CHAPTER II

UNDERLYING THEORY

In this chapter, the writer uses some references that deal with
the topic. It is important for the researcher to know the meaning of this
research in order to make easy in analyzing the vocabulary mastery.
The theories discussed in this research are: the characteristics of
young learners, general concept of vocabulary mastery and general
concepts of CTL.

2.1. The Characteristics of Young Learners

In the teaching foreign language at elementary school, the
teacher should know the characteristics of the young learners since
every pupil is different each other. In introducing the foreign language
at the beginner class, the pupils should be adapted with their situation.
The situation is related to the childrens world. Therefore, in the
teaching foreign language to the Elementary School, teachers should
use the technique to make easy in teaching process. Scott and
Yteleberg (1990: 1-4) divide children into two main groups. They are
five to seven years old and eight to eleven years old.
The categories of the children in period five to seven years old are:
1. They talk about what they are doing.
2. They tell you about what they have done or heard.
3. They understand situations more quickly than they understand the language used.

4. They use language skills long before they are aware of them.
5. Their own understanding comes through hands, eyes, ears, and the physical world is
dominant at all times.
6. They can not decide what to learn by themselves.
7. They love playing and learn best when they are enjoying themselves.
The categories of children in period eight to eleven years old are:
1. Children ask question all the time.
2. Children have defined views about what they like and dont like to do.
The implication in language is the children like the lesson which uses visual aids such as
pictures, posters, and flashcard.
3. Children have developed sense of fairness about what happens in the classroom and
begin to ask the teachers decision.
The implication in the language is the teacher tries to a rise students interest and involve
their emotion related to the material. The children are thinking what they should do
according to the teachers decision.
4. They are able to make some decisions about their own learning.
5. Children are able to work with other and to learn from others.
The implication in the language teaching is that the teacher explains the material and the
students can study the material together with their friend. Students are expected to
interact with people through pair and group work.
6. On one hand, they love playing and learn when they are enjoying themselves; on the
other hand, they can take themselves seriously.

2.2. General Concept of Vocabulary

2.2.1. The Nature of Vocabulary Mastery
a. Vocabulary
Hornby (1995:1331) states that vocabulary is the total number of the words which
(with rules for combining them) make up a language. This statement is then strengthened
by Burns (1975:295) who says that vocabulary means the stock of words used by a
person, class or profession. From those statements, we can infer that vocabulary is a stock
or list of words with explanation of their meanings used to make up a language by a
person, class or profession.
b. Mastery
There are some definitions of mastery. Ellis et al. (1998:502) state that mastery is
comprehensive knowledge or use of a subject or instrument. This idea is supported by
Hornby who defines the word `mastery` as a complete knowledge or complete skill
(1995:721).
From these two definitions above, it comes to the conclusion that mastery means the
competency to understand the whole knowledge.
c. Vocabulary Mastery
It can be said that vocabulary mastery is the competence or complete knowledge
of a list or a set of words that make up a language which might be used by a particular
person, class, or profession. Vocabulary mastery is one component to master English as a

foreign language in elementary, intermediate and advanced levels. In learning the four
language skills (listening, speaking, reading, and writing), vocabulary is one basic
component to be mastered. It is reasonable, remembering that the four language skills
need knowledge of words because they will get nothing without vocabulary. The larger
the students master vocabulary, the better they perform their language. By having too
limited vocabulary, the students will find difficulties in mastering reading and other
skills. Vocabulary mastery means the students having ability in understanding and using
the vocabulary. Vocabulary mastery itself deals with words and meaning. The students are
not only hoped to know the words but also their meaning. It is the duty of the teacher to
select with what words are suitable to be taught to the students, so the students will learn
more easily.
According to Norma E Cuts (1957; 18), there are fourth stages of the learner progress in
mastery vocabulary.
a. Progress extends from the beginning to the mastery of the fundamental of the
structure and sounds system.
b. The vocabulary items should still consist of those that must be learned for
production.
c. Vocabulary mastery of recognition.
d. The choice of special areas of experience is necessary.

