THE USE OF IDIOMS AND PHRASAL VERBS MASTERY TO

IMPROVE THE ABILITY TO ANSWER THE LISTENING

COMPREHENSION SECTION IN TOEFL: THE CASE OF THE
5F STUDENTS OF ENGLISH DEPARTMENT OF IKIP PGRI
SEMARANG 2009
PROPOSAL
Submitted to fulfill the assignment of Research in ELT 1
Lecturer: Dr. Soewandi, M.Pd

By
SITI SOLECHAH
07420273
5F

ENGLISH DEPARTMENT
FACULTY OF LANGUAGES AND ARTS EDUCATION
IKIP PGRI SEMARANG
2009

I.

Title
THE USE OF IDIOMS AND PHRASAL VERBS MASTERY TO
IMPROVE

THE

ABILITY

TO

ANSWER

THE

LISTENING

COMPREHENSION SECTION IN TOEFL: THE CASE OF THE 5F

STUDENTS OF ENGLISH DEPARTMENT OF IKIP PGRI SEMARANG
2009
II.

Introduction
a. Background of the Study
The students of first up to second year of college seem to lack of
vocabulary and it makes difficulties for the students not only in achieving
the lesson but also in mastering English learning process.
Vocabulary as one of languages component is very important.
Without understanding vocabulary, the students cant learn English because
of their limited vocabulary.
Ismail (1994:65) in his book said that people should master
vocabularies gradually. Beginner should master 1000 words, elementary or
first stage master 2000 words, and intermediate stage master 4000 until
5000 words.
Students have poor vocabularies because of some reasons such as
poor motivation in learning English, having no money or time to join
English course and the last but the most important is their unconfident
feeling to practice English in daily life.
As we know that Test of English as Foreign Language (TOEFL) is
important for one who studies English, especially for students of English
Department. Because the students are candidates of teacher, they have to
master English fluently.
Vocabulary is total number of words in a language.(Oxford
Dictionary, 1995:1331). And idiom is a phrase or sentence whose meaning
of its individual words and which must be learnt as a whole unit, e.g give
way, a change of heart, be hard put to it, etc.

b. Limitation of the Study

This topic is very interesting for the writer because she wants to
know about the students ability in mastering idioms in TOEFL especially
the students of 5F of English Department IKIP PGRI Semarang.
c. Statement of the Problems
The problems mentioned in this study are as follows:
1. To what extent do the students of 5 F English Department of IKIP PGRI
master idioms and phrasal verbs to answer TOEFL?
2. What are the difficulties faced by the students of 5 F of English
Department of IKIP PGRI in mastering idioms and phrasal verbs to
answer TOEFL?
3. What does the teacher do to solve the difficulties?
d. Objective of the Study
The objectives of the study can be stated briefly as follows:
1. To know the ability of the students of 5 F English Department of IKIP
PGRI Semarang in mastering idioms and phrasal verbs to answer
TOEFL.
2. To find out the difficulties faced by the students of 5 F English
Department of IKIP PGRI Semarang in mastering idioms to answer
TOEFL.
3. To presents some possible solutions for the difficulties.
e. Significances of the Study
1. To English teacher
The English teacher will get addition informal about correlation between
the students ability in mastering idioms and phrasal verbs in answering
TOEFL.
2. To the students

The students are expected that they may improve their English skills
achievement and give more knowledge.
3. To the reader
Inform the reader about the correlation between the students ability in
mastering idioms and phrasal verbs in answering TOEFL.
4. Institution of Education
Result of this research will give good contribution at college itself in
order to study repair especially and the other; dissimilar school generally.
f. Definition of Key Term
1. Correlation
It is a correlation study describing the quantitative team of the degree to
which two variables are related.
2. Mastery
It is a complete control or state of having control over something
superiority in competition, voting eminent skill or through knowledge
skill or through knowledge (Hornby, 1974 : 523)
3. Ability
In oxford dictionary, ability is skill or power.
4. Vocabulary
According to Oxford (1995;1331) idiom is a phrase or sentence whose
meaning of its individual words and which must be learnt as a whole
unit, e.g. give way, a change of heart, be hard put to it, etc.
5. The Students
It is undergraduates or post graduate person who are studying at collage,
polytechnic or university or boy or girl who are attending school and also
anyone who study or devoted to acquisition of knowledge
6. TOEFL
Test of English as Foreign Language, an international standardized test is
used to measure the level of ability and mastering English.

7. Listening
It means making an effort to hear something.
8. Idiom
Idiom is a group of words that has a meaning different from any
individual word within it (Cliffs, 2005: 284)
9. Phrasal verb
Phrasal verb is a two-word verb whose meaning is altered by the addition
of a particle. (Dixson, 1983: xi)
III.

REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE

A. Research Variable
There are two variable that are used in this research, the first is the
ability to answer the listening comprehension section in TOEFL ( X ) and
the second is idioms mastery and independent variable ( Y ).
B. Review of Theories Relevant to Variable
1. Definition of Idiom
According to Oxford Dictionary (1995:1331), an idiom is a
phrase or sentence whose meaning of its individual words and which
must be learnt as a whole unit, e.g. give way, a change of heart, be hard
put to it, etc.
Idiom is a group of words that has a meaning different from any
individual word within it (Cliffs, 2005: 284)
Idiom is a phrase where the words together have a meaning that
is different from the dictionary definitions of the individual words, which
can make idioms hard for ESL students and learners to understand.
(www.usingenglish.com/reference/idioms/)
An idiom is a phrase whose meaning cannot be determined by
the literal definition of the phrase itself, but refers instead to a figurative
meaning

that

is

known

(en.wikipedia.org/wiki/idiom)

only

through

common

use.

In linguistics, idioms are widely assumed to be figures of speech

that contradict the principle of compositionality.
John Saeed defines an idiom as words collocated together
happen to become fossilized, becoming fixed over time.
a. This collocationwords commonly used in a groupchanges the
definition of each of the words that exist. As an expression, the wordgroup becomes a team, so to speak. That is, the collocated words
develop a specialized meaning as a whole and an idiom is born. When
a person uses an idiom, the listener might take the actual meaning
wrong if he or she has not heard this figure of speech before.
b. Idioms dont usually cross language boundaries. In some cases, when
an idiom is translated into another language, the meaning of the idiom
is changed or does not make any sense as it once did in another
language. Idioms are probably the hardest thing for a person to learn
in the process of learning a new language. This is because most people
grow up using idioms as if their true meanings actually make sense.
2. Definition of Phrasal Verbs
Phrasal verb is a two-word verb whose meaning is altered by the
addition of a particle. (Dixson, 1983: xi)
Phrasal verb is a simple verb combined with an adverb or a
preposition. Or sometimes both, to make a new verb with a meaning that
is different from that of the simple verb, e.g. go in for, win over, blow up.
(Oxford, 1995:869).
3. Definition of TOEFL
The Test of English as a Foreign Language for TOEFL evaluates
the ability of an individual to use and understand English in an academic
setting. It is an admission requirement for non-native English speakers at
many English-speaking colleges and universities. It consists of Reading,
Listening, Speaking, and Writing Test.

4. Definition of Listening
The most useful definitions defines listening as the process of
receiving, attending, and understanding auditory messages; that is,
messages transmitted through the medium of sound. Often, the steps of
responding and remembering are also included.
IV.

METHOD OF THE RESEARCH

A. Design of the Research
According to Ali (1984: 2) stated that research design is the whole
of thinking process arid planning for doing something us the base research
in order to get the target effectively.
Basically, there are two kinds of research, namely, quantitative
research and qualitative research. This proposal uses qualitative in
descriptive research.
Descriptive research is use to obtain information concerning the
current status of the phenomena to describe what exists with respect to
variable or conditions in a situation.
The methods involved range from the survey which describes the
status quo, the correlation study which investigates the relationship between
variables, to developmental studies which seek to determine changes over
time.
B. Subject of the Study
1. Population
Sutrisno Hadi (1980: 220) defined population as a group of
neither people nor items about which informations collected. Besides
that Arikunto (1996:115) stated that population is all group of research
object. It means that the population is all members of research subject in

accordance with the definition: population is all of individuals from

where the data are collected.
The population will be used is the 5F Students of English
Department of IKIP PGRI Semarang in the academic year 2009/2010.
2. Sample
Sample is part of population will be investigated. According to
Arikunto (1998:120) stated that sample is a part of population which will
be stated. If the subjects of population are more than 100, researcher may
take (10-15)% or more percent out of population.
C. Instrument of the Study
In a study, an instrument is needed to collect the data in data
collection. Instrument of the research play an important role in research
project.
A researcher can be sure that the data gathering instrument being
used will measure what it is supposed to measure and will do this in a
consistent manner by examining the definitions for and methods of
establishing the validity and reliability of a research instrument.
1. Observation
It is the research method to get the data by doing observation
directly to know or get the description about the object and it uses a
guide, observation that is arranged, everyone who has normal senses can
do it.
2. Validity
Validity can be defined as the degree to which a test measures
what it is supposed to measure. To measured the validity of the multiple
choice test, we can use the formula as follows:
xy

rxy =

x2 - y2
rxy

: validity

: the number of respondent

: items number

After getting the result, the researcher categories it into standard of

validity as follows:
0,80 1,00
0,60 0,79
0,40 0,59
0,00 0,19

Very valid
Valid
Valid enough
Not Valid

3. Reliability
Reliability refers to the stability of the consistency of the test
score, that is, how consistent test score or other evaluation results from
one measure to other (Tambunan, 1988:14).
To measure the reliability of the test, we can use the formula as
follows:
r11 = 2 . rxy
1 + rxt
r11

: reliability

rxy

: validity

: the sum of add numbers of the correct items.

