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Kamis, 22 September 2011

English Teaching Method


CHAPTER I
INTRODUCTION

1.1             Background
English is an international language used as a means of communication among nations. Burgmeir et al. (1991: 4) state that English has become a global language, used in communication, technical and scientific journals and technology. In other words, a lot of informational sources like books, newspaper, magazines, Internet files, scientific journal and technology are in English. Also, English is taught within several countries either for second language or foreign language.
In Indonesia, English is taught as a foreign language. The students of elementary, junior, and senior high schools and even university have to study it as one of their subjects. Saleh (1985: 1) points out that the term of English as a foreign language means English is taught as a school subject or on a level solely for foreign language competence which he or she may use to read literature, technical works and scientific books, to understand the dialogue in films, and to communicate orally or in writing with the people of other countries. In addition, Finnocciaro (1985: 5) states that the aim of English teaching should be used to develop the four basic skills—that is, listening, speaking, reading, and writing to the best of the pupil’s ability and English should be presented and practiced in the sequence of listening, speaking, reading, and writing. So in the teaching English, the four skills of English, listening, speaking, reading and writing, should be integrated.
Then, learning English is not so easy for Indonesian students since English and Indonesian are different dealing with their spelling, pronunciation, vocabulary, semantic and syntax. For example, in terms of vocabulary, Aditya (2007) implicitly drew conclusion that the students got the difficulty for knowing the words for first time before consulting the dictionary.
In order to overcome the above problem, surely, there are many components that must be considered. One of them is vocabulary mastery, which is one of the important parts of foreign language learning. As Richard et al. (1985: 32) state that vocabulary is one of the important aspects of the foreign language learning. People cannot communicate well without having adequate vocabulary since the vocabulary is one of the language components to express, grasp an idea and understand it. Wilkins (1972: 109) states that linguists have had remarkably little to say about vocabulary and one can find very few studies which could be of any practical interest for language teachers. Therefore, language teachers cannot neglect the teaching of vocabulary as their priority since language learners need to master it in order to speak, write, read and listen to the language. Besides, Pickett (1978) as cited in Hegde (2000: 110) states that the subject of vocabulary learning always seems to be the key to any language learning. In addition, he would prefer to mispronounce words and make grammatical mistakes rather than not learn vocabulary.
Henceforth, Martin (2001) states that there are seven kinds of vocabulary or parts of speech: noun, verb, adjective, adverb, conjunction, preposition, and interjection. Common linguists classify the kinds of vocabulary into open word classes and closed word classes. Open word classes, which constantly acquire new members, are noun, verb, adjective, adverb, and interjection, meanwhile closed word classes acquire new members, infrequently if at all, such as conjunction and preposition.
However, for the sake of this study, the writer will only focus on nouns since the most important kind of vocabulary is the nouns due to the fact there are a lot of them in English. Sheller (1978: 7) states that nouns form one of the large classes of words in English. In linguistics, a noun or noun substantive is a lexical category which is defined in terms of how its members combine with other grammatical kinds of expressions. In the mastery of English vocabulary, the noun is significantly helpful for language learners since the noun is easily obtained and visualized by physical perceptions.
Sometimes it is difficult for the learners to learn and identify the meaning                                       of an English word especially a noun since many words may have more than one meaning. In this case, the learners are hoped to have their own strategies in mastering vocabulary especially noun. In terms of this problem, Nation (1984: 98-104) suggests that there be three strategies learners can use. They are: (1) guessing meaning from context, (2) using a dictionary, and (3) paraphrasing. This study only focuses on the second strategy –that is, using a dictionary, which is using visual dictionary as a medium of teaching nouns. The visual dictionary can be described as a type of dictionary which explains vocabulary or words with pictures. In this case, the students will be treated with the use of a dictionary in mastering vocabulary especially nouns related to a lesson theme.
Based on the background above, the writer is interested in finding out whether or not teaching nouns by using visual dictionary is effective.

1.2             The Problem of the Study
The problem of this study is formulated as follows: “Is teaching nouns by using Visual Dictionary to seventh graders of SMP Negeri 51 Palembang effective?”.

1.3             The Objective of the Study
The objective of this study is to find out whether teaching nouns by using Visual Dictionary to seventh graders of SMP Negeri 51 Palembang is effective or not.

1.4             The Significance of the Study
The writer hopes that this study will be useful for the teachers in teaching effectively especially in enlarging their students’ vocabulary. Also, the writer hopes that this research can be an inspiration for everyone who wants to develop some strategies in mastery of English vocabulary.

1.5.            Hypotheses of the Study
                  The hypotheses of the study are as a follows:
(H0)           There is no significant difference in nouns achievement between the students who are taught by using visual dictionary and those who are not.
(H1)            There is a significant difference in nouns achievement between the students who are taught by using visual dictionary and those who are not.
CHAPTER II
LITERATURE REVIEW

This chapter presents (1) the concept of nouns, (2) teaching nouns, (3) the concept of visual dictionary, (4) teaching nouns by using visual dictionary, and (5) other previous related studies.

