THE USE OF CROSSWORD PUZZLES TO IMPROVE STUDENTS’ SPELLING .
THE USE OF CROSSWORD PUZZLES TO IMPROVESTUDENTS’ SPELLING(An Action Research of Fourth Grade Students of SDNCokro, Grabag Kabupaten Magelang in the Academic Yearof 2008/2009)a final projectsubmitted in partial fulfillment of requirementsfor the degree of Sarjana Pendidikanin EnglishbyNurul Diniyati2201405604ENGLISH DEPARTMENTLANGUAGES AND ARTS FACULTYSEMARANG STATE UNIVERSITY2009
ACKNOWLEDGMENTAlhamdulillah the writer wishes to express her gratitude to Allah, who hasgiven her the health and inspiration to enable her to complete her final project.Her sincerest appreciation goes to her first advisor, Dr. H. AbdurrachmanFaridi, M.Pd., for his patience and understanding in giving guidance, suggestions,and advice.Deepest appreciation goes to her second advisor Drs. Suprapto, M. Hum., forhis encouragement and guidance for finalization of the final project.Then, thanks to the headmaster of SDN Cokro, Mr. Sutrisno and all teacherswho have given the writer chance to conduct the research there.The writer wishes to thank her mother, father, grand parents, adored brotherand sister for their affection, hard working, constant prayers and support to enablethe writer to finish her study.Last but not least, special thanks to Andhika who always support, criticize andremind the writer in every things of her project. Then, to Nurul, Eka, all of D ’05class’ members thanks for being good friends. Thanks very much also go to Arfat,Ilunk, Maman and Mbak Luluk who have supported in day and night, all of youare inspiring people. And too numerous people that the writer can not state one byone thanks a million.
ABSTRACTDiniyati, Nurul. 2009. The Use of Crossword Puzzles to Improve Students’Spelling(An Action Research of Fourth Grade Students of SDN Cokro,Grabag Kabupaten Magelang in the Academic Year of 2008/2009).EnglishEducation Program. Bachelor Degree, Semarang State University. Advisor I:Dr. H. Abdurrachman Faridi, M.Pd., Advisor II: Drs. Suprapto, M. Hum.Keywords: Crossword Puzzles, Improve, Students’ Spelling.Spelling ability in language learning is the basic need to reach a goodachievement of the target language. An Elementary school teacher should knowthe techniques and method to find out an effective way in teaching. Since Englishis also taught in elementary school and elementary school students are full withfun, they are interested and enjoy teaching and learning process there is a game. Inthis study, teaching English spelling through crossword puzzles will be presentedas an alternative technique in teaching spelling. This technique is used to achievea better result in language learning and to get rid a monotonous technique used bya teacher.The objectives of the study are to find out the possibility of using crosswordpuzzles in teaching the fourth graders, and to find out the effectiveness of usingcrossword puzzles to improve the students’ spelling. This technique, hopefully,would be useful for teachers and students in teaching learning process.To achieve the objectives of the study, the writer conducted an actionresearch. The subject of the study was the fourth grade students of SDN Cokro,Grabag Kabupaten Magelang. The total number of the students was 41 students.However while the writer was conducting the research a students was absent, sothe writer just took 40 data of the students. In conducting this action research, thewriter used four steps: planning, acting, observing and reflecting.The result of the analysis showed that there was a significant difference of thepre-test, firs assessment, second assessment, and post-test. The averageachievement of the students’ pre test was 40, 1 % while it was 67, 2% in the firstassessment, 78.3% in the second assessment, and 81.7% in the post test. The mainfactor affecting this improvement was the students’ interest in the game given asindicated by questionnaire result.Based on the result of this study, it was found that the use of crosswordpuzzles to improve students’ spelling is very beneficial for the students. Referringto the writer’s experience in conducting the action research, the writer offers asuggestion. It is suggested that crossword puzzles be used frequently to teachelementary school students in improving their spelling.
