the implementation of teaching vocabulary through prefixes and suffixes to the second year students of MAN Jangka

INTRODUCTION

1.1  Background of the Research

English is one of the international languages that is used by many people in the world and in many areas of everyday life. Therefore, using English is the easiest way to communicate with people from other countries about many aspects in human life such as technology, economy, social, and politics.

            English is a foreign language for Indonesian. Learning a foreign language is an integrated process that the learner should study the four basic skills: listening, speaking, reading, and writing. We use it to understand our world through listening and reading and to communicate our feeling, need, and desires through speaking and writing. By having more knowledge about language skill we have much better chance of understanding and being understood and getting what we want and need from these around us. One of the components that lie in the four language skill is vocabulary. People can not use a certain language without vocabulary.

            Vocabulary is one of the components with support other skill such as listening, speaking, reading and writing. On the other hand, the students learning English should know some words as basic foundation for the language learning. Besides that, someone must learn about meaning of the vocabulary and how to use in the sentences. The existence of vocabulary is very important in language learning. It is one of the vital elements in constructing meaningful communication. It can’t be imagined how learners can speak and write well if they do not possess the words needed to convey their ideas and feelings.

This is also supported by Rivers in Nunan, (1991:117) that vocabulary is essential for successful second language use because without an extensive vocabulary, we will be unable to use the structures and functions we may have learned for comprehensible communication. As an English teacher, the researcher have experienced that in the classroom, the learners who had mastered the English structures and functions, but lack of vocabulary, found difficulty to use them in communicative interaction. In other words, it can be said that no matter how well students learn grammar and sounds of words, without words to express wide range of meanings, communication will become meaningless.

Vocabulary is the most basic element of language learning. Some linguists also express the importance of learning vocabulary. For instance, Alkhufaishi in Roslaina (2009:15) states that:

“Vocabulary is one of the major problems in confronting EFL learners. Because of their anemic vocabulary they cannot communicate their ideas as clear they would like to and read the columns of a newspaper or popular magazines or even understand news cast on the radio or television. Their listening-comprehension, writing and reading abilities care hampered by their limited vocabulary”.

                        English vocabulary is enormous and grows steadily with technological and cultural assimilations. The vast majorities of the new words introduced, and a great percentage of the words used to express abstract ideas, are complex words that are made up of simple words parts (prefixes and suffixes) that have their own definitions and when it is familiar to the students of English, it can be understood in context without an exact definition. This is the foundation of the system which presents to the students. By slowly and steadily studying the most prominent prefixes and suffixes students can be acquire a vocabulary that is far greater than the sum of its parts. The affix, which is a bound element to added to the base or stem word to form a new base or stem. (http://iteslj.org/techniques/pittman-buildingvocabulary.html accessed January, 20 2011 ).

Besides, teaching vocabulary is obviously more than just presenting new words. It also includes a decision which words should taught and how frequent they are used by speaker of the language. Again, now we usually find that the way of teaching makes students lazy and bored. Therefore, a teacher needs something different to make students interested, mostly children, because they are very easy to get bored.

            Therefore, an English teacher needs something interesting and attractive which can motivate the students. It is based on the characteristics and attitude of the children that they are curious and often seeks something that the teacher notices them and shows appreciation for w`hat they are doing. So, to motivate them a teacher needs something new that can stimulate their curiosity (Willis, 2001:156).

The above statement emphasizes that an English teacher needs something interesting and attractive which can motivate the students. So the researcher has chosen one aspect of English teaching leaning to discuss that deal with vocabulary. That is teaching vocabulary through prefixes and suffixes.  And it is hoped that the result of this investigation can help teachers and students of English.

1.2 Problems of the Research

Based on the background presented above, the researcher feels necessary to conduct a research in teaching English vocabulary through prefixes and suffixes. The problems of the research are in the following:

1.      Can teaching vocabulary through prefixes and suffixes increase the students’ ability in mastering vocabulary to the second year students of MAN Jangka?

2.    To what extant the implementation of teaching vocabulary through prefixes and suffixes to the second year students of MAN Jangka?

1.3  Purposes of the Research

Based on the problems of the research above, the purposes of the research are as follows:

1.      To know whether prefixes and suffixes can increase the students’ ability in mastering vocabulary to the second year students of MAN Jangka.

2.      To know what extant the implementation of teaching vocabulary through prefixes and suffixes to the second year students of MAN Jangka.          

1.4 Hypothesis of the Research

Since this research is considered as experimental research, the hypotheses are provided as the following:

1.      Alternative Hypothesis (Ha):

Teaching vocabulary through prefixes and suffixes can increase student’s vocabulary.

2.      Null Hypothesis (Ho):

Teaching vocabulary through prefixes and suffixes cannot increase student’s vocabulary.

1.5  Significance of the Research

This research is hope can give meaningful knowledge both for theoretical and practical concerns.

1.    Theoretically, the research gave reasonable benefit in describing the mastering of vocabulary through prefixes and suffixes, especially to the second year students of MAN Jangka

2.      Practically, the finding of the research was expected to the teacher can give a priority measures in teaching vocabulary. Meanwhile for the students, the research was hoped to be able to help them in mastering vocabulary, so that they can understand and use English well.

1.6  The Scope of the Research

            The focus of this research concerns with teaching English vocabulary, especially adjective, adverb, noun and verb through prefixes and suffixes. Many english words have prefixes and suffixes, when these word parts are added to the beginning or end of word, they will grow a new word and change the meaning of word, and the writer hopes the student can increase their vocabulary.

1.7  The Definition of The Key Terms

To avoid ambiguity in understanding some words, the writer tries to clarify some terms as follows:

1.      Vocabulary is a list of words and sometime phrase usually arranged in alphabetical order and define, etc (Webster, 1997:2046). According to Oxford Leaner’s Pocket Dictionary (2005:482), “Vocabulary” is all the words that a person knows or uses; all the words in a language; and all the words with their meanings, especial in a book for learning a foreign language. In this case, “vocabulary” means a list of words taught by teacher through prefixes and suffixes

2.      Prefix is a letter combination attached to the beginning of a word; it is usually carries a meaning independent of word to which it is attached.

3.      Suffix is a combination of letter attached to the end of word and usually possesses a meaning separate from the word to which it is affixes.