Linguistic, English Education and Art (LEEA) Journal

Volume 3 Nomor 2, Juni 2020

e-ISSN :2597-3819
p-ISSN:2597-9248
DOI : https://doi.org/10.31539/leea.v3i2.1010

USING VOCABULARY SELF-COLLECTION

STRATEGY (VSS) TO IMPROVE MASTERY
STUDENT’S VOCABULARY
Putri Anita Simbolon1
Universitas Prima Indonesia

Feber Anggelina Br Bangun2

Universitas Prima Indonesia

Sumianti Magdalena Pardede3

Universitas Prima Indonesia

Jelinta Br Tarigan4
Universitas Prima Indonesia

Sri Ninta Br Tarigan5

Universitas Prima Indonesia

[email protected]

Submit, 05-12-2019 Accepted, 30-01-2020 Publish, 12-02-2020

ABSTRACT
The research aims to know that Vocabulary Self-collection Strategy (VSS) can
improve students’ vocabulary mastery and to find out how far Vocabulary Self-
Collection Strategy (VSS) can be useful for the students' vocabulary mastery at the
second-grade students of SMP Sinar Husni Medan. The methodology of this research
used Classroom Action Research. It was conducted on a two-cycle. In analyzing the
data, the researcher used quantitative data. The implementation of Vocabulary Self-
collection Strategy (VSS) in teaching vocabulary at eight grade students was
successful. It can be seen from the progress of the mean score in cycle I to cycle II.
Mean score in a period I 71.20 % and rating in cycle II 78.80 %. The implementation
Vocabulary Self-collection Strategy (VSS) as a learning strategy was not only
increasing students' mean score but also increase students' motivation and behavior.
The students were more interested, happy, and active in teaching-learning English,
especially vocabulary. Based on the result above, it could be concluded that
Vocabulary Self - Collection Strategy (VSS) improved their students’ vocabulary
mastery.

Keywords: vocabulary mastery, vocabulary self-collection strategy (VSS)

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INTRODUCTION
Mastering English is not as easy as taking something for granted. Learners
have to go through many steps and parts of learning. One of those parts is learning
and mastering the vocabulary in English. One aspect of language which plays a
significant role in English ability is vocabulary. According to Brown (2010) says that
words are the basic building blocks of language; names are used to create sentences,
more large paragraphs, and whole texts. After observation, especially in class VIII-A,
the researcher found some problems from the students. The first, the students still
confused with the meaning of the word. Second, they were difficult to remember
some names. Third, they are challenging to write the words in the sentences. Fourth,
they were also challenging to translate the meaning of a word in sentences. Fifth, the
students' motivation in English lesson was still less. The researcher predicted the
possible causes of the problems.
The researcher found the factor of why the problem arose. First, mostly
students' did not have a dictionary. It made them felt confused about knowing the
meaning of words. Second, they rarely practiced speaking the words every day. So,
their vocabulary was low. Third, they also did not have the right strategy to remember
the words in the learning process. It made them forget many words they have in the
learning process. Fourth, sometimes the teacher unclear when explaining the material
in the learning process. Based on the description above, the researcher interested in
using strategy to teaching vocabulary used Vocabulary Self-Collection Strategy
(VSS) to improve the students' vocabulary mastery. According to Residence, Bean,
and Baldwin (in Lester and Elliot, 2002) states that the purpose of the Vocabulary
Self-Collection Strategy is to help students generate a list of words to explore and
learned and to use their prior knowledge and interests to enhance their vocabulary.
This strategy can be used to stimulate growth in word knowledge.
In this study, the researcher used five references to previous research. The
first study was conducted by Muttahidah (2012) she found that the students'
vocabulary mastery achievement increased significantly after being taught by using
Vocabulary Card. It was proven by the improvement of students' vocabulary mastery
scores from pre-test up to post-test. The second study was conducted by Fatonah
(2015) the research findings showed that reading comprehension of most students
improved after the Vocabulary Self-Collection Strategy was used in the teaching and
learning process. It was indicated by the increase of the mean of students reading
comprehension scores in the pre-test and post-test (58.9 to 78.0) and several other
improvements, i.e., improve the students' interest in learning English texts, facilitate
the students in defining the unfamiliar words based on the context of the book, and

