The students will be

confused when they heard the new words. Moreover, most of the students have
 PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI

many difficulties to master the vocabulary, especially in understanding the

meaning of the words, pronouncing the words, and sometimes spelling the words.

Teaching in an interesting way is one of the teacher’s techniques to make

the student understand more easily. Nowadays, media are growing and become

modern. A traditional medium may not be found anymore because it is replaced

with digital medium. However, digital medium will reduce students' attention to

the teachers because they will depend on the digital medium and they will learn

independently. The teachers can use some media to teach vocabulary, for example

video, music, flashcards, and others. Therefore the researcher chooses a traditional

medium in the form of flashcards to help students in learning vocabulary.

According to Cross (1991), flashcard is a simple picture on a piece of card

or paper, which is probably the most widely used visual aids in language teaching.

It means that flashcard is one of media, which consist of a picture that can help

the teachers teach English easily. In addition, flashcards are very simple but very

effective for an individual to study a particular topic. Using flashcards to teach the

students vocabulary is also interesting because the teachers can show the picture

which helps the students understand the meaning of each picture. This study

focuses on flashcards as media in teaching vocabulary. The researcher conducts a

class action research to improve students’ understanding of vocabulary for the

seventh grade students of SMP Maria Immaculata Yogyakarta using flashcards.

 PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI

B. Research Questions

The focus of this study is figure out the students’ improvement in

understanding vocabulary using flashcards. Based on the background, the research

questions of the study are:

1. How are flashcards used in improving the vocabulary of seventh grade

students of SMP Maria Immaculata Yogyakarta?

2. To what extent do flashcards improve the vocabulary of the seventh grade

students of SMP Maria Immaculata Yogyakarta?

C. Research Significance

This study gives three significant values. The first significant value is for

the students of SMP Maria Immaculata Yogyakarta. The second significant value

is for the seven grade teacher in SMP Maria Immaculata Yogyakarta. The last

significant value is for the future researchers.

1. For the students of SMP Maria Immaculata Yogyakarta.

This research can be used as new strategy to improve students’

understanding in vocabulary using flashcards. They were not bored

with the learning process and they can learn English well.

2. For the seven grade teacher in SMP Maria Immaculata Yogyakarta.

This research can help the teacher improve students’ vocabulary easily

using flashcards. Moreover, flashcards are one of the best media to

teach vocabulary for beginners and it is an interesting media for the

teacher.
 PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI

3. For future researchers.

This research can be used as the reference for future researchers who

are interested in using flashcards to improve the students’ vocabulary.

D. Definition of Term

There are several terms the writer uses in this study. The definitions of

terms are as follows:

1. Flashcards

In this study, flashcards refer to a simple picture on a piece of card or

paper, which are probably the most widely used visual aids in language

teaching. (Cross, 1991, p.119)

2. Vocabulary

In this study, vocabulary refers to a list or set of words for a particular

language or a list or set of words that individual speaker of a language might

use (Hatch & Brown, 1995, p.1)