The Effectiveness of Teaching Vocabulary by Using Games to The Third Grade Students of SD Negeri 03 Karangmojo, Karanganyar Final Project Report (original) (raw)

1. Introduction Language plays an essential role in making people communicate with each other. And as for English, it is considered one of the most important languages all over the world. It helps communicating with foreigners at home and abroad. Accordingly, The English language is widely used in science, technology, computer services, politics, commerce and internet. Hence, many countries emphasize the importance of teaching English to their citizens. Richards (2001: 1) believes that “Second and foreign language teaching is one of the world’s largest educational enterprises and millions of children and adults worldwide devote large amounts of time and efforts to the task of mastering a new language”. The English language has a special place in the world today. It has become an international language, both in the sense that it is now the native language of people from several continents and in the sense that many others have learnt to speak it as a second language (Graddol, Cheshire& Swann,1987:3). Ardeo (2003:110) states that during the last few decades there has been an increasing need to use the English language for the expression of knowledge within specific professional fields. In order to achieve a successful process of learning English, one must acquire its vocabulary, grammar, pronunciation and the four skills: listening, reading, speaking, and writing. Accurate and adequate vocabulary influences language comprehension more than grammatical correctness in effective communication. In this concern, Wilkins (1972:111) emphasizes that “Without grammar very little can be conveyed, without vocabulary nothing can be conveyed”. This clarifies the importance and the essential role of vocabulary in learning a foreign language. Vocabulary is a vital part of language that students need to master in order to communicate effectively. Moreover, it is considered the base for the other skills. The ability to grasp Humanities and Social Sciences 2013; 1(1): 46-57 47 the meaning of new words is a necessary skill to strengthen reading and listening comprehension. This can positively impact overall academic success and can develop skills for real world applications. This calls for more attention to this important skill. The researchers have observed that students face serious problems regarding this aspect of language. Students tend throughout learning stages to favor interesting methods which make interacting, exciting andfun learning. This motivated the researcher to conduct this study which aimed to investigate the effectiveness of using puzzles on developing tenth graders vocabulary achievement. It also examined the long-term effect of the puzzles on the retention of the vocabulary.