THE EFFECT OF USING CONTEXT CLUES ON VOCABULARY ACHIEVEMENT OF THE EIGHTH GRADE STUDENTS AT SMP N 9 JEMBER IN THE 2012/2013 ACADEMIC YEAR

Abstract

Vocabulary is the very first skill to master and to express person’s ideas or to communicate with other persons in second language. People will not be able to communicate with another in second language if they do not have enough vocabulary even though they have so many things to say or express. Concerning with this, Sukarno (1997:1) explains that vocabulary is not included in the four skills but it is the basic of those skills. Vocabulary is considered as the basic of those skills because people can communicate in second or foreign language with other people if they have enough vocabulary to express their ideas. Understanding the importance of vocabulary is a must for the teacher to know how to assist the students to achieve it. One of the techniques that can be used to teach vocabulary is context clues. Smith and Schulz (1982:425) state that context clues are the words surrounding an unknown word which often provide clues to its meaning. The function of context clues is as a necessary and valuable technique because it can help learners figure out the meaning of a word or phrase that learners do not know. Besides, this technique can make the learners think hard and focus because learners have to concentrate to the sentence that contains clue to find and answer the current question. The design of this research was Quasi Experimental with Non-Equivalent Post Test Only Design. It was because this research was intended to know whether or not there was significant effect of teaching vocabulary by using context clues technique on the eighth grade students at SMPN 9 Jember in 2012/2013 academic year. The research area which was used to conduct this research was SMP Negeri 9 Jember. SMP Negeri 9 Jember was chosen purposively because, based on the preliminary study, the context clues in English teaching process had never been applied through reading skill. The respondents of this research were the eighth grade students of SMPN 9 Jember in the 2012/ 2013 academic year. The research respondents were determined by cluster random sampling through a lottery. The total number of the respondents was 66 students that consisted of 32 students of VIII-A as the experimental group taught by using context clues, while the control group consisted of 34 students of VIII-F taught by using lecturing technique and Question-Answer. The data of this research were collected from the students’ scores of vocabulary achievement test, interview and documentation. The vocabulary achievement test was collected from the post-test to make comparison of the main scores between the two groups after the treatment, and the result was analysed by using t-test formula. Based on the calculation, the mean score of the experimental group was higher than the mean score of the control group and it was analysed manually by using t-test formula. The final computation of the results showed that statistical value of t-test was 4.58 while the significant level 5% and the degree of freedom of 64 is 1.669. The comparison between the two values showed that the value of t-test was higher than t-table. It means that there was a significant effect of using context clues on vocabulary achievement of the eighth grade students at SMP Negeri 9 Jember in the 2012/2013 academic year. Therefore, it is recommended for the teacher to use context clues as alternative teaching technique in teaching vocabulary.