1

CHAPTER I

INTRODUCTION

1.1 Background

People live in the era of communication. They fight, play, or may share their

thoughts, ideas, and opinions by using a language. Fromkin mentioned that someone

has to understand the language to prove that he or she is human being ( 1 Victoria

Fromkin et al. Introduction to Language Seventh Edition, (Thomson Wadsworth, 2002), p. 3.). The

language itself contains vocabulary. That is why vocabulary is one of the essential

languages components in studying of language. It is necessary because the words are

the basic building blocks of the language, the unit of meaning from which larger

structures such as sentences or paragraphs.

Therefore, having good vocabulary can make easier to understand the

meaning of the words and mastering vocabulary is the key to language learning. The

students who have good vocabulary will be easier to master the language skills well.

On the other hand, the students who have less vocabulary will get difficulty to

understand the text, to speak English, or to write down their idea. Furthermore, they

neither understand what others saying. In other words, this could also be the most

difficult factor of failing in language acquisition. Clearly, vocabulary is needed for

expressing meaning and conveying thought through both receptive and productive

skills.
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Nowadays, students in junior high school are expected to be able to use

English as a tool of communication which can be use in any context while in oral or

written text. Using a simple text to make the students easy to understand and use

English in any context should do by the teacher. It is stated in English Curriculum of

K13 (Kurikulum Tiga Belas) of Junior High School (2013:1)

Pengajaran bahasa Inggris berfokus pada peningkatan kompetensi siswa untuk

mampu menggunakan bahasa tersebut dalam mencapai tujuan komunikasi di

berbagai konteks, baik lisan maupun tulis. Salah satu pendekatan yang

berfokus pada peningkatan kompetensi siswa untuk menggunakan bahasa

yang dipelajarinya dalam berbagai tujuan komunikasi adalah pengajaran

berbasis teks. Pembelajaran ini adalah pembelajaran yang mengacu pada

fungsi bahasa dan penggunaannya, yang merupakan satu kesatuan makna baik

lisan maupun tulis.

Related to the statement above, vocabulary is essentially very important to

improve four language skills that are very useful in how to communicate and learning

English. The four of English skills are listening, speaking, reading and writing. By

having or knowing sufficient the stock of words, students will be easier to

communicate each other. It helps the students to choose what words that they are

going to use in English appropriately.

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In the paragraph above, the researcher focused on vocabulary because when

he made the preliminary observation in June at SMP Negeri 3 Palu, he discovered the

problem. The problem comes from students. In this school, most students have

vocabulary problems on vocabulary. They did not know how to spell, pronounce

words correctly, and lack vocabulary especially in nouns. It was proven by

information from the teacher and preliminary observation. For instance, when the

teacher starts the learning process by asking the material that had been taught, she

always gives the review to the students especially about vocabulary. For example:

Mention the objects in the classroom, they just silent and forget the words that

actually have been taught. Thus, based on the result of his preliminary observation,

the researcher tried to solve the problems and find a way that will be fun and

enjoyable to learn English for the students.

The way of teaching vocabulary to young learners is not the same as teaching

vocabulary to the adult learners. They have different motivation and characteristics. It

will be more difficult when the teacher cannot motivate the young learners

intensively. Through motivation from the teacher, it will help to improve the student’s

interesting to learn more about English, so their interest in learning will be same as

their interest in playing. Teaching English to the children, in this case junior high

school students should be different from teaching adults. Children are easily to get

boring and lose their interest in learning about something. That is why the researcher

uses an interesting media which makes the students find the motivation in learning
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English especially in vocabulary. It makes them enjoy and feel fun during the

teaching learning process.

The way to find out the best technique to teach young learners is the need for

intensive analysis, especially for the teachers. They should create the alternative way

to teach young learners in order to make them interested in what are they going to

learn and avoid boredom. The researcher thinks word clap game is an appropriate

media that can be used to improve the students’ vocabulary mastery because the

benefit of word clap game is not only to teach about vocabulary but also the student's

focus. Having understood that young learners pay attention and concentration in

learning process, it is better to provide something which is playful to them. Thus, in

this research, the researcher used word clap game to improve students' vocabulary

mastery of junior high school students at SMP Negeri 3 Palu.

