THE EFFECT OF USING PUZZLE ON THE EIGHTH GRADE STUDENTS’ VOCABULARY ACHIEVEMENT AT SMPN I4 JEMBER IN THE 2013/2014 ACADEMIC YEAR

Abstract

English has a very important position in Indonesia. Especially in the academic field, English has been taught from junior high schools up to universities. At present, English is also taught to the elementary school as the Based Curriculum (2006). Nowdays, English is the first foreign language that must be taught in junior and senior high school because English is an international language that becomes a general communication tool in globalisation era. Thus, the teaching of English as a foreign language in Indonesia is extremely important. In learning a language, one of the language components that should be acquired by the learners is vocabulary. In this case, teachers need to introduce new words using a particular strategy to the students. However, if the strategy in teaching vocabulary is not conducted in a correct and interesting manner, the result tends to lead the students to memorize the words and they will make the students stressed. This means that teachers should be creative and innovative enough. This is in line with what Pikulski and Templeton (2005:5) state that the purpose for teaching vocabulary is to facilitate the comprehension of a text that students will be assigned to read. Teaching vocabulary as the major part in this process is the art of the language themselves. Students need to see the words in context, and to see how they are used in the process of interaction. Since vocabulary is a core component of language proficiency, it provides much of the basis for how well learners speak, listen, read, and write. Based on the curriculum 2006 of English in Indonesia , vocabulary should be integrated in the process of learning which is based on curriculum-based competence. In other words, any kind of strategy used to achieve the goal of vocabulary mastery should be provided properly by all language teachers.