Alaq Ariana

E1D116002
A – Afternoon Class

Teaching Vocabulary For First Grade Junior High School

Using A Relay Race Game
1. Background

Thornburry (2002:13) said that in learning English, there are three basic
components that need to be taught, they are pronunciation, grammar, and vocabulary.
All of them have important roles that need to be taught, but vocabulary has a big
contribution to support the successful of students in learning English, because without
grammar very little thing can still be conveyed, but without vocabulary nothing can be
conveyed. It means that vocabulary is very important thing in learning English. If the
students lack of vocabulary, they cannot express their ideas, and it is impossible to
communicate effectively among people.

However everyone cannot master a lot of vocabulary easily. Every students is

demanded to master as much as vocabulary based on the curriculum created by
government. Some students can master it easily, but some cannot. Therefore, it needs
ways in order to help the students to master vocabulary easily, and one of the ways is
by applying game in teaching learning process. One of the possible game used is relay
race.

2. Theoretical Concept

a. The Definition of Vocabulary

Vocabulary is the collection of words that an individual knows

(Linse,2005:121). There are some experts who give definitions of vocabulary. Hatch
and Brown (1995:1) define that vocabulary is a list of words for a particular language
or a list or set of word that individual speakers of language might use. Furthermore, in
Webster Dictionary (1985:1073), vocabulary is define as a list or collection of words
usually alphabetically arranged and explained or lexicon, stock of words use in
language or by class, individual, etc.

Vocabulary is actually more complex than these definitions suggest. Words

can come in oral form such as those used in listening and speaking or it can come in
print form such as those words that we recognize and use in reading and writing.
Furthermore word knowledge also comes in two forms, receptive and productive.
Receptive vocabulary includes words that we recognize when we hear or see them.
Productive vocabulary includes words that we use when we speak or write. Receptive
vocabulary is typically larger than productive vocabulary, and may include many
words to which we assign some meaning, even if we do not know their full definitions
and connotations – or ever use them ourselves as we speak and write (Kamil &
Hiebert).

b. Teaching Vocabulary

Teaching is a complex process. According to Kimble and Garmazy as quoted

in Brown, teaching is “showing and helping someone to learn or to do something.
Giving instruction, guiding in the study of something, providing with knowledge,
causing to know or to understand”. Teaching is guiding and facilitating the learns and
setting the condition of learning. Teachers should prepare themselves better in order to
teach successfully.

Teaching vocabulary is a part of language teaching. According to Harmer,

Teaching vocabulary is clearly more than just presenting new words.” It means that
when a teacher teaches vocabulary to his students, he should know their
characteristics to be able to choose suitable techniques or methods which make the
students enjoy and active in learning vocabulary in the classroom. It is highly possible
to increase their vocabulary mastery and English ability in general.

c. Types of Technique of Vocabulary Teaching

Based on the findings, there are some techniques used in teaching vocabulary.
These are using pictures, game and singing songs.

Singing Songs technique was used by the teacher to make the students enjoy
the English lesson. Using songs was good idea to make them enjoy because children
have short attention. Scott & Ytreberg (1990 in Rohqim, 2005), state that several
characteristics of young learners affect the language learning. First, children’s
attention or concentration is considerably shorter that adult. To have children’s
attention, teacher need to provide enjoyable activities, one of enjoyable activities for
children is singing together. Singing song could enrich their vocabulary. But based on
the observation, Singing Songs was rarely used by the teacher.

Game was applied to make the students easy to keep new words in their mind.
The students looked happy when they played game. According to Suyanto (2007), in
selecting the techniques of teaching in the classroom, a teacher should always
remember that young learners like to learn by doing. They like to move their bodies,
such as playing games and singing songs.

Using Pictures was applied by the teacher in every meeting to get the students’
attention. In introducing the theme the teacher always shows pictures that are related
to the theme. Fachrurrazy (1993) states that one of techniques to interpret vocabulary
is using picture or realia. Picture or realia were used by the teacher to show the
meaning of the word with the real object.

d. Using Relay Race Game in Teaching Vocabulary

Neal at al. (2004) as cited in O’Neil & Perez (2013) said that a fun
learning could be found using a good one when it helps the students to have the
deeper understanding about the topic instead of just for fun (p. 337). After looking
for any kinds of games, relay race game is one of the games that are suitable
for students in learning English vocabulary. The relay race game is interesting; the
procedures are simple and can be modified and adjusted with the topic that the
students are learning in the lesson (Filippin & Van Ours, 2012, pp. 4-5). A relay
race game could encourage students to think and memorize the vocabularies have
been taught easily.

Relay race game provides a good opportunity for teams to compete against
each other. “Relay race games can be modified and be used for many different
occasions” (Richards, Barbisan, & Sandy, 2009, p. 189). The relay race
incorporates a combination of both individual tasks and teamwork based tasks.
This way, students can work together and help each other to come up with the
answer, but it still allows individuals to practice their skills and what they have
learned without always relying on the help from others. This activity tries to
account for the various types of students’ learning styles in the classroom as
 well.. However, the students would not just play the game for fun but it would
also help the students to get the deeper understanding about the lesson.

The game involved students to actively participate in learning process.

Students have to play along in a group to win the game. However, even though this
game is played in a team, every student must be responsible in doing her or his part
individually. Students need to pay attention not only in using the vocabulary but also
the target language taught. With this kind of activity it is possible for students to learn
and memorize the vocabularies easily.

3. Teaching Procedure

1. Teacher introduces the topic of vocabulary is going to learn, e.g. Food.

2. Write the vocabularies of food on the whiteboard then read together with students.

3. Teacher gives an example how to use it in a sentence, e.g. “My favorite food is…”,
“I like to eat…”

4. Divide the class into equal teams.

5. Have each team form a straight line. Students should be standing about an arms
length away from each other.

6. Give the first student in each line a vocabulary card. Students will have to pass the
vocabulary card to the next student in the line while using the target language.

7. The first team to pass the card from the front of the line to the back while making
sure each student uses the target language wins.

8. Repeat steps 4 and 5 several times while increasing the complexity of the game.

 If teacher want to make the game more difficult, it is possible to add

personalization, questions, and answers.
 Example of Vocabulary Cards
4. Conclusion

Teaching vocabulary using relay race game has high possibility to improve
students’ mastery in English vocabulary. It is possible for students to memorize the
words easily and be more motivated to learn English. Involving students in the
learning process will increase their willingness to learn the vocabularies. Not only
that, the relay race game also has possibility to make students interact each other
which is undoubtedly students will get more fun in learning so that it gives positive
effect in the vocabulary learning process.
 The relay race game also has several benefits not only for students as stated
above, but also for teacher. This game is applicable not only in large class, but also in
small class. Teacher do not need to worry in order to make the students speak up,
because with this game, the entire class has the same possibility speaking while using
the lessons target language. The possibility variatons in teaching vocabulary using
relay race game is limitless. Teacher only need to adjust with the students level.

5. References

Alizadeh Iman (2016). Vocabulary Teaching Techniques: A Review of Common

Practices. Islamic Azad University.

Puspita Nurul (2017). Teaching Vocabulary by Using Crossword Puzzle. UIN Raden
Intan Lampung.

Simarmata Erinca (2016). The Use of Relay Race Game to Increase Students’
Motivation in Learning English. Universitas Pelita Harapan.

Yusrika Elsa (2013). Teaching Vocabulary Using Flashcards And Word List. English
Education Study Program of Indonesia University.