CHAPTER II

REVIEW RELATED LITERATURE

A. Vocabulary

1. Definition of Vocabulary

According to Kamil and Helbert (2005:3), vocabulary is the

knowledge meaning of the words. Hatch and Brown (1995:1) also

define that vocabulary refers to a list or set of word of particular

language or a list or set of word that individual speakers of a language

might use. Furthermore, according to Richards and Renandya

(2002:255), “vocabulary is a core component of language proficiency

and provides much of the basis for how well learner speaks, listens,

reads, and writes.” It can be concluded that vocabulary is a word that

has particular meaning that a person uses.

Nunan (1999:100) states that vocabulary is more than lists of

target language words. As part of the language system, vocabulary is

intimately interrelated with the grammar. It is possible to divide the

lexical system of most languages into grammatical words, such as

preposition, articles, adverbs, and so on. Therefore, vocabulary

acquisition must be on the first priority in English language teaching

and learning. Without mastering vocabulary, the learners will be

difficult to master other language skills.

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2. Types of Vocabulary

According to Maera (1990) in Nation (2001:25) divides

vocabulary into two terms, they are active vocabulary and passive

vocabulary. Active vocabulary refers to items the learner can use

appropriately in speaking or writing. It is also called as productive

vocabulary. In fact, it is more difficult to put into practice. Active

vocabulary can be activated by other words, because it has many

incoming and outgoing links with other words. It means that to use the

productive vocabulary, the students are supposed to know how to

pronounce it well. They must know and be able to use grammar of the

language target. They are also expected to familiar with collection and

understand the connotation meaning of the words. This type is often

used in speaking and writing skill. While passive vocabulary refers to a

language items that can be recognized and understood in the context of

reading or listening and also called as receptive vocabulary. Passive

vocabulary consist of items which can only be activated by external

stimuli, since the words comprehended by the people when they read

and listen.

Smith in Erni (2008) states that there are productive and

receptive vocabulary. A productive vocabulary is making up of words

used in speaking and writing. It also called active vocabulary. On the

other hand, receptive vocabulary or passive vocabulary consists of

words understood through reading and listening. Smith in Sam (2009)

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also defines vocabulary in two types. They are general vocabulary and

technical vocabulary. General vocabulary is used in all kinds of

students. Technical vocabulary consists of words having special

meaning in particular topic, areas, such as reading, speaking, listening,

and writing.

Harmer in Rahayu (2008) also divides two kinds of vocabulary

namely active and passive vocabulary. Active vocabulary refers to

which has been learned by the students and they are expected to be

able to use it. Passive vocabulary refers to words which the students

will recognize when they meet them, but it will not probably be able to

use or produce them. In other hand, Haynes and Zacarian (2010) states

that there are two kinds of vocabulary acquisition. They are direct and

indirect learning. Direct learning happens when students are explicitly

taught vocabulary for specific purpose. On the contrary, indirect

learning happens when students acquire vocabulary by hearing

vocabulary in school, home, or in other place, or by reading. All of

them can be used by learners to increase their vocabulary.

3. Aspects of Vocabulary

According to Ur (1996: 60-62) there are some aspects of

vocabulary that should be taught or mastered by students in learning

foreign language, they are:

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a. Form: pronunciation and spelling

The learner has to know what a word sound like (its

pronunciation) and what it looks like (its spelling). These are

fairly obvious characteristics, and one or the other will be

preserved by the learner when encountering the item for the

first time. In teaching, teachers need to make sure that these

aspects are accurately presented and learned.

b. Grammar

The grammar of new item will be necessary to be taught if this

is not obviously covered by general grammatical rules. When

teaching new verb, for example, the teachers must give also its

past form, if this irregular (think, thought). Similarly, when the

teachers teaches noun, they have to present its plural form, if it

is irregular (mouse, mice).

c. Aspects of Meaning: denotation, connotation, appropriateness

The meaning of a word is primarily what it refers to in the real

world (its denotation). It is often the sort definition that is given

in a dictionary.

d. Aspects of Meaning: meaning relationship

How the meaning of one item relates to the meaning of others

can be useful in teaching. There are various relationship, such

as:
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1. Synonym: items that mean the same, or nearly the

same. For example: clever as synonym of smart.

2. Antonym: items that mean the opposite, rich is an

antonym of poor.

3. Hyponyms: items that serve as specific examples of

general concept; red, blue, green, and brown are co-

ordinates.

4. Super ordinates: general concepts that ‘cover’ specific

items; animal is the super ordinates of dog, lion, and

mouse.

5. Translation: word r expression in the learner’s mother

tongue that is more or less equivalent meaning to the

item being taught.

e. Word Formation

Vocabulary items, whether one word or multi word, can

often be broken down into their component ‘bits’. Exactly, how

these bits are put together is another piece of useful

information, perhaps mainly for more advanced learners. The

teacher may wish teach the common prefixes and suffixes. For

example, if learners know the meaning of sub-, un-, and -able,

this will help them guess the meaning of words, like

substandard, ungrateful, and untranslatable. Another way

vocabulary items are built is by combining two words (two

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nouns, or gerund and noun, or a noun and verb) to make one

item. For example: bookcase, follow-up, and swimming pool.

It can be concluded that there are some aspects of vocabulary that

should to be taught in teaching vocabulary to know the students’

vocabulary mastery.

4. Technique of Teaching Vocabulary

There are two general techniques in foreign vocabulary

learning, namely “receptive and productive learning” (Wallace,

1991:21). Receptive learning makes the students able to recall the

translation of foreign word when the foreign word has been seen or

heard. For example, the teacher says the word ‘red’, the students hear

the word and are able to remember the meaning in their first language.