2.2.2. Kinds of Vocabulary

There are some kinds of vocabulary as follows:
a. Active Vocabulary

According to Quinn (in Ernawati, 1996: 11), active vocabulary means the words that
should be used in speaking and writing. The speakers have to master some limits of
vocabulary of this active vocabulary. In communication, although they have to reproduce
the speech with listening, according to the situation, they can choose the words mastered,
such as, in teaching, in discussion, and other meetings. We have to respond the speech of
the person who speaks to us. It can be said that active vocabulary is words needed in
speaking and writing.

b. Passive Vocabulary
In Quinns opinion, passive vocabulary means the words needed merely to comprehend,
especially in reading. The speakers in this situation will not reproduce some sentences,
but they are asked to receive the messages by comprehending the passages or listening to
some broadcasts. It can be concluded that passive vocabulary is words needed in reading
and listening.

2.2.3. Vocabulary Limitation

Vocabulary knowledge concerns with word and meaning as the basic elements of
vocabulary that should be known by language learners. The term is used to classify words
based on their functional categories. The classification of words of a language depends on
their function in communication (Hatch and Brown, 1995: 218). Words are classified
based on functional words and content words. Functional words include nouns, verbs,
adjectives, and adverbs. Content words refer to a thing, quality, state, or action, and
which have lexical meaning. Functional words have major classes; there are pronoun,

preposition, conjunction, and determiner. So, word classification membership is an

important lexical feature. In the study of word classification, the writer limits on nouns,
pronouns, verbs, adjectives, adverbs, prepositions, and conjunction.
a. Nouns
A noun is a word (or group of words) that is the name of a person, a place, a thing or
activity or a quality or idea; nouns can be used as the subject or object of a verb. Nouns
can be divided into sub classes. There are proper nouns and common nouns. There are
also countable nouns (books, pianos, birds), mass or uncountable nouns (rice, water,
gravy), abstract nouns (idea, faith, religion), concrete nouns (chair, table, book), and
collective nouns (class, group, government).
b. Pronouns
Pronoun is a word that is used in place of a noun or a phrase. For example: she, her, he,
him, they, and them.
c. Verbs
Verbs are words that denote or describe an action, experience or state. Vendler in Hatch
and Brown (1995) places verbs into four classes: activities (run, walk, look for),
accomplishment (build, kill), achievement (recognize, find, lose), and states (know, love,
have).
d. Adjective
Adjective is a modifier that used to highlight quantities or attributes. Its most usual
position is before the noun it modifies, but it fills other positions as well. The types of
adjective are:
1) Determiners

They are articles (the, a, an), demonstrative adjectives (this, that, these,those), and
possessive adjectives (my, your, her), numeral adjectives (four, ten, first, third), and
adjectives of indefinite quantity (some, few, all).
2) Descriptive adjectives
They usually indicate an inherent quality (old, young, new), or a physical state such as
(blue, yellow, red), size or age.
e. Adverbs
Adverb is a word that adds to the meaning of a verb, adjective, another adverb or a whole
sentence. Adverbs are similar to adjectives in many ways although they typically assign
attributes to verbs, to clauses or to entire sentences rather than to nouns. Locative adverbs
like here and there are used very early young children as ways of pointing to the
location of objects. Time adverb like now and yesterday are used by second language
learners as an initial why to mark time.
f. Preposition
Preposition is a word (or group of word) which is used to show the way in which other
words are connected. For example: in, on, beside, at, and between.
g. Conjunction
Conjunction is a word that connects sentences, phrase, or clause. For example: and, so,
but.

2.2.4. The Teaching of Vocabulary

The purpose of vocabulary lesson crucially depends on the interaction between
the teacher and the learner. The teacher has to know the need and the ability of the

students. The teacher also has to know how learners go about learning vocabulary. If the
teacher knows more about learners strategies and what work and what does not work
well, they can help learners acquire more profitable strategies. Dealing with interaction
between the teachers and the learners, both teachers and pupils have to work hard to
construct meaning. The teacher has to present meaning in a way that is comprehensible to
learners and learners have to relate new meanings to ones already known. There are the
learners strategies that can make the teachers know how to help the students in
understanding and mastering vocabulary. The following are the ways to teach vocabulary:
a. Ostensive Definition
The meaning of an item is not presented verbally; instead the students are supplied with
sensory experience
b. Exemplification
Giving examples are sometimes easier to do than giving definition or explanation.
Besides, the result is also more satisfying.
c. Explanation
An explanation often makes the meaning of a new item. So, through explanation, the
student will be easier to understand the new item.
d. Definition
A linguistic definition may be useful, but sometimes it is dangerous since the definition
contains items which are more difficult than the item itself. When definition contains an
easier item and is given in context, it will be useful.
e. Paraphrase