: the sum of even numbers of the correct items.

0,80 1,00
0,60 0,79
0,40 0,59
0,00 0,19

Very reliable
Reliable
Less reliable
Not Reliable

D. Technique of the Data Collection

1. Library study
Library study refers to the activity of using library facilities. The
information was obtained by reading books on related subject matter. The
writer tried to gather the material related to the topic to support her
investigation.

2. The steps to collecting the data by doing a test.

a. The writer asks 10 students of 5 F Class of English Department of
IKIP PGRI Semarang to join a small test.
b. The writer gives a simple explanation about TOEFL, idioms, and
listening comprehension.
c. The writer gives the test by giving the paper test to the students, and
turns on the cassette-player.
d. The writer collects the result of the test.
e. Finally the writer scores the result of the test in order to know the
students ability in idiom mastery to answer listening comprehension
section in TOEFL.
E. Technique of the data analysis
After the writer gets data from Class 5F of English Department of
IKIP PGRI Semarang, the writer will take some step to analyzing the result
that are:
1. The writer analyzing the answers.
2. The writer will find out the mean score of the student then consult with
the criterion of scoring.
Here is the formula that will be used:
X = x
N
Where:
X

: the mean of the score

x : the total of score

N

: the total of sample

F. Outline of the thesis

Chapter I. Present the introduction which consist of background of
the study, limitation of the study, statement of the problems, objective of the
study, significances of the study, and definition of key terms.

Chapter II. Discusses review of related literature which consists of

research variable, and Review of Theories Relevant to Variable.
Chapter III. Method of the Research, design of the research, subject
of the study, instrument of the study, technique of the data collection,
technique of the data analysis.
Chapter IV. Present research finding and discussion
Chapter V. Present Conclusions and Suggestions.

REFERENCES
Bobrow, Jerry. 2005. Cliffs TOEFL Preparation Guide. New Delhi: Wiley
Dreamtech.

Brown, H. Douglas. 2004. Language Assessment Principal and Classroom

Practice. America: Person Education Inc.
Riyanto, Slamet. 2007. The 1st Students Choice TOEFL Test Strategy for
Structure and Written Expression. Yogyakarta: Pustaka Pelajar.
Sharpe, Pamela. 2007. BARRONS TOEFL-iBT Internet-Based Test. Ciputat:
Binarupa Aksara.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/TOEFL
http://www.englishclub.com/esl-exams/ets-toefl.htm
http://www.ets.org

V.
VI.

PRESENT RESEARCH FINDING AND DISCUSSION

CONCLUSIONS AND SUGGESTIONS

1. Man
Woman

: Why are you wearing that cream all over your arms?
: I ate wild berries at the picnic last week, and I broke out in a
rash

Third voice: What does the woman say happened to her?

2. Woman
Man

: Stacey had a disagreement with her boss yesterday, didnt she?

: She says she is leaving her job for good.

Third voice: What does the man say about Stacey?

3. Woman

: The presidents State of the Union message last night was quite
inspiring.

Man

: I couldnt watch it because my political science lecture let out

too late.

Third voice: What does the man mean?

4. Woman
Man

: I cant even think with all that racket.

: It wont get any better. Why dont you work inside the meeting
room.

Third voice: What does the man imply?

5. Man

: Maries not eating her supper tonight. Whats the matter with
her?

Woman

: She went to the orthodontist and had braces put on her teeth. She
says it hurts too much to chew.

Third voice: What does the woman say about Marie?

6. Man
Woman

: I hope youll be ready to return to work soon.

: Im not quite up to it yet.

Third voice: What does the woman mean?

7. Woman
Man

: How are Peter and Lucy doing lately?

: They had a quarrel, but they soon made up.

Third voice: What does the man say about Peter and Lucy?
8. Man
Woman

: Have the actors finished with rehearsals?

: They went over their lines one more time before the production
began.

Third voice: What does the woman say about the actor?

9. Woman
Man

: What are we doing with the dog while we are on vacation?

: Stacey will look after him.

Third voice: What does the man say?

10. Man
Woman

: Have they found out who took the answer sheets?

: The humanities professor asked the dean to question several
students.

Third voice: What does the woman mean?

11. Woman

: Did you know that the hot dog did not originate in the United
States but in Germany?

Man

: Yes, and theyve even had something similar to it in Finland. Its

made out of reindeer meat.

Third voice: Which of the following is NOT true about the hot dog?
12. Man
Woman

: I hear Yolanda ran into Anna downtown last week.

