Sunday, 30 November 2014

Improving Students Vocabulary Using Mind Mapping



CHAPTER I
INTRODUCTION

 This chapter contains background, problem statement, objectives of the research, significance of the research and scope of the research.

A.    Background
Based on the curriculum development in Indonesia, English has changed as a subject at school. In the past, English was taught from junior high school until university, and today English is taught from elementary school until university.
Teaching English as proficiency involves four skills they are listening, speaking, reading and writing. Those skills support each other and cannot be separated with each other in this case. These four language skills are developed from basic language components such as, structure, vocabulary, pronunciation and spelling.
In this research, the writer’s attention focuses on the vocabulary as one of the English language components. The importance of vocabulary in teaching a foreign language is clearly stated by Allen (1997:149) as follow vocabulary is an important factor in teaching words, sound system, structure and other essential area of language learning. So, the writer concludes that vocabulary as one of the elements of language which is important to study. Without having enough vocabulary, the ability to communicate and convey our needs could not be established to each four skills.
English teachershave a very important role in an English instruction since they are one of the factors that determine whether the teaching is successful or unsuccessful. The teachers have to be able to apply various techniques in teaching English because the students prepare to learn simply and usefully. So the teacher can use various media like using mapping to teach vocabulary for students.
These media provide language elements for the students to explore the language skills for them. Furthermore, it can be able to arouse the student’s interest in learning a foreign language, so it is not boring and it can help students to learn the language easier. So “mapping” can enrich students’ vocabulary, word comprehension and good understanding. Mapping can enrich English learners’ vocabulary, because through this way they may image and memorize many vocabularies in one time. Actually our students can know and remember many vocabularies but this way can help students to map and classify through the topic given by instructors. They will find the words from the general words to the specific one.  
When the researcher had done observation about vocabulary in SMP Negeri 4 Baranti Kabupaten Sidrap, the researcher found the students’ vocabulary ability in English was very poor. The averages of students’ vocabulary were 3.3 it means that they have very poor ability compared to the English minimal standard grade (KKM). While the minimum of mastery learning criteria or KKM is 40.00. Therefore the researcher focuses on teaching vocabulary through Mapping in English learning. Furthermore, the researcher tried to improve the students’ vocabulary by using Mapping as a method.
Based on the explanation above, the researcher is interested in conducting a research with the title “Teaching Vocabulary by using mapping”.

B.     ProblemStatement
Based on the background above, the researcher formulated a problem statement as follow “Is the use of mapping able to increase the students’ vocabulary mastery of SMP Negeri 4 Baranti Kabupaten Sidrap?”   

C.    Objectiveof the Research
The objective of the research was to find out whether or not the use of mapping is able to increase the students’ vocabulary mastery in SMP Negeri 4 Baranti Kabupaten Sidrap.

D.    Significanceof the Research
The significances of the research were important for:
1.      The teachers; it can be useful information for the English teacher in varying their teaching method in class, the students; it can be applied to motivate the students in increasing the vocabulary mastery.
2.      The curriculum designers; it can be a consideration material for formulating the curriculum.
3.      The next researchers; it can be useful information for the next invent in teaching vocabulary.

E.     Scope of the Research
The scope of the research was restricted to the discipline, content and activity:
1.      By discipline, this research is limited to the field of applied linguistics, which talks about the teaching subject in terms of vocabulary mastery.
2.      By content, this research covered some topics in this method, namely: the house; at school; in town; and in the market.
3.      By activity, the researcher applied teaching vocabulary by using Mapping in the classroom of the first year students in school year 2013/2014 of SMP Negeri 4 Baranti Kabupaten Sidrap to increase their vocabulary mastery.










CHAPTER II
REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE

In this chapter, the researcher provided of previous related research findings, some pertinent ideas, conceptual framework, and hypothesis.

A.    Previous Related Research Findings.
There were some researchers who have conducted researches by using techniques in teaching vocabularies. They are as follows:
Tjandrajani (2004:4) conducted a research on Using Authentic Materials to Increase Vocabulary of the First Year Students of SMA Negeri 4 Parepare. She found that there was a significant development from pretest and posttest in vocabulary mastery of the students. It means that using authentic reading is effective in increasing the students’ vocabularies.
Jumriani (2003:24) conducted a research on Using Realia to Increase Vocabulary Mastery of the Fifth Class Students of SD Negeri 8 Parepare. She found that using realia as a media of teaching could make the pupils increase their vocabulary and understood the vocabulary mastery.
Khalik (2004:29) conducted a research on Increasing English Vocabulary of the Second Year Students of SMA Negeri 1 Watang Pulu Through Translation Method. He found that there was a significant difference between the vocabulary mastery of the students before and after taught through translation method.
 Usman (2004:26) conduct a research on Increasing the Mastery of the Sixth Year Students of SDN 6 Pinrang to Use English Vocabulary by Using Total Physical Response. He conducted total physical response is very useful to be applied to the students who wanted to increase their English vocabulary mastery.
From some findings of the research above, the researcher is interested to create variety in increasing vocabulary mastery of the students. Therefore, the researcher chooses to use mapping, because mapping could design the meaning of the word based on the topic given. It had an influence to increase the students’ vocabulary mastery.

