The Effectiveness of Using Audio-Lingual Method to Improve Vocabulary

Acquisition of Students in Nine Grade of Smp 3 Banda Aceh

Chapter 1: INTRODUCTION

1.1 Background of study

English has become a tool for communication in the new era of

globalization and information technology. In some countries, people use English

for tourism, education and international affairs. (Broughton, 1997). The use of

songs is not something new in teaching milieu. The tone of music or songs is

often used in the process of study, especially when the students do the

assignment (Levy, 2000; DePoter, 1999; Schmid 1999 and Dryden, 2000) in

Puasa (2008:5). Some songs are able to convince and stimulate the brain work

in study. Furthermore, in the teaching foreign language or English, songs can

be beneficial in the teaching of skills as well as language aspects (Lems, 2001;

Puasa, 2003). The teaching using songs is actually very fun because of the

suggestions of music’s and songs can bring the students into the rest, relax

and free from under pressure environments. Sumardi (1992) in Puasa

(2008:5) notes that the rest, relax and free from under pressure.

As we know, people are naturally interested in their progress when they

are studying a foreign language. Teachers are likewise interested in their

students’ improvement. So that’s why teacher need to use suitable method in

teaching process. Because of the factor elements in learning a foreign

language is mastering the second language’s vocabulary; it is probably safe to

assume that there has been interest in testing vocabulary from the earliest times

in which foreign languages were formally studied (Schmit 2010).

One of the efforts to improve the students’ vocabulary acquisition in

learning English is by using an effective, interesting and enjoyable teaching

medium for students such as Audio-Lingual Method. The use of Audio-Lingual

Method as medium to learn vocabulary through the right method is one of the

ways to improve students’ vocabulary acquisition. The method suits the

medium will be audio lingual method for sure. The audio-lingual method is a

teacher-dominated method. This might lead to a faster learning. The learner has a

little control over what is being taught. It is expected that English songs as the

medium to learn vocabulary can help the students increase their vocabulary

better and faster. The problem of this research is formulated as follows: are

there any effectiveness of using Audio Lingual Method to improve vocabulary

acquisition of students in nineth grade of Smp 3 Banda Aceh?

1.2 Research questions

1. Are Audio-Lingual Method effective in improving students’ vocabulary

acquisition?

2. To what extent is the use of using Audio-Lingual Method toward students’

point of view?

1.3 Research objectives

This present study addressed two research objectives as follows:

 1. To study the effectiveness of Audio-Lingual Method on vocabulary learning.

2. To study students’ opinions toward learning activities through Audio-

Lingual Method.

1.4 Aim of study

The objective of this report is to describe the use of Audio-Lingual

Method to improve vocabulary acquisition of students in nineth grade of Smp 3

Banda Aceh. The writer hopes this report can give an input and new information

for the students who need additional information about teaching vocabulary to

the high school students. Teacher also can use this report as one of their

reference to develop their teaching activities.

1.5 Significant of study

This research was focused on the implementation of Audio-Lingual

Method to improve vocabulary acquisition of students in nineth grade of Smp 3

Banda Aceh. In this research, the researcher focused on content word of

vocabulary. This research was conducted at the students in nineth grade of Smp 3

Banda Aceh. The researcher used try out, one pre-test, a set of treatments and

post-test to find out the increasing of students’ vocabulary achievement.

Chapter 2: LITERATURE REVIEW

2.1 Vocabulary and Its importance

Vocabulary can be defined as the words of a language involving single

items and phrases or chucks of several words which provide a particular

meaning. English vocabulary consists of three main aspects which are form,

meaning and use. It involves lexical phrases. Learning vocabulary is challenging

because of the size of the task; it involves understanding the varied types of

vocabulary which include: single word, phrase, idiom, collocation, strategic

vocabulary, grammar pattern, and fixed vocabulary. (Alemi and Tayebi, 2011)

Several teachers of English and researchers have tried to find the

strategies and techniques for teaching and learning English vocabulary because

they are aware of the importance of learning vocabulary which is the basis for

learners’ performance in other language skills including speaking, listening,

writing, and reading. (Alemi and Tayebi, 2011)