A paragraph of the utterance in which a new item is used can often make the meaning of
item clearer than using techniques focusing on the item.
f. Translation
Translation is still one way of teaching vocabulary. Using this technique, a teacher must
be careful because it is difficult to find one item in one language which has completely
the some meaning as an item of another language. It seems that this technique should be
taken as the last way out.
g. Discovery
This is a technique, which is recommended, in communicative approach. The students are
supplied with a context, which contains the new item and task so that they try to find the
meaning of item by themselves.
h. Exercise or task
The technique is used to deal with familiar vocabulary. The students are supplied with a
material, which encourages them to recall and use the vocabulary they have learned or
acquired.

2.3. General Concept of CTL

2.3.1. The Notion of CTL
There are some definitions of CTL. They are as follows:
a. Contextual Teaching and Learning is a concept of study that helps teacher to relate the
material taught with the real situation of the students, and encourages them to make are
relationship between their knowledge and the implementation in their daily lives as the

member of family, moreover, as member of society where they live in. (US Department
of Education, 2001)
b. the contextual teaching and learning system is an education process that aims to
help students see meaning in the academic material they are studying by connecting
academic subjects with the context of their daily lives, that is, with the context of their
personal, social, and cultural components active, self-regulated learning, making
connection, significant work, critical and creative thinking collaborating, nurturing the
individual, recognizing and reaching high standard, using authentic. (US Department of
Education and the National Scholl to Work Office, 2001)
c. An approach of teaching and learning relating the material and classroom activities to
real situation and actual experience focusing on the learning process leading to creativity,
critically thinking, problem solving and being able to apply their knowledge in their daily
lives (Suyatno, 2002:3).
From the three sufficient definitions above, it comes to conclusion that CTL is an
approach of teaching and learning in context that emphasizes higher level thinking,
functioning in collaborate groups and solving challenging problems. The concept can be
applied by teacher to help his or her students by relating the material and classroom
activities to their real situation and actual experience, so they are able to use their
knowledge and skill in real-world situation and apply them directly to their daily lives as
family and citizens.

2.3.2. The Strategies of CTL

There are six strategies of CTL as stated by Blanchard (2001) in Suyatno (2002). They
are as follows:
a. Emphasizing the importance of problem solving.
b. Considering the use of teaching learning activity in various contexts, such as at home,
society, and place of work.
c. Teaching students by monitoring and guiding their learning in order to be independent
learners.
d. Emphasizing learning of the learner lives in different contexts.
e. Encouraging students to learn from and with others.
f. Using the authentic assessment.

2.3.3. The Elements of CTL

There are seven most important elements of CTL, they are Constructivism, Questioning,
Inquiry, Learning Community, Modeling, Reflection, and Authentic Assessment. A class
can be said using CTL approach if it applies the seven elements in the learning process.
a. Constructivism
Constructivism refers to the basic thinking of CTL approach, that knowledge is built by
human little by little which its result is widen through a limited context. In
constructivism, knowledge is not sets of fact, concept, or rule which are ready to be taken
and memorized. Learners have to construct the knowledge and give meaning through real
experience, by solving problems, finding something that is important to them, and
wrestling with ideas. Teacher will be unable to give all of knowledge in his or her own
minds. The essence of constructivism theory is an idea that students have to find and

transform the complex information to other situations, and if it is required, the

information will be their own.
In constructivism view, receiving strategy is more important than how much the
students receive and memorize knowledge. So, the teachers role is to facilitate the
process by:
1) Making meaningful and relevant information to students,
2) Giving opportunities to students in finding and applying their own ideas, and
3) Encouraging them to apply their own strategy in learning.
b. Questioning
Questioning is the main strategy in learning using CTL. It is essential for both teacher
and students. On the one hand, it is the teachers activity to encourage, guide, and
evaluate students thinking ability. On the other hand, it is the important part in doing
learning basing on inquiry.
In a productive learning, questioning activity is important for:
1) Getting information, both administration and academic,
2) Checking students understanding,
3) Encouraging the students respond,
4) Knowing how far the students anxiousness,
5) Knowing the students attention to the teacher desired,
6) Encouraging students ask more questions,
7) Refreshing the students knowledge.
c. Inquiry