Using word-clapping games as an alternative media for teaching young

students can be considered the best way to attract students. This is because this

technique has been applied by several teachers around the world. It makes researcher

interested in using the word clap in order to enrich and improve students' vocabulary

mastery. By using this media, students are expected to enjoy more, have fun and

easily to memorize words in the teaching and learning process.

1.2 Problem Statement

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Based on the background above, most of the students are lack of vocabulary.

The researcher formulates the research question as follow: Can the implementation of

word clap game improve the seventh grade students’ vocabulary mastery at SMP

Negeri 3 Palu?

1.3 Research Objective

Based on the formulation of the problem, the objective of this research is to

find out whether the implementation of word clap game media can improve the

seventh grade students’ vocabulary mastery at SMP Negeri 3 Palu or not.

1.4 Research Significance

The results of this research are expected to give useful information to the

students, teachers and other researchers. For the students, learning vocabulary by

using word clap game can motivate them in order to be more interested in learning

English especially vocabulary. For the teachers, the researcher expects that this

research can be the best reference of technique to teach vocabulary in the classroom.

For other researchers, the researcher expects that the result of this research can be

used as reference for those who want to conduct a similar research in teaching

English vocabulary.

1.5 Scope of the Research

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In conducting this research, the researcher focuses on the use of media which

is word clap game to improve students’ vocabulary mastery. It focuses particularly in

teaching part of speech specifically noun. It because closely relates to the students’

problem as the researcher found in preliminary observation. It is also related to the

media that will be used by the researcher.

1.6 Definition of Key Terms

To avoid misunderstanding and ambiguity of several terms in this research,

the researcher would like to clarify the following key terms:

1) Vocabulary is a group of words which have meanings used in

communications;
2) Mastery is concerned with the knowledge and skill that allow students to use

or to understand vocabulary very well;

3) Word clap is a game that uses claps and collaboration with other students.

They have to mention a word form a pre-selected lexical set (for example,

fruit and vegetable) or every fourth beat. This game is like the champion in

the class, someone who can mention more words than the other is the winner

(Thornburry; 2002: 102).

CHAPTER II

THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK
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2.1 Vocabulary Mastery

2.1.1 The Nature of Vocabulary and Mastery

Vocabulary refers to all of words in the whole language or the words or

phrases used in particular variety. Linse mentioned that vocabulary is the collection of

words that an individual knows. Vocabulary is also one of the components of

language which supports the speaker in communication. In other words, vocabulary

plays a very important role in developing the four language skills (listening, speaking,

reading, and writing). As mentioned by Cameron, in language teaching, a major

resource between the development of words, the meaning and the link will be covered

under vocabulary. In addition, Richards and Renandya stated that vocabulary is a core

component of language proficiency and provides much of the basis for how well

learners speak, listen, and write.

In learning English, students in junior school should learn a new vocabulary.

They have to master a language component in order to comprehend the information,

and able to speak and write in English. Vocabulary is also important to express idea or

to ask for certain important. If the learners have a lack of vocabulary, they will find

some difficulties in expressing ideas in oral or written. In addition, if the learners

have less vocabulary, they also cannot access the information or knowledge.

Moreover, without the words the learners cannot really understand facts or

ideas that the learners have met. Students at least must understand the meaning of the
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words, so they will get what is conveyed by the text or what is spoken by someone.

The more students have sufficient vocabulary; the better sentences they could create.

One should be able to master adequate vocabulary to convey their message. In line

with Schmitt that someone must consider the meant by vocabulary. It means that the

capacity of vocabulary plays an important part for language. Therefore, it can be

concluded that vocabulary not only contains list of words but also contains all

information about using word and it also contains meaning of words so that it will be

used by people to communicate to express their ideas.

