Improving The Students’ Vocabulary Mastery Using Flashcards

Oleh :
Harjanti - X2208516 - Fak. KIP

The objectives of the research are to find out whether or not flashcards can improve students’ vocabulary mastery and to describe how flashcards can be implemented effectively to improve vocabulary mastery. The research was conducted at the fifth grade of SDN Begalon II Surakarta from May to November 2010. The subjects of the research are 44 students consisting of 19 boys and 25 girls. The problem of the subject is low vocabulary mastery especially spelling. It was due to their low motivation to learn vocabulary. They got bored easily and were not interested in the English lesson. Memorizing were hard for them. They often did not focus to the teacher’s explanation. They were also passive. This study is a classroom action research which consists of four stages: planning, action, observation, and reflection. The data were collected through observation, interview, questionnaire, and test. The qualitative data were presented in description and conclusion while the quantitative data were a comparison of the mean score of pre test and post test. The findings show that the implementation of teaching English using flashcards is successful. It improves (1) students’ motivation in teaching learning process; (2) students’ vocabulary mastery; and (3) students’ achievement. Flashcards technique made the students interested in the lesson. They became happy and enthusiastic. During the action, they did not get bored easily. They also sustained their motivation. They could focus until the lesson ended. They also became more confident and more active to join the class activity. Besides, the students could learn vocabulary easily using flashcards technique. They learnt pronunciation and name of words as what they saw in the cards. They caught the meaning of words directly from the flashcards and knew their spelling. They also memorized fast through drilling. The students’ motivation and the students’ vocabulary mastery improved. They increased the students’ achievement. The mean scores improve from 39.66 in the pre-test to 71.70 in the post test of cycle one and 85.34 in post test of cycle two. The research findings of this study imply that using flashcards is an effective technique that can be used by the teacher to teach vocabulary at the fifth grade of SDN Begalon II Surakarta.