CHAPTER II

REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE

In this chapter the writer describes about vocabulary mastery, teaching

media, word wall, teaching vocabulary by using word wall, and the previous

study.

A. Vocabulary Mastery

This part will explain about the definition of vocabulary mastery,

vocabulary testing and the significant of vocabulary.

1. Definition of Vocabulary Mastery

Vocabulary is knowledge of words, word meaning, and how to use words

effectively to communicate. Neuman & Dwyer in Bintz (2011) defined

vocabulary as ―the words we must know to communicate effectively: words in

speaking (expressive vocabulary) and words in listening (receptive vocabulary)‖.

Vocabulary is one of language components that can affect macro skills. Nunan

(1999: 101) states that vocabulary is a list of target language words. Laflamme in

Weiser (2013) stated that vocabulary knowledge is the single most important

factor contributing to reading comprehension. It is an essential part of the

language.

Mastery is knowledge in understanding the words. Swannel (1994: 656)

defines mastery as comprehensive knowledge or use of a subject or instrument.

Meanwhile, Porter (2001: 953) states that mastery is learning or understanding

something completely and having no difficulty in using it. In oxford dictionary,

mastery is defined as the comprehensive knowledge or skill in a particular subject

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or activity. It is supported by Hornby (1984) who defines mastery as skill or

thorough knowledge. From these definitions, it comes to the conclusion that

vocabulary mastery is the competency to understand and use words to

communicate. Lewis and hill in Setiawan (2010: 10) says that vocabulary mastery

is important for the students. It is more than grammar for communication purpose,

particularly in the early stage when the students learn the basic words.

2. Vocabulary Testing

According to Ary (2010: 201), tests are valuable measuring instruments

for educational research. A test is a set of stimuli presented to an individual in

order to elicit responses on the basis of which a numerical score can be assigned.

Tests should permit the learner to demonstrate progress not only in control of

language code and in knowledge of meaning, but also in awareness of patterns of

culture.

Vocabulary testing is useful to measure students‘ mastery on vocabulary.

It is important to test vocabulary as an achievement test of vocabulary after

teaching. The specification for vocabulary achievement test should be based on

all items presented to the students in vocabulary teaching (Isnawati: 2015)

Some test techniques will be discussed here and used to test overall

ability (Isnawati:2015):

a) Multiple Choice Test

By this test, the test takers are asked to identify a sentence then cross or

circle the correct or most appropriate option. The advantages of this test is the

scoring can be perfectly reliable. Scoring should also be rapid and economical.
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b) Matching test

Matching test require the students to match two parts of a test. The two

parts are usually interrelated in terms of meaning or content. Usually, the two

parts are in the form of list, the first list consists of some statements or questions,

while the second consists of responses.

c) Cloze, C-Test, and Dictation

Cloze, C-Test and dictation technique are recommended as means of

measuring overall ability because they are considered economical. The original

form of cloze test involves deleting a number of words in a passages, leaving

blanks, and requiring the test taker to replace the original words.

According to Nation (2001:334) there are some kind of test that is

commonly used in vocabulary test. The following set of examples covers many

that are typically used in vocabulary test:

1. A 1,000 word level true/false test

Write T if a sentence is true. Write N if it is not true. Write X if you

don‘t understand the sentence.

2. A vocabulary depth test

Choose four words that go with the test word. Choose at least one from

each of the two boxes.

3. A Definition completion

Choose one word from the list to complete the sentence. Don‘t use the

same word.

4. A sensitive multiple-choice test

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Circle the choice that best given the meaning of the underlined word.

5. A translation test

Translate the underlined words into your first language

3. The Significant of Vocabulary

Vocabulary learning is an essential part in foreign language learning as the

meanings of new words are very often emphasized, whether in books or in

classrooms It is also central to language teaching and is of paramount importance

to a language learner (Alqahtani: 2015: 21). Vocabulary knowledge aids in

activating and building background knowledge to make connections to text, and

having vocabulary knowledge can increase reading comprehension and fluency

while reading. Vocabulary knowledge can improve writing skills and build

knowledge of other word meanings through known root words, prefixes, suffixes,

and word families Weiser (2013: 2). Someone who has limited vocabularies will

difficult to communicate with other. For the learner who learns English,

vocabulary helps them in learning four basic skills: speaking, listening, reading

and writing. The basis of Joshi, Kame‘enui & Baumann in Weiser (2013) there is

strong evidence to support providing vocabulary instruction not only to improve

students‘ reading comprehension and writing quality, but also their listening

vocabulary and their speaking vocabulary. Therefore, vocabulary is very

importance and it has significance role in learning language.

