TEACHER’S TECHNIQUES OF INTRODUCING NEW VOCABULARY

TO YOUNG LEARNERS AT TK AR RAHMAN JOMBANG

Marintan Widi Lestari and Mohammad Adnan Latief

State University of Malang
Email: [email protected]

ABSTRACT: This study aims at revealing the techniques used by the teacher in
introducing new vocabulary to young learners. The methods used for collecting the
data were namely observations and interviews. The result of this study figured out that
six techniques were demonstrated during the English language teaching. Based on the
conclusion, English teacher in general is suggested to use these techniques during the
class.

Keywords: techniques, teaching vocabulary, young learners

Critical period hypothesis has highlighted the significance of foreign

language acquisition for children. It explains the idea that the acquisition will be more
likely completed if it is begun before the puberty (Brown, 2007:101). It is due to the
fact of brain plasticity possessed by children. Brain plasticity enables children to
easily absorb any input from the environment that changes the brain structurally and
functionally, which make children far more superior in their success in learning
foreign language than adults.
In foreign language learning, vocabulary is the first component the learners
need to learn. Vocabulary is a sole component of a language. A lack of vocabulary
mastery will strive into communication breakdown. Besides for communication
purpose, vocabulary mastery is also needed for the sake of accessing knowledge.
According to Cahyono & Widiati (2011), the vocabulary mastery supports each of the
language skills. Knowledge of vocabulary affects learners’ comprehension on reading
and listening, meanwhile it also affects the way learners convey their ideas into
writing and speaking. Indonesian government through KTSP (School-Based
Curriculum) has focused the English language teaching into strategic and linguistic
competence in which vocabulary is included. However, the mastery of vocabulary
will be optimally absorbed by the learners if it is begun in childhood.
Although English language teaching seems to be universal phenomenon,
teaching English to young learners appears to be not easy. English teacher who are
concerned with young learners should understand the nature of children in teaching
them. Based on some experts (Scott & Ytreberg, 1990 & Cameron, 2007), the use of
various techniques that stimulate all the sense of children will strive into effective
teaching and learning activities.
Based on the above-explained information, this study tries to find out the
answer of this research problem: what techniques successfully employed by the
teacher at TK Ar Rahman Jombang in introducing new vocabulary to the learners?

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METHOD
This study employed descriptive qualitative design. The English teacher, the
headmistress and B1 class- of 11 of 5-year-old learners- of TK Ar Rahman Jombang
participated in this study as the subjects. According to the headmistress, B1 class was
high achiever class.
The data of this study were taken using observations and interviews.
Observations were conducted to reveal the activities done in English language
teaching during the class. In the process of observing, a set of checklist were
employed. The checklists were prepared to ease the researcher in recording the data.
The checklist contains three sections; pre, whilst and closing activity. In whilst part,
the checklists were prepared to identify techniques that might appear. A total of 5
meetings were observed to collect the data. Interviews were conducted in order to
obtain data that might not be covered during observations. The interviews were done
in two sections which involved the English teacher of B1 class and the headmistress
of TK Ar Rahman.

FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION

The research finding shows six techniques employed by the teacher during
English language teaching in the B1 class. They were namely listen-repeat, singing
songs, giving demonstrations, playing games, using picture, and ostensive procedure.
Listen- Repeat Activities
Listen- repeat activity was used in the English teaching and learning process
in Ar Rahmankindergarten. This technique was used in almost all parts of the
teaching process. It was suggested by Scott and Ytreberg (1990: 22) that listen- repeat
activities would give the children a chance to get the feel the language through
sounds, stress, rhythm, and the intonation. The listen- repeat activity was done by
asking the children to repeat what the teacher said. In order to make the children get
familiarized with the words, it demands the teacher to present the words continually.
This idea is in accordance with Cameron (2001: 81) that in the development of
children’s vocabulary for teaching, the children need to meet words again and again
in new contexts that help increase what they know about words.
The listen- repeat activity was also used by combining it with demonstrations.
Listening is the first skill mastered by young learners. According to Scott and
Ytreberg (1990: 21), when the pupils start to learn a foreign language, it is going in
mainly through their ears. Since the listener cannot hear the same way they can read,
they cannot go back and check what they have heard, it is important to say things
clearly and repeat them. Due to the fact that children have short attention spans, they
often easily forget about what they have learnt if it only comes from listening to the
teacher. Therefore, some listen- repeat activities involved movement.
An example was found during the observations, when the teacher asked the
children to pray. It was found that for teaching the word “bend”, “take”, and “close”,
the teacher demonstrated the combination of listen- repeat technique and
demonstration. It would be hard for the children to memorize what “bend”, “take”,
and “close” mean if the teacher only explained it using their mother tongue. The
children might remember it the time they hear the explanation but they surely would
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forget once they went home. As Craik and Lockhart (1972 cited in Wahyudiati, 2011)
state in their Deep Processing hypothesis, painless understanding will make the long
term remembering less likely. Therefore, involving movement was needed by the
children.
Based on the field notes made during the observation, the listen-repeat
technique not only functioned as a medium to make the children familiarized with the
new vocabulary but also it was useful to teach the children how to pronounce certain
words correctly. By repeating after the teacher, the children indirectly learnt how to
pronounce the words. Moreover, the teacher would also correct the learners’ mistakes
at a time. Since young learners tend to imitate all the things surrounding them, the
teacher must ensure that the children got the correct examples to be imitated. As in Ar
Rahman kindergarten, the teacher had given good examples for the children.
Singing Songs
Songs were another medium used for teaching new vocabulary for young
learners at Ar Rahman kindergarten Jombang. This technique was also used for
memorizing new vocabulary suggested by Fachrurrazy (2010). The so called
memorizing vocabulary strategy was done by using audio aids such as the teachers’
voice, children’ voice, cassette tapes and using visual aids such as pictures, written
form, and demonstrations. There are many reasons for using songs in teaching and
learning activities. Besides aiding relaxation and group dynamics (Davanellos, 1999
in Wahyudiati, 2011), the lyrics of the songs also convey various values. According
to Lynch 2009 (cited in Wahyudiati, 2011) songs which contain authentic languages,
are easily obtainable, provide vocabulary, grammar and cultural aspects and are fun
for the children. They can provide valuable speaking and listening practices for the
children.
The activity conducted by using songs was singing along. The teacher was not
very strict on when this activity could be conducted. Singing songs could be done in
the pre-teaching, whilst activities or even at the end of the class. The purpose of
conducting this activity over and over again was to vary the technique to teach.
According to Cameron (2007: 15), young learners are easily distracted; they cannot
focus on one thing. The children would directly ask the teacher to do other activities
once they got bored with what they were doing. Thus, the variation of the technique
is a must.
When singing the songs, the children along with the teacher would do some
gestures related to the lyrics they were singing. One example was when they were
singing the shape song. The lyrics of the shape song are about the name of shapes like
triangles, squares, ovals, and stars. The teacher made gestures with her hands
showing how the shapes look like, while the children followed her. By doing this, the
teacher gave concrete visualization for the meaning of the shapes’ names they were
singing. It was in line with what Brown (2007: 103) says that children need to have
all five sense stimulated. The activities should strive to go well beyond auditory and
the visual mode.
Giving Demonstrations
Demonstrations were often used by combining them with other techniques. It
happened during almost every other technique. According to Piagiet (in Cameron,
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2007), a young learner is an active learner. They cannot sit still and learn the lesson.
Young learners love to move their body. They learn the lesson by interacting with
what surrounds them. Thus, giving demonstration or making gestures becomes one
enjoyable technique for them.
This technique was once used when the teacher was explaining about
adjectives and prepositions. The use of this technique, again, was to ease the children
into grabbing the meaning of the vocabulary taught. As Scott and Ytreberg (1990: 23)
state, words are not enough for young learners. The teacher should include movement
and involve the senses. Demonstrations also become one variation in teaching
English to accommodate the characteristics of the children, who have short attention
spans.
During the teaching of preposition, the teacher asked four children as
volunteers to come in front of the class. Asking for volunteer was the way the teacher
engaged the children in the process of teaching and learning. By involving the
children become involved, the teacher encouraged the children to be brave. This kind
of activity would motivate the children to be active during the lesson. Moreover, the
more the children got engaged during the lesson, the more they paid attention to the
lesson that was being explained. Another activity involving giving demonstrations
was when the teacher presented several action words. The teacher purposely chose
action words so that the children would be able to move; “singing”, “jumping”,
“running”, “swimming”, and “walking”. By acting out the action words, the children
would understand better the meaning of every word.
As for the effectiveness of this technique, the researcher found that this
technique was effective to be used. It was found that the children got the meaning of
the vocabulary that was being taught once it was demonstrated. The teacher also did
the reinforcement activity in the end of the class by asking what action verb she
would say by demonstrating it. Most of the children were able to guess the words
from what they looked like. Yet, if the children answered it wrongly, the teacher
would not give the right answer right away but demonstrated it once more till the
