Monday, July 18, 2011

Teaching Vocabulary in Superlative Adjective for Elementary School through Crosswords Puzzle

Teaching Vocabulary in Superlative Adjective for Elementary School through Crosswords Puzzle

by SELPHIANA HAYAT


CHAPTER I
INTRODUCTION
A. Background of Study
In this modern era, people demand to have more than one language. Language as a tool for communication between other people takes an important role in our daily activities. Without communication, we will be left behind. Communication in foreign language is a bridge to get information, knowledge and culture. Indonesia as a developing country has realized that English as an international language is needed to be mastered by Indonesian people.
English is essential to be taught for the younger people, for this case. Students from the beginner up to the senior high school level. Indeveloping the student ability in mastering English. It cannot be separated from vocabulary mastery. Because it can be a measurement of students understand in English.
Teaching vocabulary in superlative adjective can be done through some ways or some techniques. One of is by implementing of crossword puzzle in teaching activities. In this case, students allow finding similar words, which has relationship to the main word. They can work in group or individually. They learn to share knowledge and information about targeted content, and willingly do this because it is naturally following part of the class activity.
By implementing the crossword puzzle in teaching vocabulary in superlative adjective indirectly students might be improved their knowledge of English vocabulary, at least it will be raised their self confidence for expressing themselves. Openly, especially in speaking practice. Students can share their knowledge and experience from other, including respectful listening and appropriate sharing of personal perspective. Students also reported that their understanding of concepts were expressed and considered, at least we hope students can do not only developing their vocabulary but also they are able to practice either in speaking or understanding of meaning words.
The crossword puzzle technique is a suitable technique for the students in elementary level for improving their vocabulary mastery. To be proved how far the crossword puzzle could be influenced student vocabulary skill. In this paper the writer tries to elaborate every thing related to the technique of implementing crossword puzzle and its effect for increasing student vocabularies skill.
B. Identification of The Problem
Based on the problem background and limitation above, the writer states the problem as follow. How is the process of teaching vocabulary in superlative adjective for special-needed students in inclusion program especially through cross-word puzzle technique? Does teaching vocabulary in superlative adjective through crossword puzzle improve the special-needed student vocabulary? How is the teacher and students’ response to the teaching of English through Crossword Puzzle?
The writer limits the study above, how to improve vocabulary in superlative adjective for the students at the elementary school, through crossword puzzle technique in teaching learning English for the class at elementary school.

CHAPTER II
THEORITICAL BACKGROUND
A. The Definition of Vocabulary
Vocabulary is one of the language components. It supports the teaching and learning of four skill of reading, listening, speaking and writing. As the language component, vocabulary must be taught in a prefer way. Vocabulary skill involved deducing meaning from the context use of dictionary, word formation coining and ignoring unfamiliar words, vocabulary activities involved guessing, word association, crossword puzzle, cline, word classification, and rid dies. Students can learn many new words by reading extensively on their own the more children write on their own, the more words they encounter and the more meanings they learn.
Vocabulary is the central of language teaching and learning. It plays an important role in the four language skills. It gives contribution to the learners to perform or practice their skills better. It means that by mastering the vocabulary, the learners will able to produce so many sentences easily either in spoken or written one. It is impossible for the learners to perform their English well if their vocabularies are very poor. They will find any difficulties in expressing or mastering their language skills because of having too limited vocabularies.
Therefore vocabulary mastery must be on the first priority in English language teaching and learning. Without mastering the vocabulary, the learners will be difficult to master the other language skills. Nowadays, English has been introduced in Elementary School Curriculum as the School Local Content Decision. There are many schools which have involved this subject as one of their local content. Although it is taught in Elementary School, the students are expected to acquire language competence including listening, speaking, reading and writing. Because the general objective of teaching English in the Elementary School is to prepare children to have competitive value in this global era and to introduce English at early ages.

B. The Definition of Superlative Adjectives
An Adjective is to give more information about noun. An adjective will describe the noun by giving its size, composition, color, age, shape, weight, and other. Superlative adjectives are used to compare at least three things or three groups of things. When we want to state that something is at the highest or the lowest degree, than we use superlative adjectives. In other words that the superlative adjectives state that something is the most, there can't be anymore or that something is the least, there can't be any less.
A superlative adjective expresses the extreme to highest degree of quality. We use a superlative adjective to describe the extreme quality of one thing in a group of things. In the example below, “biggest” is the superlative adjective from of the adjective “big” example is the biggest. Personality adjectives are adjectives that we use to describe a person and their character or personality. A superlative adjective compress three or more nouns. This takes the comparison of noun to the biggest degree.
A superlative adjective compares three or more nouns. This takes the comparison of nouns to the highest degree. An example would be: “My mother’s cooking is the best.” The rules for making superlative adjectives are almost identical to the rules for making comparative adjectives. They are:
• One syllable words - add “est” to the word. Remember that it is sometimes necessary to double the final consonant. Examples are: strong to strongest and big to biggest.
• One syllable words ending with an “e” - only add “st” like fine to finest or rare to rarest.
• Two syllable words ending with a “y” - change the “y” to an “i” and add “est.” Two examples are crazy to craziest and silly to silliest.

