Chapter 2

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CHAPTER II
THEORETICAL REVIEW

A. Review on Vocabulary
1. The Definition of Vocabulary
In mastering English as foreign language, vocabulary had an important
basic role that links the four skills of language like writing, reading, speaking
and listening all together. Someone cannot communicate effectively or
express his ideas in both oral and written form without mastering vocabulary
first. That is why students should mastering vocabulary.
There are some definitions of vocabulary proposed by some experts. Hatch
and Brown (1995: 1) propose the definition of vocabulary as a list or set of
words for a particular language or a list or set of words that individual
speakers of a language might use. Linse (2005: 121) also declares vocabulary
is the collection of the words that everyone knows. In line with the definition
before, Burns and Broman (1975: 295) stated that vocabulary is the stock of
words used by person, class, or profession
Based on the definition above, it can be concluded that vocabulary is a list
or stock of words in language with their meanings which used by person,
class, or profession.

2. The Kinds of Vocabulary


Haycraft (in Hatch and Brown, 1995: 370) gives a brief explanation about
these two kinds of vocabulary as follows:
a. Receptive vocabulary
Receptive vocabulary is words that people recognize and
understand when they occur in a reading context or hear them, but which
they cannot produce correctly. The receptive vocabulary is also called a
passive process because the learner only receives thought form others.
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b. Productive vocabulary
Productive vocabulary is words which people understand, can
pronounce correctly and use constructively in speaking and writing.
Productive vocabulary involves what is needed for receptive vocabulary
plus the ability to speak or write the appropriate time. Therefore,
productive vocabulary can be addressed as an active process, because the
learners can produce the words to express their thought to others.
Hatch and Brown (1995: 368) divided vocabulary learning into two;
intentional learning and incidental learning. They define intentional learning
as being designed, planned for, or intended by teacher or students. And they
define incidental learning as the type of learning that is a by product of doing
or learning something else.
Although those experts have different terms in mentioning the kinds of
vocabulary, but the substance of their explanation have same point of view
that divide the vocabulary into two kinds. They divide the kinds of
vocabulary by the students‘ learning or understanding proccess. The first is
receptive vocabulary or intentional learning vocabulary, the students only
receive thought from the others and cannot produce it correctly. The second is
productive vocabulary or incidental learning vocabulary the students learn a
new word by product of doing or learning something else, they can produce
the words and share their thought to others.

3. Aspects of Vocabulary
In learning vocabulary, Harmer (1991:18) says that there are some aspects
that both the teacher and students should pay attention. Those aspects will
explain bellow;
a. Meaning
The first thing to understand about vocabulary items is an English word
that frequently has more than one meaning. The meaning of a word is depend
on the context in which it is used. Besides that, we should know about sense
relation, sometimes words has meaning correlation to the other words.
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b. Word use
Words do not just have different meanings, however. Word meaning is the
frequently stretched through the use of metaphor and idiom. Besides that it is
also governed by collocation which words go with each other. Besides that we
often use words only in certain social and topical context. Usually we say ased
onthe style and habit of group or society we are in.
c. Word formation
There are lot things that students need to know in learning word formation,
those are;
1. The students need to know about word formation and how twist words to
fit different grammatical context.
2. The students need to know how suffixes and prefixes work. It includes
how to make the words potent and expensive opposite in meaning.
3. The students need to know how words are spelt and how they sound.
4. The students need to know how words are written and spoken and
knowing how they can change their form.
d. Word grammar
Word grammar which is employed by distinguishing the use of words
based on the use of certain grammatical patterns such as noun, verb,
adjective,adverb,etc.
There are many areas of grammatical behavior that student needs to know,
those are;
1. What are phrasal verbs and how they behave?
2. How are adjectives ordered?
3. What position can adverbs be used in?
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The explanation above can be sumarized in a figure bellow;