B. Teaching Media

This part will explain about the definition of teaching media, the kind of

media and the function of teaching media.

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1. The definition of Teaching Media

A medium (plural, media) is a channel of communication (Heinich: 2002:

9). According to Arsyad (2009), media are human, materials, or events that build

the student‘s condition to get knowledge, skill, and attitude. Teaching medium is

one of the important things in the process of teaching and learning beside the

teaching method. The teacher should able to use effective and efficient media

although simple and simply because it is a duty in the effort to get what the

process of teaching wants.

2. The Kind of Media

Generally, media can be subdivided into three kinds (Suyanto: 2007: 102),

they are:

a. Visual media

Visual media are the media that can be watched and touch for example,

picture, realia, map, and miniature.

b. Audio media

Audio media are the media that can be listened. They are used to listen and

understand oral text, for example, radio, cassette recorder, and tape recorder.

c. Audio visual media

Audio visual media are the media that can be watched and listened, for

example TV, OHP, and film.

3. The Function of Teaching Media

According to Levie and Lentz in Arsyad (2009) , there are four functions of

teaching media, particularly the visual media:

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1. Attention: it means that visual media are the central. They are interesting and

bring the students to concentrate on teaching material.

2. Affective: it means that visual media make students enjoy in the teaching and

learning process. They can grow the student‘s emotion.

3. Cognitive: it means that visual media bring the students to understand and

remember the information quickly.

4. Compensatory: it means that teaching media are useful to accommodate the

students who are less and slow to receive and understand the material verbally.

According to Kemp & Dayton as quoted in Arsyad (2009), teaching media

have three main functions if they are used by individual, group, and big group;

they are:

1) Motivation.

The teaching media motivate and stimulate the students to do and be

responsible. The purpose is to influence the attitude, value, and emotion of the

students.

2) Information.

The teaching media are used to show the information to the students. By

using teaching media, the teacher hopes the students to be more interested about

the information that are given.

3) Instruction.

The teaching media are used to prepare the effective instruction. Beside

enjoyable, the teaching media must give a pleasant experience and what the

student‘s need.
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Teaching media help the teacher easier to teach. They can choose media

which are suitable, simple or modern media in teaching and learning process. The

teacher also can make their own media because their creativity is also needed in

the teaching and learning process.

C. Word Wall

In this part, the writer will explain about the definition of word wall, the

characteristic of word wall, the advantages of using word wall, and the classroom

activities using word wall.

1. The Definition of Word Wall

A word wall is a group of words that are displayed on a wall, bulletin

board, chalkboard, or whiteboard in a classroom. The words are printed in a

large font so that they are easily visible from all student seating areas. These

words are referred to continually throughout a unit or term by the teacher and

students during a variety of activities (Cronsberry: 2004: 3).

Harmon (2009: 399) argues that the use of interactive word walls holds

instructional potential for enhancing vocabulary learning as students engage in

activities centered around the word wall activities in which students explore,

evaluate, reflect, and apply word meanings in meaningful contexts. As visible

and concrete tools to facilitate discussions and expand students‘ use of targeted

words (Brabham & Villaume: 2001), word walls are potentially powerful tools

for supporting specific word learning objectives of middle-level and secondary

curricula—Greek and Latin roots, prefixes and suffixes, inflectional endings to

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words, domain- and topic-specific words found in content areas, and words

associated with particular themes.

2. The Characteristic of Word Wall.

According to Brabham & Villaume (2001), every teacher is different

when deciding on how to display, arrange, and use word walls in the

classroom, but there are some common characteristics:

a. All are collections of words that are developmentally appropriate for

study by students in the classroom.

b. Words are selected for specific instructional purposes.

c. Collections are cumulative; as new words are introduced; familiar

words remain for further study.

d. Activities and talk about word walls provide conversational scaffolds

that structure the ways that students study, think about, and use words.

e. Words on walls serve as visual scaffolds that temporarily assist

students in independent reading

3. The Advantages of Using Word Wall.

According to Cronsberry (2004:3) word wall is used by many

teachers because it has many advantages, they are:

a. Provide an approach to meaningful teaching of vocabulary with an

emphasis on student engagement and higher level thinking skills

b. Build vocabulary, thereby improving reading comprehension and

writing style
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c. Reinforce understanding of subject-specific terminology with a focus

on students internalizing key concepts

d. Help students improve spelling and awareness of spelling patterns

e. Provide visual cues for students

f. Encourage student independence when reading and writing

4. Classroom Activities Using Word Walls

There are many creative ways to use word walls to engage students

in learning (Cronsberry: 2004: 7)

1. Whole Class Activities

 Mystery Word

Introduce a new word by writing the letters in a scrambled order.

