USING LETTERLAND AS A TECHNIQUE IN TEACHING …

USING LETTERLAND AS A TECHNIQUE IN TEACHING VOCABULARY TO PLAYGROUP

A Case Study at the Tumble Tots Playgroup, Pondok Indah, Jakarta

A “Skripsi” Presented to The Faculty of Tarbiya and Teachers’ Training

In a partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Strata I

By Siti Maisyarah 202014001025

ENGLISH EDUCATION DEPARTMENT FACULTY OF TARBIYA AND TEACHER TRAINING

STATE ISLAMIC UNIVERSITY SYARIF HIDAYATULLAH

JAKARTA 1428 H/2007 M

USING LETTERLAND AS A TECHNIQUE IN TEACHING VOCABULARY TO PLAYGROUP

A Case Study at the Tumble Tots Playgroup, Pondok Indah, Jakarta

A “Skripsi” Presented to The Faculty of Tarbiya and Teachers’ Training

In a partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Strata I

Approved by Advisor,

Drs. Sunardi Kartowisastro, Dip.Ed NIP. 150 022 779

ENGLISH EDUCATION DEPARTMENT FACULTY OF TARBIYA AND TEACHERS’ TRAINING

STATE ISLAMIC UNIVERSITY SYARIF HIDAYATULLAH

JAKARTA 1428 H/2007 M

LEGALIZATION OF EXAMINATION COMMITTEE

A Skripsi titled “USING LETTERLAND AS A TECHNIQUE IN TEACHING

VOCABULARY TO PLAYGROUP (A case study at the Tumble Tots

Playgroup, Pondok Indah, Jakarta)” was examined of the examination session of

Faculty of Tarbiya and Teachers’ Training State Islamic University (UIN) Syarif

Hidayatullah Jakarta on June 04, 2007. This “skripsi” has fulfilled the requirements

for the degree of Strata (S-1) at the English Education Department.

Jakarta, June 04th, 2007

Examination Committee

The Head of Committee The Secretary of Committee Prof. Dr. Rosyada, MA Prof. Dr. H. Aziz Fahrurrozi, MA NIP. 150 231 356 NIP. 150 202 343 Examiner I Examiner II Drs. A. M. Zainuri, M. Pd Drs. Didik Santoso, M. Pd NIP. 150 188 518 NIP. 150 270 348

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

In the name of Allah SWT, the Beneficent and the Merciful

All praise be to Allah the Lord of the worlds, for His, help, and guidance. So

the writer has finished her “skripsi”, entitled: “Using Letterland as a Technique in

Teaching Vocabulary to Playgroup”, could be completed properly. Peace and

blessing be upon Muhammad SAW.

The writer would like to address her thanks and great gratitude to Drs. Sunardi

Kartowisastro, Dip.Ed, for his patience, guidance, valuable help, and has served as an

advisor on the revision during the completion and development of this “skripsi”. She

is extremely grateful to Fitri Ardantya, Mega Witoelar and Arum Primaresti

the owners of Tumble Tots, Pondok Indah, Jakarta and Natassa Mayasari the

playgroup teacher who have contributed their valuable time to assist working in

research and teaching are very much reflected in this writing.

Gratitude and appreciation are also addressed to:

1. Drs. Nasrun Mahmud, M. Pd, the Head of English Department of Tarbiya and

Teachers Training Faculty.

2. Prof. Dr. Rosyada, MA, the Dean of Tarbiya and Teachers Training Faculty of

Syarif Hidayatullah State Islamic University Jakarta.

3. All Lecturers, especially in English Education Department, who have given

motivation and support. The Staff and Officers of Libraries the State Islamic

University Syarif Hidayatullah, who have given permission to use their books.

4. My parents Ahmad Halimi and Sriwahyuti, who always give their backup and

moral encouragements to complete the writer study-for which is truly grateful.

5. My lovely best friend Destrianto Budi. P for his irreplaceable encouragement,

and partnership which greatly assisted in preparing the books and for his

invaluable help in checking references material. A person of myriad skills, he

has eased the way to finish this “skripsi”, making the work the writer enjoys

even more enjoyable.

6. Many colleagues and friends for their suggestions, interest, keen perceptions,

and friendship, who have given invaluable assistance in the preparation of this

“skripsi”.

7. All ‘aunties’, ‘uncles’ and students of Tumble Tots, Pondok Indah who have

been exceptionally helpful.

