Philippine Normal University

The National Center for Teacher Education

The Use of Role Playing Technique in Improving Grade- 8 Students’

Vocabulary Mastery

Chapter 1

INTRODUCTION

I- Proponent
Cristy Ann V. Jayoma

Practice Teacher

Patin-ay National High School

Patin-ay, Prosperidad, Agusan del Sur

1.1. BACKGROUND

The area of focus for my project is improving the students’ mastery in vocabulary

through role playing technique. Without the advanced knowledge of vocabulary skill the

researcher feels the children’s struggle in terms of fluency and accuracy of the English

language during oral recitations, written works, and of understanding the lesson. By

implementing the role playing technique in teaching, the researcher hopes that the

students might improve their knowledge of English vocabulary.

Derived from the researcher’s experience when she conducted her research at Patin-

ay National High School, the role playing activity is suitable technique for the students in

secondary level for improving their vocabulary mastery. To be proved how far the role

playing technique could be influenced students’ vocabulary skill, in this paper the writer
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The National Center for Teacher Education

tries to elaborate everything related to the technique of implementing role playing and its

effect for increasing students’ vocabularies skill.

1.2. RESEARCH QUESTIONS

Based on the background that the writer has explained above, so the research

questions are:

1. How effective is the teaching mastering vocabulary by using role-playing technique

in improving students’ vocabulary mastery?

2. How effective is the teaching mastering vocabulary without using role-playing

technique in improving students’ vocabulary mastery?

3. How are differences of students’ vocabulary mastery between the students who are

taught using role-playing technique and the students who are not taught through

role-playing technique?

1.3. RATIONALE

Vocabulary is one of the important aspects in teaching language. It is very

important for the students because they can develop and learn language well. According

to Oxford Dictionary (2011) “Vocabulary is that all the words that a person knows and

uses”.

Based on the explanation above, the writer believes that the students need the

interest technique of teaching and learning vocabulary. Here, there are many techniques

that can be used by the teacher, such as by using role playing technique. Role playing is

the techniques that can make the students enjoy learning process and the atmosphere of

learning in the class increases

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The National Center for Teacher Education

Teaching Vocabulary Process

Experimental Group

Pre-Test

Using role playing technique

Post Test

The mastering vocabulary

differences

Figure 1.1 Frame of Research

The writer uses quantitative method in this research. The specification of this

method is quasy-experimental study. Firstly, both groups are given pre-test. Then,

experimental group is given a treatment by using role-playing technique.

1.4. RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

Research methodology is defined by Leedy & Ormrod (2001) cited in William

(2007, p66) as the general approach the researcher takes in carrying out the research

project. To get the result of the effectiveness of role-playing technique in improving

 Philippine Normal University
The National Center for Teacher Education

students’ vocabulary mastery, the writer uses quantitative research approach in this study.

Quantitative research involves the collection of data so that information can be quantified

and subjected to statistical treatment in order to support or refute “alternate knowledge

claims” (Creswell: 2003, p153).

1. Research Design

The writer uses a quasy-experimental design. According to Cresswell (2012, p21),

quasy-experimental designs (also called intervention studies or group comparison

studies) are procedures in quantitative research in which the investigator determines

whether an activity or materials make a difference in results for participants.

Table 1.1

Class Pre-test Treatment Post-test

Experimental It is given in the a. Giving It is given in
class first meeting to treatment the last
measure the ability teaching meeting to
of vocabulary mastering measure the
before they receive vocabulary by ability of
a treatment using role- vocabulary
playing after they
technique receive a
treatment

a. Research site

The researcher chooses the research in Patin-ay National High School. The reason

is because the grade- 8 students of section Emerald are still low in vocabulary mastery, so

that the researcher would like to help them to improve their vocabulary mastery.

b. Population and Sample

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The National Center for Teacher Education

According to Arikunto (2010), “A population is a set or collection of all elements

processing one or more attributes of interest”. The population of this research are the

students of the eighth grade of section Emerald, contains 52 students.

2. Techniques of Collecting Data

The technique of collecting data uses test. Based on Arifin (2009, p118), Test is a

technique used to carry out the activities of measurement, in which there is a variety of

questions, statements, or a series of tasks that must be done or answered by the students

to measure the aspects of students’ vocabulary. It means that the test is needed to measure

students’ ability.

To collect the data, the writer uses pre-test and post-test, multiple choices and

words search. Those are applied as a test for pre-test and post-test. It is intended to

measure students’ vocabulary mastery before and after they receive the treatment.

3. Process of Experimental Study

The process of experimental study is divided into three points:

a. Pre-test

Pre-test is conducted to reveal the ability of the students in vocabulary mastery

before the treatment. According to Creswell (2003, p297) “a pre-test provides a measure

on some attribute or characteristic that you assess for participants in an experiment before

they receive a treatment.”

The form of pre-test is multiple choices (number 1-10) and words search (11-20).