From the definition above, the researcher concluded that vocabulary is one of

the most important language components that are used to communicate between

someone to another. No language exists without vocabularies and words are signs or

symbols for idea. The more words we learn; the more ideas we should have. It means

that without vocabulary we will be unable to use the language communicatively.

Mastery means natural or acquired facility in specific activity; ability, art,

command, craft, proficiency, skill, and technique. It can be said that mastery is

possession of skill, ability, and technique in conducting a certain activity. It can be

concluded that vocabulary mastery means an ability of students to use all the words

of language in conducting communication. It means that mastery is regarded as the

ability of students to implant the essence of the lesson given in a whole. Meanwhile,

vocabulary is all the words of language. In other words, vocabulary mastery means an

ability to use a number of words as means for making communication with others.
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2.1.2 Kinds of Vocabulary

Read in Assessing Vocabulary consists of two, namely, function and content

words, those are:

a. Function words. These words can be seen in grammatical aspects, such

as articles, prepositions, pronouns, conjunctions, auxiliaries, etc.

b. Content words. These words modify the meaning and provide links to

the sentences. The kinds of these words are noun, verb, adjective, and adverb.

The other important aspect in vocabulary is the meaning of the words. One

word has relation to other words. Thornburry categorizes such as follows:

a. Synonym

Synonyms are words that share a similar meaning. For example:

Smart = Intelligent

Beautiful = Pretty

Novel = New

b. Antonym

Antonyms are words with the opposite meaning. For example:

Young X Old

Big X Small

Black X White

c. Homonym
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Homonyms are words with the same spelling (called homographs) or

pronunciation (called homophones) but with a different meaning. For

example:

Hoarse X Horse

(sound) (animal)
Can (be X Can

able to) (container)

Thornburry also added on his book, the classification of words based on their

functional categories called part of speech; noun, adjective, verb, and adverb. They

may substitute for words in one of largest serve as signals for various patterns or

relate one group of words to another. The explanation such as follows:

a. Word Classes

The word plays different roles in a text. It is divided into eight different word

classes:

1) Nouns

Nouns are words which are used to denote a person, thing, or place. These are

all common nouns. There are also proper nouns which are the names of a

specific person, place, event etc. For example: Raymond, Ahmad, Jakarta,

and so on.

2) Pronouns

Pronouns are words that are used to replace a person or thing. For example:

he, she, it, they, we, I, you.

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3) Verbs

Verbs are words that are used to tell the reader or listener what is happening in

the sentences. For example: hit, read, think, run, and so on.

4) Adjectives

It is a word that used to explain or modify a person, place, or thing. An

adjective gives the reader or speaker extra information about a noun or

delimits in some way. For example: beautiful, small, handsome, tall, etc.

5) Adverbs

Adverbs are words that used to describe verb adjectives or adverbs. For

example: carefully, slowly, now, ago, and so on.

6) Preposition

It is a word that used with a noun or pronoun that are placed in front of them.

It shows a relation between these words with another part of the sentence. For

example: at, on, in, under, behind, opposite, beside

7) Conjunction

It is a word that used to connect word on a group of words or sentences.

Conjunctions are usually used in the adverbial clause. For example: for, but,

or, and, when, because if, although

8) Determiner

It a word likes ‘a’, ‘the’, ‘some’, ‘an’. It makes easier to understanding the

material in learning process.

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2.1.3 The Difficulties in Teaching Vocabulary

According to Thornburry, there are several factors causing second or foreign

language learners feel some words more difficult, those are: pronunciation, spelling,

length and complexity, meaning, and grammar.

a. Spelling

Spelling usually becomes the problem for second or foreign language learners.