TABLE AND CONTENTSAcknowledgement .vAbstract .viTable of Contents .viiAppendix Lists .viiiCHAPTER I INTRODUCTION1.1 Background of the study .11.2 Reasons for choosing the topic .21.3 Statement of the problem .21.4 Objectives of the study.21.5 Significance of the study.31.6 Outline of the study.3CHAPTER II REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE2.1 Crossword Puzzle.52.1.1 Definition of crossword puzzle .52.1.2 The Function and Importance of Crossword Puzzle in TeachingEnglish .62.1.3 Types of Crossword Puzzle that can be used to teach EnglishSpelling At Elementary School.72.2 Spelling Ability .82.2.1 Definition of Spelling.8
2.2.2 English Spelling Rules .82.2 3 The problem of spelling .112.3 Applying crossword Puzzles in spelling .132.4 The rules of the game.132.5 Teaching English spelling at Elementary school .132.6 The English Curriculum in Indonesia .142.7 The characteristics of the Elementary School students in Indonesia .16CHAPTER III METHOD INVESTIGATION3.1 Research Design.193.2 Setting of the research.223.3 Subject of the research .223.4 Research Procedures .223.5 Method of Collecting Data.263.6 Instrument of the Study.263.6.1 The try-out test .273.6.2 Validity of the test.283.6.3 Reliability of the test .293.6.4 Item Difficulty.303.6.5 Item Discrimination .313.6.6 The Real Test .323.6.7 Data Processing. . 323.6.8 Criterion of Assessment . . 33CHAPTER IV ANALYSIS OF THE DATA
4.1 Analysis of First Activity (Pre-test) . . 344.2 Analysis of Second Activity (First Cycle) . . 354.3 Analysis of Third Activity (Second Cycle). . 384.4 Analysis of Fourth Activity (Post-test and Questionnaire) . . 404.4.1 Analysis of Post test . . 404.4.2 Analysis of Questionnaire . . 43CHAPTER V CONCLUSIONS ANG SUGGESTIONS5.1 Conclusions . . 475.2 Suggestions . . 48REFERENCES. . 49APPENDICES . . 51
LIST OF APPENDICESAppendix1. Lesson plan .512. Crossword Puzzles .553. List of try out students .574. Try-out items.585. List of students (Action Research).596. Items for pre test and post-test .607. Questionnaire .618. Analysis of try out test items.629. Surat Keterangan Penelitian.6810. Pictures as Document.69
CHAPTER IINTRODUCTION1.1 Background of the StudyEnglish is an international language in the world and it is used as a foreignlanguage in Indonesia. Considering its important role in the international world,our government has included it into a Nine-Year-Compulsory-Study. Based on thisprogram, English is not only taught at Junior High School and Senior High Schoolbut also at Elementary School.Unfortunately, English is not our native language; therefore it is very difficultfor Indonesian students to learn it. Besides, Indonesian and English are not relatedlanguages, there are many elements found in them that cause difficulties forIndonesians students to learn it.In line with the difficulties for the students to study English, the Englishteachers have to create an effective and also interesting method of teachingEnglish.Children world are full with fun. As children, they can freely express whateverthey want by playing their favorite games. In addition, children at ElementarySchool, especially those who in the age of 9-12 years old have mastered newwords and patterns of their first language. They can read and spell A-Z. They arealso interested and enjoy while teaching and learning process there is a game.Based on this phenomenon, an English teacher should be able to present students’favorite games as a learning instrument.1
2Spelling properly is a key of great writing. However, the English language hasmany confusing spelling rules. Considering its important role in writing, spellingis taught within the writing aspect that is taught according to the curriculum.In this study, the language ability that the writer wants to improve is thespelling. In this case, the writer will use crossword puzzles to improve Elementarystudents’ spelling skill.1.2 Reasons for Choosing the TopicThe reasons for choosing crossword puzzles in order to improve Elementarystudents’ spelling are:a. Crossword puzzles are good instruments for children to know how to spellthe letter A-Z correctly.b. Crossword puzzles can help children to learn how to spell words well.c. Crossword puzzles are the easy game for children.1.3 Statement of the ProblemThe problem can be stated as to what extent are crossword puzzles effectivefor improving the spelling of the fourth grade students of SDN Cokro, GrabagKabupaten Magelang in the academic year of 2008/2009.1.4 Objectives of the StudyThe objectives of the study are stated as follows:
3a) To find out the possibility of using crossword puzzles in teaching thefourth graders.b) To find out the effectiveness of crossword puzzles to improve thestudents’ spelling.1.5 Significance of the StudyThe advantages that can be required from this study are as follows:a. For students : students can use crossword puzzles to help them toimprove their spelling ability.b. For teachers : teachers can use the result of the study as a referencewhen they want to improve students’ spelling.c. For writer: the writer herself especially can use the result of the studyto increase her ability in spelling.1.6 Outline of the StudyThe thesis consists of five chapters. Chapter I, the introduction consists ofgeneral background of study, reasons for choosing the topic, statement of theproblem, objectives of the study, significance of the study and the outline of thestudy.Chapter II presents review of related literature, which discusses seven subchapters. In the first sub chapter, it talks about crossword puzzles. While in thesecond sub chapter, it talks about spelling ability. Moreover, in the third subchapter, it discusses applying crossword puzzles in spelling. In the next subchapter, it discusses about the rules of the game. It also discusses about teaching
4English spelling in Indonesia and the English curriculum in Indonesia. In addition,in the last chapter, it discusses the characteristics of the Elementary schoolstudents in Indonesia.Chapter III deals with method of investigation, which presents research design,setting of the research, subjects of the research, research procedures, method ofcollecting data, and instrument of the study, data processing, and criterion ofassessment.Chapter IV talks about the result analysis of the data, which presents thestatistic of analyzing data, interpretation of the result of the data analysis.Chapter V presents the conclusion of the investigation and the suggestion forthe improvement of teaching and learning spelling by using crossword puzzles.