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improve interaction both among the students by employing small group discussion
and between the students and the teacher during the class.
Artoni (2013) explained that the Vocabulary Self-Collection Strategy (VSS) is
a strategy that is guiding students to make a list of vocabulary. List of vocabulary
depends on unfamiliar, and interest words of students‟ perception, and this strategy
can increase students‟ vocabulary. This strategy is appropriate to apply before going
to teach reading. The advantages of Vocabulary Self-Collection Strategy (VSS) are to
increase students‟ vocabulary and suitable for pre and post-reading and help students
determine a purpose for reading. This strategy also can motivate the students by
selecting the new word that makes them active in reading
Juwita (2013) used Vocabulary Self-Collection as a strategy to teach
vocabulary. Vocabulary Self-Collection Strategy (VSS) is an approach to teach
vocabulary by using students'‟ ability in collecting and generating words list, and it
emphasizes the student's‟ personal experiences and general knowledge. This strategy
is started with the assignment for both students and teachers to bring words that they
believe whole members of the class should learn. Aisyiyah holds the latest previous
study (2015) the result of the survey found that vocabulary mastery of most students
improved after the Vocabulary Self-Collection Strategy was used in the teaching and
learning process. It was indicated by the increase in the number of students who
passed the criteria of success from Pre-Test − Post-Test 1 − Post-Test 2.
The three research that had been conducted above showed that the Vocabulary
Self-Collection Strategy (VSS) was successfully implemented to improve the
students' vocabulary learning. By basing on those three previous studies, the
researcher does want to research in the same field. What makes it different is that in
this study, the researcher applies Vocabulary Self-Collection Strategy by attaching
the teaching of reading comprehension to solve vocabulary problems that occurred in
vocational high school level. Although originally VSS was developed for secondary
students (Gregersen, 2007), by looking up the students' English awareness, the
researcher conducts a study to improve vocabulary mastery of the students of
Vocational High School of Bandung. It was because the researcher thought that the
students of class X AK-2 were cooperative to do the strategy. Besides, the researcher
intended to invite the students to learn English vocabulary joyfully through an
enjoyable reading class. Considering the actions conducted in the previous studies, it
was expected that the implementation of VSS in this study would also be successful.

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LITERATURE REVIEW
The vocabulary self-collection strategy (VSS) is an interactive-learning
instructional strategy that promotes word consciousness, as students are actively
engaged in identifying essential words from their reading to share with members of
their class. The plan was first to introduce by haggard (1982,1986) and since then has
been adapted for various grade levels and instructional contexts. Students select
words from their readings that are new and interesting, use the background and other
resources to determine the meaning of the phrase, and nominate the name to be
learned by others in the group or class. Teachers using the VSS (1) model the process
of collecting signatures, (2) provide guided practice within reading groups, and other
instructional contexts, and (3) offer consistent encouragement to students to use VSS
during independent reading. The significant benefits of using VSS are that students
engage in their learning, discover how to recognize unfamiliar or exciting words from
their texts, develop their vocabularies, and become word conscious. A review of the
research on vocabulary instruction conducted by Harmon et al. (2005) led them to
claim that struggling readers learn vocabulary when teachers “ encourage
independent learning by allowing students to self-select terms to be studied. They
pointed to VSS as an approach to help students to select and review words that they
feel are important to learn. Research conducted by Calderon et al. (2005) with
English language learners demonstrated that, in addition to teaching vocabulary
before reading, their discourse around the next after reading leads to students’
vocabulary development.
Vocabulary Self-Collection Strategy (VSS) According to Residence, Bean,
and Baldwin (in Lester & Elliot, 2002) states that the purpose of Vocabulary Self-
Collection Strategy is to help students generate a list of words to explore and learned
and to use their prior knowledge and interests to enhance their vocabulary. This
strategy can be used to stimulate growth in word knowledge. Because the list is self-
generative, internal motivation is utilized. This strategy can help students become
fascinated with language and thus, increase their enjoyment of the subject. VSS
(Vocabulary using Vocabulary Self-Collection Strategy) involves the following steps:
1) Selecting the words 2) Defining the phrase 3) Finalizing the terms list 4) Extending
names knowledge According to Stoddard (2006), say that the purpose of the strategy
enables the long-term acquisition of vocabulary. Because the students generate both
the vocabulary and the meaning from a text they are currently using, not only do they
learn the vocabulary in context.
The first research was conducted by Martono & Asrori (2012) tells that the
most common problem is the difficulty of students using grammar, limited