In Indonesia, the spelling of English letters definitely opposite with Bahasa

Indonesia. It is also supported when the writer interviewed the English

teacher. Most of students especially in rural area had difficult to spell the

letters because of the effect of their mother tongue. Also sound-spelling

mismatches commonly caused of errors, either pronunciation or spelling.

b. Length and Complexity

The longer words seem to be more difficult for learners. Also variable of

stress, such as in the word families like: present, represent, representative, and

representatively, can add their difficulties.

c. Meaning

Some of words in English have multiple meaning so the learners may confuse

on how to apply in a certain context or the meaning itself. The learners

actually know the meaning but they did not know another meaning of that

word. For example, the words ‘make’ and ‘do’ in some sentences. ‘you make a

dinner’ and ‘you make an appointment’, but ‘you do the homework’ and ‘do

an interview’.
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d. Grammar

Indonesian speakers know that noun is following adjective, such as in the

phrase ‘mobil baru’ that influences when the speakers are translating the

English phrase, such as ‘yellow pants’ most of them translate it becomes

‘kuning celana’.

Another problem in grammar is the usage of verb + ing, to + infinitive, bare

infinitive, or irregular and regular verbs. Then, they also may confuse to

decide which one followed by usage of verb + ing, to + infinitive, bare

infinitive, or irregular and regular verbs.

2.1.4 Techniques in Presenting Vocabulary

In the classroom, some techniques can be used by teachers to teach

vocabulary. There are many ways of teaching vocabulary and presenting the meaning

of the new words such as:

a. Concise definition (as in dictionary, often super-ordinate with some

qualifications, for example, a bird is an animal which….)

b. Description (of appearance, qualities, etc)

c. Examples (hyponyms)

d. Illustration (picture, object)

e. Demonstration (acting, mime)

f. Context (story of sentences in which item occurs)

g. Synonyms
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h. Opposites (antonyms)

i. Translation

The other expert gave some ways for teacher who has spontaneous reaction in

the classroom when some students ask about vocabulary. It can be called unplanned

teaching strategies. It is little bit difficult to explain. According to Seal in Visnja,

there are three procedures for teacher or called the three C’s, those are:

a. Conveys the meaning

b. Checks the meaning by asking questions

c. Consolidates the meaning in learners’ memory by relating it to context or

personal experience.

2.2 Game

2.2.1 The Nature of Game

Game is an activity which is entertaining and engaging, often challenging, and

an activity in which the learners play and usually interact with others. Also, game is

an activity with rues, a goal and an element of fun. In classroom activity, learners

have some types of learning such as visual, audiovisual, kinesthetic, and audio.

Therefore, in teaching vocabulary, teachers can use some techniques to facilitate

students’ need in presenting vocabulary. These techniques are visual technique, verbal

techniques, and translation.

a. Visual
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The technique includes pictures, realia, drawing, mime, gesture, flash card. In

the classroom, teachers can use power point in order to make their vocabulary

presentation more interesting. It helps the teacher when he or she wants to explain the

material with it. This technique is useful for teaching concrete items of vocabulary

such as description, place, actions, etc.

b. Verbal

The technique includes the use of illustrative situation of synonym and

definition, contrast and opposite, or scale and example. This technique involves the

use of spoken or written language.

c. Translation

The technique commonly used by teacher to present a new vocabulary.

Teachers can use the dictionary, and e-translate in the classroom activity.

d. Kinesthetic

The teacher will show a preference for demonstrations and physical activity

involving bodily movement. The teacher usually use game like word clap game, this

game can also be included in visual technique.

As the writer experience and observation through several schools, game is

really useful when teaching in the classroom. It can be helpful for both teacher and

students. Students usually would be accepted the material with game easily and also

the teacher could make the effective teaching through game. Furthermore, students

usually more relaxed and enjoyed when they have to play with others students in the

classroom. They play together without bad feeling because the activity that they do
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make they feel free. In classroom activity, it was generally found some teachers uses

games for their teaching process not only in the school but also in course. So, the

term of game concluded by the researcher is an activity that has rules and make

people do with having fun and entertaining also sometimes makes the game became

challenging because the students have to compete each other.

In addition, games also have benefits for teaching and learning activity as

follows:

a. Games help and encourage many students to build their interest and work.

b. Games help the teacher to create contexts in which the language is useful

and meaningful.

c. Games provide one way of helping the learners to experience language

rather than merely study it.