Productive learning supports the students to produce the foreign word

by speaking and writing. It requires more time than receptive learning.

For productive learning, “saying the words aloud brings faster learning

with better retention” (Wallace, 1991:29).

For instance, the teacher shows a picture of an elephant and

asks the students to word in English. It can be concluded that based on

the techniques, the research deals with receptive and productive

learning. First, students need to be able to recall translation of the

word. Second, the students are required to speak the word in oral way

and write the word in script form.

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In teaching vocabulary, a teacher should choose and apply

some techniques which are suitable with the students’ need. Nation

(1978:27) states that a good vocabulary teaching technique has the

following things:

a. It interests the learners.

b. It makes the learners give attention to the form meaning or

use of the words.

c. It gives a chance for repetition

The teacher must make sure the students have understood the new

words, which be remembered better if they are introduced in a

“memorable way”. If the teacher wants the students to remember new

vocabulary, it needs to be learnt in context, practiced, and then revised

to prevent students form forgetting.

5. The Importance of Vocabulary

The primary thing in learning a language is the acquisition of

vocabulary. Therefore, success in learning English requires vocabulary

acquisition. A large vocabulary cannot guarantee the learner’s

competence in learning English, but inadequacy of vocabulary will

obstruct their chance to make success in learning English. Rivers in

Nunan (1998: 117) states that the acquisition of an adequate

vocabulary is essential for successful second language use, because

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without an extensive vocabulary, one will be unable to use structures

and functions.

According to Wallace (2002), “vocabulary is the most

important in communication”. Without vocabulary, we can not express

our idea or understand the message. Difficulty in communication

means a big problem for everyone. The basis of teaching learning

English is concerned with the students’ abilities to use four language

skills and language components. In using language skills, the learners

need many vocabularies. Without having many vocabularies, it is

impossible to build communication. They will find difficulties to

understand what other people say. So, it is very important to improve

the ability of vocabulary mastery as much as possible.

Cameron (2002:72) states that building a useful vocabulary is

central to the learning of a foreign language of the primary level.

Furthermore, Nunan (1998:118) says that the development of a rich

vocabulary is an important element in acquisition of a second

language. It is important for a learner to master the vocabulary of the

target language because it is essential part of communication. Thus,

realizing that vocabulary is very important, the learners have to pay

attention to the vocabulary teaching.

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B. Semantic Feature Analysis

1. Definition of Semantic Feature Analysis

Readence Johnson (1990) suggests that Semantic Feature

Analysis is one method that can improve vocabulary and

categorization skill, understand the similarities and the difference in

related, expand and retain content between vocabulary and the

concepts of students. Besides, this way is easily implemented and

interested.

Santa and Valdes (2004) says that a procedure that links

vocabulary that focus on the characteristic and feature of words can be

beneficial for assisting by making connection among related concept.

Fisher and Frey (2004) states that Semantic Feature Analysis is the

way to organize information as a powerful strategy. It also analyzes the

relationship among the concepts via a matrix on how terms are like

different (Buehl: 2001:1). Dough Buehl (2001) also elaborates that

Semantic Feature Analysis is a strategy for teaching vocabulary that

helps students see relationship between concepts. This strategy

effectively teaches vocabulary by activating prior knowledge and

classifying new words by their features using a matrix.

Santa and Valdes states that Semantic Feature Analysis can

help the students gain a deeper understanding of material by

highlighting those features. Doty and Marzano (2007:1) says that by

using this strategy students will gain a deeper understanding of more

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abstract term through the identification and analysis of different

characteristic or feature and help them define characteristics of a

concepts.

2. Procedure of Semantic Feature Analysis

Readence Johnson (1990) states that Semantic Feature Analysis

implements using by using the following steps:

a. Category selection, the key of Semantic Feature Analysis

begins with something familiar to students. A category topic is

selected by the teacher.

b. List word in category once the category topic has been

introduced. The teacher provides words that name concepts

related to category. As students become accustomed to

strategy, they should provide the words.

c. Characteristic will be explored based on the category.

d. The students will use plus/minus (+/-) to indicate feature

possession.

According to Pittelman (1991), provide some steps process to

develop Semantic Feature Analysis:

a. Select category that you will be teaching

b. List three or four features in arrow cross to the grid. Discuss

features with students and encourage them to add other

features.
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c. Guide students through the matrix, having them determine if

the words on the left side possess the features listed.

d. Complete the grid by adding plus sign or minus sign to indicate

feature possession.

e. Examine the grid and discuss relationship.

C. Previous Studies

There are several previous studies related to this study. The first

research was conducted by Anders (1983) on the reading comprehension.

The result showed that Semantic Feature Analysis is significantly improve

their reading comprehension of adolescent learning disabled readers. The

second research in Semantic Feature Analysis was conducted by Rider

(2008) who used Semantic Feature Analysis to improve contextual

discourse in adults with aphasia. The result showed that Semantic Feature

Analysis improves confrontational naming ability and may benefit word

retrieval in discourse production of closed-set contexts.

Besides, Zahra, Nahid, Amin, and Leila (2017) also conducted a

research to compare the effectiveness of Semantic Feature Analysis (SFA)

and Phonological Components Analysis (PCA) for anomia treatment in

Persian speaking patients with aphasia. The result showed that both SFA

and PCA treatments have the potential to improve naming ability in

participants. A study also done by Van Heesab, Angwinb, McMahonc, and

Copland (2013) examined eight people with aphasia who each received 12
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treatment sessions. Half of the sessions included semantically-based

treatment task using Semantic Feature Analysis. They saw improve in the

people who participated in SFA. Their word use increased.