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CHAPTER I

INTRODUCTION

1.1 The Background of the Research

English is one of the foreign languages which is studied and learnt in

Indonesia. Generally, It is studied not only to help the students or learners to master

this language in spoken and written but also to understand the books, magazines,

newspapers and other information sources which are written in English. Students

have to study this language because it has been a part of curriculum. So that, one of

these problems faced by Indonesian students in studying English is dealing with

vocabulary.

In English, there are four language skills. They are listening, speaking,

reading, and writing. These skills should be taught to the learners in every level.

From basic up to the advanced level, in order that the learners could improve their

English competence. In Indonesia, English is still regarded as a foreign language.

English deals with two important aspects namely: what to teach and how to teach.

The first deals with the material the teachers are going to teach and the second

concerns on the techniques approach, and method of teaching in accordance with the

materials chosen.

In term of English teaching, vocabulary is one of the components which

support other skills such as listening, speaking, reading and writing. On the other

hand, the students learning English should know some words as basic foundation for

the language learning. Besides that, someone must learn about meaning of the

vocabulary and how to use it in sentences.

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Vocabulary is one of the major problems in confronting EFL learners.

Because of their anemic vocabulary, they cannot communicate their ideas as clear as

they would like to and read the columns of a newspaper or popular magazines or

even understand news cast on the radio or television. Their listening-comprehension,

writing and reading abilities are in a weak position because of their limited

vocabulary (Alkhufaishi, 1996:42).

Anyway teaching vocabulary is obviously more than just presenting new

words. It also includes a decision which words should taught and how frequent they

are used by speaker of the language. In fact, it is usually founded that the way of

teaching makes students lazy and bored. Therefore, a teacher needs something

different to make students interested, mostly children, because they are very easy to

get bored.

Therefore, an English teacher needs something interesting attractive which

can motivate his students. It is based on the characteristics and attitude of the

children that they are curious and often seeks something that the teacher notices them

and shows appreciation for what they are doing. So, to motivate them, a teacher

needs something new that can stimulate their curiosity (Richards, 2002:19).

The above statement emphasizes on using the method is an important key

toward a successful teaching. The researcher chose to discuss one aspect of English

teaching learning that deals with vocabulary. That is improving students’ vocabulary

by using big book. And it is hoped that the result of this investigation can help

teachers and students of English in teaching and learning process of vocabulary.

Teaching vocabulary by using big book according to some linguists has many
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advantages. Big book is the book that has bright pictures and sturdy pages help kids

learn English or other language words for the things that are part of everyday life:

colors, shapes, numbers, their clothes, even parts of their house. It is an oversized

board book that offers basic English vocabulary (Emberley, 2008:3). Like other

teaching and learning devices, big book can make the students enjoy the learning

process. Thus, big book plays an important role in increasing students’ vocabulary.

Based on the explanation above the researcher thinks that it is reasonable

enough to be the reason why the researcher is interested to do a collaborative

classroom action research under the title “Implementation of Big Book in improving

students’ ability in mastering vocabulary (A CAR at fifth grade of MIN Krueng

Baroe)”. This research is an effort to evaluate and improve the students’ vocabulary

acquisition. It focused on two kind of vocabulary, namely noun and verb.

1.2 The Problem of the Research

The problems of this research are in the following:

1. Can the fifth year students of MIN Krueng Baro improve their ability in

mastering English vocabulary by using big book?

2. What are the advantages of using big book in teaching English vocabulary

to the fifth year students of MIN Krueng Baro?

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1.3 The Purpose of the Research

The purposes of this research based on the problem of this research are as

follows:

1. To know if the fifth year students of MIN Krueng Baro can improve their

ability in mastering English vocabulary by using big book.

2. To find out the advantages of using big book in teaching English vocabulary

to the fifth year students of MIN Krueng Baro.

1.4 The Significance of the Research

This study is hoped to give meaningful knowledge both theoretically and

practically concerns. Theoretically, the study would give reasonable benefit in

describing the students’ vocabulary mastering ability through big book, especially to

the fifth year students of MIN Krueng Baro. Practically, the finding of the research is

expected to give a priority measures in teaching English vocabulary for teacher.

Meanwhile for the students, it is hoped that big book can enrich their vocabulary so

that they can comprehend the English text in various kinds, written or spoken.

1.5 The Scope of the Research

The researcher gives the scope of this research for limiting the research focus.

The research concerns with teaching English vocabulary, especially noun, and verb

through big book. The big book used is that has interesting picture on it. The material

given would depend on the topic of teaching.

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1.6 The Definition of Key Terms

In this thesis, the researcher gives some explanation about a few key terms.

These key terms’ function is to make the reader understand exactly about a few

words or phrases.

1. Implementation

Implementation is derived from “implement” by adding “ation”. It means to

carry out something or to conduct particular activity (Oxford Learner’s Pocket

Dictionary, 2005:319). In this case, “implementation” means to conduct the

teaching of English vocabulary to the fifth year students of elementary school

by using big book as media of teaching.

2. Improving

Improving is derived from “improve” by adding “ing”. It means to advance to

better state or quality. In this case, “improving” means to make learners able to

master English vocabulary much better by big book (The Heritage Illustrated,

1997:662)

3. Students

Student is person who is studying at a college or University or at secondary

school, and also “student” means any person interested in a particular subject

(Oxford Learner’s Pocket Dictionary, 2005: 429). In this case, “students”

means the persons who are studying English vocabulary at fifth grade of

Elementary School.
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4. Vocabulary

“Vocabulary” is a list of words and sometime phrase usually arranged in

alphabetical order and define, etc (Webster, 1997:2046). According to Oxford

Leaner’s Pocket Dictionary (2005:482), “Vocabulary” is all the words that a

person knows or uses; all the words in a language; and all the words with their

meanings, especial in a book for learning a foreign language. In this case,

“vocabulary” means a list of words taught by the teacher through big book.

5. Big Book

“Big book” is the book that has bright pictures and sturdy pages help kids learn

English or other language words for the things that are part of everyday life:

colors, shapes, numbers, their clothes, even parts of their house. It is an

oversized board book that offers basic English vocabulary (Emberley, 2008:3).

In this research, big book means the material teacher used by the teacher in

teaching English vocabulary to the fifth year students of MIN Krueng Baro.

6. Classroom Action Research (CAR)

“Classroom Action Research” is a form of reflective research that is conducted

by teacher which its result can be used as a tool to improve the teaching and

learning process (Asrory, 2008:4). In this research, the researcher implements

this kind of research to improve vocabulary teaching and learning process of

fifth year students of MIN Krueng Baro.