May Allah the Almighty bless them all, Amien

Finally, the writer is aware that this “skripsi” is not perfect yet. By this means,

the writer would like to accept any constructive contributions and criticism

to make it better.

Writer

Jakarta, June 04th, 2007

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Acknowledgement ................................................................................................. i

Table of Contents ................................................................................................. iii

CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION

A. Background of Study ............................................................. 1

B. Scope and Formulation of Study ............................................ 7

C. Objective of Study ................................................................. 8

D. Method of Study ..................................................................... 8

E. Significance of Study ............................................................. 8

F. Organization of Study ............................................................ 9

CHAPTER II THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK

A. Vocabulary ............................................................................ 10

1. General concept of vocabulary ....................................... 10

2. Meaning of vocabulary ................................................... 11

3. Kinds of vocabulary......................................................... 12

4. Ways of presenting new vocabulary................................ 14

5. Techniques in teaching vocabulary ................................. 17

B. Letterland Technique ............................................................ 20

1. Definition of letterland technique ................................... 20

2. Function of letterland pictogram .................................... 26

3. Strategies of letterland.................................................... 26

CHAPTER III RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

A. Purpose of study..................................................................... 29

B. Place of study......................................................................... 29

C. Method of study ..................................................................... 29

D. Use of letterland..................................................................... 30

E. Technique of collecting data ................................................ 35

F. Description of data ................................................................ 35

G. Analysis of data .................................................................... 42

CHAPTER IV CONCLUSION AND SUGGESTION

A. Conclusion ............................................................................ 46

B. Suggestion ............................................................................. 47

Bibliography ....................................................................................................... 49

Appendix

CHAPTER I

INTRODUCTION

A. Background of the Study

The development of world sciences and technology of nowadays

increasingly become better and more sophisticated. It has influenced some

countries, especially Indonesia to increase the quality of human resources that

would compete and be adapted with the global changing.

The ability to comprehend English is essential for millions of people,

especially to Indonesians to absorb the development of world sciences and

technology. In this global era, by understanding English the Indonesians are able

to communicate to access some information, to maintain relationship, and to

broaden their knowledge, which is related to social, educational, economic,

political, cultural domains, and tourism.

Language is perhaps the most peculiarly human characteristic.1 Language

as a product of learning can be seen as an important aspect of development.

Without the learning of language much that makes us characteristically human

would be lost.2

1 Robert I. Watson and Henry Clay Lindgren, Psychology of the Child, (New York: John

Wiley and Sons, Inc, 1973), p. 174 2 Ibid, p. 273-274

So, language is important to be learned. In learning a language people not

only have to be able to use it words by words, but also have to know how the

language is constructed and used in daily life.

According to Theo. Van Els language is considered as human and non-

instinctive method of communicating ideas, feelings, and desires by means of a

system of sound and sound symbols. The production and the comprehension of a

language can be viewed as processes of linguistic input and output consisting of

the procedures set out in the figure:3

That figure has been becoming based on the development of the hierarchy of

language behavior. In this way the learners can feel to involve in create and

interpret the various kind of language which create from the foreign culture that

really not same with their culture.

Introducing a foreign language to the children is challenging and as a

simple as giving a toy to the crying child. It happens because children are unique

3 Theo. Van Els., et al., Translated by R.R. Van Oir Souw, Applied Linguistic and The

Learning and Teaching of Foreign Languages, (London: Edward Arnold, 1984), p. 18

Textual procedures

Sentence procedures

Constituent procedures

Word procedures

Phonetic procedures

Linguistic input

Linguistic output

in their characteristic and have a special way of learning a new thing. They

acquire knowledge by asking, listening to people around them and also

experienced things. Through these acquiring children develop their vocabulary.4

Vocabulary is one of the important aspects in teaching a language

especially a foreign language, besides grammar and pronunciation. As a stock of

words used by a person, class, or profession, vocabulary is not easy to increase

without a proper way of how to build it up. According to Henry Guntur Tarigan

“Kualitas ketrampilan berbahasa seseorang jelas bergantung pada kuantitas dan

kualitas kosakata yang dimilikinya, maka semakin besar kosakata yang kita miliki

maka semakin besar pula kemungkinan kita terampil berbahasa”.5

(The quality of language skills depends on the quantity and the quality of

vocabulary that the learners have. More vocabulary that they have, there is more

possibility for them skills in language use).