Table 2.1 The aspects of vocabulary based on Harmer


Supporting Harmer idea, Ur (1998:60-62) divided word into some aspects,
those are;
a. Form
Vocabulary mastery involves the mastery on prounciation (what a
word sounds like) and spelling (what it looks like). In teaching the teacher
must make sure that the learner has to know how the word is sounded and
how the word is spelled.
b. Grammar
The teacher needs to teach the grammar of new word if this is not
obviously conversed by general grammatical rules. A word may have an
unpredictable change of form in certain grammatical context, so it is
necessary to improve the learners with the information at the same time the
teacher teaches the base form of a word.
c. Collocation
Another factor that makes a particular combination sound ‗right or
wrong‘ in given context is the collocations typical of particular items.
d. Aspect of meaning (denotation, connotation and appropriateness)
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Denotation is a meaning of a word that primary refers to in the real


world. It is often the sort of definition in dictionary. Meanwhile,
connotation is a less obvious component of the meaning of an item. The
association, or positive and negative feeling it evokes, which may or not
be indicated in a dictionary definition. Besides these aspects that also
needs to be taught is whatear a particular item is the inappropriate one to
use in certain context or not. It is unusefull for learners to know that a
certain words is very uncommon, or relatively rare or taboo in polite
conversation, or tends to be used in writting but not in speech, or more
suitable for formal than informal situation, or belongs to a certain dialect.
e. Aspect of meaning (meaning relationships)
How the meaning of one item relates to the meaning of others can
also be useful in teaching. There several of meaning relationships, they
are; syninym, hyponym, co-ordinate,co-hyponym, super coordinate, and
translation.
The opinions above lead us to the conclusion that there are several
main aspects in teaching vocabulary. Those aspects provide what a learner
needs to learn language. However, the aspects taught should be matched
with the students‘ level. Since the research was conducted in elementary
school, the aspects of vocabulary which are needed to learn were meaning
of words and form of words consisting pronunciation and spelling.
Besides, the beginners level also need to learn about the use of word both
written and oral. So the aspects of vocabulary involved in this research
were (1) meaning; (2) spelling; (3) pronunciation; and (4) word use. Those
aspects are also considered as basic aspects in vocabulary that should be
prioritized for teaching to young learner.

4. The Definition of Vocabulary Mastery


Vocabulary has necessary role in learning and understanding the language.
Without mastering English vocabulary, students will get difficulties in using
and learning English language.
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Cameron (2001: 74) argues that vocabulary mastery deals with learning
words at the first. Learning words is a process of meeting new words and initial
learning followed by meeting those words again and again, each time
extending knowledge of what the words mean and how they are used in the
foreign language. Besides, Hornby (1995:721) defines mastery as complete
knowledge or complete skills. It means that mastery is a competency to
understand and apply something being learnt. From the definitions above,
vocabulary mastery can be said as a result of learning words by meeting new
vocabulary then memorizing and understanding the vocabulary
In this research, vocabulary mastery was only related to the students‘ problem
as described previously, it is the great skill and knowledge of understanding the
meaning, spelling, pronunciation, and using of words into the forms of phrases
or sentences.

5. The Importance of Teaching Vocabulary


Vocabulary is the key aspect of language learning which consists of a list
or set of words that individual speakers of language might use for listening,
speaking, reading, and writing; not only in the way they comprehend but also
in the way they produce language. It is also the first steps of learning a second
language and becomes the basic competence to get other competences of
language and it is undeniable that vocabulary plays a very important role in the
language acquisition.
The importance of vocabulary is explained by Cameron (2001: 72) who
states ―Building up a useful vocabulary is central to the learning of a foreign
language at primary level‖. It is supported by Coady and Huckin (1997: 5) who
states that ‖vocabulary is central to language and of critical importance to the
typical language learner.‖ From those two explanations, it means that
vocabulary has an important role in teaching language. With more vocabulary,
the learners will understand and use a language without any difficulties.
Teaching vocabulary is important for the students to build their language up.
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Cameron (2001: 72) also says ―Vocabulary learning can serve as a stepping
stone to learn and use grammar‖.
Nation (1990: 2) has three important reasons regarding to the importance
of teaching vocabulary.
a. The considerable research about vocabulary informing that vocabulary
related to useful words can give the learners in useful skill, especially
speaking.
b. Teacher faced with learners who have small vocabulary.
c. The learners and researchers who see vocabulary are very important in
learning language.
From the statements above, it can be concluded that vocabulary plays an
important role in learning language. The first step that should be known to
learn language is learning vocabulary because it is the basic aspect of learning
any language. Because it is important, teachers should teach vocabulary to
become meaningful and understandable. As a consequence, teachers holds a
responsibility in determining the best technique and media to teach vocabulary
based on the needs and characteristics of the students.

