IMPROVING THE STUDENTS’ VOCABULARY
ACHIEVEMENT BY APPLYING TIC-TAC-TOE
GAME
* Rini Susanti
** Zainuddin
Abstract
This study deals with improving the students’ vocabulary achievement by
applying Tic-tac-toe Game. The subject of this study was grade VIII1 2012/2013
students of SMP Negeri 1 Payung, desa Batukarang. The total number of the class
is 36 students. This study applied classroom action research which consisted of
two cycles. Three meetings were for first cycle and two meeting for second cycle.
The data were collected qualitatively and quantitatively. The data were
qualitatively collected from questionnaires sheet and observation sheet, while
quantitatively from the scores of vocabulary tests; orientation test, test I, and test
II. After analyzing the data, it was found that there was an improvement of
students’ vocabulary achievement. It was proven by the increasing of the mean
score of the students’ vocabulary scores in each test where mean score of the first
test was 56.94, the second test (test I) was 69.30 and the third test (test II) was
80.14.
Keywords: Vocabulary, Vocabulary Assessment, Board Games, Tic-tac-toe Game,
Classroom Action Research
Introduction
Background of the Study
A study of language includes the four skills, namely listening, speaking,
reading, and writing. Those skills will be difficult to achieve if vocabulary can’t
be mastered because vocabulary is one of the basic elements in achieving
language skills. In other words, vocabulary as one of the language components
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and as supporting elements to the mastery of the four skills is very important in
learning language.
However, based on the researcher’s experience during the Field
Experience Practice, the vocabulary achievement of students particularly was very
poor. It was seen from the students’ poor achievement in vocabulary which
resulted in their poor performance in English language skills. Poor vocabulary
achievement of students could also be seen from the number of vocabularies that
they mastered, was very low. Moreover, the junior high school’ students should
acquire approximately 2.000-3000 words per year, or about 6 to 8 new words per
day (Anderson & Nagy, 1992). Poor achievement of English vocabulary caused
the students found learning English was hard and unattractive.
In line, many English teachers in the schools taught English subject
without paying any attention to vocabulary itself. The others fact, the teachers
kept teaching and learning as a monotonous process. The teacher spoke formally
in front of the class, gave some explanations, read some information from the
books, showed the materials and asked the student to translate some text. It caused
the students feel bored. Students did less participation in the class activity and did
not have wide chance to call out what they had learnt.
Therefore, there must be way out of overcoming this problem. There are
many things can be done to solve this problem. One of those things is tic-tac-toe
game. Tic-tac-toe game is one of creative technique to attract the students’ interest
in learning activity.
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Research Question
Is the students’ vocabulary achievement significantly improved by the
application of Tic-tac-toe game?
Conceptual Framework
Learning a language means learning its vocabularies. We use vocabularies
in communication either in spoken form or written form. Vocabulary is the basic
component to help the students in mastering language. The fourth skills, such as
listening, speaking, reading and writing can’t be separated from vocabulary. The
students will learn the language skill easily if they have enough vocabulary.
Students imply that it is difficult to master vocabulary. The result is the students
had a poor achievement in vocabulary which result in their poor performance in
English language skills.
Therefore, increasing the students ability in mastering vocabulary is the
hardest responsibility of teacher to make it to be achieved. So, it is important that
teacher chooses a good strategy.
This study deals with the use of Tic-tac-toe Game to increase the students’
ability in mastering vocabulary. Tic-tac-toe game can be defined as something or
an instrument that is used to attract students’ motivation to follow the teaching
and learning process. Tic-tac-toe game can make the students more focus in
learning, because they do not feel that they are forced to learn. They also enable
learners to acquire new experiences within a foreign language which are not
always possible during a typical lesson. Tic-tac-toe game is a good strategy that
will give many advantages for teacher and the students either.
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Tic-tac-toe game is also easy to apply. The clear role and instruction on
Tic-tac-toe game make teaching and learning process effective and students will
get easiness to enrich the vocabulary.
1) Split the students up into two equal teams and call on of them “A” and the
other “B”. Then give A’s team a mark X and B’s team a mark O.
2) Draw a tic-tac grid on the blackboard
3) Write nine words that will become the answers of the Tic-tac grid on the
board.
Adolescene
Annoying
lowered
Vanish
Acne
embarrased
Good
Had
showed up
4) The teacher prepares the questions about the synonym, the antonym or the
homonym of the ninth words which are on the grid.
5) Ask the student about the question that the answer is one on the words that
already erase on the board. If the answer is correct, the team gets to put its
mark in that space.
For example:
Teacher: This word has a synonym “bloom/puberty”. What word it is…
O team: Adolescence
6) The first team to mark out three boxes in a straight line, vertically,
horizontally, or diagonally win the game.
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Methodology
This study belonged to classroom action research. Classroom action
research is utilized because it is aimed at improving outcomes of teaching and
learning (Kember, 2005: 25). It helped the teacher be more aware of a process.
Classroom action research is portrayed as cyclical or spiral process involving
steps of planning, acting, observing, and reflecting with each of these activities
being systematically and self critically implemented and interrelated. The subject
of this research was class VIII1 in SMP N 1 Payung which consists of forty
students. It is located at Batukarang, sub-district of Payung, regency of Karo. It is
near Kabanjahe. The class consists of 36 students.
