13

CHAPTER II

REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE

A. Vocabulary

1. Definition of vocabulary

There are various definitions of vocabulary. One of them is vocabulary

is a total number of words in a language, list of words with their meanings 1.

From these definitions, the writer concludes that vocabulary is number of

word or phrases which has meaning that are used in spoken or written

language. Richard and Renandya said that vocabulary is component of

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

speak, listen, read and write.2 Vocabulary is part of language component and

list of words that have been used by people to communicate. According to

Hornby, vocabulary is the total number of words in language an individual

knows and those words are used as a vehicle of language to express ones

thought.

From explanation above, it can be argued that vocabulary not only

contains list of words but also it become a basic for people to communicate,

1
Oxford Learners Pocket Dictionary (Oxford University Press 1991)
2
Jack C. Richard and Willy A. Renandya, Methodology in Language Teaching: An Anthology of
Current Practice (New York: Cambridge University Press, 2002),225.
 14

because without vocabulary an idea cannot be transmitted in

communication.

2. Importance of vocabulary.

Vocabulary is the basic component to help the students in mastering

language. They will learn the language skill easily if they have enough

vocabulary. In any foreign language, learning vocabulary is one that is

emphasized. Students have to develop their vocabulary.

Developing a good vocabulary will help them to improve their ability

in learning vocabulary. Many of the vocabulary in English textbook have to

be learned. Without it no one can speak or understand the language3. It

means that people cannot write a word or make a sentence well, when they

do not master it.

There are some advantages when students can master the English

vocabulary. According to Diana Bonet here some advantages:

a. Students will be better improving their reading, writing, speaking and

listening vocabulary.

b. Students will think more clearly. Thoughts are limited by vocabulary.

c. Students will experience personal growth and greater confidence.

3
Firginia French Allen. Technique in Teaching Vocabulary (New York: Oxford University Press,
1983).7.
 15

d. Students will understand other people idea and explanation easily.

e. Students will gain important survival tools for the new millennium.

f. Students friend will think they are getting very smart4.

Those advantages show us how vocabulary determines on how

students learn language and their capability to build communication with

others. Moreover, mastery in vocabulary is more important than grammar.

Like Thornburry stated that,

Without grammar very little can be conveyed, without vocabulary

nothing can be conveyed5
In other word, even without good grammar, people may able to speak

and understand a language if they know a lot of vocabulary. It can be a basis

to master the language. While vocabulary is largely a collection of words,

grammar is a system.6 The more words we know, the easier for us to master

the language. It shows us how vocabulary determines on how people learn

language.

B. Teaching

In school activity, learning teaching process is the main activity which is

cannot be separated each other. Brown defined teaching is an activity which

helping someone to learn something, giving instructions, guiding in the study of

4
Diana Bonet, Vocabulary Improvement, (Boston:Thomson Course Technology,1991).iii.
5
Scott Thornburry, How to teach vocabulary, (England: Longman, Pearson Education limited, 2002).
13
6
Ibid., p.14
 16

something, providing with knowledge, making someone to know or understand

of something.7 Based on this definition, teaching is an activity when the teacher

conveys information to the students with the purpose to make the students

understand about something new.

1. Teaching Vocabulary

Teaching vocabulary is an activity to acquire some new words to

improve the language. Before teaching the students, the teacher should

consider how to present vocabulary in class, it is necessary in making lesson

plan. Before presenting vocabulary, the teacher should consider the factors

as the foundation in presenting vocabulary. The teacher should know how

much vocabulary to present. The following factors are:

a. The level of the learners

The teacher should know the level of her/his students whether beginner,

intermediate or advanced

b. The learners likely familiarity with the words.

The learner may have known the words before even though the words not

part of their active vocabulary.

c. The difficulty of items.

7
H. Douglas Brown, Principles of Language Learning and Teaching, Fifth Edition (New York,
Pearson Education, Inc,2007).8.
 17

The teacher should know whether the words difficult to pronounce or

difficult to find the real meaning for her/his students.

d. Their teach ability.

The teacher should know whether easy to demonstrate or explain the words.

e. Items are being learned for production or for recognition only.

The teacher should know whether the words for speaking and writing or

listening and reading only.8

Based on the factors above, the teacher should consider that

vocabulary item should be learned in context, teacher may use other

different sources if it is necessary.