2.1                          The Concept of Nouns
2.1.1          The Description of Nouns
                  Noun is one of the most important parts of speech. Its arrangement with the verb helps to form the sentence core which is essential to every complete sentence (Frank, 1972: 6). In linguistics, a noun or noun substantive is a lexical category which is defined in terms of how its members are combined with other grammatical kinds of expressions.
                  According to Azar (1995: 127), the simple definition of noun is a person, place or thing. In addition, Mueller (1989: 2) states that nouns name people, places, actions, and ideas, including anything that can be touched, smelled, heard, or seen.  Here are some examples:
                  a. person: man, woman, teacher, John, Mary
                  b. place: home, office, town, countryside, America
                  c. thing: table, car, banana, money, music, love, dog, monkey
                  Furthermore, Sheller (1978: 7) states that nouns form one of the large classes of words in English. This statement is also supported by Francis (1978: 169) in his specification as follows:
Pie Chart 1
English Word Classes


 






2.1.2          The Functions of Nouns
                  Frank (1986: 2) states that noun is often the head of word of the grammatical structure in which it appears. Then, He explains that the functions of the noun in the sentence are as a subject of verb, an object of verb, an object of preposition, subject and object complement, noun adjunct, appositive, and direct address. The structural description can further be seen in Table 1.

Table 1
Structural Description of Nouns
Functions
Sentences
Positions
Subject of Verb
Alex loves Novi.
Before the verb
Object of Verb
Alex loves Novi.
After the verb
Object of Preposition
That pen was on the table.
After a preposition
Subject Complement
George W. Bush is the president of United States of America.
After to be
Object Complement
They elected George W. Bush a president.
After noun
Noun Adjunct
Patria waited for her boyfriend at the bus stop.
Before a noun
Appositive
David, head of the school, gave a speech.
      After a noun
Direct Address
Jack, come here!
Usually at the beginning of the sentence



2.1.3          The Types of Nouns
According to Johanson (1998: 43), nouns can be classified in specific ways. Concrete nouns and abstract nouns are two such ways. Concrete nouns names something can experience with one of five senses—that is, concrete nouns name something can see (like the moon), touch (like blanket), smell (like a rose), hear (like laughter), or taste (like sugar). In meantime, Abstract nouns names feelings (such as jealousy and attraction), ideas (such as peace and freedom), and qualities (such as generosity and determination). Abstract nouns do not exist as physical objects in the world; they cannot be seen, touched, smelled, heard or tasted by feelings, ideas, and qualities. In this study, the concrete nouns will be used and the abstract ones will not since it is mostly difficult to visualize the abstract ones.
Then, Biber et al (1999: 232) state that nouns have the following types; countable and countable nouns, proper nouns, collective nouns, unit nouns, quantifying nouns, and species nouns. Those types of nouns are described as follows:
1. Countable and Uncountable Nouns
                  Countable Nouns refer to entities which can be counted; they have both singular and plural forms (e.g. a cow, two cows, etc). Meanwhile, Uncountable Nouns refer to entities which cannot be counted and do not vary for number. In this study, the uncountable nouns will not be used since it is hard to make the nouns into pictures or imagery.
2. Proper Nouns
                   Proper Nouns lack both contrast in number and definiteness (e.g. Sue, but not normally a Sue, the Sue, or Sues). The overwhelming majority of proper nouns are both definite and singular. Some important categories of proper nouns are the following:
a. Personal names (e.g. Sam, Jones, etc);
b. Geographical names (e.g. Canada, Tokyo, etc);
c. Objects and commercial products (e.g. Voyager, Chevrolet, Kleenex, etc);
d. Holidays, months, and days of the week (e.g. Christmas, January, Tuesday, etc);
e. Religions, followers of particular religions, and some religious concept (e.g. Buddhism, a Buddhist, God, the Devil, Heaven, Hell, etc);
f. Family member address terms (e.g. Father, Mother, Uncle, etc);
g. Persons or bodies with a unique public function (e.g. the Queen, the President, Congress, Parliament, the Commonwealth, etc);
f. Public buildings, institutions, law, etc (e.g. the Library of Congress, the British Library, the University of Essex, the Fire Precaution Act, etc);
g. Political Parties and members of political parties (e.g. the Labor Party, Republican, the Democrats, etc);
h. Languages and nationalities (e.g. English, an American, a Swede, the Australians, etc);
i. Adjectives, and common nouns, themselves derived from proper nouns (e.g. (a) Marxist, Marxism, Victorian, the Victorians, a New Yorker, Londoners, etc).
3. Collective Nouns
                   Collective nouns refer to groups of single entities. They are associated with a particular type of entity: people (e.g. crowd and gang), animals (e.g. flock, herd, shoal, and swarm), plants (e.g. bouquet and clump), or inanimate objects or entities (e.g. batch and set).
4. Unit Nouns
                   Unit nouns are in a way the opposite of collective nouns: rather than providing a collective reference for separate entities. Both types of noun provide alternative ways of viewing and referring, collective nouns with respect to countables and unit nouns with respect to uncountables. Unit nouns are characteristically general in meaning (bit, piece, slide, etc), and they are followed by an of-phrase specifying the type of matter or phenomenon referred to. Grammatically, they behave like ordinary countable nouns.

5. Quantifying Nouns
                   Quantifying nouns are used to refer to quantities of both masses and entities, which are specified in following of-phrase by uncountable nouns and plural countable (e.g. a cup of coffee, a dozen of plate, etc).
6. Species Nouns
Species nouns are found in patterns which are superficially like those of quantifying nouns. However, they are used to refer not to the amount but to the type of entity or mass expressed by a following of-phrase. They behave grammatically like ordinary countable nouns. Species nouns usually follow words such as class, kind, make, sort, species, and type. They combine with countable as well as uncountable nouns.
The types of nouns will be used as parts of lesson materials in treatment of teaching nouns by using visual dictionary. The nouns will be provided in a visual dictionary in order that the nouns will be clear enough in the treatment. The writer focuses on the nouns as point of view of leaning and teaching materials. In the treatment, the students are required to master the nouns provided in order that they can use and understand the meaning of the nouns.