CHAPTER IIREVIEW OF RELATED LITRATUREIn this chapter, the writer wants to present the relevant theorical foundations, theyare: Crossword puzzle, spelling ability, applying crossword puzzles in spelling andthe rules of the game. It also concludes teaching English spelling at elementaryschool and the English curriculum in Indonesia. The characteristics of the elementaryschool students in Indonesia is also concluded in this chapter.2.1 Crossword Puzzle2.1.1 Definition of Crossword PuzzleGames are very enjoyable for students in learning foreign language. There areseveral kinds of spelling game, such spin and spell, count on spelling, and crosswordpuzzle. In this study, the game that is used is Crossword puzzles, because it ispopular enough in Indonesia. According to Paul (2003:187), crossword puzzle is apopular game which is using words the children have learned and some pictures asclues. The clues can also be definitions or sentences with gaps if the children’s levelis high enough. Another source states that crossword puzzle is a group of words thathave been arranged horizontally and vertically so that each word crosses at least oneother word at a common letter, it is a fun way to practice spelling and readingcomprehension, and to reinforce vocabulary (http://www.abcteach.com). Whileaccording to Hornby (1974:206), crossword puzzle is a puzzle in which words have5
6to be written (from numbered clues) vertically and horizontally in spaces on achequered square.From those definitions, the writer concludes that crossword puzzle is a popularfun game to practice spelling and reading comprehension, and to reinforcevocabulary which words have to be written horizontally and vertically based on theirclues so that each word crosses at least one other words at common letter, and theclues can be words, pictures, definitions or sentences.2.1.2 The Function and the Importance of Crossword Puzzle in TeachingEnglishIn order to ease the students’ learning or understanding, teacher should be able tocreate new interesting methods through games including crossword puzzle. Since thestudents can not always successfully in leaning just by listening to the teacher or byreading some books on the English lesson, it is hoped that it can attract students’motivation and attention.According to Tasuli (2000:6-18) there are several functions of crossword puzzlein teaching English, they are:(1) it will help the teachers draw the students’ interest and engage theirmotivation,(2) it can also make the students active during the teaching-learning process,(3) the teachers are able to stimulate their students an active way and urgethem to take part in the activities in which they have a chance to producesome English words with correct forms or to spell them correctly,(4) it will help the students develop their inner selves,(5) it motivates them to know more about the new vocabulary,(6) it helps them relate to others more effectively and cooperatively,(7) it trains them in creative freedom as they feel less embarrassed or nervous,so they become more self-confident,(8) it gives a challenge to solve problems in an enjoyable situation,(9) it helps those who are slow learners or demotivated students to grasp thetarget of the lesson,
7(10) it can make the teachers to be more creative.Furthermore, the use of crossword puzzle is not only to enrich their vocabulary,but it is also used to improve student’s spelling ability, clarify the word formscorrectly, and also make their pronunciation correct.2.1.3 Types Crossword Puzzle that can be used to teach English Spelling atElementary SchoolCrossword puzzle can be varied from the very simple to the very complicated. Atprimary level, the simple crossword puzzles can be given. There are some types ofcrossword puzzle that are appropriate to Elementary School students, they are:a) Picture Crossword with Word ListStudents sound out words from the words list and then match them with thepicture. Students copy the words from the word list into the crossword puzzles.b) Picture Crossword (No Word List)Students use the picture clues to figure out the words that go in the crossword.Students print the words from the picture clues into crossword puzzles.c) Word Clues (Regular) Crossword with Word ListStudents use the verbal clues and the word list to figure out where the words goin the crossword. Students print the words from the word list into the crosswordpuzzles.d) Word Clues (Regular) Crossword (No Word List)Students use the verbal clues to figure out the crossword. Students print thewords into the crossword puzzles.
8The type of crossword puzzle that is used in this research is picture crosswordwith word list, because the type is appropriate to Elementary School student’s skill,especially for fourth grade students.2.2 Spelling Ability2.2.1 Definition of SpellingA linguist, Smedley (1983:3-4) states that spelling and punctuation are relevantonly to written English, which itself deri
a. Crossword puzzles are good instruments for children to know how to spell the letter A-Z correctly. b. Crossword puzzles can help children to learn how to spell words well. c. Crossword puzzles are the easy game for children. 1.3 Statement of the Problem The problem can be stated as to what extent are crossword puzzles effective
Crossword Puzzles Figure 28 Example of a crossword puzzle Figure 29 Example of a crossword puzzle Figure 30 Example of a crossword puzzle Another common game that is easy to modify for monocular use is the crossword puzzle. Crossword Puzzles Figure 31 Blank crossword puzzle grid
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