2. Presenting the Meaning

In teaching vocabulary process, after presenting vocabulary, there are

some ways of getting the meaning of words. It will depend on the item

which is presented. The techniques used to define are mentioned by

Thornburry. They are:

a. Translation

This way doesnt need many times. The teacher only needs to translate

the target language into the mother language of the students.

Sometime this way is less memorable for the students, because they

dont have to work hardly to access the meaning.

8
Scott Thornburry, How to teach vocabulary....75-76
 18

b. Real things

In this way, the teacher shows the real thing of the words.

Unfortunately, define the words by showing the real things are seldom

to be done. It is because not all the words can be showed with its real

things.

c. Picture

This way is almost same with shows the real thing. This is very useful

for more concrete words (dog, rain, and tall) and for visual learners. In

this way, the teacher shows the picture of the words.

d. Actions/ gesture

In this technique, the teachers express the words using action,

expression and movement.

e. Definition

Using the words a student already knows can be effective for getting

meaning.9

There are many ways to present the meaning. The teacher can

choose one of them which are can help them to make sure her/his students

already understand the meaning of the words.

9
Ibid., p.77
 19

3. Types of Vocabulary

In teaching vocabulary, the teacher needs to know what the types of

vocabulary. As described by Diana Bonet there are three so there are types

of meaning, they are:

a. Reading and listening.

A students reading and listening vocabulary is all the words he or she

can recognize when reading and listening. This is the largest type of

vocabulary simply because it includes the other two. When reading and

listening, the students remind words which they may not used by

themselves, but they recognize them by their context. When the students

hear or read new words often and find them useful, the students usually

adopt them.

b. Writing.

A students writing vocabulary is all the words he or she can employ

in writing. Compared to the previous two vocabulary types, the writing is

stimulated by its user.

c. Speaking.

A students speaking vocabulary is all the words he or she can use in

speech. Students usually use word in spontaneous. It makes the words are
 20

often misused. This misused can be compensated by facial expressions,

tone of voice, or hand gestures.10

These statements prove that vocabulary plays an important role in

everyday communication. Students can express their thoughts and emotions

with words.

Teacher also should show the word class of those words. It is needed to

make sure the students will be applied those word appropriately. Further,

according to Thornbury, the words divide into eight classes, those are:11

a. Nouns : reference to an object. Such as: bits, pieces, record,

player.

b. Pronouns : personal, possessive, reflexive, reciprocal,

demonstrative, relative, interrogative, indefinite. Such as: I, them

c. Verbs : predication of an action. Such as: like, looking,

doing, to look.

d. Adjective : modification by a property. Such as: old, second,

new.

e. Adverb : a word which modifies the meaning of a verb, an

adjective or another verb. Such as: up, cheerfully.

10
Diana Bonet, Vocabulary Improvement, ..7
11
Scott Thorburry, How to teach vocabulary,.. p.3
 21

f. Preposition : a word placed before a noun or a pronoun to show in

what relation the person or thing denoted by it stands in regard to

something else. Such as: for, like.

g. Conjunction : a word which merely joins together sentences, and

sometimes words. Such as: and, or.

h. Determiner : a word that comes before a noun and points it out

without describing it the way that an adjective does. Such as: in the

phrase my boy friend, that strange woman. The word my and that is

determiner.

The teacher can explain the word class of the difficult word in the end of

the learning vocabulary process. It is caused usually the word class is not

part of the main of teaching vocabulary.

C. Game

1. Definition of game

The definition of the games is based on the Oxford Advanced

Dictionary of Current English the meaning of game is form of usually

competitive play or sport with rules.12 Another definition by Andrew

Wirght, David Betteridge, Michael buckby, stated in Games for Language

Learning book that,

12
A. S. Hornby, Oxford Dictionary .... 486
 22

Game is an activity which is entertaining and engaging, often

challenging and an activity in which the learners play and usually
interact with others13

It means that the game is a fun activity which has rules and must

entertain. It is because games might make students enthusiastic to play it,

sometimes it is challenging because when students are playing games, they

have to be a winner in that games and it is also entertaining because students

fun and enjoy in playing and interacting each others. Games are a valuable

activity for language learning, especially for very young learners. Games

can decrease students anxiety.14 Children enjoy games and participate

without anxiety. Then, games are social activities which enable the

development of social skills.