2.1.4          The Characteristics of Nouns
                  Biber et al (1999: 62) state that Nouns have the following characteristics; morphological characteristic, syntactical characteristic, and semantic characteristic. Then, those characteristics can be explained as follows:
1. Morphological Characteristic
Nouns are inflected for number and case: one book, two books, and Sarah’s book. Many nouns, however, are uncountable and do not inflect for number (e.g. gold, information). Nouns often have a complex morphological structure. Examples of compound and derived nouns: bombshell, bridgehead, clothesline; bomber, brightness, friendship.
2. Syntactical Characteristics
Nouns occur as the head of noun phrases, for example: the new book about Wittgenstein, new information I found. The possibilities of modification are severely restricted with some nouns, particularly proper nouns (e.g. Sarah). Noun phrases have a wide range of syntactic roles: subject, direct object, indirect object, prepositional object, complement of preposition, subject predicative, object predicative, adverbial, pre-modifier noun, apposition, pre-modifier in adjective and adverb phrase.


3. Semantic Characteristics
Nouns commonly refer to concrete entities, such as people and things in the external world (e.g. girl, book), but they may also denote qualities and states (e.g. freedom, friendship). In clauses, nouns and noun phrases are typically associated with semantic roles such as agent, affected, and recipient.
In this case, the nouns have the characteristics in forming the new ones. So, the nouns can be developed more and more.
2.2             The Teaching of Nouns
In mastering vocabulary, learners are hoped to master nouns as one kind of the vocabulary in order that they apply and mention the nouns as well as use them for speaking and writing in order to be able to comprehend reading and listening. Teaching the nouns should be focused on developing the learners' awareness of the nouns they are learning. Rubin (1993: 246) suggests that teachers can help awaken and advance this awareness for the learners by helping them acquire tools in addition to dictionary to expand their words.
In helping them achieve the awareness, the teachers have to make the teaching of nouns successfully and effectively. Usually, the learners use the dictionary as a source of information in translating words either in one language (monolingual) or two languages (bilingual) since it is one of the most important tools for language users due to their valuable lexical information.
2.3             The Concept of Visual Dictionary
According to Jain (1999), the visual dictionary or victionary is a dictionary-like information-mapping module that is used to retrieve visual information at a "semantic" level. Its system that performs generic image processing is enhanced by adding a query transformation unit and a query expansion unit, i.e., the victionary. With these additional components, a user may present a query either as a text term (such as a keyword or phrase), or as an image (with weights) and execute a "semantic query". During semantic query processing, the victionary-enhanced system transforms the user's original term (or image query) to a set of equivalent queries, and internally executes all the equivalent queries before presenting the results to the user. The victionary unit is responsible for taking the term (or image query) and finding the equivalent feature vectors (and weights).

2.4             Teaching Nouns by Using Visual Dictionary
In order to transmit the meaning of the words especially nouns, Johnson (2001: 22) maintains that this method works on the principles of psychoacoustics and brain stimulation. The method is by projecting pictures simultaneously. Each of the pictures is intended to link with grammatical structure and vocabulary. Much is made of creating reality or realities for the learners in this way. Moreover, it is supposed that the reality makes an efficient use of the eye and the signals of language are memorized easily. Therefore, the visual dictionary, provided with pictures or imageries, is presented as the students’ medium in learning English words especially nouns. The role of the visual dictionary is to make the students retain the new words especially nouns longer since they get a clear picture or imagery in their mind. The visual dictionary also make the teaching and learning vocabulary especially nouns much more interesting in comparison with the ones without using any media at all.

2.5.            Other Previous Related Studies
                  There are two previous related studies which are related to the writer’s study. The first thesis entitled “The Study on the Second Year Students’ mastery of the English Plural Nouns at SMA YPBI 8 Palembang” was written by Gutmir (2005). The objective of his study was to find out whether or not there was significant difference in English plural nouns mastery between the students who were taught and those who were not. The result of the study showed that there was significant different in English plural nouns mastery for the students who were taught as compared to those who were not.
                  Then, the second thesis entitled “Visual Aids as the Technique of Teaching Vocabulary to SMA Negeri 1 Jambi” was written by Susanto (2003). The objective of the study was to find out whether or not teaching vocabulary using the visual aids was significant. The result of the study showed that there was significant difference in vocabulary achievement for the students who were taught by using visual aids as compared to those were not.
     There is a similarity between the first thesis title and the writer’s study—that is, the students’ nouns achievement, meanwhile, the difference between them was the use of medium of teaching nouns. Then, there is a similarity between the second title and the writer’s study—that is, the use of visual media; however, the different between them was vocabulary achievement and nouns mastery.





















CHAPTER III
METHOD AND PROCEDURE

This chapter discusses (1) the method of the study, (2) the procedure of the study, (3) the operational definition, (4) the variable of the study, (5) the population and sample of the study, (6) the technique for collecting the data, (7) validity and reliability, and (8) the technique for analysing the data.