To assist students in unscrambling the word, give clues, either

about the word‘s meaning or about how it is spelled. Students

apply their knowledge of spelling patterns, as well as activate their

prior knowledge, depending on the clues given.

 Visiting Word

After students have worked on a word wall for a substantial period

of time, add a ―visiting‖ word. This encourages students to do a

review of the word wall as they hunt for the new word. Present the

visiting word as the new word for the day.

 Missing Word
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Take one of the words off the word wall and rearrange the

remaining words. Students scan the word wall and figure out which

word is missing. Give clues to help to determine the missing word.

 Quick Definitions

Provide a definition (orally and/or written on the board) of one of

the word wall words. Students choose and write the word to match

the definition. Repeat the process encouraging students to review

all the words as they select the answer.

 Looking at Spelling

Students use masking tape to ‗underline‘ the part of the word that

is typically difficult to spell (e.g., because it is an exception to a

rule, a homonym, hard to hear phonetically). Using coloured strips

of masking tape, students underline common spelling patterns in

the words such as ‗i‘ before ‗e,‘ double consonants, or ‗qu.‘

2. Small Group Activities

 Word Pictures

Working in teams, students select one of the words from the word

wall and illustrate it on the board or on chart paper. The opposing

team gets a point for a correct guess and illustrates another word.

 Word Relationships

Each student shares the word on their word card with a partner, and

together, they decide on a way that their two words are related or

have something in common. A time limit could be imposed after

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which students rotate to a new partner and repeat the process. After

doing this a few times, the pair could join with another pair, and

see if they can find a relationship between the four words.

Discussing similarities and differences helps students to master

new vocabulary meanings.

 Word Cards Partner Game

Pairs of students take turns choosing a word card and

offering a definition for the word. The partner guesses and spells

the word.

 Parts of Speech

Each small group is given a part of speech and must decide

which words on the word wall fall into the category. If more than

one group is looking for the same part of speech, they compare

lists and discuss any discrepancies. Small cards can be affixed

adjacent to the words on the word wall to identify the part of

speech for each word.

 Drama

Students choose a word from the word wall and improvise a

situation that portrays the word. Peers guess the word.

 Plurals

Small groups are assigned a group of words to pluralize.

Students identify the nouns and tape the plural ending of the word

on the word wall. Discuss each group‘s work as a class.

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 Word Ad

Each group chooses a word, and brainstorms all the

possible uses of the word. They create a radio or television ad to

‗sell‘ one of the words from the word wall and present it to the

class. As a variation, students think of a product for which they

create a radio advertisement, using as many words as possible from

the word wall. The group avoids making direct reference to the

product and asks the class to guess what it is that the ad is trying to

sell.

 Categories

Students create categories and group the words from the word

wall to fit those categories. Set the number of words that are allowed in

a ―miscellaneous‖ category and create a maximum and minimum

number of categories that can be used. This activity could be done

individually first; then students share and compare their categories

with a partner. They share their groups of words with the class who

guess the principle behind the sorting.

 Musical Words

In groups of five or six, with each group member having one

word card, students circulate the cards within their groups, while music

is playing. When the music stops, the group members take turns giving

the meaning of the word they have. Group members can challenge the

correctness of the definition offered by their peer. If a group member

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cannot provide a definition, the group members discuss the meaning,

asking the teacher for assistance, if necessary.

 Prefixes and Suffixes

Each small group is given a set of the suffix and prefixes cards

and decides to which words on the word wall they can add them. As a

variation, assign each group a set of words from the word wall for

which they must decide the appropriate suffixes and prefixes.

 Contextualization

Students write about a situation in which a word wall word

would be commonly used. The student reads the situation to the class,

who then guess the relevant word. As a variation, students portray

multiple contextual situations, if applicable, e.g., brackets are

something that could be spoken about in both writing and construction

contexts.