It is to measure their acknowledgement about the vocabulary. The students are given 20
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The National Center for Teacher Education

minutes to answer 20 questions of the test. The data is collected by giving written text

and it is conducted twice, pre-test and post-test.

b. Applying the treatment by using role-playing technique

The teaching learning process of both classes is conducted in the classroom.

There are four meeting in each class in order to know the students’ difficulties, the

problems during teaching learning process, and to know the significant achievement of

students’ learning.

The steps of role playing technique in the classroom, Ngalimun cited in

Handayani (2014, p22) states that the step of role-playing technique divided into 5 steps.

The first is the teacher prepares the scenario of learning process. Then, the teacher

chooses some students to learn the scenario. The third step is the students are guided to

make groups. The fourth is group presentation. And the last is reflection and guidance

from the teacher.

c. Post-test

Post-test is conducted to reveal the ability of the students in mastering vocabulary.

Based on Creswell (2003, p297) A post-test is a measure on some attribute or

characteristic that is assessed for the participants in an experiment after a treatment.

The post test is conducted to know the effectiveness of role-playing technique in

improving students’ mastering vocabulary. The implementation of post-test is conducted

in the class. It is given after treatment.

4. Data Analysis
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The National Center for Teacher Education

After the data collected from pre-test and post-test, the following statistic is based

on quantitative data. To answer the questions of research problem, it uses the following

steps. According to Subana (2000:38), determining the normality of data by conducting

the steps as follows:

CHAPTER II

This chapter discusses the theoretical framework and literature related to this

study. Furthermore, this chapter would like to discuss the four main issues. The first is

vocabulary. The Second is classroom activities. The third is role-playing technique. And

the last is previous study.

2.1. VOCABULARY

Vocabulary is the most important aspect in a language. It is a vital aspect to be

investigated; the writer realizes that the discussion of the vocabulary is necessary. This

section is divided into six points. The first is definition of vocabulary. The second is

learning vocabulary in EFL context. The third is the difficulties in learning vocabulary.

The fourth is strategies in learning vocabulary. The next is procedures of teaching

vocabulary and the last is assessment in teaching vocabulary.

2.1.1. Definition of vocabulary

This section discusses the definition of vocabulary. Wilkins cited in Thornbury

(2002, p13) says, “Without grammar very little can be conveyed, without vocabulary

nothing can be conveyed”. It is also echoed by Dellar and Hocking cited in Thornbury

(2002, p13), if you spend your time studying about grammar, your skill will not improve
 Philippine Normal University
The National Center for Teacher Education

much. On the other hand, you will see most progress if you learn more words and

expressions. The statement above shows us how important the vocabulary in a language

is.

CHAPTER III

RESEARCH METHODOLOGY AND FINDINGS

This chapter concerns on the answer of the research questions to find the result of

testing hypothesis. It covers three main issues; the first, students’ improvement in

vocabulary mastery by using role-playing technique; the second, students’ improvement

in vocabulary mastery without using role-playing technique ; the third, the significant

difference between students’ vocabulary mastery by using role-playing technique and

without using role-playing technique.

3.1. The students’ improvement in vocabulary mastery by using role-playing

technique

The first research question would be answered by illustrating how the research

process is implemented in the experimental class and what the findings are shown based

on the improvement of the research process. Furthermore, this section consists of the

teaching program by using role-playing technique, the analysis of pre-test and post-test

data of students’ vocabulary mastery and conclusion.

a. Description of experimental class

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The National Center for Teacher Education

The research was conducted at the eighth grade students of section Emerald in

Patin-ay National High School. It consists of 52 students but only 34 students were taken

as samples of this research because the 18 students did not attend during the pre-test and

some of them in post-test. The teaching program in this research was held in five

meetings. The first meeting was intended to manage pre-test, the next three meetings

were held to implement treatment and the last meeting was to manage post-test.

b. Administering Pre-test

In the first meeting, the students of Grade 8- emerald were given pre-test; it was

given to 34 students. The goal was to measure the ability before they were given

treatment by using role-playing technique. It was held on 13th of February 2016. The

instrument of pre-test consists of 10 multiple choices and 10 word-search. Here is the

result of pre-test in experiment class.

Table 3.1.

The result of pre-test in experimental class (VII-B)

No Students Pre-test score
1 S1 65
2 S2 70
3 S3 65
4 S4 55
5 S5 70
6 S6 50
7 S7 65
8 S8 35
9 S9 50
10 S10 60
11 S11 50
12 S12 60
13 S13 45
14 S14 60
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15 S15 45
16 S16 70
17 S17 45
18 S18 55
19 S19 55
20 S20 55
21 S21 50
22 S22 45
23 S23 55
24 S24 60
25 S25 70
26 S26 60
27 S27 65
28 S28 70
29 S29 60
30 S30 55
31 S31 50
32 S32 70
33 S33 60
34 S34 60
Na=34 Mean x̅ = 57.62

From the table above, it can be seen that the highest score of pre-test in the

experimental class is 70 which is interpreted ‘average’ and the lowest is 34 which means

‘unsatisfactory’. The mean of pre-test score is 57.63.

c. Administering Post-test

This last meeting of teaching vocabulary mastery by using role-playing technique

was held on 20th of February 2019. It aims to measure the students’ vocabulary mastery

by using role-playing technique. The post-test which given to the experimental class was

similar to the pre-test. The result of the post-test of the experimental class is presented in

the table below.