If students don’t know grammar, they can still communicate however

ineffectively but if students don’t know vocabulary, they cannot communicate at

all (Wilkin, 1972). Teaching English vocabulary help Thai students talk with

others in English. Inadequate vocabulary is one of the serious problems in

learning English. Without learning vocabulary, students are held back in

language skill development and general learning ability. (Bualuang.C,

Sinprjakphol. S, nd Chanphrom. K, 2012)

2.2 The Value of Songs

Paul (2003:58) says that song can add feeling and rhythm to language

practice that might otherwise be flat in helping the students to remember

things more easily, and draw students deeper into a lesson. Not all teachers

like singing, and there are many successful teachers who rarely use song in
class. But these teachers are missing out on something very special. Most

students love songs, and songs and chants are one aspect of the English

classes that most students learn with genuine feeling and take home with

them. They keep them in their heads, sing them after class, hum them on the

way home, and sing them at home.

In addition, as we know that most of the students feel there is a

barrier between the classroom world and their world away from the

classroom where they play with their friends and live their daily lives.

Actually, if we want English to play a more central role in the students’ daily

lives, we need to find ways to break down this barrier. We can see when a

student hums or sings one of our songs on the way home, it means we have

succeeded and that was great.

Based on the statements above, I am convinced that by learning

English song, the learner can enlarge their vocabulary, improve their

pronunciation accuracy, and fluency in speaking. Language teachers can and

should use songs as part of their classroom teaching activities. Songs contain

many authentic languages that are easily obtainable. They can provide

vocabulary, grammar, and cultural aspects and songs are also fun for the

students in the teaching learning process in the class

2.3 The Way to Use Songs

Paul (2003:57) says that there are various ways to use English songs in

teaching: 1) Singing, 2) Actions, 3) Chants, 4) Background Song, 5). between

lessons. English songs can be used in the teaching learning activities through

audio lingual method. There are many ways to use songs or English songs when

teaching learning activities like using songs as background while the students

learn the lessons. There are two kinds of songs that we can use in teaching

learning process; using new songs or adopting popular songs. Furthermore,

Paul (2003:59) says that one way to introduce a new song is to play it at the

beginning of the lesson when the students are settling down. We get on with

what we are doing, and do not draw student’s attention to the song. But of

course, we hope they will be curious about the song and attracted to it.

A wide variety of formats can be used to present edutainment, ranging

from books to such guided tours as zoological parks, museum, mall, etc. This

particular branch of the education world is also extremely profitable way

because they incorporate all the language skills as follows:

1) Listening (to the song) - Following the song to determine words.

2) Reading (following the lyrics to determine the words)

3) Writing (filling in the blanks) - writing the

lyrics

4) Speaking (singing the song)

2.4 Song and Language Learning

Songs can be used as effective materials for teaching vocabulary such as

using the words of a song, dictating a song, using a song for gap-fill, cloze or for
correction, integrating songs into project work, practicing pronunciation, stress,

and intonation. By singing songs, students are taught lessons with a fun

atmosphere which can create very positive effect in language learning. (Murphey,

1992) Prescott (2005) points out that music is an important thing for education. It

not only helps students learn and gain the knowledge but also helps students

increase their scores. There are many studies showings that music has a positive

effect in the classroom.

Music plays an important role for every step of human life. It reflects the

culture, history, folklore, and current idiom of countries. Singing is an important

tool for building students’ confidence. It gives students a degree of fluency

before they have succeeded in speaking. Words usually occur in context in lyrics;

the sound of new words is easily remembered through the melody of the song.

Teacher can teach student about the material through audio lingual method. This

method suits the teaching style which focused on song. While listening to the

song, students will hear several new vocabularies many times. Music affects

language accent, grammar, memory, mood, enjoyment, and motivation.

Composing words and rhythm appropriately can help to hold the song together

and increase the mind’s ability to recall it. Pairing music and language can help

the process of learning vocabulary and phrases. When using songs to teach

vocabulary through audio lingual method, it begins with listening and finishes

with communication.