Game has rules. The objective of the game must be clear that the

students know what they expect to do in the activities. Goals and objectives

of the game will decide who will be the winner15. From this definition,

usually the game has a winner. The teacher can determine the winner with

some criterion. This is done to motivate students to play the game while

learning

13
Andrew Wirght, et all Games for Language Learning...1
14
Glin Yolageldili and Arda Arikan, Effectiveness of Using Games in Teaching Grammar to Young
Learners (Elementary Education Online:2011) p.2.
15
Richard Blunt, Does Game-Based Learning Work? Results from Three Recent Studies, p. 3
 23

2. Game-Based Learning

In mastering vocabulary, there are many games which are appropriate

for use with the collections of vocabulary items. The games can be applied

on the board to help the students to enrich their vocabulary well. Al

Neyadis research suggests that using games to practice vocabulary

improves learners ability to memorize the words effectively16. In

addition, learning vocabulary through games is one effective and

interesting way that can be applied in any classrooms17. Therefore, the

researcher believes that game is effective to apply in vocabulary class as a

method to help the students in mastering vocabulary. Blunts data analysis

found classes using the game had significantly higher means than those

classes that did not use the game18. It means the experimental class which

uses game as a method in mastering vocabulary should have improvement

than the control class.

Game is considered as an effective strategy to help the learners learn

language. It is because game makes the students fun when learning

language.19 Based on those statements, game is not only generally played

by the children but also can be applied to language learning. Learning

language should be fun.

16
Osha Saeed Al Neyadi, The Effect of using Game to Reinforce Vocabulary Learning..105
17
Nguyen Thi Thanh Huyen and Khuat Thi Thu Nga, Learning Vocabulary Trough Game,..14
18
Richard Blunt, Does Game-Based Learning Work? .. 10
19
Redjeki Agoestyowati. 102 English Games,.. xiii.
 24

Commonly, students consider that games are competition that can be

played between one person or more. Students also often think that game

just to make have fun. Here, it can be stated that games not only as a

competition but also as a motivation for students to learn as well as

possible. According to Andrew Wright, the reasons why game can be

used as a method to learning language are representated as follow:

a. Language learning a hard work

Student has to understand language in conversation and in written

composition. This effort is required in every moment. Game helps

student to sustain their interest in learning.

b. Experiencing language

Games provide the student to experience language rather than merely

study it.

c. Repeated use of language items.

Learning language through game is more interesting than based on

mechanical drills.

d. Central to learning

If the game is considered be able to attract students' interest in

learning, it can be used as an alternative to teach and not just a game

as a warming up20.

20
Andrew Wirght, et all, Games for Language Learning,..2.
 25

From the explanation above, it can be concluded that games are one a

way to help students not only play games but also learn lessons through

games. Beside that, it also can be concluded that learning through games

is better that learning use traditional method.

3. Kind of game

According to Ioannou, there are three kinds of game which can be

used with young language learners to teach English, they are:

a. Flashcard games : these games are played with a set of flashcards which

may be found from bookshops or prepared by the teacher and their

students.

b. Ball games : ball games require a soft ball which teacher can use in

class.

c. Action games : action games require body movement.21

Slap the Word game is belonging to action game. It is because in

this game students need to run to slap the word. The students might excite

the class so the teacher should carefully when make the students feel safe

during the game.

21
Sophie Ioannou, Teaching English to Very Young Learners: Using Games.2010. p.2.
 26

4. Guideline for game

In organizing the game, Brown stated that games involve:

a. Rule must be followed.

b. Competition between individuals or team.

c. Determination of a winner if teams of players are part of the game

plans, cooperative learning as well as competition can result22.

Game has rules in its application, in which two students who are

representative of each group has to the word that is intended by the

teacher. The first student, who slaps the right word, will become the

winner. Here some general guidelines for setting up and using activities

or game:

a. Prepare the language that will use to set up activities. The researcher

will use simple vocabulary that can be understood easily by seventh

grade students.

b. Use a familiar signal to get the childrens attention. The researcher

will use gesture to make sure that students understand the purpose of

instruction.