6. The Technique of Teaching Vocabulary


To get the best result on teaching and learning process depends on not
only the teachers‘ and students‘ competences but also the technique of
teaching. Not all techniques are helpful for the students. The teachers are
responsible to choose and select appropriate technique in teaching vocabulary.
Alen (1983) explain about some technique that can be prepared and
chosen to teach vocabulary. There are:
a. Demonstration
It is a gesture and action performing but the teacher can also use a real
object and command
b. Visual aids
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It is an interesting technique to teach the student in teaching learning


vocabulary. In this technique the teacher can use pictures, video, photo,
preseentation, etc.
c. Verbal explanation
It is like translating the words from second language into the first
language. The teachers has to pay attention the words in sentence or in
context because the several meaning of words.
d. Word list
When using word list technique, the teacher should pay attention
to vocabulary selection. The words taught should relate and be
appropriate to the student‘s need and their level of competence.

According to Linse and Nunan (2005: 123-127), there are several


principles in teaching vocabulary, for young learners especially:
a. Emphasize both direct and indirect teaching
Direct instruction here means the teaching of the words and their
meanings. An example of direct instruction would be pre-teaching
vocabulary items students will find in a reading selection. While indirect
instruction refers to helping children learn appropriate strategies so they
can figure out the meaning of words on their own. For example, teaching
the prefixes uni, bi,and tri to students and then having them point to
pictures of a unicycle, bicycle, and tricycle.
b. Teach vocabulary words before a new activity
When vocabulary words are taught before a new activity, students
benefit in two ways. Firstly, they are better able to comprehend the
activity. Secondly, teaching vocabulary words in advance makes it more
likely that students will actually acquire the target vocabulary words. This
principle holds true for stories (oral and written), songs, and many other
language-rich activities.
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c. Teach how to use context clues appropriately


Children need to be taught that there are times, especially when
reading, when they will not be able to figure out the meaning from context
clues by guessing the meaning appropriately.
d. Present multiple exposures to new vocabulary items
As part of the teaching repertoire, remember that a new word
should reappear many times and in different situations for the next several
weeks of instruction.
e. Give opportunities for deep processing of vocabulary items
Deep processing means working with information at a high
cognitive and/or personal level. It makes the information will be
remembered. Thus, it is a very important component of vocabulary
acquisition and development.
f. Teach students to use dictionaries
Young learners can benefit from using dictionaries. And as a
teacher, it is important to teach children how to use different dictionaries.
g. Have students keep vocabulary notebooks
Vocabulary notebooks provide students with opportunities to
develop a variety of vocabulary acquisition strategies and also help
students have more control over their learning. This is a strategy that
learners should be encouraged to do on their own.
There are five essential steps in vocabulary learning according by Brown
and Payne (in Hatch and Brown, 1995: 373)
a. Having sources for encountering new words.
The student strategies here include learning new words by ―reading
book, newspaper, and magazines‖, ―listening to TV and radio‖, and
―watching video and film‖. In addition to interest, actual need may make a
difference in whether encountered words are learned. People seem to learn
words more quickly if they have felt a need for them in some way.
Another indication that encountering words may be more effective under
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some circumstances than others has been found in work with interactive
video materials. When students have seen an object or an action, their
desire to know the label (word) for it may increase so that, when the word
for it is encountered, it is learned very quickly.
b. Getting a clear image, either visual or auditory or both, for the forms of the
new words.
This step essential to vocabulary learning appears to be the setting
of a clear image—visual or auditory or both—of the vocabulary items. The
importance of having a clear image of the ―form‖ of words becomes
apparent when people think about what happens when people try to
retrieve words. In addition, it also appears when students are asked to give
definitions for words.
c. Learning the meaning of the words.
This step includes such strategies as ―asking native English
speakers what words mean,‖ ―asking people who speak the native
language the meaning of new words,‖ ―making pictures of word meaning
in mind,‖ and ― explaining what the speaker means and asking someone to
tell him English word‖.
d. Making a strong memory connection between the forms and meanings of
the words.
This step includes many kinds of vocabulary learning drills such
as, flashcards, matching exercise, crossword puzzles, etc that strengthen
the form-meaning connection.
e. Using the words.
In this step, word use is essential if the goal is to help learners
move as far along the continuum of word knowledge as they can.
Furthermore, use seems to provide a mild guarantee that words and
meanings will not fade from memory once they are learned.
There are many theories and explanations about technique in teaching
vocabulary. Based on the experts explanation above, technique in vocabulary
teaching can be defined as a systematic composition or innovation to teach
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vocabulary in the classroom to student with the purpose that the vocabulary can
be received, understood, and used well. Those techniques can be determined
into the groups of using media; language forming; teacher‘s body-language;
and learning situation.
In conducting this research, the researcher will use animation video as the
media which is aimed to improve the students‘ vocabulary mastery. Then,
names of transportations and public places are the learning topics that are
discussed using this media. The researcher will use some kinds of oral and
written assessments in order to check the students‘ understanding after
conducting learning process using animation video.