children got it right.
Playing Games
In order to create a supportive atmosphere for the children to learn in, the
teacher utilized several techniques in teaching. One of them was playing games.
Assuming from the characteristics of young learners, it can be known that they love
to play. Therefore, the teacher used games to present the material to be learnt. The
use of games motivated the children to pay more attention to the teacher. It was
because the teacher would draw a star for each student who could answer the
teacher’s question. Besides, learning through fun activities would help the children
bond with the class and the teacher more naturally. For the shy student, he/she would
make an effort to get involved in the games.
The game that was played was called Guess it. The instruction was to make
the children guess certain things based on its characteristics mentioned by the teacher.
The example was animal names. The teacher mentioned some characteristics of an
animal for example “it has four legs”, “it eats grass”, “the voice is baa” and etc. After
listening to the teacher’s explanation, the children would need to raise their hand and
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guess the name of the animal. So, the children would not only learn about the name of
the animal but also the characteristics of it. Based on Cameron (2007:81), vocabulary
development is not just learning more words but is also importantly about expanding
and deepening word knowledge.
In this activity, repetition was also involved. Repetition is one important
factor during children language acquisition. As Cameron (2001: 81) says, in the
development of children’s vocabulary for teaching, the children need to meet words
again and again in new context that helps increase what they know about words. The
teacher was purposely describing animal with similar characteristics which made the
children understand the meaning without directly translating the words. One example
was the word “legs”. The student had understood the meaning of feet or foot, yet
“legs” has similar but different meaning from it. In order to make the children aware
of its differences, the teacher made strong intonation while she was mentioning “four
legs”. After that, the teacher would check if the children had really understood what
“legs” means.
Using Pictures
Many objects, qualities, and action verbs can be illustrated by pictures. Based
on that statement, the teacher in Ar Rahman kindergarten also used pictures to present
the lesson. Besides that, it is supported by Harmer’s statement in 2007 that the
children understand better by hearing, seeing and touching the object that is being
explained by the teacher. It is also one of the four procedures suggested by Mackey
(1965). Thus, pictures can be one resource for teaching English for young learners.
Pictures were chosen to be used as the medium to teach English since it gave
clear visualizations for the children. The children who consist of 5 year-old children
need more than direct translations to give them an understanding of a certain meaning
of a word. They need to draw an image of a certain word clearly to understand. Based
on some experts, picture serves as a fruitful medium in learning English, especially
vocabulary learning. Harmer (2007) suggests trilogy of teaching sequence elements,
the so called ESA, as an effective way of teaching small numbers of individual words
at the beginner level. ESA stands for Engage, Study and Action. In this procedure, the
first sequence is that the teacher starts teaching new vocabulary by showing or
drawing the pictures, or miming the actions of the new vocabulary that is going to be
taught. As what the teacher has done in teaching English in Ar Rahman kindergarten,
drawing pictures was more interesting for the children.
The instruction of this technique, given by the teacher, asked the children to
draw an image of the vocabulary that was being mentioned by the teacher. The
teacher firstly mentioned a certain vocabulary such as a butterfly. Then, she asked
one of the children to come in front to draw the picture of butterfly. Besides, the
teacher sometimes also used flashcards.
From the observations, the researcher could claim that the teaching and
learning process using picture was successful. The children were motivated and
involved themselves in the teaching and learning process. It can be seen from the
enthusiasm of the children to answer the teacher’s question. Most of the children
were fond of attention. They want to be the first. They want to get the teacher’s
attention. Therefore, the teacher made use of that characteristic of her children to
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teach them. She often praised the student who was able to answer her question. Thus,
it made other children enthusiastically try to answer every teacher’s question.
Pointing out Things
Another technique utilized to teach new vocabulary by the teacher was by
pointing out the things. This technique is also known as ostensive procedure. Based
on Mackey 1965, ostensive procedure is a procedure accompanied by the gesture of
pointing out the object. Further, he explains that this procedure relies on analogical or
cased based by the subject they are intended to.
As what has been stated in the previous explanation on another sub chapter,
words are not enough for the children. Therefore, the teacher needed more than direct
translations and explanations to make the children understand the vocabulary that was
being taught. Understanding here is defined as the capability of the children to
remember and use the vocabulary that had been taught in other opportunities.
The principle of this technique was almost the same as other techniques such
as using pictures, and making demonstrations. This technique intended to make the
children get concrete images or visualizations of the vocabulary being taught. It
supported what Harmer (2007: 82) states that young learners will get better
understanding by hearing, touching, and seeing the object that is being explained.
Other Techniques Used for Teaching New Vocabulary
In Ar Rahmankindergarten, English teaching and learning process was
integrated. It means that they did not separate English from other subject. For
example, the instructions used to open the lesson and praying are always done using
English. This idea supported Brewster, Ellis, and Girrad (1992) who argue that early
learning of a non mother-tongue language must be integrated into other teaching in
the primary school. Based on the headmistress, the purpose of conducting the English
teaching and learning process integrated with other subject is to make the children
familiar and get accustomed to using English in daily life.

CONCLUSIONS AND SUGGESTIONS

Teachers who are interested in English for Young Learners should enrich
themselves with the development of the issues. It is expected by the awareness they
put into this issue, a betterment of English teaching and learning process will be
accomplished. The teachers should become more creative and innovative in the
process of English teaching for young learners. In order to achieve successful
teaching and learning process, teacher should exploit more techniques in class.
Moreover, in order to select the appropriate techniques to be used, teachers should
have careful consideration related to the children’ characteristics and interest.
Future researchers are suggested to conduct a research on the English for
young learners issue on the other scope such as the process of teaching writing for
young learners.

REFERENCES
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Press.
Fachrurrazy. 2010. Teaching English as a Foreign Language for Teacher in
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