22
H. Douglas Brown, Principle of Language Learning and Teaching ,..317.
 27

c. Wait until everyone is quite and attentive before starting to explain

what to do. The researcher should be able to handle the class. Make

sure every student can hear the instruction.

d. Announce the general nature and purpose of the activity.

e. Establish or create a context and use this as an opportunity to, for

example, pre-teach vocabulary, elicit what children know, encourage

them to predict or guess answer, etc. Here, the researcher will try to

mention the vocabulary that is considered difficult by students without

define it.

f. Divide the class into pair, or groups or teams if this is relevant for the

activity. The researcher will divide students in class into two groups.

g. Give clear instructions appropriate to the language level of children.

Keep instructions to short and chunked into stages. Use simple

language patterns and accompany the instruction by gesture, mime or

visual to clarify meaning. Like the previous point, the researcher will

use the simple word in English that is easy to understand by seventh

grade students which are accompanied by gesture. If possible, the

researcher will repeat the instructions very slowly until the students

really understand the rules of the game.

h. Demonstrate how the activity works in practice. To make it easier to

explain the rules of the game, the researcher will call representatives

of each group to come forward as an example.

 28

i. Check that the children understand what to do before they start the

activity.

j. If appropriate, model aloud procedure or thinking processes that

children will need to go trough themselves in order to be able to carry

out an activity or task successfully.

k. As soon as the researcher is sure every student clearly understands

what to do, the researcher will give a signal to start the activity. The

researcher will countdown to start the game23.

Those general guidelines explain how to set up the game clearly. By

following those steps, the researcher can handle the class before starting

the game. It is because those general guidelines help the researcher to

make sure every student can understand the rule of the game.

D. Slap the Word Game

Slap the Word game is a one of many games in vocabulary learning.

There are many another name of this game. Some of people called it Card

Slap, Flying Swatter or Slap that Word. Actually Slap the Word game

is name from Susie Hodges video.

23
Kama Einhorn, ESL Activities and Mini-Book (New York: Woody Gutrie, 2006)p.17
 29

This game is easy to do According to Walter, in this game, students play

in small groups. Cards are laid on the desks in front of students. Teacher says

a vocabulary word and students must slap the correct card.24 In this study, the

difficult words will be written on the whiteboard. When the student hears the

word from the teacher, they have to look for the word on the wall and then

slap it as fast as they can with their hand.

1. Using board

The researcher needs to explain about board. It is because this game

needs board as a main media. The board, literally, is one of supporting

media in learning process if it can be used well. In education, the board has

many advantages when it is well applied. It can be applied in teaching

vocabulary. In teaching and learning in the classroom, the board as an aid

has a big influence.

In vocabulary learning process, Dobbs explained the use of board to:

a. Illustrate how to break some words into analyzable parts.

b. Write a definition or definitions of a word or provide example of its use

in various context.

c. Draw a representation of a word or provide opportunities and means for

students to imagine or draw a representation of a word.

24
Jeffrey Walter, Games for the Elementary EFL Classroom, ..4.
 30

d. Display activities, games, and exercises for students to do using a new

word including those that link it to their previous knowledge and those

that require that they generate the new word.25

In this, the board is used to write down some difficult words and also

to help the teacher to explain the definition of the difficult words which is

written on the board.

2. Board Games

According to Harmer, one of the benefits of using board as media in

teaching is game board.26 There are a number of games that can be played

using the board. Board games involve the right mix of luck, strategy and

diplomacy. While playing board games the child develops the ability to

focus on the game. This helps to increase the ability to concentrate. 27 This

shows that board games are useful for students to develop their language

skill. Dian also explained that board games used in the teaching learning

vocabulary are also easy to apply.

Board has role in teaching learning process. The clear role and

instruction on the board games will make the teaching and learning process

25
Jeanmine Dobbs,.. p.25
26
Jeremy Harmer,...137
27
Sanika Mokashi and Manasi Lagare, Designing for Children. p.3
 31

effective and students will get easiness to enrich the vocabulary.28 The

teacher should explain the role clearly and the students are demanded to do

the game based on the instructions given before playing the game, In this

situation, they can enrich vocabulary unconsciously as they play the game

and hopefully it can be a media for learning vocabulary easily.

The game is made based on the topic that is used in the teaching and

learning. It can help the students to understand vocabulary that is related to

the material easily. So, through board work activities, students are expected

to use vocabulary in their daily life.

3. The Advantageous of Slap the Word Game

As the researcher has explained in previous sub-chapter, there are

many advantageous of game which can be applied as the strategy to teach

vocabulary. In its application, Slap the Word game has advantageous.