B. Review on Animation Videos


1. The Nature of Media
Reeves (1998:1) stated that media are all forms of communication with a
variety of formats. In terms of learning, the media include the symbol systems
as diverse as printing, graphics, animation, audio, and movies. In education,
media are the symbol system that be used to represent knowledge by the
teacher and students. In line with that, Gagne (1970) states that media is all
of the components around the student which can stimulate to learn
something.
Brinton (in Celce-Murcia, 2001:460) also stated that media, related to the
language teaching, is that of technological innovations in language teaching, of
mechanical paraphernalia, and glossy polished audiovisual aids with all the
media anxiety that these can conjure up in teacher.
From those definition above, it can be concluded that media is all forms of
communication around the students with variety formats that related to the
learning and teaching. It is technological innovations in teaching which can
stimulate the students to learn something.
2. The Definition of Animation Videos
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Xie (2013: 3) says that an animation is a rapid display of a sequence of


images of 1D, 2D or 3D artwork or model positions in order to create an
illusion of movement. It is an optical illusion of motion due to the phenomenon
of persistence of vision, and can be created and demonstrated in a number of
ways.
In addition, Mayer and Moreno (2002:88) says that one of the most
exciting forms of pictoral presentation is animation. Animation refers to a
simulated motion picture depicting movement of drawn (or simulated) objects.
From the definition above, it can be underlined that animation is a
simulated motion picture depicting movement of drawn or simulated objects
within a time frame to achieve the illusion of continuous motion. It involves
the appearance of motion caused by displaying still images one after another
and can be created and demonstrated in a number ways.
Smaldino (2002:283) defines video as electronic storage of moving
images. He adds that any electronic media format that employs ―motion
picture‖ to present a message can be referred to as video.
In addition, Mayer and Moreno (2002: 88) define video as a motion
picture depicting movement of real objects.
Based on the definition above can be inferred that video is an electronic
media format that employs motion picture depicting movement of real object to
present a message.
From the analysis above, it can be concluded that animation video is a
kind of audio visual media format that employs motion picture depicting
movement of drawn, simulated or real objects, sound and sequence of
messages.
3. The Benefit of Using Animation Videos
Applying animation video in the classroom can make some benefit to the
classroom itself. There are some benefits of using Animation video stated by
Smaldino (2002:288):
1. Motion.
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Moving images have an obvious advantage over still visuals in


portraying concepts in which motion is essentials to mastery (such as
psychomotor skills).
2. Process.
One operation, such as assembly line steps or science experiments,
in which sequential movement is critical can be shown more effectively.
3. Dramatization.
Dramatic recreation can bring historical events and personalities
to life. They allow students to observe and analyze human interactions.
4. Skill learning.
Research indicates that mastery of physical skills requires repeated
observation and practice.
5. Affective learning.
Because of its great potential for emotional impact, video can be
useful in shaping personal and social attitudes.
6. Cultural understanding.
People can develop a deep appreciation for other cultures by
seeing depictions of everyday life in other society.
Meanwhile, Berk (2009) mentions some benefits of using video in the
classroom. Those are:
(1) Grab students‘ attention;
(2) Focus students‘ concentration;
(3) Generate interest in class;
(4) Energize or relax students for learning exercise;
(5) Draw on students‘ imagination;
(6) Improve attitudes toward content and learning;
(7) Build a connection with other students and instructor;
(8) Increase memory of content;
(9) Increase understanding;
(10) Foster creativity;
(11) Stimulate the flow of ideas;
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(12) Foster deeper learning;


