TEACHING ENGLISH VOCABULARY TO YOUNG LEARNERS

USING STORY TELLING TECHNIQUE

(A Case Study at the Fifth Grade Students of SD Kebon Sari 1 Cimahi)

SUTINI
Email: dermayu_sweety@yahoo.com

English Education Study Program Language and Arts Department of

STKIP Siliwangi Bandung

ABSTRACT

The objectives of this research entitled Teaching English Vocabulary to Young Learners Using Story
Telling Technique (A Case Study at the Fifth Grade Students of SD Kebon Sari 1 Cimahi) were to
elaborate the students responses toward the use of storytelling technique in teaching vocabulary. In this
research the writer used qualitative research method and the subjects of this research was the fifth grade
students of SD Kebon sari 1 Cimahi consisted of 30 students. The data analysis of this research were
conducted with some stages. The first stage, teaching vocabulary using story telling technique for students
and the second stage, students responses toward the use of storytelling technique in teaching vocabulary.
To get the data, the writer used writing test. This test should be completed by the subject in order to find
out the errors in their writing. In conducting this research, the writer did the following steps: developing the
research instrument (written test), selecting the sample of population, administering individual test to the
students and concluding the result of the study. The findings showed that using story telling technique in
teaching vocabulary at the fifth grade students of SD Kebonsari 1 Cimahi was conducted in two parts of
activities. The first part was preparation activity and the second one was follow-up activity. The results in
this research showed that: in the first observation the students responses were toward telling vocabulary
using stories was 90% and in the second interview the students responses positively toward the use of
storytelling.

Keywords: Teaching Vocabulary, Young Learners, Story Telling Technique

A. Background textbooks or when given by teachers during

In the recent years, English becomes a
compulsory subject in elementary school. It has
been taught from the first year to sixth year.
Even though students realize the importance of
vocabulary when learning language, most of
them learn vocabulary passively due to several
factors. First, they consider the teacher's
explanations for meaning or definition,
pronunciation, spelling and grammatical
functions were boring. In this case, language
learners have nothing to do in a vocabulary
learning section but to listen to their teacher.
Second, students only think of vocabulary
learning as knowing the primary meaning of
new words. Third, students usually only acquire
new vocabulary through new words in their
classroom lessons. From the explanations above,
we can conclude that learning vocabulary is
important as the basic need to encounter a new
language.
Vocabulary is taught in many different ways
in Indonesia and there are many kinds of
techniques to teach them to young learners such
as teaching vocabulary by using story telling
with picture, songs, games, cartoon video etc.
The writer is interested in doing research on
the technique used in teaching vocabulary to
young learners. This research is important
because it concerns technique used to teach
vocabulary to young learners. This research
described the teaching technique used in the fifth
grade students of Kebon Sari 1 Cimahi in

