Improving Students’ Vocabulary Mastery Using Flashcards (A Classroom Action Research at the Fourth Grade of SD Negeri II Watuagung, Baturetno, Wonogiri in the Academic Year 2011/2012)

Oleh :
Yosephus Setyo Nugroho - X2206056 - Sekolah Pascasarjana

The fourth grade of SD Negeri II Watuagung in the academic year of 2011/2012 had problems in mastering vocabulary. It could be seen from several indicators: first, their vocabulary score was low. Second, the students did not have motivation during teaching-learning process. To overcome the problems, the researcher designed an action research using flashcards to improve students’ vocabulary mastery. The purpose of the researcher was to investigate whether or not optimizing the use of flashcards can improve the students’ vocabulary mastery and students’ motivation in learning English. The research was conducted to the four grades students of SDN II Watuagung, from June to September 2011. There were two cycles of action. In each cycle, the procedure of the research consists of planning, acting, observing, and reflecting. In collecting the data, the writer used qualitative and quantitative data. The techniques of qualitative data are interview, observation, document analysis, and test. The qualitative data are analyzed using the following procedures; assembling the data, coding the data, comparing the data, building interpretation, and reporting the outcomes. For the quantitative data, the data are analyzed by finding and comparing the mean scores in pre-test and post-test (descriptive statistics). The result of the research shows that flashcards can improve the students’ vocabulary mastery. Based on interview, observation, document analysis, and test result, the students made improvement in vocabulary mastery. The students can learn vocabulary easier than before. They can memorize and understand the English words easily. When flashcards are used, in the first and the second cycle, students are enthusiastic in joining learning activity. Students are also active as group members when they do the group task. It is proven by the observational data that the activities outside the learning activity are minimized. The tests score results show an improvement of the students’ achievement. The students’ mean score in the pre-test is 45.70. The students’ mean score in the post-test 1 is 70.52 and the mean score in post-test 2 is 80.13. It can be concluded that teaching English vocabulary by using flashcards as media does improve the students’ vocabulary mastery. From the test result, it showed that there is a significant improvement of students’ vocabulary mastery after the writer conducted the research. It proved that using flashcards can improve students’ vocabulary mastery. The result of the research implies that English teachers need apply to implement flashcards in teaching vocabulary.