Inquiry is the point of learning activity in CTL. It refers to searching information,

confirming what have been known, and directing attention to the unknown aspect. The
students knowledge and skills hopefully are not just as the result of remembering facts,
but as the result of their self inquiry. The cycles of inquiry involves: observation,
questioning, hypothesis, data gathering and conclusion. The teacher must plan activity
focusing on the finding activity, whatever the material taught.
There are five cycles in inquiry:
1) Observation
2) Questioning
3) Hypothesis
4) Data gathering
5) Conclusion
d. Learning Community
The concept of learning community suggests that the learning result is achieved from
teamwork. The result of learning is achieved from sharing among friends or groups. In
the CTL, teachers are suggested to always do the learning activity in pairs or group
works. The students who understand the material can share their knowledge with their
friends who have not understood yet. Here, the member and number of the groups can be
various. Besides, teachers can do collaboration by bringing the students an expert into the
classroom. For example: a farmer, a technician, or a seller.
Learning community can be done if there is two-direction communication process. In
learning community, two groups (or more) are involved to learn each other in
communication. Someone who involves in the activity of learning community gives her

or his friends needed information and in learning and vice versa. Everyone can learn
from others since they can be the learning sources. It means that everyone will be very
rich of knowledge and experience. Learning method with learning community technique
is very helpful learning process in classroom.

e. Modeling
It means that in the certain learning of knowledge or skill, there must be a model that can
be imitated by the students. It can be a manner to use something, the example of
something or the teacher who gives an example to do something. So, the teacher gives a
model about how to learn.
In CTL approach, the teacher is not the only model. The model can be designed by
involving students. The teacher can choose a student to be a model to his or her friends
by spelling and pronouncing some words correctly. Then, the other students can imitate
the model as a standard of competence that must be acquired.
f. Reflection
It is a way of thinking about what students just learned, or to think flashback about what
they have done in the past. The meaningful knowledge is acquired from a process. Their
previous knowledge is widening little by little through learning context. The teacher helps
the students to make correlation between their previous and new knowledge. Therefore,
they feel that they get something that is useful for them about what they just learned. In
the end of learning, the students do the reflection. The realization can be students notes
or results of discussion.

g. Authentic Assessment
Since the assessment emphasizes learning process, the data of assessment is gained from
the collected datum from the real action which is done by the students in their learning
process. While the authentic means that the data must be taken from both in and beyond
the school. Thus, the teacher must use a variety of assessment strategies that give students
opportunities to demonstrate what they know as well as how it is used in and beyond
school.
There are some assessments that can be used by teacher. They are:
(1) task, (2) home work, (3) quiz, (4) presentation, (5) demonstration, (6) report, (7)
journal, and (8) test result.

2.3.4. The Classroom Model of CTL

There are several series of presentation that can be used as a classroom model of CTL.
They are described as follows:

Build Space

Build Space

Guidance Step

Establish Context

Independent Step

Modeling Step

Build Space

Based on the classroom model of CTL described above, it can be drawn several steps in
the classroom model. They are as follows:
a. Establishing Context
Students are given information about the purpose, process, role, responsible and the
expected result. The teacher uses new information and skill in the learning contexts and
students lives. In establishing context, the teacher does the following activities:
1) Activation and determining previous learning: Teacher determines the previous
knowledge and skill of the students, so that the new learning can be created with known
concepts.
2) Introducing new learning: Teacher introduces new topics that are related to the
students previous new knowledge and skill, and the need of curriculum.
b. Modeling and Giving Example (demonstration) Teacher gives example and practical
model of learning well that focusing on the developing of the class demand and need.

c. Guidance
Teacher has increasing responsibility of new learning to their students by giving
suggestions, questions, and other challenging things in a safe learning environment.
d. Independent Work
Students are more active in deciding and following their schedule in which their
independent skills and questions give a framework to their next study.
e. Building the Continuous Space
Teacher and students together plan additional examples about new knowledge and skill in
order to improve concepts, their understanding and topic applications. After building the
continuous space, the next step is doing the assessment of students achievement. The
appropriate assessments of the students achievement, both formal and informal, are used
and its kinds are adjusted to the topic and curriculum expectation.