3.1             Method of the Study
The method of the research was quasi-experimental method. Christensen (1991: 305) says that a quasi-experimental study is an experimental design that does not meet all the requirements necessary for controlling the influence of extraneous variables. In addition, it was a type of experimental design where random assignment to groups was not employed for either ethical or practical reasons, but certain methods of control are employed and the independent variable is manipulated. The writer had two considerations why this quasi-experimental method was used in this study. First, using this method did not disturb the process of teaching and learning activities because the subjects of the study could be given the treatment in their regular schedule as usual. Second, the subjects were ready to collaborate with the writer.
There were several types of quasi-experimental designs like pretest-posttest matched subject design, basic time series design, pretest-posttest non-equivalent control group design, etc. However, in this study the writer used one of them, that was, the pretest-posttest non-equivalent control group design. This design was a nonrandomized research in which the responses of a treatment group and a control group were compared on a measure collected at the beginning and at the end of the research. In this research, there were two groups; (1) experimental group and (2) control group. Both of the sample groups were taken based on the result of the pretest. 
      In this study, the writer gave treatment to the experimental group by teaching vocabulary using a visual dictionary as their media. Meanwhile, the control group were taught vocabulary especially nouns without using the visual dictionary.

3.2                          The Procedure of the Study
Since there are two groups in the study—that is, experimental group and control one, there are two different procedures in teaching nouns.
3.2.1          The Procedure of Teaching Nouns in the Experimental Group
Ø            Pre-Activities
(a) The teacher explains what they, the teacher and the students, are going to do on that day.
(b) The teacher writes the theme that is going to be discussed on the whiteboard and then asks several questions related to it.
Ø            Whilst-Activities
(a) The teacher gives each of the students a piece of blank paper.
(b) The teacher asks the students to write as many nouns, which are to do with the theme as possible.
(c) The teacher orders some of the students to write their words on the board.
(d) The teacher gives visual dictionary to all of the students in the class. Then, he explains the students how to use the visual dictionary. He tells that learning nouns through the dictionary is very easy since there are pictures for each of the nouns. Besides, he also tells them that by using the dictionary they do not only look up the meaning of the words but also the pronunciation and spelling of the words.
(f) The teacher gives chance to the students for looking up the dictionary for some minutes and then they close it.
(g) The teacher distributes another blank paper to the students. He asks them to write as other nouns as possible on the paper.
(h) Again, he asks some of the students to write the nouns that they have got on the board. After that, the teacher writes some additional words on the board.
(j) The teacher pronounces the words and the students listen to him carefully. After that, he pronounces them for the second time, and the students repeat after him.
(k)  The teacher asks the students to make sentences using the nouns which  have been written on the board.
(l)   The teacher asks the students do exercise.
Ø            Post Activity
               The teacher summarizes the lesson.
3.2.2          The Procedure of Teaching Nouns in the Control Group
Ø            Pre-Activities
(a) The teacher explains what they, the teacher and the students, are going to do on that day.
(b) The teacher writes the theme that is going to be discussed on the whiteboard and then asks several questions related to it.
Ø            Whilst Activities
(a) The teacher gives each of the students a piece of blank paper.
(b) The teacher asks the students to write as many nouns which are to do with the theme as possible.
(c) The teacher orders some of the students to write their words on the board.
(d) The teacher pronounces all the words on the board two times. For the first turn, the students just listen to the teacher. Meanwhile, for the second turn, he pronounces all the words, and they repeat after him.
(e) The teacher asks the students do exercise.
Ø            Post Activity
               The teacher summarizes the lesson.

3.3                          Operational Definitions
                  The title of this thesis is “Teaching Nouns by Using Visual Dictionary to the Seventh Graders of SMP Negeri 51 Palembang”. In order not to create misunderstanding, the following terms are necessary to be defined: nouns, visual dictionary, teaching nouns by using visual dictionary, and the seventh graders of SMP Negeri 51 Palembang.
                  First, nouns are defined as meaning of commonly thought of as "naming" words, and specifically as the names of "people, places, or things". Nouns will be presented in visual dictionary. It is certainly that nouns can be visualized into certain imagery.
                  Second, visual dictionary here means a type of dictionary that is provided with a picture or imagery. The dictionary provides the meaning of nouns with pictures in order that the students can understand them.
                  Third, teaching nouns by using the visual dictionary means that the nouns will be taught by using the dictionary as the media in order that the dictionary is hoped to be a more effective tool or medium in teaching and learning vocabulary of English especially nouns.
                  Forth, the seventh graders of SMP Negeri 51 Palembang refers to all the seventh grade students of SMP Negeri 51 Palembang.
                  Finally, the title “Teaching Nouns by Using Visual Dictionary to Seventh Graders of SMP Negeri 51 Palembang” refers to the writer’s effort to teach nouns using visual dictionary to the seventh graders of SMP Negeri 51 Palembang.

3.4             The Variables of the Study
                  Wallen et al (1991: 31) define a variable as any characteristic that is not always the same –that is, any characteristic that varies. Wiersma (1991) states that a variable is a characteristic that may take on different values. There are two kinds of variables, independent and dependent variables that the independent variable influences the dependent variable. In this study the independent variable is using visual dictionary and the dependent variable is the effectiveness of teaching nouns.