1
teaching vocabulary. That is why the teacher has
to find a kind of technique that can be used to
teach vocabulary in a fun way. People also
believe if the students can perceive English as a
fun subject, it is easy for them to absorb the
material.
B. Theoretical Foundation
1. Teaching Approach, Method, Technique,
and Strategy
According to Donald (1985:2) Teaching is
nothing more than the simple application of the
correct reinforces so that appropriate learner
behaviors are elicited. Moreover, approach
according to Brown (2001:16) is theoretically
well informed positions and beliefs about the
nature of language, the nature of language
learning and the applicability of both to
pedagogical settings. Regarding method, he
stated that
Method is a generalized of classroom
specifications for accomplishing linguistic
objectives. Method tend to be concerned
primarily with teacher and student roles and
behavior and secondarily with such features as
linguistic and subject matter objectives,
sequencing and materials.
While technique, he defined it as: Any of a
wide variety of exercises, activities, or tasks
used in the language classroom for realizing
lesson objectives. Techniques are the specific
activities manifested in the classroom that were
consistent with a method and therefore were in
harmony with an approach as well.
Furthermore, about strategy, Oxford
(1990:1) argued Strategies are especially
important for language learning because they are
tool for active, self-directed involvement, which
is essential for developing communicative
competence.
2. The Importance of Teaching Vocabulary
According to Cameron (2001:73)
Vocabulary is about learning words, children
are not only expected to know the word but also
they have to know what the meaning of that
word.
Vocabulary is very important in learning
English we cannot communicate and write
better and if vocabulary our down. It does
2
not mean only translating or giving meaning
directly words with dictionary but also
giving meaning of the words.
3. Types of Vocabulary
According to Brown (2011:11), there are
some types of vocabulary they are:
a. Reading vocabulary.
A persons reading vocabulary is all the
words he or she can recognize when reading.
b. Listening vocabulary
A person listening vocabulary is all the
words he or she can recognize when listening to
speech. This vocabulary is aided in size by
context and tone of voice.
c. Writing vocabulary
A person writing vocabulary is all the words
he or she can employ in writing. Contrary to the
previous two vocabulary types, the writing
vocabulary is stimulated by its user.
d. Speaking vocabulary
A person speaking vocabulary is all the
words he or she can use in speech. Duo to the
spontaneous nature of the speaking vocabulary,
words are often misused- though slight and
unintentional- may be compensated by facial
expressions, tone of voice, or hand gestures.
4. The Characteristics of Young Learners
Cameron (2001:1) stated that children have a
number of characteristic that teachers of English
need to keep in mind when they are planning to
set up activities. They are high-motivated,
enthusiastic and lively learners. On the other
hand, they do not find it easy to use language to
talk about something because they do not have
the same access as the older learners to reach
meanings (Cameron, 2001:1).
Teachers are the one who can help them
maximizing their ability to acquire the given
knowledge.
5. Using Story Telling Technique in
Teaching-Learning Process
It is very important for teacher knowing the
technique of storytelling. Teacher needs to know
the following technique in order to make the
story nice to listen. The procedure of using
storytelling is fairly simple. According to
Brewster (2002: 196) the techniques are as
follows:
a. If students are unfamiliar with storytelling,
begin with short sessions which do not
demand too much from them.
b. If possible, have younger children to sit on
the floor around you, making sure everyone
can see you and the illustrations and can hear
you clearly.
c. Read slowly and clearly.
d. Use gestures, mime, facial gestures to help
convey the meaning.
e. Vary the pace, tone and volume of your
voice.
f. Pause where appropriate to add dramatic
effect or to give children time to relate what
they hear to what they see, and to assimilate
details in the illustrations.
g. Disguise your voice for the different
characters as much as you can to signal when
different characters are speaking and help
convey meaning.
h. Make sound effects where possible.
Based on the statement above, the technique
of storytelling could run effectively, especially
in teaching vocabulary to young learners.
C. Research Methodology
1. Research Method
This study employed qualitative method.
Actually, it is a way to gain insights through
discovering meanings by improving our
comprehension of the whole. Qualitative
research explores the richness, depth, and
complexity of phenomena. (McMillan &
Schumacher, 2001:395).
2. Research Instrument
The instruments used for gathering the data
were; observation, document analysis, and
interview.
3. Research Population and Sample
According to Burns (1995:62) Population
is an entire group of people or objects or events
which all have at least one characteristic in
common, and must be defined specially and
unambiguously. The population of this research
was the Fifth Grade students of SD Kebon Sari 1
Cimahi which consisted of 30 students.
A sample is any parts of population
regardless of whether it is representative or not.
Research sample is part of population that
becomes the object of the study (Burns,
3
1995:63). In this research the sample was the
entire population.
4. Research Data Collection
a. Observation
This study used observation to investigate in the
teaching of English, especially in activities that
teacher used in teaching by using stories at inclusive
classroom in the natural setting. Thus, the researcher
could know teachers strategies in the setting.
In this study, the researcher used pre-
observation and then observation. The observation
was carried out to find out what problems occurred in
teaching of special needs students. Then, after
knowing the problem in that field, the researcher
compiled the proposal and started the observation.
The teaching process was recorded without having a
participation in teaching.
b. Document Analysis
This study used document analysis as the
instrument in order to find out the insight of
relevant information about the research question.
Document analysis could be the real evidence of
the activities which were given to the students.
In this study, documents used are lesson plans
and syllabus that were asked to complete the
data.
c. Interview
The interview in this study was addressed to
all students to discover their response regarding
the story telling technique. This was also
conducted to confirm the students behavior in
the research.
5. Research Data Analysis
In analyzing the collected data, the writer
analyzed each research instruments: observation,
document analysis, and interview process.
Firstly, all of the observation data were written
into the field note and observation sheet, but
only the selected data were analyzed. Secondly,
to fully understand situation from many aspects
and to get more data, there were some
documents used as the source data in this study
namely lesson plans, syllabus, observation
sheets, teachers field notes, and the result of the
students work. Lastly, the stages in analyzing
the data from interview were the same as the
analyzing the data from observation. First, the
data from tape recorder were transcribed so that
the data could be categorization and the
additional information of the data was
eliminated. The last step was to interpret the data
into some main issues based on the research
question of this study.
6. Research Procedures
In conducting
nducting this research, some stages
were applied in this study. The stages were as
follows:
1. Finding out some theories and concepts
related to the research: young learners
characteristics, teaching vocabulary to young
learners,
s, and storytelling technique.
2. Selecting students from SD of Kebon Sari 1
Cimahi as participants.
3. Preparing observation sheet and questions for
the interview.
4. Selecting stories as teaching vocabulary
technique to be given to the students.
5. Observing students s progress in learning.
6. Evaluating students responses.
7. Interviewing students to elaborate their
response and to confirm what actually
happened.
8. Analyzing the obtained data by referring to
theories.
D. The Research Findings
a. Using Story Telling Technique in Teaching
Vocabulary
In implementing story telling in teaching
vocabulary, the teacher divided the activities
into parts. The first part was preparation activity
and the second part was follow-upup activity.
The table below shows the illustration of the
activities.
Table 1. The Activities in Two Observations
Part of Observation 1 Observation 2
activities (Mei 22, 2012) (Mei 23, 2012)
Preparation Telling Story Reading Stories
Telling
Follow-up vocabulary in Telling story
Stories
The first part was preparation activity and
the second part was follow-up up activity. These
activities were divided into two observations. In
the first observation found that the preparation
activity employed telling story. In this activity,
the teacher introduced the stories by telling the
topic and reading whole stories by using pictures
4
to all students. While in the follow
follow-up activity, it
was found that the combination of the stories
telling with a picture activity hardly occurred in
teaching vocabulary. It might be because there
were many aspects needed by this activity.
In the second observation it was found that
reading stories was the preparation activity that
mostly used by the teacher. The preparation
activity might
ight be used as bridging and it was
aimed to make students get more familiar with
the story. While in the follow-up
follow activity, it was
found that telling story with picture. This
activity divided into two activities, there were
modeling activities and practicing
practi activities.
The first and the second observation were
administered to gather the information about
students responses telling vocabulary in stories
and students responses telling story with
picture. There were two closed questions which
were delivered to the students.
In giving the percentage to the students
responses, the writer counted the responses
through formula as follow:
follow
In calculating the data, the writer used
formula: P = (Sudijono, 2009:43)
P = percentage of the students responses
f = the number of responses
n = the number of student
10%
90% like don't like
Figure 1. The Result of the Observation.
.
Based on the chart, it showed that 90% of
liked Students Responses toward Telling
vocabulary in Stories and Telling story
story. There
were 10% of students who stated that they did
not like in the story.
b. Students Responses toward Teaching
Vocabulary Using Story Telling
The first asked whether English lesson
was fun or not. All students (100%) gave
positive answer; they agreed that English
E was a
fun lesson. Meanwhile, on the second question,
students gave varied responses as could be seen Table 3. Students Responses toward the Use of
on the following chart. Storytelling in Helping them to Memorize the
Vocabulary
Responses
10% Like Question
Yes No
Don't Like
90% By
By storytelling, English
English 66.67% 33.33%
vocabulary was easy