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vocabulary, and pain in spelling correctly. This study used different data collection
methods from previous research. The quantitative data were obtained by calculating
the score of the test. The researchers used oral text, written tests, and interviews to
collect the data. To analyze the qualitative data, the researcher used steps to collect
the data, gather the data from the scoring of the class, compare the students' scores,
calculate the percentage of the students' scores, make the conclusion.

RESEARCH METHOD
This researcher used classroom action research {CAR} as the research design.
Classroom action research is part of a broad movement that has been going on in
education, generally for some time. In CAR, there is a cycling term that contains four
stages of this research. The four steps are an action plan, implementation action,
observation, reflection. The result of one cycle is used to determine the need for the
following period until the problem gets solved by strategy.

FINDINGS
The researcher found that the students' mastery in vocabulary was low. It
could be shown in the percentage of the class unsuccess was 47.3 %. It meant that the
students who failed the vocabulary test on the preliminary study were 47.3%. It said
that all students were unsuccessful. (see the table of students' score in Vocabulary test
for each cycle) The result of the check-in period one and two was different. It had
shown the improvement of the students continuously. The percentage of test 1 in
cycle 1 was 71.20% and in cycle 2 was 78.80%. It showed that the teaching and
learning process was successful. The result of students' score percentage also shows
the significant improvement that is 78.80%, and that indicated higher than the
minimal mastery criterion (70). The researcher concluded that improving students'
vocabulary mastery using VSS strategy could increase the student's ability to master
vocabulary. It means that developing students' vocabulary mastery using VSS
strategy in SMP SINAR HUSNI is successful in the classical category.

Table 1. Table of Students’ Score in Vocabulary Test for Each Cycle

No Student’s Name Preliminary Test 1 Test 2( Mean

Test (Cycle 1) Cycle 2 )
1. Abdul Dimas fares 40 67 76 61
2. Arifin 56 65 78 66.3

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3. Bagas syahputra 50 67 78 65
4. Egi Santika 50 70 75 65
5. Nabila febrianti 48 67 77 64
6. M. Rafi irawan 60 70 80 70
7. Gisya hadaya s 45 68 75 62.7
8. Kasyfiana 50 65 80 65
9. Kasyfiani 50 67 87 68
10. M. prastyo akbairih 65 70 85 73.3
11. M. khadavi 30 75 90 65
12. Zuanda 60 67 80 69
13. M. alfikri 40 77 78 65
14. Alfy Dindo miranti 40 70 69 59.7
15. Fika Julia Dewi 50 70 90 70
16. M. risky romo 50 68 75 64.3
dhoni
17. Dandy maisana 40 67 75 60.7
saragih
18. M. jonothan 45 60 78 61
19. Abdul rojab 50 66 80 65.3
20. Aldy Surya 40 76 76 64
21. Dewi anggrani 30 75 80 61.7
22. Lenoni umaros 35 78 80 64.3
23. Yahtya 40 80 85 68.3
24. Cheery 55 77 80 70.7
25. Rei asahel 65 60 67 64
26. Amando Dewi 50 69 75 64.7
27. Ikchan m 50 79 80 69.7
28. Haitun nisa 45 77 80 67.3
29. Nabila fahrezi 40 78 80 66
30. Nina hairani 40 78 80 66
31. Jihan baby 40 80 80 66.7
32. Intan anastasya 50 70 75 65
33. Risma Siregar 50 70 75 65
34. Siti aminah 50 78 80 69.7
TOTAL SCORE 1599 2421 2679
MEAN 47.03 71.20 78.80