(13) Provide an opportunity for freedom of expression;
(14) Serve as a vehicle for collaboration;
(15) Inspire and motivate students;
(16) Make learning fun;
(17) Set an appropriate mood or tone;
(18) Decrease anxiety and tension on scary topics; and
(19) Create memorable visual images.
Devi (2005) also lists some positive aspects of using animations video.
There are some positive aspects from this study on using animation in learning
are given below.
1. Increases motivation
2. Removes affective filters
3. Lowers the anxiety level
4. Improves contextual comprehension because of the display of
caption along with the animation.
5. Helps in the retention of concepts is superior when compared to the
use of just text
6. Fosters visual and verbal literacy
From the theories above, it can be highlited that there are a lot of benefits
of using animation video. Teaching English using animation video will give a
fun atmosphere to the students, especially young learners. They can learn
unconsciously while they are watching the video, so it is can make them enjoy
language learning. To make language learning run effectively, it is important to
make children feel comfort and happy at first.
4. The Disadvantage of Using Animation Videos
Besides the benefits, using video in teaching also has some disadvantages.
Devi (2005) mentions a few negative aspects of using animation video in
teaching learning process. There are:
1. Distracts the learner to watch the cartoon repeatedly.
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2. Affects the learning process if learners with difficulties in vision use it


repeatedly.
In addition, Cooper (1991:12) stated that there are three negative aspects
of using animation video, (1) Difficult to be revised, (2) Relatively expensive,
(3) Need a specific skill.
5. Criteria to Select the Video
There are 4 criteria to select the video according to Tomalin (1991), those
are:
1. Watchability
In this criteria Teacher should answer to these questions; ― Is the
video interesting?‖ and ―Would a young student want to watch this
video?‘
2. Completeness
It means that video should be interesting and have a good ending.
This idea of completeness is important for young learners whose
primary motivation for watching a video is enjoyment.
3. Length
The length of the clip is important, it shouldn't be too long,
depending on the learning objective. The content itself should be
suitable for young learners.
4. Level of Maturity
It means teacher must think about video, is it suitable for young
children and has a video age restriction.
6. Teaching Vocabulary Using Animation Videos
Teaching vocabulary must be enjoyable for the students, so it is easy for
the students to keep the new words in their mind. In brief, the roles of
animation video in teaching process that can be used as: attractive example,
listening and speaking tool and enjoyable media.
Cakir in his journal (2006: 69) lists some practical techniques for video
implication in classroom, those are:
1. Active viewing
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Active viewing increases the students‘ enjoyment and satisfaction


