MENINGKATKAN PENGUASAAN KOSAKATA SISWA MELALUI MEDIA FLASHCARD

This study, conducted by Siti Nabela in 2023, investigates the effectiveness of using flashcards to improve vocabulary mastery among seventh-grade students at SMP Negeri 3 Ambawang Kubu Raya. The students faced challenges learning English vocabulary and differentiating grammatical forms such as nouns, verbs, adjectives, and adverbs. To address these issues, flashcards were implemented as a personal dictionary tool to enhance vocabulary learning, aiming to make students more active, motivated, and engaged in English classes. The research employed a Classroom Action Research (CAR) design, involving class VII A during the 2022/2023 academic year. Data were collected through interviews, observations, documentation, and tests across two cycles. The results indicated significant improvement in students' vocabulary mastery, with mean scores increasing from 45.70 in the pre-test to 70.52 in the first cycle post-test, and 80.13 in the second cycle post-test. The study concludes that flashcards effectively enhance students' vocabulary mastery, as evidenced by the rising test scores .


BACKGROUND
English has become an international language widely used.Mastering English is important, especially for high school graduates who are required to have good English skills to get a job.The Indonesian government has designated English as the first foreign language that must be taught in secondary schools.The goal of teaching English is to enable students to communicate in English both orally and in writing, with an emphasis on accuracy and fluency.Vocabulary mastery is one of the essential elements in teaching English.Vocabulary is the foundation for building language and plays a fundamental role in communication.Many researchers state that vocabulary is more important than grammar.Therefore, vocabulary mastery must be taught together with grammar to avoid problems in learning English.
However, problems in learning and teaching English still exist in schools.Students often have difficulty remembering the meanings of words that have been taught.Monotonous teaching techniques make learning English boring for some students.Therefore, teachers must be able to organize learning activities with appropriate teaching techniques.Flashcards are one of the simple and widely used visual aids in language teaching.Flashcards can help students improve their vocabulary mastery interestingly and enjoyably.The flashcards make students more active, and motivated and enjoy learning English.
Researchers found that seventh-grade students at SMP Negeri 3 Ambawang Kubu Raya have difficulties learning English, especially vocabulary and differentiating grammatical forms.Flashcards |E-ISSN XXXX-XXXX | Volume 1 Nomor 2 Agustus 2024 DOI:https://doi.org/10.58466/adidaya are expected to help students improve their vocabulary mastery and create a more positive classroom atmosphere.In this study, teachers provided examples of how to make flashcards and gave tips to students on how to learn using flashcards.After finishing their flashcards, students were asked to play in pairs or groups using their flashcards.In this way is expected for students to master the vocabulary through repeated activities and games.

METHOD
The design of this research is Classroom Action Research (CAR).According to Setyawan (2008), CAR has been carried out by teachers in various provinces in Indonesia and has been recognized since 1999.It is a reflective process that allows for inquiry and discussion as components of the research, involving collaboration among colleagues to find solutions to everyday issues in schools and improve instruction and student achievement (Ferrance, 2000).
CAR can be seen as a form of applied research that uses various designs and methodologies.It provides an opportunity to address practical problems within a classroom or school setting, thereby enhancing professional development and school improvement initiatives (Albert, 2003).Widayati (2003) describes CAR as a research activity conducted within the classroom context to solve learning problems, improve the quality and outcomes, and try new methods to enhance learning quality and results.

RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
This study aims to determine the effectiveness of using flashcard media in learning writing skills for class IV students at SMP Negeri 3 Ambawang Kubu Raya.This chapter describes some findings about flashcards in teaching vocabulary mastery.This chapter covers research implementation and discussion.Each cycle of the research implementation which consists of planning, acting, observing, and reflecting activities is described in this chapter.This chapter also describes the improvement of students' vocabulary mastery using flashcards.
The result of the pre-research, the problem of students' vocabulary mastery was indicated from two indicators; first was viewed from vocabulary mastery and second was viewed from the students' motivation during the teaching-learning process.
The results of the tests (pre-test and post-test) in the first cycle and second cycle showed improvement of the student's vocabulary mastery.This improvement is seen from the increase in the mean students' vocabulary scores.It is summarized in the table below:

Table 1 The Finding Result
In this section, the result findings from the first cycle and the second cycle are discussed.First, from the observational data (field notes), in the planning of research, the situation of the observed class was not conducive to teaching-learning activity.Students did not focus on the learning process, they were busy doing something outside the learning activity (talking with friends, drawing pictures).Moreover, they tended to be passive and ignore the teacher's instructions.In the first cycle, students' enthusiasm and motivation increased in learning activities.
The activities were minimized; it is because the learning activities and the media used by the teacher were interesting to them.However, some problems emerged; the mastery of the students' wordsspelling was still low.When the teacher asked them to write down the names of Fruits, Vegetables, and Animals they wrote how the words were pronounced.Besides that, some students still pronounced the names of Fruits and Vegetables incorrectly.In addition, some students were not active when in a group.In the second cycle, students were also active as group members when they did the group task using flashcards.This was the distribution of group member responsibility which made them active in the group.The students' words-spelling and pronunciation also increased.
In the second cycle, the interview with the two chosen students showed they have a good response.to this learning type using task and enjoyed learning this way.The first two points from observational data and interviews show that the student's motivation improved because of teaching activities using flashcards.It goes along with the theory from Haycraft (1978: 102), Cross (1991: 120), and Schmitt and McCarty (1997: 215), who concluded that one of the advantages, flashcards can motivate students to learn English.
Finally from the explanation, the quantitative data (pre-test and post-test) it concluded that flashcards can improve students' vocabulary mastery.This is proved by the increase in students' vocabulary mastery scores.Second, based on observational data (field notes); flashcards can improve students' motivation in the teaching and learning process.

CONCLUSION
After researching the use of flashcards for teaching vocabulary at a junior high school and analyzing the collected data, the researcher found significant improvements in both vocabulary mastery and student motivation.The students became more familiar with certain words through the tactile and visual engagement provided by flashcards, which facilitated easier memorization and led to higher post-test scores compared to pre-tests.Additionally, the use of flashcards increased students' interest in the lessons, resulting in greater attention to the teacher's explanations and more active class participation.This heightened motivation created a more interactive and engaging classroom environment, demonstrating the effectiveness of flashcards in enhancing both vocabulary acquisition and overall student engagement in learning English.

ACKNOWLEDGMENT
Researchers would like to thank my academic advisor who has spent the time for every guidance, and especially to my parents, thank you for the prayers you always offer, in making the guidance process easier