IMPROVING VOCABULARY MASTERY THROUGH FOLKTALES READING : AN ACTION RESEARCH AT THE FIFTH YEAR STUDENTS AT SD NEGERI TANGKISANPOS JOGONALAN KLATEN

EVASANTI, PUSPANINGRUM (2009)
Abstract
His research paper is aimed at describing teaching reading by using folktales ti the fifth year students of SD TANGKISANPOS. The reason of conducting this research in this school is because the technique applied in the school does not support the students reading improvement. In this research, the writer conducted a class room action research. It aims at colllecting information of a phenomenon occurred. The methods of collecting data are observation, document, and interview. There are three source of the data; event, informants and documents. The result of the research paper show that : 1) The implementation of folktales in vocabulary mastery is effectivelly done, it succeds the improvement of the students vocabulary mastery by setting up the material in folktales, 2) teaching by folktales brings improvement to the students vocabulary mastery.

CHAPTER I
INTRODUCTION
A. Background of the Study
Nowadays English becomes more and more important for people
throughout the world because people need to communicate to each other using
English that would be a lingua franca for several languages that exist. English
is one of the most popular international languages in the world. For that reason
people need to have the ability to speak English fluently.
To face the global era, in Indonesia English is adopted as be the first
foreign language. Hence, English is needed to be taught at elementary schools
because it will be the basic element for the higher level. By learning English at
elementary school, the students are expected to become accustomed to the
language. In elementary school English has been taught from the fourth year
as a local content. It is clearly stated in GBPP 1994 (D. Sumarno, 1994: 58):
“Pengajaran Bahasa Inggris tidak wajib diselenggarakan di SD melainkan
diselenggarakan sebagai muatan lokal. Pengajaran Bahasa Inggris dimulai di
kelas IV.”
It is important to introduce them to the vocabulary earlier. Vocabulary
is necessary in every stage of language learning. Language is not only used as
words of knowledge, but also a medium in mastery at a level which
automatically allows them using it in real time. So we need to master
vocabulary first before we learn a certain language. If we do not understand
any word of the language we will not be able to understand the meaning of it.
Considering the importance of vocabulary, it is better to introduce new
vocabulary earlier. At elementary school, English is introduced to the students
through learning its vocabulary. Children are commonly easier to absorb the
new vocabulary even though they are sometimes easy to forget them too.
Teachers need to review the lesson all the time in order to help them
memorize the new vocabulary easily.
Most of students at elementary school still feel strange and face some
difficulties with English at the first time they are getting the lesson. We need
to encourage the children to love the lesson. Therefore, the teacher should
begin by discovering what subjects the children are interested in and providing
a wide variety of material suited to their interest.
Favat (1968) in Petty and Jensen (1980:136) states that:
Children read what they please, or more accurately, what
pleases them. Teachers and parents must come to understand
that the question is not whether one kind of reading produces
a more satisfying experience than another but whether it
produces a more satisfying experience than another – that is,
whether children find the stories an ever-continuing of their
own need and desire.
Folktales are also popular with young children. They love talking
animals story, and the humor and magical of traditional stories. Therefore,
folktales can be suitable material in attracting the children to the lesson.
Folktales have many special characteristics that make them
exceptionally good for language teaching. Their frequent repetitions make
them excellent for reinforcing new vocabulary and grammar. Because
folktales began as oral stories, they also have many characteristics that make
them easier to understand than other type of literature. Folktales are often
published as children’s book with easy language and context-providing
illustrations; many are accessible to students with limited language abilities.
In learning and mastering language, particularly vocabulary, there are
some obstacles that are faced in technical manner such as the hesitance of the
student to be involved in the classroom activity. They tend to avoid the
practical involvement in mastering the language. Hence, the class needs to be
lightened up in a way that helping the student find their best indulgence in
learning language particularly, learning vocabulary.
Because of the urgency to teach English at elementary school, the
writer wants to carry out a research about improving the students’ vocabulary
mastery. The result of student’s achievement shows the low achievement the
students get. The low achievements are caused by the monotone teaching
methodology use. Hence, the students are not enthusiastic in learning process.
In this case, the writer will use folktales as the material in teaching English. It
may help the students to improve their achievement in learning vocabulary. It
is also aimed to make an interesting learning process in the classroom. So, the
students will be interested in the lesson, and they will memorize the words
easily. And in SD Negeri Tangkisanpos Jogonalan Klaten which is the subject
of the research, the writer found that the students’ vocabulary mastery is still
low and the students are not too active during the English lesson.
Based on the reason above, the writer would like to study: “Improving
Vocabulary Mastery Through Folktales Reading : An Action Research at
the Fifth Year Students at SD Negeri Tangkisanpos Jogonalan Klaten”
B. Problem Statement
Based on the background of the study, the writer wants to know
whether using folktales can improve the students’ vocabulary mastery in
learning English at elementary school. The problem can be formulated as
follows: “Does using folktales improve the elementary students’ vocabulary
mastery in learning English?”
C. Objective of the Study
In general, this study is intended to describe an improvement to the
student vocabulary mastery in learning English at elementary school using
folktales. And to give descriptions about how to overcome the problem that
arise in teaching English vocabulary using folktales.
1. describe the implementation of folktales in mastering vocabulary.
2. describe whether folktales can improve the students achievement in
learning vocabulary by using folktales.
D. Benefit of the Study
This research has practical and theoretical benefits:
1. Theoretically
The result of this research solves the problem faced by teacher in teaching
vocabulary during teaching and learning processes:
2. Practically
The research can improves the students’ vocabulary mastery
Vocabulary for the elementary school students’
E. Research Paper Organization
In order to make the research to be easy to follow, the writer organizes
the paper as follow:
Chapter I deals with introduction. It consists of background of study,
benefit of study and research paper organization.
Chapter II deals with the review on related study, teaching learning
process and the theory of vocabulary such as the vocabulary aspects and the
significance of vocabulary as English skill competence.
Chapter III concerns with research method. It discusses about type of
the research, subject of the study, object of the study, method of data
collection and technique for analyzing data.
Chapter IV is research implementation and discussion, then chapter V
consists of conclusion and suggestion.