Figure 2.. The Result of the Interview. The table 4.6 showed that 33.33% of
students perceived that English vocabulary was
The chart presented that 90% of students not easy to be remembered by storytelling.
were interested in learning by using story telling. However, the use of this method could motivate
Many of them liked story telling because it them to learn.
could create fun atmosphere. There were Based on the result of interview, 100% or all
86.67% of students who stated story telling as a students stated that they were more motivated to
fun technique, table 4.5
.5 shows the percentage of learn English by storytelling.
those students responses. Then, the last question observed whether
Table 2. Students Responses toward the Use of students liked to be involved in the story or not.
Storytelling in English Lesson The following chart presents
prese the result.
Responses
Question
Yes No
By storytelling, learning 86.67%
86.67% 13.33
% 46,67% 53,33%
English vocabulary was Like
fun Don't Like
Furthermore, almost all of the students
responded that story telling could make the
process of learning easier. It could be seen from
the chart of the interview analysis result that Figure 4. Students Responses on Their Interest
showed students responses on the use of the in Taking Part in the Story.
Story
method.
The chart presented that 53.33% of students
liked to take part in the story. On the contrary,
16,67% there were 46.67% of students who stated that
Easier they did not like to be involved in the story.
83,33% In giving the percentage to the students
Not Easier
responses, the writer counted the responses
through formula as follow:
P=
Figure 3 Students Responses on the Use of P = percentage of the students responses
Story Telling toward the Difficulty in f = the number of responses
Learning English n = the numberer of students