3.5             Population and Sample
3.5.1          Population
Population is a group to which a researcher would like to generalize the results of the study (Wallen, 1991: 129). In addition, Guy and Stanley (1992: 104) state that population is the total number of elements that exist at that time of the study and that show some characteristics of interest to the researcher. The population of this study was all the students of Seventh Grade of SMP Negeri 51 Palembang. The population is showed in Table 2.
Table 2
The Population of the Study
No
Class
Number of Students
1
VII A
40
2
VII B
40
3
VII C
40
4
VII D
39
5
VII E
39
6
VII F
38
7
VII G
40
8
VII H
40

Total

316
(Source: SMP Negeri 51 Palembang, 2007/2008)

3.5.2          Sample
      According to Wiersma (1990: 247) a sample is a subset of population to which the researcher intends to generalize the result. In addition, Wallen (1991) states that sample refers to any group on which information is obtained. In relation to that term, the writer used purposive sampling method. The purposive random sampling method is the method of selecting the sample depending on the characteristics of the units (sites or individual) relevant to the research (Dane, 1990:265). 
In this study, in order to get the sample by using the above method, the writer followed the following steps:
a. The writer took all the seventh grade students of SMP Negeri 51 Palembang as the population of the study. In this case, there were 316 students from eight classes.
b. From the eight classes, there were only three classes, VII A, VII B, and VII C, which had vocabulary test. The three classes were taught by the same teacher of English. They were the candidates of the sample of the research.
c. Then, the writer administered pretest. The pretest itself had two functions. First it served as a placement test. The placement test was very crucial in this study in order to make sure that the two classes which would be taken as the sample were similar or homogeneous at the beginning of the study. In other words, the sample had the same vocabulary achievement. From the test, it was found out that the mean scores of the three classes were 58.31, 42.50, 45 (see Table 3). Therefore, VII.B was eliminated, and VII.A and VII.C were taken as the sample of the study.
Table 3
The Result of Placement Test
No
Class
Mean Score
1
VII.A
58.31
2
VII.B
42.50
3
VII.C
45

d. The second function was to help the writer decide which class that would be the experimental group and which class that would be the control one. Based on the result of the pretest, it was found out that the mean score of VII.A was higher than that of VII.C. However, in order to convince him that the decision that would be taken was precise, he matched his finding with the mean scores of the latest vocabulary test held by the English teacher. From that, it was discovered that the achievement of VII.A was better than that of VII.C. From the two considerations, it was stated that VII.A became the experimental group and VII.C became the control one. The distribution of the sample is presented in Table 4 below:
Table 4
The Sample of the Study
No
Class
Group
Number of Students
1
VII.A
Experimental Group
40
2
VII.C
Control Group
40

Total

80

3.6             Technique for Collecting the Data
      A technique called testing the sample and distributing a questionnaire was used In order to collect the data. In other words, the instruments used were test and questionnaire.

3.6.1          Test
                  A test is a set of questions or other elements used to measure an individual or group skill, knowledge, intelligence, ability, or aptitude (Arikunto, 1998: 139). In addition, test is confined to “an assigned set of tasks to be performed”. It is the instrument used to obtain the skill measured (Rubin, 1997: 32).
                  In collecting the data, a test was used. The test was administered twice as the pretest and posttest. The pretest was used to find out the students’ nouns achievement before the treatment, whereas posttest was used to find out students’ nouns achievement after the treatment. The test consisted of forty multiple choice questions. All the questions were devised in accordance with the table of test specifications. In the table, the students were asked to answer each of the questions based on the pictures.


3.6.2          Questionnaire
A questionnaire is a set of questions that should be covered by the respondents in order to obtain the information about identical data, experience, attitude, knowledge, opinion, etc (Arikunto, 1993: 24). It consists of a number of questions or items to read and answer. Questionnaire can be valuable reference tools that measure the changing winds of opinions, help forecast trends, and record a wide range of statistical data (Kollin, 1990: 354). In this study the writer distributed the questionnaire to the experimental group in order to obtain additional information related to the students’ attitude, opinion, and feeling after the treatment. It   was given right after they had got the treatment and done the post-test. 

3.7             Validity and Reliability
3.7.1          Validity of the Test and the Questionnaire
Validity refers to whether you are measuring what you want to measure (Christensen, 1991: 101). Similarly, Best (1983: 197) says that in general a test is valid if it measures what it claims to measure. Validity is established by presenting evidence to support the specific inferences a researcher makes on the basis of the data collected. In this study, the writer focused on the content validity of the test. According to Wallen and Fraenkel (1991: 8), content-related evidence refers to the nature of the content within the instrument and the specifications the researcher used to formulate the content. To make the test have a high degree of content validity, the writer devised the test items in accordance with the table of test specifications. In the table, he stated that the students were able to choose the correct answer of the multiple-choice questions in order to know how far the students have the mastery of nouns. The questions themselves were in the form of the types of nouns—that is, countable and uncountable nouns, proper nouns, collective nouns, unit nouns, quantifying nouns, and species nouns.
Meanwhile, to get the validity of the questionnaire, he asked his two advisors to have a look at the content and the format of the questionnaire and decide whether they were appropriate. In this case, the writer wrote out a definition of what he wanted to measure and then gave the description along with the instrument and a description of the intended “subjects” to his advisors.  Next, the advisors looked at the definition, read over the items or questions in the instrument, and then placed a checkmark in front of each question or item which they felt did not measure one or more of the objectives. They also noted any aspects of the definition that were not assessed by any of the items. After that, the researcher rewrote any item or question so checked and resubmitted it to the advisors; the researcher might also write new items for aspects that were not adequately covered. The process continued until the advisors approved all of the items or questions in the instrument and indicated that they felt the total number of items was an adequate representation of the domain of content covered by the variable being measured and that the format was appropriate.