In teaching and learning activity, game can be used for teacher to facilitate

their students in order to make the learning process easier. However, in choosing the

game, the teacher must be careful because teachers should consider students’ level of

learning. Some games may be difficult or boring for students so that for teaching

vocabulary at eighth grade students, teacher may use creative games such as Board

Game, Jeopardy, Bingo, Scrabble, Word Claps, Snake Words, etc. In this study, the

writer used Word Claps game as a technique in teaching vocabulary.

2.2.2 Principles of Game Selection

In determining the role of games in developing student’s vocabulary, the

teacher needs to have their purpose clearly in mind if the major purpose is to make
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learning English vocabulary effective and successful. According to Wright, it is

important to make sure that the game which is want to play is familiar with the

students to reduce the difficulties in conducting the games. It means that in using

game in the class, the English teacher not only responsible in selecting game that

want to use in the class but also in creating conditions in the class, in term

conditioning students and the material.

According to Houston, there are some principles of using games in the class:

a. Specify the purpose

The teacher should know what the purpose of the games that he or she plays

in the class.

b. Explain the rules clearly before begin

It is important to make sure the students understand how to play the games.

The purpose of the game cannot be reached if the students do not understand

how to play the game. It is fine if the teacher explains the rule in native’s

language.

c. Be prepared for the “extra student”

The teacher has to make sure all of the students join to the game.

d. Avoid drifting off during the game

When the game is playing, watch for the potential problems that can be

remained, if there is a student who is not understands the rules, stop the game and go

for the rules again.

e. Look for signs that students are getting tired

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If the students look tired, the teacher should stop the game before the students

lost their attention.

f. Choose games carefully to save money and time.

Try to use a game that can be prepared easily.

g. Find new sources

Try to use a new game that never be used before.

h. Recycle.

If there is an old game that success applied in the class before. It is fine to use

it again in another class.

i. Make a file

Make a file that consists of games. It can make the teacher easy if she/he

wants to use games in another time.

j. Don’t do overdo it

Game is joyful and interesting play in the class, but if it is too much, it can

waste the time and make another important thing do not have time to teach in

the class.

2.3 Word Clap Game

2.3.1 The Nature of Word Clap Game

Word clap game is a game that uses claps and collaboration with other

students. The kind of name of this game is Concentration 64. Brown stated that most
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students learn better by working with a classmate. Students stand or sit in a circle,

and, following the teacher’s lead, maintain clap their hands for three times and their

friend’s hand twice. One of the students has to mention the categories (for example,

things in the classroom, and so on) and the other students mention the kinds of

categories until sixty-four types of things. The students who can mention word than

other, he or she is the winner. The teacher has to prepare the theme that will be

applied in that game. The teacher’s role is that just monitor and resource center,

moving from group to group, listening, supplying any necessary language, but not

interrupting or correcting as this impedes fluency and spoils the atmosphere. In

addition, the teacher should carry paper and pen to note any persistent errors or area

of difficulty. These can be dealt with in a feedback session after the game.

2.3.2 Benefits of using Word Clap Game

In teaching vocabulary by using word clap game, there are several benefits

that the students’ can get, such as: the game can be used at any stage of lesson once

the target language has been introduced and explained. So, the teacher can apply it in

each level of school, whether they are formal education or non-formal education. This

game can help and encourage many learners to sustain their interest and work. It

means that is interesting for the students to develop their vocabulary acquisition.

Furthermore, this game is simple, easy to play and also cheap, because the teacher

does not have to prepare anything or buy some equipment related to the game. Just

clap the hands and mention the word.

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2.3.3 Procedures Teaching Vocabulary by Using Word Clap Game

Generally, at the first point, the teacher and students have to know the role and

the way how to use this game. To prepare this game, teacher does not need to prepare

such thing, just prepare the students and the theme. According to Thornburry there are

several steps of the game, there are:

1) Teacher prepares the theme.

2) Teacher leads the game.

3) Teacher explains the rule of playing this game.

4) Students stand or sit in a circle and follow teacher’s lead, maintain a four-

beat rhythm, clapping their hands on their thighs three times (one- two-

three...) and then both hands together (four!).