: I havent seen either of them for months.

Third voice: What does the man mean?

13. Man
Woman

: Youre so late. I thought youd never get there.

: My car broke down on the highway, and I had to walk.

Third voice: Why does the woman say she had to walk?
14. Woman
Man

: Why didnt you have your geology class today?

: Only three out of a class of twenty-five showed up. Since the
professor had planned to present a complex demonstration, he
decided to cancel the class until everybody was present.

Third voice: Why does the man say the geology class didnt meet today?
15. Woman
Man

: Do you know Susan Flannigan?

: The name rings a bell, but Im not sure.

Third voice: What does the man mean?

16. Man
Woman

: Mr. Robert is preparing for his upcoming vacation.

: Yes, hes looking forward to it.

Third voice: What does the woman mean?

17. Man
Woman

: Do you need some help, miss?

: Yes, could you give me a hand with these packages?

Third voice: What does the woman mean?

18. Man
Woman

: I hope you will back me up on this new curriculum proposal.

: You can count on me!

Third voice: What does the woman mean?

19. Man
Woman

: It wasnt supposed to rain today.

: Itll let up, wont it?

Third voice: What can be inferred about the weather?

20. Man
Woman

: Clint looked worn out.

: He must have been exhausted after that run.

Third voice: What does the woman say about Clint?

The Answer Sheet:
1. A. She got scratched in the wild berry bushes.
B. She got cut at the wild picnic celebration.
C. She was allergic to the fruit that she had eaten.
D. She was trying to get a suntan at the picnic.
2. A. She is taking a leave of absence from her job because of her health.
B. She is not going to return to her job.
C. She is right to quit her job.
D. She did very good work, but now she is quitting her job.
3. A. The program was on too late.
B. The rain didnt let up until after the speech.
C. He doesnt like the president.
D. He had a late class.
4. A. There is a quieter place available.
B. He doesnt care for tennis matches.
C. The noise should die down shortly.
D. Its even louder in the meeting room.
5. A. Shes not hungry.
B. Shes at the orthodontists.
C. The food tastes like an old shoe.

D. Shes in too much pain.

6. A. She does not feel well enough to return to work.
B. She hates her work.
C. She hasnt finished the assignment.
D. She is still unable to walk.
7. A. They missed the homework assignment, but they turned it in later.
B. They hate each other since their dispute.
C. They caught a baby squirrel, but they soon let it go.
D. They had an argument, but now they are friends again.
8. A. When the production had begun, they realized that they should have
practiced more.
B. Before the production began, they reviewed lines one more time.
C. Although they had practiced for months, the production was a flop.
D. They went to the theater in two separate cars.
9. A. Stacey will buy their dog
B. After they return from vacation, they are going to buy a dog.
C. Stacey will take care of their dog while they are on vacation.
D. Stacey will be very tired after the long vacation.
10. A. The dean was asked to question several students.
B. The humanities professor questioned several students.
C. The humanities professor was able to answer the students questions.
D. The humanities professor has asked the dean a question about some
students.
11. A. The first hot dog came from Germany.
B. Hot dogs originated in the United States.
C. Some hot dogs are made from reindeer meat.
D. Even countries like Finland have a food similar to hot dogs.
12. A. Yolanda injured Anna.
B. Yolanda had to run downtown last week.
C. Yolanda went downtown to exercise.
D. Yolanda met Anna downtown unexpectedly.

13. A. Something happened to her car.

B. She was broke and couldnt afford the bus.
C. She got up too late to catch the bus.
D. Her car got stuck in the driveway.
14. A. The class thought the demonstration was too complex.
B. Too many students showed up.
C. The professor didnt show up.
D. The professor canceled it.
15. A. Susan Flannigan is in a bell-ringing group.
B. Her name sounds familiar.
C. Susan Flannigan is ringing the bell now.
D. Her name sounds melodic.
16. A. He is pleased because his family is coming up to see him.
B. He is considering several maps to decide where to go.
C. He is rather excited because he has a vacation soon.
D. He is coming up to see us on his vacation.
17. A. Please give me your hand.
B. Would you help me carry these packages?
C. Please remove your hands from those packages.
D. My hand is stuck under the packages.
18. A. Shell count the votes on the proposal.
B. Shell support he mans proposal.
C. Shell make the proposal herself.
D. Shell back out of the proposal.
19. A. It will rain later.
B. Its probably not going to rain.
C. Its raining now, but will probably stop.
D. The rain has already stopped.
20. A. He must exhaust the runner.
B. He was probably very tired after running.
C. The rum made him sleepy.

D. He must run after the thief.

The Key Answer:
1. C

11. B

2. B

12. D

3. D

13. C

4. A

14. D

5. D

15. B

6. A

16. C

7. D

17. B

8. B

18. B

9. C

19. C

10. A

20. B