The preschool child makes great strides in word knowledge. Average

estimates of vocabulary are about 900 words at three years of age, about 1500

words at four years of age and about 2000 words at five years.6

4 Carol. J. Fisher and Terry, Children’s Language and The Language Art, (USA: McMraw-

Hill, 1997), p. 94 5 Henry Guntur Tarigan, Pengajaran Kosakata, (Bandung: Angkasa, 1986), p. 2 6 Ruth Strang, An Introduction to Child Study, (New York: The Macmillan Company, 1957),

p. 161

Increased vocabulary development may be associated with new

experiences and exposure to words for new objects and processes. 7

A child’s vocabulary grows as his experiences broaden. Experience has to

come before words. The child’s words are symbols of his most vital experiences.

These emotionalized symbols influence a child’s behavior in subtle and potent

ways. 8

Effective educational materials have to be research- based and classroom

tested. In addition, educational materials need to be appealing and must provide

durable and safe use at fair value.

Development of the methods and approaches to design material and

language programs reflected the teachers’ commitment to find more effective and

efficient classroom activities in teaching a language. They have a wider variety of

methodological options according to the learners needs, the preferences of the

teachers, and the constraints of school and educational setting.

Besides those factors, foreign language acquisition for children is

influenced by the method, approaches, and technique that the teacher used. It will

help the learners to understand the lesson clearly. Now in Indonesia there are so

many kindergartens and pre-schools that teach English. Most people believe that

children are better than adult when attempting to learn a foreign language.

7 Robert I. Watson and Henry Clay Lindgren, op. cit, p. 285 8 Ruth Strang, op. cit., p. 222

That seems to be backed up by common observation and supported by

many factors, such as psychological factor, which includes intellectual

processing, memory, and motor skills, and social factor which includes the natural

and classroom situation.

A period of pre-school represents an important period in course of

growing the human being. It is too early to try to teach a two-year old child to

read, but it is not too early to introduce letter shapes and sound. And, it needs a

right vocabulary’s teaching technique for the pre-school. The aim of learning in

pre-school students is to introduce English as a second language to the pre-school

students for those preparing themselves to go on studying at elementary school.

During the pre-school years, children brought up speaking one language at

home and another language at school are in an ideal situation to become fully

bilingual as they will have plenty of time of hear the sounds and grammar of both

languages, and will be placed to acquire English in much the same way as they

acquired their native language. 9

Teaching English to Pre-school students is emphasized on requiring a

number of words or vocabulary. Vocabulary in foreign language is a necessity.

Without sufficient vocabulary one cannot communicate effectively. Therefore

mastering vocabulary is very useful in early age because children can remember

the words longer and faster than adults.

9 Playgroup Training Division, Letterland Common Quest, (Unpublised: Tumble Tots

Playgroup, 2005), p. 6

Considering it may be the first time for Pre-school students to know and to

learn about English language vocabulary, the teacher must know how to introduce

English vocabulary to them and how to make students interested to learn about it.

Of course it needs a special vocabulary’s teaching for Pre-school students.

Edutainment (education and entertainment) is one of the effective and

adjustable method of encouraging the students of playgroup in learning foreign

language especially English. Representing an image will help the students to

absorb the material easily.

Language ability in ordinary environments indicates mental developments.

On the new Stanford-Binet tests three-years-olds are expected to name correctly

the pictures of common objects shown to them; to obey simple commands; to talk

about the pictures presented; to answer questions involving a simple cause and

effect relation. 10 When students can touch something, in addition to hearing and

seeing the word that names it, there is a stronger change that the word will be

learned. Even if there are practical reasons why each learner cannot touch the

object, just seeing it while hearing its name is helpful. 11

10 Ruth Strang, op. cit., p. 160 11 Virginia French Allen, Techniques in Teaching Vocabulary, (Oxford: Oxford University

Press, 1983), p. 7-8

Letterland is a child-friendly, multi-modal system for teaching children to

read, write, and spell. The secret of its worldwide success lies in its pictogram

characters and their ability to make learning fun and entertain.12

Therefore, it is easier if the sounds of the letters of the alphabet are taught

before the words. By combining phonics teaching with story telling, letterland

provides the right way to teach letter shape and sound recognition, and to

establish correct letter formation.