From the data above, it could be seen that there were 13 students (38 %) in
cycle 1, passing the minimal mastery criterion ( ≥ 70 ). And there were only two
students who failed the test or got lower than the minimum mastery criterion. The

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collecting data which was taken from the students' observation sheet and
questionnaire could be said that VSS made the students interested. The students were
more enthusiastic about learning difficult vocabulary. They looked enjoyable in the
class that applied the VSS strategy. After using the VSS strategy, the researcher saw
that there were good responses from the students. The students were more
enthusiastic about studying English (vocabulary) by using a VSS strategy. Also, it
could be used to avoid boredom in the class. In general, the researcher concludes that
improving students' vocabulary mastery using a VSS strategy can increase the
student's ability to master vocabulary.

DISCUSSION
Classroom action research was done in two cycles. It was because the
researcher found some wanted to achieve the target score. Based on the study, the
researcher found some weaknesses and strengths in applying vocabulary self-
collection strategy as a way to improve students' vocabulary mastery.
The researcher found that the students' mastery in vocabulary was low. It
could be shown in the percentage of the class unsuccess was 47.3 %. It meant that the
students who failed the vocabulary test on the preliminary study were 47.3%. It said
that all students were unsuccessful. (see the table of students' score in Vocabulary test
for each cycle) The result of the check-in period one and two was different. It had
shown the improvement of the students continuously. The percentage of test 1 in
period 1 was 71.20%, and in period 2 was 78.80%. It showed that the teaching and
learning process was successful. The result of students' score percentage also shows
the significant improvement that is 78.80%, and that indicated higher than the
minimal mastery criterion (70). The researcher concluded that improving students'
vocabulary mastery using VSS strategy could increase the student's ability to master
vocabulary. It means that developing students' vocabulary mastery using VSS
strategy
After the second cycle had finished, the researcher interviewed, but also the
collaborator of this research, Sri Murningsih. Collaborator said that by using a
vocabulary self-collection strategy, students were interested to learn English, and it
helped them to improve their vocabulary mastery. The researcher considered that
using a vocabulary self-collection strategy was able to upgrade the eighth-grade os
Smp Sinar Husni Medan. It also helped students to improve their vocabulary mastery
by themselves; it was also able to motivate students to learn English vocabulary.
Conducted by Muttahidah (2012), she found that the students' vocabulary mastery
achievement increased significantly after being taught by using Vocabulary Card. It

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was proven by the improvement of students' vocabulary mastery scores from pre-test
up to post-test. The second study was conducted by Fatonah (2015) the research
findings showed that reading comprehension of most students improved after the
Vocabulary Self-Collection Strategy was used in the teaching and learning process. It
was indicated by the increase of the mean of students reading comprehension scores
in the pre-test and post-test (58.9 to 78.0) and several other improvements, i.e.,
improve the students' interest in learning English texts, facilitate the students in
defining the unfamiliar words based on the context of the book, and improve
interaction both among the students by employing small group discussion and
between the students and the teacher during the class.
Juwita (2013) used Vocabulary Self-Collection as a strategy to teach
vocabulary. Vocabulary Self-Collection Strategy (VSS) is an approach to teach
vocabulary by using students'‟ ability in collecting and generating words list, and it
emphasizes the student's‟ personal experiences and general knowledge. This strategy
is started with the assignment for both students and teachers to bring words that they
believe whole members of the class should learn.

CONCLUSION
. The researcher concludes that increasing students 'vocabulary mastery using
VSS strategy can improve students' ability in mastering vocabulary, and this can be
seen from the tests that have been done there are two tests conducted by researchers
and the results obtained by researchers from the comparison of the first test and the
second test can conclude that in the second test the student's average score improved
from the first test. The results of this study with the students' vocabulary test scores
can be concluded that the application of VSS in vocabulary teaching for eighth-grade
students in SMP Sinar Husni medan increased and can be proven from the progress of
the average scores of students in the table that has been made.

REFERENCES
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Artoni, S. (2013). “Teaching Reading by Combining Vocabulary Self-Collection
Strategy (VSS) and Cubing Strategy at Junior High School." State Islamic
University of Sultan Syarif Kasim Riau.

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