B.     Some Pertinent Ideas
1.      The Concept of Vocabulary
1)      Definition of Vocabulary
Vocabulary is the main key to learn English. It is to be master by students to communicate with others, such as expressing ideas, emotion and desires. Richard (2001: 4) states that vocabulary is one of the most obvious components of language and one of the first things applied linguistics turned their attention.
Richard (2002: 580) states in his book “Longman dictionary of language teaching and applied linguistics” that vocabulary is a set of Lexemes, including single words, compound words and idioms.
Hornby (1974: 959) states that vocabulary is (1) the total number of words that make up a language (2) body of words known to a person or used particular book subject (3) list of words with their meaning.
Based on the statements above, the researcher concluded that vocabulary is the list of words with their meaning used for teaching learning process.

2)      Vocabulary growth
According to Wapedia (http://wapedia.mobi/en/Vocabulary) 2010 stated initially, in the infancy phase, vocabulary growth requires no effort. Infants hear words and mimic them, eventually associating them with objects and actions. This is the listening vocabulary. The speaking vocabulary follows, as a child's thoughts become more reliant on its ability to express itself without gestures and mere sounds. Once the reading and writing vocabularies are attained - through questions and education - the anomalies and irregularities of language can be discovered.
In first grade, an advantaged student (i.e. a literate student) knows about twice as many words as a disadvantaged student. Generally, this gap does not tighten. This translates into a wide range of vocabulary size by age five or six, at which time an English-speaking child will know about 2,500-5,000 words. An average student learns some 3,000 words per year, or approximately eight words per day.
After leaving school, vocabulary growth reaches a plateau. People may then expand their vocabularies by engaging in activities such as reading, playing word games, and participating in vocabulary programs.
3)      Types of Vocabulary
Harmer (1991:159) divides vocabulary into two types, they are:
a.       Active vocabulary refers to vocabulary that has been learned by students. They are expected to be able to use it.
b.      Passive vocabulary refers to word which the students will recognize when they meet them but which they will probably not be able to produce.

On other hand, Wapedia (http://wapedia.mobi/en/Vocabulary) presented that there are 4 types of vocabulary namely:
a.       Reading vocabulary
A person's reading vocabulary is all the words he or she can recognize when reading. This is the largest type of vocabulary simply because it includes the other three.
b.      Listening vocabulary
A person's listening vocabulary is all the words he or she can recognize when listening to speech. This vocabulary is aided in size by context and tone of voice.
c.       Writing vocabulary
A person's writing vocabulary is all the words he or she can employ in writing. Contrary to the previous two vocabulary types, the writing vocabulary is stimulated by its user.
d.      Speaking vocabulary
A person's speaking vocabulary is all the words he or she can use in speech. Due to the spontaneous nature of the speaking vocabulary, words are often misused. This misuse - though slight and unintentional - may be compensated by facial expressions, tone of voice, or hand gestures.

4)      General Principles in Selecting Vocabulary
One item of teaching vocabulary is how to select what words to teach. Harmer (1991:155) presented criteria which are rather more specific have been used, among which two of the more important, they are:
a.       Frequency
We decide which word we should teach on the basis of how frequency they are used by the speakers of the language. The words which are most commonly used are the ones we should teach first.
b.      Coverage
                        A word is more useful it covers more things than if it only has one very specific meaning, so the argument goes.
5)      Criteria in Selecting Vocabulary
While Richard (2001:8) presents other criteria which also used in determining word list. These included:
a.       Teach ability
In a course taught following the Direct Method on a method such Total Physical Response, concentrate vocabulary is taught early in one because it can easily be illustrated through pictures or by demonstration.
b.      Similarity
Some items may be selected because they are similar to words in the native of language.
c.       Availability
Some words may not be frequent but they are readily “available” in the sense that they come quickly to mind when certain topics are thought.
d.      Coverage
Words that cover or included the meaning of other words may also be useful.
e.       Defining Power
Some words could be selected because they are useful in defining other words; even through they are not among the frequent words in the language.