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The National Center for Teacher Education

Table 3.2.

The result of post-test in experimental

No Students Score
1 S1 95
2 S2 95
3 S3 95
4 S4 80
5 S5 80
6 S6 90
7 S7 90
8 S8 55
9 S9 80
10 S10 90
11 S11 70
12 S12 95
13 S13 95
14 S14 65
15 S15 70
16 S16 95
17 S17 75
18 S18 80
19 S19 90
20 S20 65
21 S21 95
22 S22 80
23 S23 80
24 S24 95
25 S25 100
26 S26 75
27 S27 90
28 S28 95
29 S29 95
30 S30 80
31 S31 95
32 S32 90
33 S33 85
34 S34 80
nA=35 Mean x̅ = 84.97
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From the table above, it can be seen that the highest score of post-test in the

experimental class is 100 which is interpreted ‘very good’ and the lowest is 55 which

means ‘unsatisfactory’. The mean of post-test score is 84.97.

CHAPTER IV

CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS

This last chapter deals with two main topics; conclusions and suggestions. The

conclusions presented in this chapter are based on the discussion of data findings and

analysis in the research. The suggestions are presented to improve the teaching of

vocabulary mastery and some suggestions are offered as recommendation of the research

result.

4.1. CONCLUSION

The research was conducted to improve students’ vocabulary mastery by using

role-playing technique at the eighth grade section Emerald in Patin-ay National High

School of which held from 13th of February until 1st of March 2019. Based on the

research findings and analysis, the conclusions of the research are presented in three

points; 1) students’ improvement in vocabulary mastery by using role-playing technique

2) students’ improvement in vocabulary mastery without using role-playing technique 3)

the significant difference between students’ vocabulary mastery by using role-playing

technique and without using role-playing technique.

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Firstly, in terms of students’ vocabulary mastery by using role-playing

technique, the statistical analysis of the comparison between the mean of pre-test score

and the mean of post-test score shows an improvement. Secondly, in terms of students’

vocabulary mastery without using role-playing technique, the statistical analysis of the

comparison between the mean of pre-test score and the mean of post-test score shows an

improvement. It means that without role-playing technique can also be used to improve

students’ vocabulary mastery as conventional way.

Finally, it is in the terms of the effectiveness of role-playing technique to improve

students’ vocabulary mastery and the effectiveness without using role-playing technique

in improving students’ vocabulary mastery.

It means that students’ enhancement vocabulary mastery by using role-playing

technique is more significant than the students’ enhancement without using role-playing

technique. Hence, based on the statistical data in this research, it is proven that role-

playing technique can improve students’ vocabulary mastery at the eighth grade students

of section Emerald in the School Year 2018/2019.

4.2. RECOMMENDATIONS

In this study, the researcher would like to offer some suggestions to improve

students’ vocabulary mastery by using role-playing technique in order to get a better

result. This suggestion is aimed for the teachers, the students and for the next researcher.

For the English teacher, it is necessary to make students’ vocabulary get the better

result. The English teachers are expected to be innovative. It means that the teacher
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should use good techniques. Moreover, the students are more interested while the process

of role-playing technique.

For the students, they are suggested to improve their vocabulary mastery by using

role-playing technique. It is because while the students are using this technique, they try

to remember the words and practice directly. That is why their vocabulary improves.

For the next researcher, it is recommended for the other researchers to conduct the

same study using the same technique that is role-playing technique. In addition, the same

study can be carried out in higher level of students, such as senior high school or varsity

level to see the different result of using role-playing technique to improve students’

vocabulary mastery.

REFERENCES

Arifin, Z. 2009. Evaluasi Pembelajaran, Prinsip, Teknik, Prosedur. Bandung: P.T

Remaja Rosdakarya.

Arikunto, S. 2002. Menejemen Penelitian. Yogyakarta: PT. Rineka Cipta.

Creswell, John W. 2003. Research Design: qualitative, quantitative, and

technique approached. California. Sage Publication, Inc

Handayani, Yayuk. 2014. Penerapan metode role-playing. (Accessed November

29, 2015)

Lajooee & Barimani. 2013. Contrastive Study on Learning Vocabulary through

Role-play and Memorization among EFL Female Learners.

Oxford Learners’ Pocket Dictionary. 2011.

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The National Center for Teacher Education

Subana, Moersetyo Rahadi, & Sudrajat. (2000). Statistik Pendidikan. Bandung:

CV Pustaka Setia.

Thornbury, Scott. 2002. How To Teach Vocabulary. Longman.

William, carrie. 2007. Research Techniques. Grand canyon univeristy. (Accessed

January 31st, 2016)

Prepared by:

Cristy Ann V. Jayoma

Practice Teacher