5) Students have to mention a word from a pre-selected lexical set (for

example, fruit and vegetable) or every fourth beat.

6) Students who either repeat the word already mentioned, or break the

rhythm or say nothing are out.

7) The game ends when there is only one student left as the winner.

2.4 Previous Related Studies

Based on the research entitled “The Effectiveness of Using Games to Improve

Students’ Vocabulary” (2014) by Riyana Muntika Saraswati, she wanted to find out

whether the use of games is effective to improve students’ understanding of noun. She
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used a quasi-experimental research consisting three classes of research. The subject

of the research was the tenth grade students of SMA Nusantara 1 Tangerang. The

writer only used test in order to collect the data and used cluster random sampling to

get the samples. The result of this research showed that there was an empirical

evidence that the use of the game as the teaching technique is effective and improve

the student’s vocabulary of noun. It can be seen from the scores of both experimental

classes was higher than the controlled class. The average post-test score for both

experimental classes were 72,1 and 72,4 while the controlled class was 68,2. So, the

writer was successful in doing the research because there was significant

improvement scores for both experimental classes than controlled class.

Wiji Lestari (2013) through her research entitled “Improving Students

Vocabulary Mastery Through Words Clap Game” (A Classroom Action Research of

the eighth grade Students of MTs SUNAN KALIJAGA, Kendal, Sampetan, Ampel,

Boyolali in the Academic Year of 2012/2013). This research aimed to describe the

procedure of words clap game on teaching vocabulary and to know the improvement

of students’ vocabulary mastery after teaching- learning vocabulary through words

clap game. She used the classroom action research as the design method and used

observation, test, and documentation as the instruments of the research. The subject

of the research was the eighth grade students of MTs Sunan Kalijaga which consist of

36 pupils. There was an improvement significantly shown from the students’ pre-test

and post-test. The mean score of pre-test in cycle I was 52,91 and cycle II was 57,08.

In addition, score of post-test in cycle I was 65 and cycle II was 70,97. Also the writer
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found that there was an improvement from the students’ activity or interest in learning

process in the class because the writer used field note as an observation to add more

information besides test that was given.

CHAPTER III

RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
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3.1 Time and Place of the Research

This research was conducted at SMPN 3 Palu which is located at Jl. Kemiri.

The research was carried out on June 25th up to August 1st. The selection of the

school as the research setting was based on the reason that the school was relatively

accessible, both administratively and in term of distance.

3.2 Research Method and Design

This study was guided by a qualitative approach with Classroom Action

Research (CAR) in particular. It was done by researcher to gather information about,

and improve the ways teachers’ teaching and students learning. This study is aimed to

improve the practice of education by studying issues or problem the teacher’s face in

the class and then reflect about these problems, collect and analyze the data and

implement changes based on their findings.

Arikunto stated that CAR is viewed as a device to improve the quality of

teaching and learning ability in the physical classroom. CAR also helps the teacher

through any methods, skills, and strategies through pair-teaching between the writer

and the teacher as collaborative study. Here, the teacher encouraged the writer by

giving some advice, opinion or suggestion to make the action in the class run well.

Meanwhile, Johnson explained that CAR is the process of studying a real school or

classroom situation to understand and improve the quality of actions or instructions.

It means that to begin CAR, the writer needs to identify any real problems which can
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be found in the classroom concerning students’ condition in teaching-learning

process.

The Classroom Action Research (CAR) procedure used in this research was

Kurt Lewin’s Design. It was used because Lewin’s design was more comprehensible

and understandable for the writer. However, later the writer would be developed the

design from Lewin. There are four phases in each cycle; planning, acting, observing,

and reflecting. The figure below represents the cycles of Kurt Lewin’s design.

