USING RIDDLES TO IMPROVE THE EIGHTH GRADE STUDENTS’ ACTIVE PARTICIPATIONAND THEIR VOCABULARYACHIEVEMENT AT SMPN 1 MLANDINGANSITUBONDO

Abstract

This research was a classroom action research focusing on the use of riddles to improve the eighth grade students’ vocabulary achievement and participation. The subjects of this research were the students of class VIII-A at SMPN 1 Mlandingan Situbondo. This class was chosen because the students in that class experienced difficulties in learning vocabulary. They also had the lowest mean score of vocabulary achievement compared with the other eighth grade classes. In this research, the researcher used riddles in teaching vocabulary to the students because the researcher believed that riddles could improve the eighth grade students’ vocabulary achievement. Playing riddles by solving some clues in the form of riddles was given to the students in this research. It was intended to help the students to enrich their vocabulary both from the words asked in the clues of riddles in the problem cards and the words of the riddles answer. This research was conducted on August 21st - September 7th, 2017 in 2 cycles. Each cycle consisted of two meetings and a vocabulary achievement test. In this classroom action research, the researcher taught vocabulary by using riddles to the students in two meetings and did the observation collaboratively with the English teacher. There were four instruments used to collect the data in this classroom action research, they were vocabulary test, observation, interview and documentation. After analyzing the result of observations and the result of vocabulary achievement test in Cycle 1 quantitatively, it was known that both of them did not achieve the target percentage required that was 70%, although the mean score of the students was more than 75, that was 76.64, but 68% of 25 students who had achieved the standard minimum score and there were 68% of the students that were identified as active, those results were below from the target percentage that was 70%. Therefore, the researcher conducted Cycle 2 by revising some problems in Cycle 1 to give a better result in Cycle 2. From the observation of the students’ active participation done during the teaching learning process of vocabulary by using riddles, the average result of the students’ active participation showed an improvement from Cycle 1 that was 68% to 80% in Cycle 2. It can be seen that the improvement of the students’ active participation from Cycle 1 to Cycle 2 was as many as 12%. The students’ active participation in this research could achieve the target percentage required that was 70% in Cycle 2. Therefore, it can be concluded that the use of riddles in teaching vocabulary could improve the students’ participation during the teaching learning process of vocabulary. Further, the result of vocabulary achievement test in Cycle 1 indicated that only as many as 17 students (68%) out of 25 students achieved the standard minimum score that was ≥ 75 and it was increased in Cycle 2 that was as many as 21 students (84%) out of 25 students could achieve the standard minimum score that was ≥ 75. The improvement of the students who got score ≥ 75 in vocabulary achievement test from Cycle 1 to Cycle 2 was as many as 16%. This result revealed the fact that the target of success of this research that was 70% of the students got score ≥ 75 had been achieved in Cycle 2 and it proved that the use of riddles in teaching vocabulary could improve the eighth grade students’ vocabulary achievement at SMPN 1 Mlandingan Situbondo. Based on the results above, the hypotheses of this research were accepted and it is suggested to the English teacher to use riddles in teaching vocabulary to the students in order to improve their vocabulary achievement. It is also suggested to the future researchers to conduct a further research dealing with similar problem by using different research designs such as an experimental research and a descriptive research or even the same research design that is a classroom action research but to other level of students of different schools.