and focuses their attention on the main idea of the video presentation.
So, it is necessary for students to take an active part in video teaching
presentations. Before starting the presentation the teacher writes some
key questions on the board about the presentation so that the students
get an overview of the content of it. After viewing the questions the
students answer the questions orally, or the students may take notes
while viewing. For more detailed comprehension students are provided
a cue sheet or viewing guides and let them watch and listen for specific
details or specific features of language. However, it should be kept in
mind that the level of the students should be taken into account and
adapt the technique according to their levels.
2. Freeze framing and prediction
Freeze framing means stopping the picture on the screen by
pressing the still or pause button. Video gives us an additional
dimension of information about the characters‘ body language, facial
expressions, emotions, reactions, and responses. Teacher freezes the
picture when he or she wants to teach words and expressions regarding
mood and emotions, to ask questions about a particular scene, or to call
students‘ attention to some points. By freezing the scene the students
can be asked what is going to happen next. So they speculate on what
will happen in the next act. Freeze framing is excellent for speculation.
This activity also fires the imagination of the students by leading them
predicting and deducing further information about the characters.
3. Silent viewing
As video is an audiovisual medium, the sound and the vision are
separate components. Silent viewing arouses student interests,
stimulates thought, and develops skills of anticipation. In silent
viewing, the video segment is played with the sound off using only the
picture. This activity can also be a prediction technique when students
are watching video for the first time. One way of doing this is to play
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the video segment without the sound and tell students to observe the
behavior of the characters and to use their power of deduction. Then
press the pause button at intervals to stop the picture on the screen and
get students to guess what is happening and what the characters might
be saying or ask students what has happened up to that point. Finally,
video segment is replayed with the sound on so that learners can
compare their impressions with what actually happens in the video.
4. Sound on and vision off activity
This activity can be interesting and useful to play a section of a
video unit and remove the visual element from the presentation by
obscuring the picture so that students can hear only the dialogue but
unable to see the action. Through this activity the students predict or
reconstruct what has happened visually depending only what they hear.
5. Repetition and role-play
When there are some difficult language points in the video unit,
closely repetition can be a necessary step to communicative production
exercises. A scene on video is replayed with certain pauses for
repetition either individually or in chorus. When students have a clear
understanding of the presentation, they are asked to act out the scene
using as much of the original version as they can remember. When
students become confident with role playing and are sure of vocabulary
and language structures, more creative activity can be introduced in
which they are asked to improvise the scene to fit their views of the
situation and the characters they are playing. Role-play involves
students as active participants. As each student plays the assigned role,
s/he becomes more and more involved. This activity also helps students
to better understanding their own behaviour and to be more able to
respond in a positive way to various human relationships. In other
words, role playing is a good communicative activity and true
preparation for real-life situations. It gives a chance to students to apply
what they are learning.
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6. Reproduction activity
After students have seen a section, students are asked to reproduce
either what is being said, to describe what is happening, or to write or
retell what has happened. This activity encourages students to try out
their knowledge. Students will benefit from experimenting in English,
even though it is challenging and mistakes are made. As it seems a bit
difficult to perform, guidance, help and reassurance may be needed.
7. Dubbing activity
This activity can be done when students have the necessary
language competence. In this activity, students are asked to fill in the
missing dialogues after watching a sound-off video episode. It is
interesting and enjoyable for the students to complete a scene from the
video by dubbing.
8. Follow-up activity
It is important that a video presentation should lead to follow-up
activity as the basis for further extended oral practice. Discussion
stimulates communication among students, and it helps to achieve
communicative practice. With this activity students have an opportunity
to develop sharing and co-operative skills.
Using video in learning language can be a very powerful tool to engage
students in the vocabulary learning process as well as provide a benefit to
visual learners. Dealing with teaching vocabulary mastery, some simple
strategies can be used to allow lower level students to be creative in the
classroom using video as a stepping stone to fun and communicative activities.
Considering the ideas above, I was interested to provide procedure of
teaching vocabulary using animation video as follows:
1. Teacher gave some brainstorming questions related to the topic.
2. Teacher played the video without pausing (Active Viewing activity).
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3. Teacher played the video to introduce the words and paused each
picture to teach the meaning of the words (Freeze Framing and
Prediction activity).
4. Teacher played the video again and paused each picture to teach the
spelling of the words (Freeze Framing and Prediction activity).
5. Teacher played video without picture and asked students to write its
name (Sound On and Vision Off activity).
6. Teacher played video and asked students to repeat the words.
7. Teacher played video without sound and asked students to pronounce
words individually (Silent Viewing Activity).
8. Teacher explained how to make simple sentences using the example
on the video.
9. Teacher gave exercise about word use.
10. Teacher gave some oral and written exercises based on the animation
video in group or individually (Students practiced meaning, spelling,
pronunciation, and word use).
Learning English vocabulary by watching animation video is a great
way for the kids to have fun as well as learn. Video provides young learners an
opportunity to acquire new vocabulary and imitate to what they have heard and
have seen. That is why it is a very good way of stimulating young learners in
learning process.