Planning Acting

Cycle

Reflecting Observing

Figure 3.1

Kurt Lewin’s Classroom Action Research Design

Here is the following explanation about each phase:

1. Planning Phase

In this phase, after identifying and diagnosing students’ problems in vocabulary

mastery proven by interviewing the teacher, observing the class, and conducting

the test, some plans related to how solve the problems in the classroom were

made. The writer as English teacher makes lesson plan based on the issue in the
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classroom and to improve students’ vocabulary mastery by using word clap

game in order to make the students memorize some vocabulary and the

meaning more interesting. Then the form of lesson plan implemented to the

students in the class. Post-tests were also prepared in order to know whether

there were some improvements on the students’ score achievement from each

test.

2. Acting Phase

The writer gave the material to the students based on the lesson plan that has

been made. Besides, the writer and the teacher collaborates their ideas and

opinions to each other to carry out the planned action. The writer used word

clap game as the strategy in teaching vocabulary, and the teacher observed the

condition of class during teaching and learning process. Here, it began the

process of research problems that the writer found it, and also there were two

cycles in which each cycle consisted of three meetings in action.

3. Observing Phase

Observation toward implementation of the action was carried out by using

observation sheets. In this case, the writer asked for help from the English

teacher to be an observer in the class. The observer observes the students’

response, participation, achievement and everything which is found during the

teaching and learning process and also observes the teacher’s activity in the

class. In order to know the changes made by the implementation of the action

toward the subject of the research.

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4. Reflecting Phase

Both of the teacher and the observer has the evaluation aspect during the

process of teaching and learning students’ vocabulary mastery through word

clap game. In this step, the teacher has to understand the issue of teaching and

learning and the situation in the class that has been taught. After the data have

been collecting by observer and teacher, both of them will discuss the next step,

which is they have to analyze data first then identify the problems that still

happened in the class and how to improve it at the classroom. Moreover, if one

cycle had not yet met the requirements of what to achieve, then, the writer

should make the next plan to solve the students’ problem of their vocabulary

mastery.

The application of the design in the writers’ study could be seen in the
following figure.
Figure 3.2
The Study’s Design

Pre-Interview and Pre-Observation:

 Interviewing the English teacher for knowing more about

the subject of the study, teachers’ teaching technique and CYCLE 1
what problems the teacher faces in class
 Observing the teaching and learning process in the class
to clarify the problem

Planning:
Acting:
 Choosing the materials for applying the
technique
 Performing the lesson plan
 Design a lesson plan
by providing the materials
 Develop an evaluation form of a students using word clap games
(Pre-test)
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Observing
Reflecting
 Observe the acting process
 Evaluate the teaching and learning
process  Note all the observation process
through observation classroom
 Analyze the students’ achievement
checklist
 Identify the problem of the first cycle
 Post-test 1
 Discuss with the English teacher

Planning (Revised Plan)

Acting
 Revise the lesson plan
 Performing the revised lesson plan
 Re-select the material and topic
 Teaching and learning by word clap
 Develop the evaluation form for the game to improve students’ vocabulary
cycle 2 mastery

CYCLE 2
Observing

Reflecting  Observe students’ during the learning

process
 Evaluate and analyze students’ progress  Note all the observation process
 Discuss with the English Teacher through observation classroom
checklist
 Post-test 2

Post-Interview:

 Interviewing the English teacher for knowing

his/her opinion regarding to the word clap game
and vocabulary understanding for the students
 Interviewing several students for knowing their
feeling and whether any improvement of
vocabulary mastery or not after the implementing
word clap game in the classroom

3.3 Subject of the Research

The subject of the research was the students at the eighth grade of SMPN 3

Palu in academic year 2018/2019. There were ten classes from A class to J class. In
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this class, the writer chose VII E class as the subject of the research. There were 30

students which is consists of 15 male and 15 female students in the classroom. The

class was chosen based on the English teacher selection, among other classes, VII E

students had the lowest score in English and the researcher agreed to applying the

strategy in that class. Also, it was help them to improve and gain their vocabulary

scores.

3.4 Researcher’s Role in the Research

In this research, the role of the researcher was not only as the writer but also

the lesson planner. He is also being a teacher in the classroom. Besides those all, the

researcher has the important role as the test maker-collecting and analyzing. After all,

he is reporting the result of the study.