Finally, in teaching English at pre-school in Indonesia properly it will

prepare the next youth generation to reach the language competence that can

reflect their own or other people’s experiences, expressing some kind of feeling

and ideas, and more important is to understand some kind of language meaning.

This competence would help the learners recognize themselves, their culture, and

even the other nations; but the important thing is they can participate in a

community that uses English as a social intercourse language.

B. Scope and Formulation of Study

In this “skripsi”, the writer would like to describe the letterland technique,

in teaching English which is appropriate to the learners’ situation and condition

on the playgroup. The scope in this study is dealing with the teaching techniques

that have been received by the learners when they are learning English in the

classroom.

12 www.letterland.com (October 12, 2006)

To get it more clearly in this study, the formulation of the study case is

answering to the question of “Is using Letterland Technique in Teaching

Vocabulary to playgroup to the learners at Tumble Tots Pondok Indah, Jakarta,

important.

C. Objective of Study

Based on the background above, the writer wants to know, whether

letterland technique is a right technique:

1. To observe the use of letterland in teaching vocabulary.

2. To find out the student’s achievement progress in learning English vocabulary

by using letterland technique.

D. Method of Study

The writer carried out a field research by working as an English teacher on

playgroup at Tumble Tots, Pondok Indah, Jakarta. Through the observation the

writer has known the achievement that students reach.

The analysis of this field research result hopefully, that letterland

technique can help the student’s understand to some English vocabulary.

E. Significance of Study

By writing this “skripsi”, the writer would like to hope that the result of

this study can give some benefit, mainly:

1. Using letterland technique in the term of teaching and learning process of

foreign language is easier to the students to remember or memorized

vocabulary.

2. Knowing the effectiveness’ of approaches and method that applicant through

the teaching techniques appropriate for the students on learning vocabulary.

3. Using letterland can bring outside the student’s aspiration and creativities.

F. Organization of Study

This “skripsi” consists of four chapters.

The first chapter is introduction which describes background of study,

scope and formulation of study, objective of study, method of the study,

significance of the study, and organization of the study.

The second chapter is theoretical framework which discusses general

concept of vocabulary, meaning of vocabulary, kinds of vocabulary, ways of

presenting new vocabulary, techniques in teaching vocabulary, definition

letterland techniques, function of letterland pictogram, strategies of letterland,

step of teaching vocabulary.

The third chapter consists of research methodology which describes the

purpose of the study, place and time, method of study, technique of collecting

data, description of data, and analysis of data.

The fourth chapter talks about conclusions and suggestions.

CHAPTER II

THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK

A. Vocabulary

1. General Concept of Vocabulary

Vocabulary is one of language aspects that have to learned when

students are learning a language, besides grammar and pronunciation.

Vocabulary also plays an important role in improving language skills in

English. Experienced teachers of English as a Second language know very

well how important vocabulary is. They hope their students would learn

thousands of words that speakers and writers of English use.

Therefore, it is very necessity that the students be able to master the

words in certain number. Mastering vocabulary is not easy, yet other aspects

of the language should be considered such as; sound, and structure.

Vocabulary is one of the most important elements in a language. We cannot

speak the language well if we do not master it. No matter how well we learn

grammar, how successfully the sound of a foreign language is mastered,

without words to express a wider range of meanings, communication in the

foreign language just cannot happen in any meaningful way. (1997: 140)13

Regardless of the specific target language and the condition of

instruction, vocabulary is an important factor in all language teaching.

13 A. M. Zainuri, Vocabulary I, (Unpublished Paper, The State Islamic University, 2003), p. 1

Learners must continually be learning words as they learn structures and as

they practice the sound system.14

2. Meaning of Vocabulary

Vocabulary can be defined, roughly, as the words we teach in the

foreign language.15 To have a clear understanding, it is better to take a look at

some definitions that have been described as vocabulary. Vocabulary is the

sum of words used by, understood by, or at the command of a particular

person, social group, profession, trade or the like.16 If it is compared to

another meaning of vocabulary, that vocabulary is “(a) Total number of words

which (with rules for combining them) make up a language, (b) Containing a

list of word; list of words used in a book, usually with definitions or

translation.”17 Another definition of vocabulary also is found, in Webster’s

New World Dictionary that “vocabulary is a list of words and often, phrases,

abbreviations, inflectional forms, usually arranged in alphabetical order and

defined or otherwise identified, as in a dictionary or glossary.18

14 Edward David Alleen and Rebecca. M. Valette, Classroom Techniques: Foreign Language

and English as a Second Language , ( USA: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich Inc, 1977), p. 149 15 Penny Ur., A Course in Language Teaching: Practice and Theory, ( New York: Cambrigde