C. Review on Teaching English for Young Learners


1. The Definition of Young Learners
There are some definitions of young learners. As defined by Harmer
(2001:38), young learners who referred as young children are the pupils in the
ages of up to nine or ten. In addition, Phillips (1996:5) states that young
learners means children from the first year of formal schooling (five or six
years old) to eleven or twelve years of age. According to Scott and Yrtebergh
(1998), there are two main groups of children. They are the five to seven years
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old and the eight to ten years old. Both of them are assumed as the beginner‘s
stage.
From the definition above, it can be concluded that young learners are
children who are in the group of age five to twelve years old. In this research,
young learners are five to twelve years old children who learn English as a
second language in the elementary school.
2. The Characteristics of Young Learners
Young learners are different from the adults. They learn everything
naturally and should be in fun condition. Young learners are unique in doing
and learning something. They have some characteristics that indicate that they
are different from the adult learners. By knowing their characteristics, it is
hoped that the teacher would treat their students well and be able to choose an
appropriate technique of teaching in order to reach the objective of teaching-
learning process.
Harmer (2001: 38) lists the characteristics of young learners as
follows:
a. They respond to meaning even if they do not understand individual words.
b. They often learn indirectly rather than directly – that is they take in
information from all sides, learning from everything around them rather
than only focusing on the precise topic they are being taught.
c. Their understanding comes not just from explanation, but also from
what they see and hear, and crucially, have a chance to touch and interact
with.
d. They generally display an enthusiasm for learning and a curiosity
about the world around them.
e. They have a need for individual attention and approval from the
teacher.
f. They are keen to talk about themselves, and respond well to learning
that uses themselves and their own lives as main topics in the classroom.
g. They have a limited attention span; unless activities are extremely
engaging they can easily get bored, losing interest after ten minutes or so.
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Further characteristics come from Scott and Ytreberg (1990: 3), they
lists some characteristics of young learners as folows:
1. Many children can sustain an interest in an activity. In relation to this
Scott and Ytreberg (1990: 3) state that variety of voice, pace, and
organization will help much in keeping the young learners concentrate on
learning the language;
2. They understand through hands, eyes, and ears. They deal with concrete
things. Scott and Ytreberg (1990: 3) suggest that teachers should not rely on
the spoken words only. The activities for young learners should mostly
include movement and involve senses. Bringing them many teaching media,
making full use of the school and surroundings and demonstrating what the
teacher wants the children to do are much better than just giving them verbal
explanation;
3. They love to play and learn best when they are enjoying themselves. But
they also take themselves seriously and like to think that what they are
doing is ―real‖ work;
4. They are very logical - what you say first happens first;
5. They understand situations quickly than they understand the language
use;
6. Young children are enthusiastic and positive about learning. It is
important to praise them if they are to keep their enthusiasm and feel
successful from the beginning;
7. Young children love to imitate and mime, to act out roles, and do
physically active. Therefore, some activities that involves physical
movement, such as action videos, dramatization, coloring and drawing of
pictures, games, and role playing.
Concerning with the characteristics possessed by children, a teacher
should be able to understand the way young learners learn. Teacher is the key
of the students‘ success in mastering the language. They have a great
opportunity to facilitate the students‘ best learning if they do understand their
characteristics.
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D. Reviews of Related Researches


There are some journal or studies and article deal with the use of
animation, video or media in foreign language teaching. These studies are
summarized and presented as follows:
1. The Use of Video as an Audio-Visual Material in Foreign Language
Teaching Classroom by Cakir (2006: 9-67)
Cakir (2006) states that video is quite beneficial for learners and teachers
as long as they are considered only as mere entertainment. But, carefully
chosen films can be a useful and extremely motivational teaching tool for
both practicing listening skills and stimulating speaking and writing. Video is
a kind of materials present complete communicative situations by means of
the dynamic, immediate and accessible combination of sound and vision. He
also found that the successful results of teaching language through video can
be reached if the learners and the teachers should perform their tasks
perfectly.
2. Videos and animations for Vocabulary Learning: A Study on Difficult Words
by Chih-cheng Lin and Yi-fang Tseng (2012)
They state that learning difficult words with textual definitions and videos
is more effective than learning them with textual definitions and pictures and
with textual definitions alone. Not only do teenage learners enjoy the contents
of the target words presented in animations and films, they also focus their
efforts on learning them. The rich contexts in the dynamic video clips later
help adolescent learners recall the meanings of the difficult words.
3. Enriching Students‟ Vocabulary Using Theme Based Youtube Videos by
Woro Widiastuti, a 2011 undergraduate bachelor of English Department,
Teacher Training and Education Faculty of Sebelas Maret University.
She conducted her classroom action research for the fifth grade students of
SD Negeri 1 Baturetno Wonogiri. As the results, the use of video made the
students easier in recognizing and remembering new vocabulary. The
students show many positive behaviors that help the process of achieving
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vocabulary by using YouTube video. They can pronounce words as they


heard from video and practice to write the correct spellings as shown on
video. By playing video repeatedly, the students were able to pronounce and
write the words correctly because they had more practices in learning. The
increasing attention, motivation, and existence of the display enrich the
students‘ achievement in learning vocabulary.

