VOCABULARY LEARNING STRATEGY OF THE

FIRST SEMESTER STUDENTS OF ENGLISH

DEPARTMENT OF IAIN PAREPARE

I. INTRODUCTION

1.1. Background

Vocabulary is all about words – the words in a language or a special set of

words you are trying to learn.1 It can be said that vocabulary is collection of words

that someone knows. Vocabulary become a necessary in English language learning

because the vocabulary is a basic of knowing a language. Thornbury said that

without vocabulary, nothing can be conveyed. It means that without vocabulary

there is not value meaning that can be transferred to the others in communication.2

Without knowing the vocabulary, students can not comprehend the skills of

language: listening, speaking, reading and writing.

Vocabulary is important to be known by the learners because words are the

basic units of language in which reader can understand the ideas and find out new

information of what they read or listen. Students’ vocabulary growth allows them

to become increasingly able to translate the words.

Learning vocabulary is considered as an important part of language learning

and acquisition. Learning vocabulary needed a stimulus in order to be able to kept

the words in our mind/thought and use it. If the students possess much vocabulary,

1
Dictionary Vocabulary.com. (Online https://www.vocabulary.com/dictionary/vocabulary,
access on May 7th 2019)
2
Wanda Lestari, Improving Students’ Vocabulary Mastery By Using Text Twist Game at
Private Islamic Junior High school Al-Hijrah 2 Lau Dendang 2016-2017 Academic Year,
(Unpublished Skripsi UINSU Medan 2017)
they would be able to comprehend an English text easily. However, if they do not

own much vocabulary, of course, they find difficult problems to comprehend

grammar, they hard do spelling or pronunciation clearly, and also they will not be

able to read and write in English language. As stated by Meara “Learners possessing

large vocabularies zise are more competent in a wide range of language skill than

students with smaller vocabularies.”3 Because of that, the students need to acquire

more vocabularies in order to be able to understand and use the words in appropriate

way.

In language learning, it is significant to use a strategy. Strategies play an

important role in second language learning as they promote and facilitate language

learning.4 Therefore, if foreign language learners are equipped with strategies such

as vocabulary learning strategies, they can be much more successful language

learners because vocabulary learning strategies make students autonomous and

enable them to take responsibility of their own learning.5

Vocabulary learning strategies, as a part of language learning strategies, seem

to be very crucial in language learning. As explained by Nation, by applying

vocabulary learning strategies, students can manage and monitor their own learning

process without having to depend entirely on the learning encourages students to be

3
Wilaiwan Lebkatem, Incidental Vocabulary Acquisition Through Newspaper Reading: The
impact of Content Familiarity, (A Thesis Submitted Prince of Songkla University, 2012), Copyright
of Songkla University, p. 6.
4
Ignacio M. Palacios, The Importance Of Language Learning Strategies In Foreign
Language Teaching (Published Article Of Researchgate, 5/1, 1996), p. 104
5
Seyyed Mohammad Reza Amirian Hakim And Zahra Heshmatifar, A Survey On
Vocabulary Learning Strategies: A Case Of Iranian Efl University Student (Published Journal Of
Language Teaching And Research Of Academy Publisher, 2013)
more responsible for their own success in language learning.6 Also, vocabulary

learning strategy make students learn the words easier dan anjoyable. Based on

Oxford, he mention that vocabuary learning strategy is actions taken by the learner

to make learning easier, faster, more enjoyable, more self-directed, more effective,

and more transferable to new situations.7 By using strategy, students are expected

to learn independently because they are cannot rely to their teacher. They are

necessary to discover their own strategy of learn the meaning of unknown words in

classroom and outside the classroom setting.

In classroom, the teacher teaches students with the same teaching method.

Some students may can acquire the English language successfully while others fail.

The teachers nowadays do not have a high attention to give instruction for students

in using strategy to acquire vocabularies. They don’t train the students to use

strategies in learning vocabulary. Teachers only focus to teach the students as how

to pronounce words, read the text, write text and give the students exercises.

As new students in university and choose English Department, they definitely

will always use English language. Therefore, they need to raise their vocabulary

size. They have to rely themsheves and manage their vocabulary learning. So they

can independently set their learning with appropriate strategies.

From the explaination above, the researcher want to know the vocabulary

learning strategy used by students in the first semester of English Department of

6
Kristin Natalina, Vocabulary Learning Strategies Used by Junior High School Students
(Published Article of Indonesian Journal of English Language Studies, 2013), p. 3.
7
Azadeh Asgari, The Type of Vocabulary Learning Strategies Used by ESL Students in
University Putra Malaysia (Published Article of Canadian Center of Science and Education, Vol. 4,
No. 2, 2011), p. 84.
IAIN Parepare. As we know that, every individual have a different learning style.

The investigation of this research may be will useful for students because they need

to know the strategy that they use while learning vocabulary. By knowing the

strategy, they may motivate their self to be more enthusiasm in learning English.

So that, students can find their own way to a new experience in learning language

and effective way to success in vocabulary learning.

1.2. Prolem Statement

Based on the background, the problem statements is formulated as follow:

1. What are the most frequently vocabulary learning strategy used by the The First

Semester Students Of English Department Of IAIN Parepare?

2. What are the least frequently vocabulary learning strategy used by the The First

Semester Students Of English Department Of IAIN Parepare?

1.3. The Objective of the Research

Based on the problem statement above, the objectives of this research are:

1. To describe the most frequently vocabulary learning strategy used by the The

First Semester Students Of English Department Of IAIN Parepare

2. To describe the least frequently vocabulary learning strategy used by the The

First Semester Students Of English Department Of IAIN Parepare

1.4. Significant of the Research

 The findings of the research are expected to be useful for the teachers,

students, and researcher. It is expected that the result of the study are elaborated

below:

1.1.1 For the teachers, the result of this research expected to be useful for English

teachers to establish the students’ way in learning process.

1.1.2 For the students, the result of this study is expected to be able to determine

their learning style and make them find out what are the best strategy for

success in language learning.

1.1.3 For further researchers, the result of this study is expected to be useful for you

as a source. Basic information about Vocabulary Learning Strategy (VLS)

may can help you to gain a clearly explanation about this study.

1.1.4