University Press, 1996), p. 60 16 William Morris, The Heritage Illustrated Dictionary of the English Language, (Boston:

Houghton Mifflin Company, 1979), p. 1434 17 A. S. Hornby, Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary of Current English, (Oxford: Oxford

University Press, 1987), p. 959 18 Merriam-Webster, Webster’s New World College Dictionary: Fourth Edition, (Cleveland:

Wiley Publishing Inc, 2002), p. 1600

A large vocabulary helps the students to express them ideas precisely,

vividly, and without repeating themselves in composition or conversation.

From some opinions above, it can be known that vocabulary is a total

number of words used by a person to express ideas and experiences in

communication as a means of expression.

3. Kinds of Vocabulary

Vocabulary varies in the four skills of language; listening, writing,

reading, and speaking. Generally, a student will absorb listening and speaking

vocabulary before coming to the reading and writing vocabulary. In the terms

of teaching and learning process Jack. C. Richards, John Platt, and Heidi Platt

give some comments concerning with the method of foreign or second

language teaching which (a) Emphasizes the teaching and speaking and

listening before reading and writing, (b) Uses dialogs and drills,

(c) Discourages use of mother tongue in the classroom, (d) Often makes use

of contrastive analysis.19

In a function, vocabulary is classified into two kinds:

a. Active Vocabulary

Active vocabulary refers to language items which the learner can

recall and use appropriately in speech and writing and it is also called as

19 Jack. C. Richards, John Platt, Heidi Platt, Longman Dictionary of Language Teaching an

Applied Linguistic, (London: Longman group UK Limited, 1992), p. 25

productive vocabulary.20 It means that to use the productive vocabulary,

the learners are supposed to know how to pronounce it well, they must

know and be able to use grammar of target language, they are also hoped

to be familiar with collocation and understand the connotation meaning of

the words.

b. Passive Vocabulary

Passive vocabulary refers to language items that can be recognized

and understood in the context of reading or listening, and it is also called

as Receptive Vocabulary.21 It means that the learners can recognize and

comprehend the context of reading and the listening materials.

In the first level of a course, the active vocabulary is more

prominent. But when the learners at higher level of study such as

intermediate or advanced level, passive vocabulary is more useful.22 It

means that teacher should teach the active vocabulary first, before she

teaches the passive vocabulary to the learners.

On other occasional, other experts have classified vocabulary into

potential vocabulary and real vocabulary. Potential vocabulary consists of

words, learners will recognize even though they have not seen them in

20 Ruth Gairns and Stuart Redman, Working with Words: A Guide to Teaching and Learning

Vocabulary, (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1986), p. 64 21 Ibid., p. 64 22 Gail Ellis Barbara Sinclair, Learning to Learn English, (Sydney: Cambridge University

Press, 1989), p. 63

second language, and real vocabulary consists of words, the learner is

familiar with (after and because of) exposure.23

The most important point of the productive vocabulary or

receptive vocabulary is that it suggests that there are different ways to

“know” a word. Knowing a word includes being able to recall its meaning

and being able to see which shade of meaning a word is most suitable for

the context that occurs. By knowing the meaning of a word may include

being able to make various associations with other related words. That

what is considered sufficient knowledge under one circumstance will

probably not be sufficient under others.

4. Ways of Presenting New Vocabulary

On presenting new vocabulary to the learners, frequently the teacher

will find it necessary to explain the meaning of word or short phrase. Here are

numbers of ways in presenting new vocabulary:24

a. Realia

This is the word to refer to the use of real objects in the classroom. Thus

the words ‘pen’, ‘ruler’, or ‘chalk’, can be easily explained by showing

students a pen, a ruler, or a chalk. This is clearly satisfactory for certain

23 Susan. M. Gass and Larry Sclinker, Second Language Acquisition: An Introductory Course

Second edition, (New Jersey: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates Inc, 2001), p. 374 24 Jeremy Harmer, The Practice of Language Teaching, (Essex: Pearson Education Limited,

2001, third printed), p. 85-86

single words, but the use of realia is limited to things that can easily be

taken into the classroom.