3.7.2          Reliability of the Test
Reliability refers to the consistency of the information obtained (Fraenkel and Wallen, 1991: 85). In this study, the writer estimated one of reliability methods, namely test-retest reliability. By using this method, the reliability was obtained by administering the test to non-sample students twice and computing the correlation coefficient between the two administrations of the test. To find out the correlation coefficient, the writer used Pearson Product Moment Correlation coefficient. The formula is (Hatch and Lazaraton, 1991: 613):
where:
                = Pearson product-moment correlation coefficient
                 = each student’s score on Test Y
                 = mean on Test Y
                = standard deviation on Test Y
                = each student’s score on Test X
                = mean on Test X
                = standard deviation on Test X
*                = the number of students who took the two tests

The calculation was done by using SPSS (Statistical Package for Social Science). According to Wallen and Fraenkel (1991: 99), for research purposes, a rule of thumb is that reliability should be at least 0.70 and preferably higher. Because the reliability coefficient was 0.743 (see Appendix C), the test was considered reliable.


3.8             Technique for Analysing the Data
   In this study the data from the test are analysed by using paired sample t-test in order to compare whether there is a significant difference of the mean between the experimental group and the control group. The formula of t-test is as follows (Christensen, 1991):
Where        t     = the value by which the statistical significance of the mean difference
 will be judged
                  X1   = the mean of group 1
                  X2   = the mean of group 2
                  S12 = the variance of group 1
                  S22 = the variance of group 2
                  n1   = the number of subjects in group 1
                  n2   = the number of subjects in group 2
Besides that, the data from the questionnaire were analysed by using the percentage formula as follow (Ali, 1987: 184):
P =
where:
P    = percentage of the students’ choice
  = The total of the students’ choice
* = The total number of the students
Besides, the result of the questionnaire, interview and observation serves as additional information of qualitative data in order to find out whether or not teaching nouns by using visual dictionary is effective.




















CHAPTER IV
FINDINGS AND INTERPRETATION

This chapter presents (1) the findings and (2) the interpretation of the study.

4.1                          The Findings of the Study
The findings of the study were: (1) the results of the pre-test and post-test in the experimental group, (2) the results of pre-test and post-test in the control group, and (3) the result of the questionnaire.

The pre-test and post-test were given to the samples both in the experimental and control groups. The pre-test was administered before giving the treatment to the samples, and the post-test was done at the end of the experiment. The results of the tests are referred to the score interval used by FKIP UNSRI as follows.
Table 5
The Score Interval
Score Interval
         Category
86 -100
Very Good
71 – 85
Good
56 – 70
Fair
41 – 55
Poor
0 - 40
Very Poor
Source: Buku Pedoman FKIP UNSRI (2002: 19)(Translated)
4.1.1          The Results of the Pre-test and Post-test in the Experimental Group
The number of the students in the experimental group was 40. The lowest score in the pre-test was 32, the highest score was 72, and the mean score was 58.31. In the post-test, the lowest score was 27.50, the highest score was 87 and the mean score was 74.18. The complete results of the tests can be seen in appendices L and N. The following are the findings of the experimental group.
The following table summarizes that in the pre-test there was no student (0 %) in a very good category, four students (10 %) were in good category, twenty one students (52.5 %) in a fair category, thirteen students (32.5 %) in a poor category, and two students (5 %) in a very poor category. Meanwhile, in the post-test, five students (12.5 %) in a very good category, twenty students (50 %) were in a good category, thirteen students (32.5 %) were in a fair category, two students (5 %) were in a poor category, and there was no student (0 %) in a very poor category.

Table 6
The Score Distribution in the Experimental Group                
Score
Interval
Category
Pre-test
Post-test
Frequency
Percentage
Frequency
Percentage
86-100
Very Good
0
0 %
5
12.5 %
71-85
Good
4
10 %
20
50 %
56-70
Fair
21
52.5 %
13
32.5 %
41-55
Poor
13
32.5 %
2
5 %
0 - 40
Very Poor
2
5 %
0
0 %
Total
40
100 %
40
100 %

4.1.2          The Results of the Pre-test and Post-test in the Control Group
The number of the students in the control group was 40. The lowest score in the pre-test was 25, the highest score was 75, and the mean score was 45. In the post-test, the lowest score was 25, the highest score was 70 and the mean score was 49.69.  The complete results of the tests can be seen in appendices M and O. The following are the findings of the control group.
The following table summarizes that there was no student (0 %) in a very good category, one student (2.5 %) was in a good category, four students (10 %) were in a fair category, twenty-one students (52.5 %) were in a poor category, and fourteen students (35 %) were in a very poor category. In meantime, in the post-test, there was no student (0 %) in a very good category and a good category, twelve students (30 %) were in a fair category, eighteen students (45 %) were in a poor category, and ten students (25 %) were in a very poor category.