6)      What do the Students Need to Know
Harmer (1991:156-158) states there are four what  the students need to know relates to vocabulary item than just one meaning, namely:
a.       Meaning
The first thing to realize about vocabulary items is that they frequently have more than one meaning. As far as meaning goes, then, students need to know about meaning in context and they need to know about sense relation.
b.      Word Use
What word uses means can be changed, stretched or limited by know it is used and this is something students need to know about.
c.       Word Formation
Word can change their shape and their grammatical value, too. Students need to know facts about word formation and how to twist words to fit different grammatical context. Word formation means knowing words are written and spoken and knowing how they can change their form.
d.      Word Grammar
Just words change according to their grammatical meaning, so the use of certain words can trigger the use of certain grammatical patterns.

7)      The importance of a vocabulary
a.       An extensive vocabulary aids expressions and communication
b.      Vocabulary size has been directly linked to reading comprehension.
c.       Linguistic vocabulary is synonymous with thinking vocabulary
d.      A person may be judged by others based on his or her vocabulary

8)      The Approaches to Vocabulary Teaching and Learning
However many theories about vocabulary learning process were written, it still remains the matter of memory. Thus, there are several general principles for successful teaching, which are valid for any method. According to Wallace, 1988 the principles are:
a.       aim – what is to be taught, which words, how many
b.      need – target vocabulary should respond students’ real needs and interests
c.       frequent exposure and repetition
d.      meaningful presentation – clear and unambiguous denotation or reference should be assured
Learning vocabulary is a complex process. The students’ aim to be reached in learning vocabulary process is primarily their ability to recall the word at will and to recognize it in its spoken and written form. Generally, knowing a word involves knowing its form and its meaning at the basic level. In deeper aspects it means the abilities to know its (Harmer 1991):
a.       Meaning, i.e. relate the word to an appropriate object or context
b.      Usage, i.e. knowledge of its collocations, metaphors and idioms, as well as style and register (the appropriate level of formality), to be aware of any connotations and associations the word might have
c.       Word formation, i.e. ability to spell and pronounce the word correctly, to know any derivations (acceptable prefixes and suffixes),
d.      Grammar, i.e. to use it in the appropriate grammatical form

Beside that, Alex Case presented in his website (http://edition.tefl.net/articles/lexis/teaching-vocabulary/) about four approaches to teaching vocabulary namely:
a.       Really learn a little vocabulary
This is perhaps what is most typically seen as good practice in ELT (English Language Teaching) – picking what language you want the students to learn (or letting them pick it themselves) from word lists, the textbooks, authentic texts etc and revising it various fun ways until they know it thoroughly and are likely to remember it for quite some time to come.


b.      Touch on as much vocabulary as you can
This is one way of taking the opposite approach to the one above- accepting that students will learn different vocabulary (and, like grammar, not necessarily the things the teacher has decided the lesson is about) and will see and hear totally different language in their reading, listening etc outside of class
c.       Help them pick it up
Some teachers and researchers think that extensive reading (reading for pleasure) in English is such a good way of picking up vocabulary and other parts of the language that it is by far the most useful use of classroom time.
d.      Use vocabulary to teach how to learn vocabulary
This is another way of tackling the problem that students will learn and need different language from each other. With this approach, you take each vocabulary point that comes up not primarily as a chance to teach the target language but as a way of teaching something about vocabulary and how to learn it that they can take away and use with the language they come across, look up in their dictionaries etc outside class. The best way to organize and think about this is by adding another syllabus to the textbook vocabulary one so that your new vocabulary syllabus says “Compound nouns- using dictionaries”, “Phrasal verbs- guessing meaning from context”, “Antonyms- using English in your vocabulary lists rather than L1” etc.
2.      The Concept of Teaching Vocabulary
According Frost (2005), there are ways of getting across the meaning of a lexical item, namely:
1)      Illustration, this is very useful for more concrete words (dog, rain, and tall) and for visual learners. It has its limits though, not all items can be drawn.
2)      Mime, this lends itself particularly well to action verbs and it can be fun and memorable.
3)      Synonyms, antonyms, gradable items, using the words student already knows can be effective for getting meaning across.
4)      Definition, make sure that it is clear (maybe check in a learner dictionary before the lesson if you are not confident). Remember to ask question to check they have understood properly.
5)      Translation, if you know the students’ mother tongue, then it is fast and efficient. Remember that not every word has a direct translation.
6)      Context, think of a clear when the word is used and either describe it to the students or give them examples sentence to clarify meaning further.