C. The Definition of Crossword Puzzle
Puzzles are teaching techniques which bring their own motivation with them. They challenge learners and focus attention on language. Puzzle can be consists of a word circle puzzle, a word square puzzle, and crossword puzzle. Crossword puzzle is making an art form, and very few people are really good at it. Teaching vocabulary in superlative adjective for elementary school through crossword puzzle can be improving many words for the student English vocabulary. And than with the teaching superlative adjective can help any teacher in elementary school, and also make a student is not boring in the class with the simple learning. Crossword puzzles is an arrangement of numbered squares to be filled in with words, a letter to each square, so that a letter appearing in a word placed horizontally is usually also part of a word placed vertically: numbered synonyms and definitions are given as clues for the word.
Vocabulary is not a syllabus list of words that teachers prepare for their learners to memorize and learn by heart. Memorizing may be good and useful as a temporary technique for tests, but not for learning a foreign language. Language students need to learn vocabulary of the target language in another way. If we are really to teach students what words mean and how they are used, we need to show them being used together in context. Words do not just exist on their own, they live together and they depend upon each other. Therefore, teaching vocabulary correctly is a very important element in language learning. Correct vocabulary instruction involves vocabulary selection, word knowledge and techniques.
The need to improve vocabulary instruction, the high but less than perfect relationship among the vocabularies There is no question that people who have large speaking vocabularies generally tend to have large listening, reading, and writing vocabularies; likewise people who are limited in one of these aspects are likely limited in other aspects as well.






CHAPTER III
ANALYSIS AND FINDING DATA
A. Use Superlative Adjective
Superlative adjective is including one of teaching vocabulary and there are relationships between teaching vocabularies with superlative adjective. One way of describing a person or thing is by saying that they have more of a particular quality than someone or something else. It is also possible to describe someone or something by saying that they have more of a particular quality than any other of their kind. We do this by using superlative adjectives, which are formed by adding -est at the end of the adjective and placing the before it, or placing the most before the adjective,
Example:
- He’s the most intelligent man I’ve ever met.
- This is the biggest piece of cake
B. Forming Superlatives Adjectives
1. One syllable adjectives generally form and the superlative by adding -est, Example:
Adjective Superlative
soft the softest
cheap the cheapest
• Note that if a one syllable adjective ends in a single vowel letter followed by a single consonant letter, the consonant letter is doubled, example: big? Biggest.
• If an adjective ends in -e, this is removed when adding - est, example: wide? Widest.
• If an adjective ends in a consonant followed by -y, -y is replaced by -i when adding - est, example: dry? Driest.
2. More and most are sometimes used with one syllable adjectives as an alternative to the - est form when we particularly want to emphasize the comparison, or if the adjective occurs with another adjective which has more than one syllable.
3. Two syllable adjectives which end in -y usually form the comparative by adding -er and the superlative by adding -est, (note the change of -y to -i in the superlative) example:
Adjective Superlative
lucky the luckiest
pretty the prettiest
4. Two syllable adjectives ending in -ed, -ing, -ful, or -less always form the superlative with most, e.g.:
Adjective Comparative Superlative
worried more worried the most worried
As a general rule, most other two syllable adjectives also form comparatives and superlatives with more and most, apart from those ending in -y (see 3 above). However a few two-syllable adjectives can take either - est or most. Here are five of the most common examples:
Adjective Superlative
common the commonest/most common
narrow the narrowest/most narrow
5. Adjectives which have three or more syllables always form the superlative with most.
6. The following adjectives have irregular comparative and superlative forms.
Adjective Superlative
good the best
bad the worst
The usual superlative forms of the adjective old are oldest. However the alternative forms elder and eldest are sometimes used. Eldest are generally restricted to talking about the age of people, especially people within the same family, and are not used to talk about the age of things, example: It’s the oldest/eldest castle in Britain.
7. Superlatives of compound adjectives are generally formed by using most, Example: Going skiing was the most nerve-wracking experience I’ve had.
Some compound adjectives have a first element consisting of an adjective which would normally form a comparative or superlative in one word, either by adding - est, or by an irregular form. Such compound adjectives can therefore form a superlative by using these changes to the first adjective, rather than by using most, example:
Adjective Superlative
good-looking the best-looking
8. Some adjectives which already have a superlative meaning do not usually occur with - est or most, unless we want to give special emphasis, often for humorous effect.
C. The Opposites of Superlative Adjective Forms
Superlative forms with - est and most are always used to talk about a quality which is greater in amount relative to others. If we want to talk about a quality which is smaller in amount relative to others, we use the forms the least (the opposite of superlative the most). Less is used to indicate that something or someone does not have as much of a particular quality as someone or something else. Superlatives are not generally used in this way in formal speech and writing.
CHAPTER IV
CONCLUSION

Vocabulary is an important part of the English teaching process. It is supposed to be a very effective communicative device as it carries the highest level of importance within peoples “verbal interaction”. Vocabulary gives contribution to the learners to perform or practice their skills better. It means that by mastering the vocabulary, the learners will able to produce so many sentences easily either in spoken or written one. A superlative adjective expresses the extreme to highest degree of quality. We use a superlative adjective to describe the extreme quality of one thing in a group of things. In the example below, “biggest” is the superlative adjective from of the adjective “big” example is the biggest. Crossword puzzle is an arrangement of numbered squares to be filled in with words. And than this paper explained about use superlative adjective, forming superlative adjective, opposite of superlative adjective form.








BIBLIOGRAPHY
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www.ebookteachingvocabulary.com
www.ebooksuperlativeadjective.com

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