The advantageous of Slap the Word game are easy to be held and

the instruments can be got easily. The procedure only writes the difficult

word on the board. Then, the students have divided in two teams in two

lines facing board. First one in each line has to run after hearing the

meaning of the difficult word and slap it. First team to slap correctly wins.

28
Tenny Dian Indrayanti, Developing A Board Game for Teaching Vocabulary of Descriptive Text to
The Eight Grade Students of Junior High School ( Surabaya: UNESA, 2009) .21.
 32

After the first student has done the game, then move to back of queue and

replace to the next students.29

The instruments can be got easily. This game only need

whitebeard/blackboard and board maker. Usually these instruments have been

available in the class. So that, without any preparations, this game can be held

immediately.

In another side, Slap the Word game has disadvantages too. Based

on the procedure to hold the game, students need to run as fast as possible to

slap the word on the board. In this session, if the students careless, they will

fall down when running or crashing their friend

E. Previous Studies

There are some researches previously held by some researchers related to

this study. Here some previous studies from the strategies to increase

students vocabulary.

1. Peningkatan Penguasaan Kosakata Bahasa Inggris siswa SMPN 2 Jember

Melalui Teknik Permainan Kata Berbasis Komputer by Annur Rofiq. He

uses this method to make seventh grade students at SMPN 2 Jember

understand vocabulary easily. He explains that this method can be an

alternative to learn English for children because technology becomes

29
Ideas for Games for teaching English.1
 33

trending method today. In the application of this method, he needs LCD to

show the words. The result is the students easily understand the meaning

of vocabulary and the students feel fun when they learn it.

Actually Roffiqs reason to do his research is good. But in another

side, not all of the schools have LCD in each class. In some schools, LCD

is available in multimedia room. Of course the using of LCD cannot be

used all of the time. In this research, the instrument of Slap the Word is

easy to find. It just need whiteboard/blackboard and board marker. So, the

application of this game can be held anytime the teacher wants to do.

2. Improving Students Vocabulary by Using Riddle Game at the Second

Grade Students of Mts. Miftahul Ulum, Bendung, Mojokerto by Siska

Yuliana.Yuliana said that riddle game can be used as a way to teach

vocabulary because it requires ingenuity to solving the riddle words. She

uses classroom action research to conduct her study. Students can improve

their vocabulary as the result.

In this study, I use Slap the Word as one kind of action game. As an

action game, Slap the Word can change the atmosphere of the class

become active.30 So, the students more enjoy in learning vocabulary.

30
Nguyen Thi Thanh Huyen, the Effectiveness of Learning Vocabulary Through Games
 34

3. The Use of Authentic Reading Materials to Improve First Years Students

Vocabulary at SMPN 2 Surabaya by Syinfatul Wasiyyah. This research is

reported in classroom action research which is conducted in vocabulary

class at seventh grade. After opening the lesson, the researcher gives

students discourse context before reading the magazine article. The result

after implementation of extensive reading material is students vocabulary

mastery is getting better.

In this research is not easy to make students love reading. It will be

bored class if the teacher cannot build the situation. In research that I will

conduct, I use game to treat students vocabulary. Game makes the

students interest to learn vocabulary and also make learning vocabulary

become fun activity. So, the students will pay the attention and stay

focused on the subject.

4. Using Comic to Increase Students Vocabulary at SMP Bilingual

Terpadu Krian-Sidoarjo by Chusnul Fatimah. The research was done in

2011. She uses Collaborative Classroom Action Research (CCAR) to

increase students vocabulary. The result of the research shows that using

comic is effective for increasing the students vocabulary. They are very

interested in learning vocabulary through comic. However, at the first

meeting, the teacher could not manage the time effectively. Some

students got sleepy during the lesson. It was because the situation and
 35

students condition were very crowded. Unfortunately, in the first

meeting, the class is crowded and makes students get bored, because the

story is long, and students have to remember many words in the same

time.

In my research, I will use game as a strategy to teach vocabulary. It is

like Al Neeyadi said in her journal that the game will make the students

are interested in learning vocabulary. So, during this research, the

students will be more attracted to learn through game than reading comic.

It is because Slap the Word is one kind of action game where the

students need to move their body which this action is useful for

kinesthetic students.31

31
H. Douglas Brown, Principles of Language,...129