Improving the Tenth Grade Students’ Vocabulary Achievement and Students’ Active Participation by Using Personal Vocabulary Notes (PVN) at MA Al Falah Kajar Bondowoso;

Abstract

This classroom action research was intended to improve the tenth grade students‟ vocabulary achievement and students‟ participation at MA Al Falah Kajar Bondowoso in the 2012/2013 academic year. The subjects of this research were Tenth B (XB). This research was done in two cycles in which each cycle covered four activities namely: planning of the action, the implementation of the action, classroom observation and evaluation, analyzing the data and reflection. The primary data about the students‟ vocabulary achievement were collected by using vocabulary test, while students‟ participation were collected by using class observation. The criteria used as the main consideration to determine the success of the criteria were as follows: 1) 70% of the students have achieved minimum requirement standard score (KKM) that is 65 and 2) 70% of the students are actively involved in the vocabulary teaching and learning process using PVN technique. Meanwhile, the supporting data were collected by using interview and documentation. The result of the vocabulary test after the action in the first cycle showed that the percentage of the students‟ who got score 65 or more (≥65) was 56% (14 students of 25 students). The cycle in this research was considered successful if 70% of the students got score 65 or more (≥65). It means that the target percentage of this research had not been achieved yet. The observation was conducted by using the observation checklist containing some indicators, namely: 1) Students‟ activities in finding the meaning of new words by communicating with partner, 2) Students‟ attention to the teacher explanation about new vocabulary, 3) Students‟ activities in writing the new words on the note and 4) The students‟ activities in answering the teachers‟ questions. In the first cycle, the results showed that there were only 56.5% (13 students of 23 students) who were categorized as active participant in the first meeting. Meanwhile, there were 64% (16 students of 25 students) who were categorized as active participant in the second meeting. So, the average percentage of students‟ participation in the first cycle was 60.25%. It means that the result of process evaluation in the first cycle was not achieved the target of the research. Therefore, the actions were continued to the second cycle by revising the teaching technique in the first cycle. The revising teaching technique were: 1. The teacher explained to the students about verb, adverb, adjective and noun in detail so the students were able to understand and classify the words on their notes well. 2. The teacher made a group in teaching vocabulary through PVN technique so the students were able to work effectively 3. The teacher suggested and asked the students to write words on their note 4. The teacher asked the students to arrange the notes well. Having conducted the action in the second cycle, the results of vocabulary test showed that the percentages of the students who got score 65 or more (≥65) increased from 56% (14 students) in the first cycle to 76% (19 students) in the second cycle. The results of the classroom observation done in each meeting in the second cycle showed that there were 72% (18 students) that were categorized as active in the first meeting. Meanwhile, there were 80% (20 students) that were categorized as active participants in the second meeting. It could be concluded that the average percentage of students‟ active participation in the first cycle was 76%. Based on the result of the research, it was known that the use of personal vocabulary notes could improve the students‟ vocabulary achievement and their active participation in the teaching learning process. It is suggested that the teacher should use various techniques of teaching for example personal vocabulary notes to improve students‟ vocabulary achievement and students‟ active participation. The students are suggested to be more active to improve their vocabulary achievement.