THE USE OF NURSERY RHYMES
TO IMPROVE STUDENTS’ VOCABULARY
CHAPTER I
INTRODUCTION
1.1
Background of the Study
Language is a fundamental part of human life.
It is a means of communication that is possessed by human being in the world.
With language a man can express his ideas and wishes. With language a close
relationship among members of society can be established. Thus, without a
language it is hard to imagine how people can cooperate and get along with each
other.
People in this world speak various languages.
There are so many languages in this world so that mastering one language only
is not enough. When we speak to people of different languages, we need other
means of communication that can be understood by our listener and ourselves. As
we know, our country consists of many religions, ethnic groups, languages,
arts, etc.
However, people in our country can communicate
by using our national language, Indonesian We cannot use our national language
anymore if we want to communicate with other people from all over the world. In
this case, of course we need other languages. To have relationship with many
people from many countries who have different languages and cultures, we have
to master at least one foreign international language.
There are a number of international languages
in this world such as English, French, Dutch, etc. Since Indonesian is not an
international language, we have to learn at least one international language to
get along with people from other countries. English is the most common
international language that is used in this world. As the first foreign
language in Indonesia, English has a major position in Indonesian educational
system. It is one of the compulsory subjects to be studied at junior high
school, senior high school, and university. Moreover, now English is taught at
elementary school as a local content subject. As a local content subject,
English is taught to pupils of grade IV, V and VI. Meanwhile, in some favorite
schools English is taught to pupils from grade I. So, many parents who realize
the importance of English enrolled their children to some English courses to
study English.
The function of the teaching of English at the
elementary school is to introduce English as the first foreign language to the
pupils in order that they will be able to communicate in simple English. By
studying English, the students are expected to have a means to develop their
knowledge of science, technology and culture. Later, the students are expected
to be able to support the development of tourism (GBPP Mulok, 1995:1).
The aim of the teaching of English at the
elementary school is to motivate them to be ready and self-confident in
learning English at higher level. The scope of the materials covers spelling,
vocabulary, writing, reading, and functional skills as the basis to get simple
language skills. Vocabulary is one of the language components that have to be
mastered and acquired by the students in learning a new language. It should be
mastered as well as the language skills (listening, speaking, reading, and
writing). Teaching English vocabulary to children especially at elementary
school is not easy and it is different from teaching English vocabulary to
adult, because they have different characteristics and different motivation. In
the teaching and learning process, a teacher plays an important role. He or she
must be able to know the students’ interest and motivation. Cullingford
(1995:10-11) says that there are some signs of a good teacher that can be
detected in the way classroom is run. The signs are:
(1)
a shared working atmosphere
(2)
an awareness of the needs
of each pupil
(3)
a purposeful, well-organized classroom, and
(4)
the celebration of success.
When teaching vocabulary at Elementary School,
the teacher should be more creative in teaching and keep the students away from
feeling bored in learning English words. According to Saylor (1981:234) the
continuous use of the same teaching model day after day generally result in
boredom on the part of learners.
In order to keep the students away from feeling
bored in learning English vocabulary, it is more effective if the teacher uses
media. Hubbard At All as quoted by Uberman (1998:46), affirm this by stating,
“Teacher must make sure that students have understood the new words. They will
remember longer if a teacher will use an appropriate method in teaching them.” Based
on the statements above, the writer wants to introduce nursery rhyme (a kind of
folk song) as the media in teaching vocabulary. Ramsey and Bayless (1982:2) say
that folk songs, country music, and commercials all appeal to the young child
and they can develop and extend vocabulary. Music activities also develop
skills, increase attention span, improve comprehension and memory, and
encourage the use of compound words, rhyme and images. It can be concluded that
teaching vocabulary through nursery rhyme is one of the appropriate techniques
to interest elementary school students in learning vocabulary. By using nursery
rhymes as an alternative technique in teaching vocabulary, elementary school
students are given something new and different from what they usually get in
class. They are not only as the subject of teaching learning process but also
the participant.
1.2
Reason for Choosing the Topic
The reasons for choosing the topic are as follows:
(1)
Vocabulary is essential component of language so it is important
to find the appropriate ways to teach it effectively.
(2)
It is difficult for teachers to make students interested in
improving their own vocabulary.
(3)
The writer wants to make Elementary School students interested in
studying vocabulary through nursery rhymes because almost all children like
singing. It can also bring much joy to them.
(4)
The students can practice their pronunciation through nursery
rhymes because a lot of nursery rhymes contain repetitive sound.
1.3
Statement of the Problem
The problems that the writer wants to discuss are:
(1)
How is the students’ achievement in learning English vocabulary by
using nursery rhymes?
(2)
To what extent does nursery rhyme help teachers in teaching
English vocabulary at Elementary School?
1.4
Objectives of the Study
The objectives of the study in this thesis are:
(1)
To describe how nursery rhymes improve the result of the students’
achievement in learning English vocabulary.
(2)
To describe to what extent nursery rhymes help teachers in
teaching English vocabulary at Elementary School.
1.5
Significance of the Study
This Study will have some significance:
(1)
To improve teaching skill of students of the English Department in
general, especially the students of the Education Program.
(2)
To enhance skill and knowledge of students of the English
Department of the Education Program in teaching vocabulary using any methods
they like.
(3)
To improve teaching skill of English teachers in general
especially in teaching vocabularies to young children.
1.6
Outline of the Report
The discussion of the thesis is divided into
five chapters. The first chapter is the introduction, which consists of
background of the study, reason of choosing the topic, statements of the
problem, objectives of the study, and the significance of the study.
The second chapter is review of related
literature, which discusses the foreign language teaching, the characteristics
of Elementary school students in Indonesia, some problems of elementary school
students in learning English, general concept of vocabulary, the teaching of
vocabulary, teaching vocabulary to elementary school students, general concept
of nursery rhyme as a media in the teaching and learning process, applying
nursery rhymes to teach vocabulary.
The third chapter includes the method of
investigation, which consists of main source of data, population and sample,
the procedure of experiment, variable, method of data collection, and
administration of the text. The fourth chapter is the result of the study,
which presents the analysis of the data and discussion of the result.
In the last chapter, the fifth chapter, the
writer ends the discussion with the conclusion and suggestion.
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