 Word Origins and Root Words

Each group finds the word origin and root words of a set of

word wall words and presents its findings to the class. As a variation,

groups give the origin of a word and the class guesses the

corresponding word wall word.

 Names for Musical Groups

Students brainstorm creative names used by musical groups

from both the past and present. After looking at the unique and varied

nature of the names, students use one to three words from the word
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wall to create a name for a musical group. As an extension, students

could write a description of the fictitious group and its style of music.

3. Individual Activities

 Definition Bingo

Students fill in a bingo-type grid with word wall words. As

definitions are read out, students cross out the corresponding word on

their grid. The first person to get a complete line of words wins. As a

variation: give synonyms or antonyms for appropriate word wall

words.

 Reading Bingo

Students fill in a bingo card with new words for a unit. As

students complete the unit‘s reading, they fill in the page numbers

where the unit‘s words appear. Acknowledge the first person who gets

a straight line completed, then assign completion of the entire grid for

everyone in the class. As a variation: Students skim text to find words

they have listed on their card.

 Word of the Day

Choose a ―Word of the Day.‖ Encourage students to use the

―Word of the Day‖ meaningfully during the class and highlight

appropriate use. Add the word to the word wall.

 Words in Writing
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Encourage students to use the word wall words in their daily

classroom writing. When work is collected or read in class, highlight

the words from the word wall that are used appropriately.

 Memory Association

Encourage students to make connections and increase

comprehension by selecting a word wall word that connects to a

positive personal memory. Students explain the connection in writing

and share their writing with a partner. Volunteers read their writing

aloud to the class.

 Maximum Words in a Story

Students write a story involving as many words from the word

wall as possible within a given time frame. Students underline all the

word wall words they used and share their stories in small groups.

Each group decides which to read aloud, e.g., the story with the most

words or the most creative story.

 Unfolding Five Words in a Story

Students are given a word wall word every two-minutes for ten

minutes (five words in total) to incorporate into a story they are

writing on a topic of their choice. When a new word is given, students

work that word into their story immediately. Encourage students to

write continuously and quickly during the ten minutes. Students share

their stories in small groups and each group chooses one story to be

read aloud to the class.

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 Words within Words

Students make a list of as many words as possible by

reorganizing some of the letters of a word wall word. Students could

write the word on a piece of paper and then cut the letters apart so that

they can move them around and try different combinations. Note:

Limits can be set such as that the words must have at least three letters

and names do not count.

 Poetry

Students write a poem related to the topic under study using as

many words as possible from the word wall. As a variation, students

choose just one word from the word wall and write a poem about that

word. Students share their poetry.

 Making Connections

Students give an example of someone from history or the

present for each of the traits on the character traits word wall. For a

shorter version, students choose ten of the traits for which they could

give one example. Note: This activity could be adapted to suit other

word wall topics.

 Word Connotation

Students indicate words with positive or negative connotations

from their personal word wall list, using a set of plus (+) and minus (–)

cards. Student volunteers indicate which words have positive

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connotation and which words have negative connotation by placing the

appropriate card beside the word wall word.

 Word Search

Students use the words from the word wall to create a word

search puzzle. Students exchange word searches with a partner and

find the word wall words.

 Concept Ladder

Students place a word wall word at either the top or the bottom

of a ladder image. In each successive part of the ladder, students fill in

information about a different aspect of the word, e.g., what is it like,

what is it opposite of, where is it found, how is it used.

 Concept Map

Students create a concept map for words that define complex

concepts. They place the word in a circle or box on the centre of a page

and then draw other circles/boxes branching off the centre to contain

subtopics which can then be

 Media Re-naming

Ask students to re-name a television show or movie using at

least one of the appropriate word wall words. Students write the new

name on a piece of paper, along with the original name. Use the papers

periodically at the end of class by reading out the new title and asking

students to guess the original name of the show or movie.

 Rankings
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Students individually list the word wall words, in writing, from

most difficult to easiest for them to understand or to spell. If this

activity is done at the beginning, middle, and end of a unit, students

can note how their rankings have changed.

 Visual Representation

Students choose one word from the word wall to convey its

meaning visually. Encourage students to not just add illustrations

around the word, but to use the letters of the word to convey meaning

appropriately. Post the visual representations around the room and/or

the word wall.

 Rhyme Time

Students select three to five words wall words with which they

can rhyme words. Students list as many rhymes for each word as they

can in a given time limit.