D. Rationale
Vocabulary has important role in learning all language in the world. it will
be the basic competence in order to get other competences such as speaking,
writing, listening and reading. So, vocabulary is the first step to learn and to do. In
productive skills like speaking and writing, the students need words to convey the
idea and meaning. In listening activity, mastering vocabulary can help the
students to get the points of what the speaker‘s says. Meanwhile in reading
activity, having a lot of vocabulary will help the students to understand and gather
information from the passage.
In learning vocabulary, there are some aspects to which both the teacher
and students should give attention, those are : (1) Meaning.Talking about
vocabulary items, it frequently has more than one meaning. It depends on the
context. Besides that, the thing that cannot be forgotten is between a word and
other words have meaning correlation. (2) Word use. Words do not just have
different meanings, however. Word meaning is the frequently stretched through
the use of metaphor and idiom. Besides that we often use words only in certain
social and topical context. Usually we say based on the style and habit of group or
society we are in. (3) Word formation. Vocabulary mastery involves the mastery
on pronunciation (what a word sound like) and spelling (what it looks like). In
teaching the teacher must make sure that the learner has to know how the word is
sounded and how the word is spelled. (4) Word grammar. The teacher needs to
teach the grammar of new word if this is not obviously conversed by general
grammatical rules. A word may have an unpredictable change of form in certain
grammatical context
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There are some problems in the students‘ English vocabulary acquisition.


Most of them have the same problems in interpreting the meaning of words,
spelling and pronouncing the words correctly and making sentences using the
words. The class situation also did not conducive for learning. The problems
encountered by the students are caused by some factors that may come from the
students and the teacher in teaching learning process. It can be identified as
follows: (1) Most of the students lost their focuses during the lesson easily. (2)
The students had low motivation in learning English. (3) The teacher had not
utilized teaching media for teaching learning process. During preliminary
observation, the teacher still wrote the words and the meaning on the whiteboard
manually, afterward, insisted the students to follow her and pronounce it. The
teaching learning process mostly took place in the classroom using whiteboard.
(4) The teacher only used Lembar Kerja Siswa (LKS) and textbook as the sources
of the material. (5) The teacher used teacher-centered method, in this case teacher
was presenter and students were listeners.
In order to make the learners motivated and interested in learning, it is
suggested that English teachers should utilize interesting teaching media and the
class will be more enjoyable. It is essential to find out ways of promoting learning
activities which are motivating, interesting, and fun in order to make the objective
of the teaching-learning process can be achieved.
Animation video is thought to be adequate for that purpose since it
provides the combination of sounds, images, and text (in the form of
captions/subtitles). All this make it a comprehensible tool for teaching vocabulary
especially for elementary students. As everyone knows that children are easy to
get bored and cannot pay attention to the lesson in a long time. They will be
attracted in learning activity so that they can accept what is being taught easily.
Teaching vocabulary by utilizing animation video is confided as one of
many solutions to solve the students‘ vocabulary problems. Teacher can drill and
translate the captions or sentences in the video so that students can easily
understand and memorize the meaning of the words or sentences while enjoying
the motion picture. Besides, it also can improve their spelling. Most video provide
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captions on it, so the students can easily watch and learn how to spell words
correctly. Furthermore, it enables to support pronunciation. It provides
pronunciation by native speaker. The students can directly hear and imitate how
words should be precisely pronounced. Most of the videos also give the examples
about how to make simple sentences.
Based on the explanation above, teaching vocabulary using animation
video is expected to improve students‘ vocabulary mastery. Students can be
motivated and actively engaged in teaching-learning process through some
activitiesthen teacher plays a part as motivator.

F. Action Hypothesis
Based on the rationale has been described above, the researcher proposes
the action hypothesis: Animation video can improve the students‘ vocabulary
mastery

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