3.      The Concept of Mapping
1)      What is mapping
The concept of mapping provides a framework for organizing conceptual information in the process of defining a word.  The concept map also supports vocabulary and concepts learning by helping students internalize a strategy for defining and clarifying the meaning of unknown words.  Students write the concept word or target word being studied in the center, and then work outward into the boxes writing words that describe the target word.  The framework of the concept map contains: category/class the concept or target word belongs, properties of the concept word or target, and examples of the concept or target word.
One of the most valuable vocabulary activities we can do is mapping, especially if we need focus for a project or if we need a natural organization pattern. The inventor of mapping is Gabrielle Lusser Rico. Mapping is a technique of vocabulary that allows us to explore many ideas as soon as they occur to us. Like brainstorming or free-associating, mapping allows us to begin without clear ideas.
Based on the Tomlinson, mapping is one strategy we can use to formulate a plan of action from our rough notes to map our ideas. Mapping shows us the relationships among our ideas and suggests organizational patterns.
Meanwhile, Siegel states that mapping is a way of tricking the left-brain into silence and using the right brain to come up with our own unique overview of a subject. The way to do it is very simple, but it will not work if we break any of the simple rules.
In addition, Richmond supports their ideas. He states that mapping is an effective vocabulary strategy for coming up with paper topics, especially for visual learners. Like brainstorming, mapping is relatively unrestricted and only asks the writer to come up with random ideas that could potentially be pursued. Yet mapping goes beyond brainstorming because it asks the students to commit the ideas to paper by mapping each of the major topics and sub-topics out. This type of mapping is often useful to students because it helps them see relationships among their different topics.
Mapping is a nonlinear method of connecting words or phrases to a central idea. The result is called a cluster diagram, very similar to (if not the same thing as) a mind map or a concept map. It is a great way to explore the structure of a broad subject, and it has many other uses.
Based on the definition above, the researcher concludes that mapping method will help the students to construct and organize their ideas although the students still unclear with it. Mapping will help them to ask their self and formulate the theme visually.
2)      Procedure of Mapping
Based on the York University, procedure of mapping can be broken down into four steps, namely review, analyze, organize and plan.

a.       Review

-          Pull out a blank sheet of paper, place our topic, question in the center of the page or lay out our notes on a surface so that we can see everything at once. Then, begin to think about our topic or question. As words or phrases come to mind, immediately write them down and circle them. This should create a ring of ideas around our central topic/question. Make a very heavy circle right around it.
-          Read our notes, highlight relevant material and strike out irrelevant material.

b.      Analyze

-          Look for similarities, patterns and connections among our ideas. Move from one word to the next, or try to find interconnections by looking at the whole simultaneously.
-          Draw circles and lines to illustrate graphically the relationships we see. Jot additional notes to explain the patterns and connections to our self.
-          Now "mapping" the notes into groups to reflect the patterns and connections we identified.

c.       Organize with Headings

-          Add headings that describe the patterns or categories we used to map the material. Highlight our headings so that they will stand out.
-          If there are any ideas left over that do not fit into our categories, place them under a category called "misfits".

d.      Try Different Plans

          If we are lucky, clustering will suggest a plan for developing our paper; however, not all of the relationships we notice will fit into every feasible plan for developing our paper. If we can think of more than one possible plan, try mapping our notes according to two or three different plans.

3)      Modes of Mapping
 Pre-mapping (mapping and thinking about a paper before writing it) fills our "well" and creates learning. Every time we skip the pre process, we miss an opportunity to create a richer paper. Even people who state that they dashed off a paper in a few minutes often have been thinking about the paper for some time. For example, we do a lot of "mental" in our car, which explains why we are such a bad driver. Even with a fair amount of pre-activity, do not think of pre-activity as merely an initial process. Often, during mapping, we will need to go back and fill the well several times. The mapping diagram below is presented as an example of one type of pre-activity in mapping.




Example 1:
Figure 1: Expectations by Melanie Dawson and Joe Essid
Example 2:
Figure 2: The Kippi by Dr. Kristi Siegel



Example 3:
Figure 3: Our House by Sue Tomlinson
C.    Conceptual Framework
Vocabulary mastery is one of the most important for us because without knowing a little technique in this process we cannot express our ideas in written form and orally. One of vocabulary activity that helps students to construct their ideas is mapping because it present the students ideas visually and easier them to organize their idea.
Teaching vocabulary through Mapping concept aims to increase the students’ vocabulary mastery which presenting the related new words. The vocabulary materials that applied by the researcher related to the themes. The researcher conducts aquasi experimental research to know the students’ achievement on the Mapping in vocabulary mastery.

The conceptual framework underlying in this research is given in the following diagram:


(Experimental Way)
Mapping concept
&
 (Conventional Way)
as a medium to know the students’ ability in vocabulary mastery

 



           
Vocabulary test which divided into four topics
           
To know the students’ ability in vocabulary mastery using Mapping Concept, the research will teach for several meeting both classes namely experimental and conventional (Participant observation and field note to support the data valid)  
Participant observation
     

                                                                                                               

Field note
Photographs
           
The students’ vocabulary mastery
In this case Mapping Concept is able or not to increase the students’ vocabulary mastery  

Recorded
 






Figure 4: Conceptual Framework

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