 Metaphors and Similes

Students practice their abstract thinking skills by choosing five

words from the word wall and creating either a simile or metaphor for

each of the words. Students can share their similes and metaphors with

others in the class. As an extension, each student chooses one simile or

metaphor and writes the comparison on construction paper, which is

displayed around the classroom. The teacher reads a few comparisons

each day to reinforce the concept of similes and metaphors.

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B. Teaching Vocabulary by Using Word Wall

The use of media in teaching and learning process is very important. The

teacher chooses one kind of teaching media. He/ she also can choose modern or

simple media to help them in the teaching and learning activity, especially in

teaching vocabulary. The teacher needs media that can help them easier to teach

and make the students more enjoyable.

Teaching vocabulary is easier and interesting if the teacher uses media that

are suitable. One of media that can help the teacher to trach the students‘ interest

is word wall. Word wall is one of visual media that are easy to be made and

interesting. Word wall is also a media which can be used in vary activities in the

classroom.

Here the steps to teach English by using word wall that modified from

Nadziroh (2010):

a. Make words very accessible by putting them where every student can see

them, writing them in big, black letters, and using a variety of background

colors so it can draw students‘ interest.

b. Choose only the words that students want to learn and have connection with

the topic. Before making the word wall, the writer will ask the students what

vocabularies related to the topic that students want to master. Asked the

students to write and stick on some of the words.

c. Use the word that displayed on word wall to practice words incorporating a

variety of activities such as: drilling, chunking, spelling, word recognition,

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displaying categories, alphabetical order, or word guessing games in every

meeting.

d. Provide enough practice so that words are read and spelled automatically and

make sure that word walls are always spelled correctly.

There are many things that the teacher can use a word wall for:

a) Chunking: Using words to help children spell words that rhyme with other

words. For example, using common word families (i.e. "-ike in like).

b) Spelling: Displaying the spelling words of the week on the wall. Keep the

spelling words throughout the year on the wall to help the students memorize

the words.

c) Word Recognition: The students see the words on the wall and are able to

identify them when the teacher asks to point out a particular word.

d) Displaying categories: The teacher can separate words into categories and

display them on his/her wall. For example, display the names of the students,

names of animals, or maybe the months of the year.

e. Alphabetical order: Teach the children a sense of alphabetical order by having

the alphabet on a wall (letters enlarged) and have words that begin with those

letters underneath the letter they correspond with.

C. Previous study

The previous study in this research is The Effectiveness of Word Wall

Media in Improving the Fifth Year Students‘ Mastery on Vocabulary at SDN 04

Sumberbendo, Pucanglaban, Tulungagung in academic year 2010/2011 by

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Nadziroh (2010). The writer concludes 20% students get insufficient score, 0%

students get sufficient score, 20% students get good score, 50% students get very

good score, and 10% students who get excellent score in mastering vocabulary

after taught by using word wall. The significant difference between students‘

mastery on vocabulary before and after taught by using word wall showed

t count  t table (6,469 > 2,262). It means that there were any significant differences

between score of pretest and posttest. It is known that the students‘ scores are

improving significantly.

Another research study is Increasing The Students‘ Vocabulary By Using

Word Walls Media by Kasim (2010). This study was conducted by using

classroom action research. The subject of the research was the second year

students of SMPN 26 Makasar. The research was conducted in two cycles and

each cycle consisted of three meetings. The result showed that the improvement

of the students‘ scores from the first cycle is 67.83% and increased significantly

82.00% at cycle II. It means that the use of word walls media significantly

improved students‘ vocabulary.

According to the previous studies above, it has some similarities and

differences with the writer‘s research. The first similarity is the media that is used

is same with Nadziroh (2010), that is word wall media with colorful background

to draw students‘ interest. The second, the strategies and activities in the class that

is used almost same, those are drilling, chunking, and spelling, but the writer will

ask the students about what vocabularies related to the topic that students want to

master, asked the students to write and stick on some of the words, while the
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previous researcher did not do these activities. The last is the instrument to collect

data also same with both Nadziroh (2010) and Kasim (2010) that is test (pretest

and posttest). However, the difference is the level of the subject, the subject in this

research is from the seventh grade students of MTsN Tunggangri while the

previous researches are fifth grade students of SDN 04 Sumberbendo Pucanglaban

and the second year students of SMP Negeri 26 Makasar. The other difference is

the research design in this study is using quasi experimental design, but Kasim

(2010) is using classroom action research and Nadziroh (2010) is using pre-

experimental design.