Table 7
The Score Distribution in the Control Group                
Score
Interval
Category
Pre-test
Post-test
Frequency
Percentage
Frequency
Percentage
86-100
Very Good
0
0 %
0
0 %
71-85
Good
1
2.5 %
0
0 %
56-70
Fair
4
10 %
12
30 %
41-55
Poor
21
52.5 %
18
45 %
0 - 40
Very Poor
14
35 %
10
25 %
Total
40
100 %
40
100 %

4.1.3          The Result of the Questionnaire
After the treatment, a questionnaire was given to the experimental group in order to know their opinions, experiences, and feelings in using the visual dictionary in learning and teaching English vocabulary especially nouns. It was stated that the questionnaire was very significant for qualitative data in this research in order to know their opinions, experiences, and feelings toward the dictionary. The following are the findings of the questionnaire and the students’ response.
Item 1: Do you like learning English?
The first question asked about whether or not they liked English and their reasons. It was found out that there were thirty-eight students (95 %) who liked English and there were two students (5 %) who did not like English. The reasons of the thirty students who liked English were that twenty students (50 %) said that it is helpful to master knowledge, science, and technology, twelve students (30 %) said that it is an international language and mastering it will be useful for international communication, and six students (15 %) said that it makes us richer in economy. Meanwhile, the reasons of the two students who did not like English were that one student (2,5 %) mentioned that it is difficult to understand since its pronunciation of the words is different from spelling of them, and one student (2,5 %) mentioned that it is difficult for translating English into Indonesian.
Item 2: Have you ever studied English vocabulary especially nouns by using a visual dictionary?
The second question asked whether the students had ever studied English vocabulary especially nouns by using a visual dictionary. There were thirty-three (82.5 %) who responded yes, and seven students (17.5 %) who responded no.
Item 3: What do you think after learning English vocabulary especially nouns by using the visual dictionary?
The third question asked what the students thought after learning English vocabulary especially nouns by using the visual dictionary. There were fifteen students (37.5 %) who answered very exciting since they said that it was easy to master vocabulary especially nouns through the pictures with their colours and forms, and it was not bored to browse the words.
Then, there were twenty students (50 %) who answered that it was exciting. They answered so because of the following reasons. First, there are pictures, words, spelling, and meaning in this dictionary. The pictures of the dictionary are very clear with colours and forms in order easily to identify meaning of the words. Second, the pictures made us difficult to forget the words.
Finally, there were five students (12.5 %) who answered just so so because they thought that this dictionary is seldom used by the students in learning and teaching process, and there are a limitation number of the words in this dictionary. Meanwhile, there was not anyone answered that it was not interesting or not very interesting.
Item 4: Can you understand the meaning of the words easily by using the visual dictionary?
The forth question asked whether the students could understand the meaning of the words easily by using the visual dictionary. All of the students (100 %) answered yes. Twenty students (50 %) thought that this dictionary provided the pictures in order not to make them confused in learning the words especially nouns, fifteen (37.5 %) thought that it was easier to master the words especially nouns through the pictures, and five students (12.5 %) thought that it made them encouraged to master the words especially nouns since the dictionary had the pictures, their colours, and pronunciation.
Item 5: Do you like using the visual dictionary?
The fifth question asked whether or not the students liked the visual dictionary. All of the students (100 %) liked using the visual dictionary. Among the students, twenty five students (62.5 %) thought that they liked using the dictionary since the dictionary provides thematic object with pictures and colours, in mean time, fifteen students (37.5 %) thought that they liked using the dictionary since it was not bored to learn to learn the dictionary and made them easier and faster master the words especially nouns through the pictures.
Item 6: What is the teacher’s role in teaching by the visual dictionary?
The sixth question asked what the teacher’s role was in teaching by the visual dictionary. Four students (10 %) chose the option a (translating the words), twenty-nine students (72.5 %) chose the option b (directing the students to find meaning of the words from the dictionary), and seven students (17.5 %) chose the option c (others). For the option c, three students (7.5 %) mentioned the teacher’s role in the teaching was teaching them to find the meaning of the nouns and explaining the form of the noun, two students (5 %) mentioned the teacher’s role in the teaching was to examine vocabulary mastery of them, and two students (5 %) mentioned the teacher’s role in the teaching was directing them to use the English words especially nouns sith their sentence contexts.
Item 7: In which way do you like learning English vocabulary?
The seventh question asked in which way the students liked learning English vocabulary. Seven students (17.5 %) chose the option a (memorizing), twenty-four students (60 %) chose the option b (consulting the dictionary), and nine students (22.5 %) chose the option c (others). For the option c, four students (10 %) mentioned the way they liked learning English vocabulary was memorizing while playing, three students (7.5 %) mentioned the way they liked learning English vocabulary was to consult the dictionary and the teacher, one student (2.5 %) mentioned the way they liked learning English vocabulary was to use the contextual vocabulary related to the learning theme, one student (2.5 %) mentioned the way they liked learning English vocabulary was to understand the meaning of the words through the pictures.



4.1.4    Statistical Analysis on the Experimental Group
To find out whether or not there was a significant difference in achievement before and after the treatment in the experimental group, the writer compared the result of the pre-test with the result of the post-test in the experimental group by using paired-sample t-test. Based on the calculation in Appendix N by using the SPSS computer program, the value of t-obtained was 12.108. At the significance level p<0.05 in two-tailed testing with df = 39, the critical value of t-table is 2.0227. Because the value of t-obtained was higher than the critical value of t-table, the null hypothesis (H0) was rejected and the research hypothesis (H1) was accepted. It means that teaching nouns by using visual dictionary was significant.

4.1.5          Statistical Analysis on the Control Group
To find out whether or not there was a significant difference in achievement before and after the treatment in the control group, the writer compared the result of the pre-test with the result of the post-test in the control group by using paired-sample t-test. Based on the calculation in Appendix O by using the SPSS computer program, the value of t-obtained was 3.012. At the significance level p<0.05 in two-tailed testing with df = 39, the critical value of t-table is 2.0227. Because the value of t-obtained was higher than the critical value of t-table, the null hypothesis (H0) was rejected and the research hypothesis (H1) was accepted. It means that teaching nouns by using visual dictionary was significant.