For some students who are not used to the culture of the target language

and have some difficulties in expressing, they can learn the language better by
using the music which provides them a relaxed atmosphere. As the teaching

learning process happened to use audio lingual method, it’ll be focusing on

Practical Pronunciation. The audio-lingual approach, based upon language

structure, naturally treated the sounds of language as important building blocks

for the creation of utterances, that is, meaningful strings of sounds. The song

lyrics provide a target vocabulary, grammar, and patterns for students to study

as audio lingual method is best for making the teaching process to be ease. By

listening to English songs, students can listen to the native pronunciation and

also develop their listening ability and they will be doing structural drilling

exercise in the learning process. Melodies and rhymes help students to use good

pronunciation like a native speaker. (Stansell,as cited in Šišková, 2008)

If students do not understand the definition of all the words in the song,

students can get the meaning from the lyric. There are many popular songs

together with their music videos that help students understand the content of the

lyrics. The music videos also provide the song’s story which helps the students

understand the words in context as the goal of the audio-lingual method is, via

teaching vocabulary and grammatical patterns through dialogues, to enable

students to respond quickly and accurately in spoken language. Students also hear

the words via the songs over and over again and figure out their meaning through

the video’s content. (Šišková, 2008) All of this can help students learn new

vocabulary.

They learn the language naturally while singing and hearing the songs.

When students listen to their favorite songs, they remain interested and motivated
in learning vocabulary and they also will be supported by teacher to be involving

in drilling routine of listening in learning process. Music video keep students

motivated; the video is one tool for keeping students aware of what is happening

around them. (Murphey, 1992)

Chapter 3: RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

3.1 Research design (Qualitative/quantitative)

This research is quantitative study which uses One Group Pre-test Post-

test Design in order to find out the effect of the use English song in improving

students’ vocabulary acquisition. The design uses one class, as the experimental

class which received the treatment of uses English Song as media in teaching

through audio lingual method. In this research, pre- t est (T1) is given before the

researcher teaches by using English song as media in teaching and in order to

measure the student’s competence before they are given the treatment. Then,

treatment is given in three times by using English song to see the significant

differences effect of the students’ vocabulary achievement. Post-test (T2) is given

after teaching the students by using English song through Audio-Lingual Method

and to measure how far the student’s improvement after they get the treatment

3.2 Research site

The site of this research is the school named Smp 3 Banda Aceh which

is located in Aceh province in Indonesia.

3.3 Sample and population (Research participants)

A population can be defined as the whole subjects of the research.

Population is all individuals which are being target in research while research

sample is individual who give the data (Setiyadi,2006:38). The population of this

research is the students of ninth grade of Smp 3 Banda Aceh. The Sample is X

class as experimental class. It applies based on the consideration that every

student in the population has the same chance to be chosen and in order to avoid

the subjectivity in the research (Setiyadi,2006:39). The experimental class have

pre-test, post-test, and the treatment.

3.4 Data collection technique (Interview, observation, document analysis)

In order to collect the data, the researcher applied some techniques as

follows:

1. Pre-Test

The researcher gave the test in order to find out the students’ score and ability

before the researcher conduct the treatment by using song through Audio-Lingual

Method. The test was in multiple-choice form with four option (a,b,c,d) and the

total number of items was 50. The time allocation was 60 minutes. The result of

the pre-test was compared with the post-test result to find out their achievement.

2. Treatment

The treatment is given in the class by using English song, there are three times

activities for the treatment.

3. Post Test

The aim of this post-test is to determine the effect of the treatments towards the

students’ vocabulary comprehension achievement after being given the

treatment. This test consists of 50 items and was in multiple choice, the time

allocation was

60 minutes. It was done in order to find out the students’ vocabulary

achievement after having the treatment. The question or the items in the post-test

were the same as the pre-test. However, the researcher changed the question

number.

3.5 Data analysis technique

The data gain from pre-test and post-test is analyzed through following

step:

1. Scoring the pre-test and post-test

2. Tabulating result of pre-test and post-test and calculating of both means

3. Drawing conclusion from tabulated result of the pre-test and post-test

administered that is statistically analyzing the data using statistical

computerization, i.e.., matched t-test of statistical package for social science

(SPSS) version 16.0 for windows to test whether the improvement gained by the

students is increase or not, in which the significance is determined by p<0.05.

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