According to the chart, 83.33% of the 1. Discussion

students perceived that by storytelling learning
English vocabulary become easier. On the other
side, 16.67% of students responde
responded that the
method could not help them in reducing the
difficult in learning English.
There were two activities in two
observations: those were preparation activity and
follow-up
up activity. In the first observation, the
preparation activity employed telling story. The
teacher introduced the stories by telling the topic
and reading whole stories by using pictures to all

5
students. While follow-up activity employed Harmer, J. (2001). The Practice of English
telling vocabulary in stories. Teaching (3rd edition). London:
In the second observation, the preparation Longman.
activity employed reading story. It was aimed to Orlich, Donald C, et.al. (1985). Teaching
make students get more familiar with the story. Strategies (A Guide To Better
This activity did not make students bored, and Instruction)
all the students enjoyed the activity. McMillan, James H & Sally Schumacher.
In interviewing process, there were seven (2001). Research in Education (A
results from the questionnaire about students Conceptual Introduction). New York:
responses toward the use of storytelling in Addison Wesley Longman Inc.
teaching English vocabulary. Brewster, J. & G Ellis (2002). The Primary
E. Conclusion And Suggestion English Teachers Guide. Penguin nglish
This chapter presents a brief summary of the : Harmondsworth.
result of research. The writer would like to draw
some conclusions and suggestions that may be
useful for the next research.
1. Conclusions
a. Using story telling in teaching vocabulary at
the fifth grade students of Elementary School
Kebonsari 1 Cimahi was conducted in two parts
of activities. The first part was preparation
activity and the second part was follow-up
activity. In the second observation it was found
that reading stories was the preparation activity
that mostly used by the teacher.
b. The results of the interview showed that the
students responded positively toward the use of
storytelling.
2. Suggestion
a. The teacher should present the language in an
enjoyable, relaxed and understandable way.
b. The students are hoped not to be shy in acting
out their role.
c. The students are hoped to be active and
creative in enriching their vocabularies.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Cameron, Lynne. (2001). Teaching Languages

to Young Learners. New York:
Cambridge University Press.
Brown, H. Douglas. (1987). Principles of
language Learning and Teaching. New
Jersey: Prentice hall
Brown, H. Douglas. (2001). Principles of
language learning and teaching. New
Jersey: Prentice hall.