The data were collected and analyzed qualitatively and quantitatively. The
qualitative data used test and quantitative data used observation sheet and
questionnaires sheet.
The writer analyzed the quantitative data by scoring students’ vocabulary
test carried out in two cycles of classroom action research, which included three
vocabulary tests where each test consist of 20 items, 10 items for multiple choices
and ten items for matching words.
1. The mean score of each student
100
X=
2. The mean score of the whole students
x =
x
N
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Result and Discussion
The data were taken after the researcher conducted the research on the
second year students of SMP N 1 Payung at eighth grade (VIII1), which consisted
of 36 students. The data were analyzed qualitatively which included observation
sheets, and questionnaire sheets and quantitatively which included the students’
vocabulary test.
The research was done for five weeks within two cycles which included
five meetings altogether. The five meetings were to apply the cycles of classroom
action research on applying Tic-tac-toe Game, where the first cycle consisted of
three meetings and the second cycle consisted of two meetings. The researcher
took three vocabulary tests scores to show the improvement of students’
vocabulary achievement.
Table 1: The Percentage of Students Who Got Score 70 above in Vocabulary
Test
Test
Percentage of Master Students
Orientation Test
27.78%
Test 1
52.78%
Test II
86.11%
In this case, the teacher as the observer did the observation sheets in order
to evaluate the two cycles of classroom action research by applying Tic-tac-toe
game which was done by the researcher, so the weakness which was found in
cycle one could be resolved in cycle two. The observation sheet included some
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elements to be observed; the researcher’s personality, the classroom management,
the condition of the class and the school, the researcher’s quality in teaching
material by applying tic-tac toe game, and the students’ attitudes. The complete
information about observation sheet can be seen in Appendix.
The questionnaires were done to get the information from students about
their difficulties in learning English vocabulary and their opinion about their
teacher in teaching English vocabulary in the school. It was done in the first and
last meeting.
The first questionnaire consisted of ten items; five items to determine
students’ attitude toward vocabulary mastery and five others to determine their
perception about their teacher in teaching vocabulary. Based on this questionnaire,
the researcher found that most of students had the interest in learning English
vocabulary but they had the difficulties on how to learn it. The students admitted
that learning English vocabulary was important.
The second questionnaire sheet also consisted of ten items and it was
about the students’ response toward the application of Tic-tac-toe Game. Based on
the second questionnaire sheet result, the researcher found that the applying Tictac-toe Game in teaching English vocabulary really helped the students in learning
English vocabulary. The students said that the Tic-tac-toe Game made the
learning process became attractive, fun and enjoyable. The teacher also said that
application of Tic-tac-toe Game in teaching English vocabulary was good because
it could improve the students’ vocabulary achievement and made them became
active.
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The research findings really proved that Tic-tac-toe Game had
significantly improved the students’ vocabulary achievement. This could be seen
through the increasing of the mean score of the students’ vocabulary scores which
was taken within three vocabulary tests; orientation test, test I, and test II where
mean score of the first test was 56.94, the second test (test I) was 69.30% and the
third test (test II) was 80.14%. The improvement of students’ vocabulary
achievement could also be seen in the percentages of students who got score 70
and up, where the percentage of students who got the score 70 and up in the first
test was 27.78%, in the second test was 52.78%, while in the last test 86.11% so
the range was 58.33%.
Conclusion and Suggestions
Conclusion
Based on the result of the data which had been analyzed qualitatively and
quantitatively, the researcher concluded that there was a crucial problem that
happened in Indonesian junior high school students related to the students’
achievement in learning English especially learning English vocabulary. It wasn’t
a new problem that the vocabulary achievement of most of junior high school
students particularly was very poor. A poor achievement in vocabulary influenced
the result in their poor performance in English language skills. Poor achievement
of English vocabulary caused the students found English learning was hard and
unattractive.
The problem also came up from the English teacher in that school. Most of
English teacher in that school taught English without paying any attention to
vocabulary itself. So the students had no idea on how actually to learn English
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vocabulary. The others fact, the teachers kept teaching and learning as a
monotonous process. The teacher spoke formally in front of the class, gave some
explanations, read some information from the books, showed the materials and
asked the student to translate some text.
The implementation of Tic-tac-toe Game is simple and easy for students to
understand and really helped the students to have a good achievement in English
vocabulary. Based on the results of the data analysis, the application of tic-tac-toe
game could improve the students’ vocabulary achievement of the eighth grade
students in SMP N 1 Payung in the academic year 2012/2013. The improvement
could be seen from the students’ mean score in orientation test, test I, and test II.
Moreover the application of Tic-tac-toe game also could effectively
improve the students’ motivation and improved the students’ interest in learning
English. This improvement had been proven by the result of observation sheet and
the questionnaires sheet.
Suggestions
In relation to the conclusion above, there were some suggestions about the
application of Tic-tac-toe game: For teachers, tic-tac-toe game contributed
significant improvement to the students’ vocabulary achievement, and then it is
suggested to be applied in the teaching learning process. For students, it can help
the students to learn vocabulary in a good and enjoyable way. For institution, it
can useful to develop the teaching learning technique for increasing motivation in
further.
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