3.5 Technique of Collecting Data

In collecting data, the instruments that the researcher used are observation,

test, and interview. In addition, through observation, the teacher could observe

implicit the understanding and how the theory in use. Then, the interview used an

additional way in gaining deeper information. Then, the test it to measure the

students’ vocabulary score. Each technique of data collection is described below:

1. Observation
The researcher exchanged a role in the class because the teacher and the

observer was the English teacher. The researcher was arranged the rubric list
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for observation sheets about the process of teaching and learning vocabulary

through word clap game. The first aspect was class structure, what the teacher

does to prepare the students in learning new material, then the method used in

the class by the teacher and how is the way he or she delivers well-designed

materials to the students. Furthermore, teacher-student interaction was quite

important. It involves the students’ participation in the class or students’

attention during learning process. The last was the content. Does the teacher

appears knowledgeable or explain the concept clearly to the students.

2. Interview
The unstructured interview was done before and after implementing CAR in

order to deeply analyze the problems faced by the teachers and related to the

class situation, students’ achievement, and also students’ and teachers’ attitude

toward the teaching and learning process of vocabulary mastery. Ritchie and

Lewis stated that the features of unstructured interview are the flexible and

interactive nature. So, it makes the writer will deeply ask about the condition

in the class. Moreover, the writer is going to interview some students about

teaching-learning vocabulary after using games. After the interviewed

established, it was transcribed and then was given back to the respondents to

make the member-checking. It is a process in which the writer asked one or

more participants in the study to check the accuracy of the account. This was

done to avoid misinterpretation between the writer and respondents. The

questions in the interview were delivered in Bahasa Indonesia to make it

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easier to understand and to answer those questions for the participants. The

interview was recorded by using a voice recorder.

3. Test

Kind of test that the researcher wants to use is multiple choices. The test is

used to know the students’ vocabulary mastery before conducting the research

and after conducting the result. There are two kinds of test in this research,

namely pre-test and post-test. Pre-test is a test before the implementation of

this research. Meanwhile, post-test is a test which given after the

implementation of this research.

3.6 Technique of the Data Analysis

Bogdan as cited by Sugiyono stated that data analysis is a process of

systematically searching and arranging the interview transcripts, notes, and other

materials that this research accumulate to increase the understanding of all of them.

The analysis qualitative data used in this study is the observation of students’

activities during teaching-learning process and the interview before and after CAR.

Then, in analysis the quantitative data which is test, the writer took the average of

students’ vocabulary score in one cycle. It is used to measure how well students’

ability on vocabulary. It used the formula:

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To know the class percentage, the writer used the formula:

P : the class percentage

F : total percentage
N : number of students

After getting mean of students’ score per actions, the writer analyzed whether

there is any improvement of students’ vocabulary score from pre-test up to students’

average score in each cycle or not.

3.7. The Trustworthiness of Test

To analyze the examined test items, the writer uses the trustworthiness of test.

There are some ways including:

1. Test Validity

Validity is the component criteria for evaluating the test or as a measure of the

test. It could be about the representation of test toward the material that is being given

for the students. Milton added that validity addresses whether a test measures what it
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is supposed to measure and not something else. Before administering the pre-test, the

writer analyzes the validity and the reliability of pre-test instrument in order to find

out whether the test is valid or good to be used. According to Arikunto, information

will be valid if appropriate with the fact and the test will be valid if it can be measure

what it should be measure.

3.8 The Criterion of the Action Success

Classroom action research (CAR) is able to be called successful if it can fulfill

the criteria which have been determined, and fail if it cannot fulfill the criteria which

have been determined. In this study, the research will succeed when there is 75% of

students achieve the Minimal Mastery Criterion (KKM), gaining score 70 (seventy)

or above of vocabulary test started from pre-test up to the last cycle. If the criteria of

the action success reached, it means that the next action of the Classroom Action

Research would be stopped, but if the criteria have not been achieved yet, the

alternative action would be done in the next cycle.