4.1.6          Difference Statistical Analysis on the Experimental and Control Groups
To find out whether or not there was a significant difference in the achievement between the experimental and control group, the writer compared the results of the post-test in both groups by using independent sample t-test. Based on the calculation in Appendix P by using the SPSS computer program, the value of t-obtained was 9.977. At the significance level p<0.05 in two-tailed testing with df = 78, the critical value of t-table was 1.9908. Since the value of t-obtained was higher than the critical value of t-table, the null hypothesis (H0) was rejected and the research hypothesis (H1) was accepted. It means that teaching nouns by using visual dictionary was significant.

4.2                          The Interpretation of the Study
In the early study, both experimental group and control group had the same starting point in the placement test since the two groups made no significant difference in the placement test. In this case, the placement test itself also had the function as the pre-test. However, during the research, the experimental group got treatment—that is, using visual dictionary to teach nouns. Meanwhile, the control group were taught nouns without using the dictionary. As a result, using independent samples t-test, the writer analyzed the difference between the result of the post-test in the experimental group and that of the control group. Based on the calculation in Appendix P by using the SPSS computer program, the value of t-obtained was 9.9770. At the significance level p<0.05 in two-tailed testing with df = 78, the critical value of t-table was 1.9908. Since the value of t-obtained was higher than the critical value of t-table, the null hypothesis (H0) was rejected and the research hypothesis (H1) was accepted. It means that teaching nouns by using visual dictionary was significant.
The result of the study supported the statement made by Merriam (2007) who states that the visual dictionary is an indispensable visual reference that goes beyond object identification to answer questions about function, significance and purpose. Ideal for teachers, parents, writers, translators and students of all skill levels, it helps the user understand a phenomenon and quickly grasp the meaning of a term, the characteristics of an object or simply learn something new. In addition, visual aids are helpful for both teachers and students in achieving the objectives of instruction more effectively. (Setiawati, 2002)
Then, the result of the questionnaire showed that most of the students in the experimental group (60 %) preferred consulting the dictionary in learning English vocabulary to memorizing (17.5 %) or others (22.5 %). Moreover, according to students’ response to the questionnaire, all of them (100 %) understood the meaning of the words easily by using the visual dictionary since the dictionary provided pictures with full colour and words with spelling and pronunciation. Therefore, it could be interpreted that teaching nouns by using the visual dictionary was very helpful and significant to increase the students’ vocabulary.
However, not all of English words can be visualized into the dictionary. From the questionnaire, it could also be interpreted that some of the students said that there was a limitation of the words in the dictionary. Because of that problem, the other media will be needed in order to understand the other words, which could be visualized into the dictionary.




















CHAPTER V
CONCLUSIONS AND SUGGESTIONS

The conclusions given in this chapter are those which are based on the descriptions in the previous chapters. Besides the conclusions, the writer also offers some suggestions.

5.1             Conclusions
Based on the results of the study, the writer concludes that teaching nouns using the visual dictionary is effective to increase students vocabulary achievement, especially nouns. It could be proven by analyzing the students’ pretest and posttest scores of the experimental group using paired sample t test and analyzing the students’ posttest scores of the experimental group and control group using independent sample t test. Based on the calculation by using the SPSS computer program, in the paired sample t test of experimental group, the value of t-obtained was 12.108. At the significance level p<0.05 in two-tailed testing with df = 39, the critical value of t-table is 2.0227. Meanwhile, in the independent t test, the value of t-obtained was 9.977. At the significance level p<0.05 in two-tailed testing with df = 78, the critical value of t-table was 1.9908. Both in paired sample t test and independent t test, was higher than t table. It means that there was a significant increase in the achievement of the students who were taught nouns by using the visual dictionary as compared to that of those who were not.
In addition, the result of the questionnaire in the forth question showed that the teaching nouns by using the visual dictionary had a significant role in understanding the meaning of the words easily. All of the students (100 %) said ‘yes’ for the question in the questionnaire. Twenty students (50 %) stated that this dictionary provided the pictures which could help them learn noun easily. Here, they admiited that they learning the words especially nouns through visual dictionary was a great help for them. Then, fifteen (37.5 %) remarked that it was easier for them to master the words especially nouns through the pictures, and five students (12.5 %) thought that it made them more curious to learn the words, especially nouns since the dictionary had the pictures, colours, pronunciation and spelling.
From the questionnaire, it could then be implied that the visual dictionary should be used as a medium in the teaching and learning process since the dictionary could help the students increase their noun achievement.

5.2             Suggestions
Having described the conclusion above, some suggestions are offered to the teacher, students, and other researchers.
1.  Teachers
-  There are many media in teaching and learning vocabulary especially nouns. However, the writer suggests that the visual dictionary be one of appropriate media to make the students feel more motivated to master English vocabulary, especially nouns.
- Unfortunately, sometimes the pictures of dictionary are not clear enough, In order to deal with this problem, the writer suggests that the teachers or users of the medium use additional instruments such as bigger pictures. Besides, the pictures can also be shown to the students through the help of  Overhead Projector (OHP) or Liquid Central Display (LCD).
2.  Students
- Since the mastery of vocabulary especially nouns is very important in English, students can use this visual dictionary in order to help them to memorize the vocabulary.
-  As a reinforcement, students can use the bigger pictures or real object in order to understand the vocabulary especially nouns.
3. Other Researchers
- Since this research still has some limitations, it is expected that other researchers do a more extensive research in order to have better inferences.







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