b. Pictures

Pictures are clearly indispensable for the language teacher since they can

be used in so many ways. Pictures including blackboard drawings, wall

pictures, flashcard, charts, and any other non-technical visual

representation. Pictures can be used to explain the meaning of vocabulary

items and to create a situation or context.

c. Mime, action, and gesture

It is often impossible to explain the meaning of words and grammar either

through the use of realia and/ or of picture. Actions, in particular, are

probably better explained by mime. And gesture is useful for explaining

words like ‘from’, ‘to’, or indicating that the past is being talked about

(the teacher gestures backwards over his shoulder)

d. Contrast

Sometimes a visual element (realia, picture, mime) may not be sufficient

to explain meaning, so contrast can be used. In letterland, the letterlanders

like everything which start with there letter on they name. Example

‘Clever Cat doesn’t like a cup of tea, but she likes a cup of cocoa’

e. Enumeration

The word ‘vegetable’ is a difficult word to explain visually. However, the

teacher rapidly lists (or enumerates) a number of vegetables and the

meaning will become clear.

f. Explanation

Explaining the meaning of vocabulary items can be extremely difficult

just as grammatical explanation, especially at elementary levels. It will be

important, if giving such explanations, to make sure that the explanations

includes information about when item can be used.

g. Translation

For many years translation was considered as something of a sin. Clearly

if the teacher is always translating this will impede students’ learning

since they want to hear and use the target language, not their own. But it

seems silly not to translate if by doing so a lot of time can be saved. If the

students do not understand a word and the teacher can not explain it, he

can quickly translate it; the same is true, in principle of a piece of

grammar. Translation then seems a useful measure if used sparingly, but it

should be used with caution.

These aids and measures may be useful for explaining the meaning of

a word or sentence. They may be used in combination (e.g. pictures and

mime, translation and enumeration, etc)

To clarify the statement above, Penny Ur also gives some comments

concerning with the ways of presenting the meaning of new items:25

a. Concise definition (as in a dictionary: often a superordinate with

qualification, for example: a cat is an animal which...)

b. Detailed description (of appearance, qualities....)

c. Examples (hyponyms)

d. Illustration (picture, object)

e. Demonstration (acting, mime)

f. Context (story or sentence in which the items occur)

g. Synonyms

h. Opposites or antonyms

i. Translation

j. Associated ideas, collocations

No matter how many experts classifying the ways of presenting the

meaning of new items, the learners also need to review and practice words

with which they are already familiar. Finally, in increasing their vocabularies,

learners also need to be trained to become independent learners, by becoming

effective word recorders.

5. Techniques in Teaching Vocabulary

Generally, as a beginner, to understand the meaning of sentence is not

easy as to understand word by word. Learners need something fun and

25 Penny Ur., op. cit., p. 63

entertain to make them easy to access the vocabulary. They need to be trained

to record vocabulary and be presented with strategies for reviewing them. If it

is not often practiced, automatically it will reduce or lose.

Learning vocabulary requires more than a dictionary. Vocabulary is a

cultural phenomenon as well as a linguistic one. Learners must learn the social

meanings of words in a foreign language, not just the equivalent word in their

native tongue. Learners’ success in learning vocabulary depends on a certain

extent on the number of senses used in the classroom. One reason that learners

need encouragement through various sensory activities is that in most cases,

foreign language learners already have “satisfactory” words in their own

language for the vocabulary they are trying to learn in the classroom.

Therefore, the foreign language learner needs some sort of motivation to make

her desire to learn foreign words. According Virginia French Allen, there are

three techniques which can be used for teaching vocabulary:

1) Alphabetical order: even for a list of new words alphabetizing way be

appropriate in helping students to find a word.

2) Showing the meaning of words through pictures, explanations in mother

tongue, and definitions in simple English.

3) Drawing attention to meanings before drilling words.26

26 Virginia French Allen, Techniques in Teaching Vocabulary, (Oxford: Oxford University

Press, 1983), p. 10-14

As part of her emphasis on the necessity for sensory experiences while

learning vocabulary, that not all classroom time should be spent on

pronouncing words, interactive activities related to vocabulary are important

and even essential.

There are some other techniques for teaching vocabulary:

1. say the word clearly and write it on the board 2. get the class to repeat the word in chorus 3. translate the word into student’s own language 4. ask the student to translate the word 5. draw as picture to show what the word means 6. give an English example to show the word is used 7. ask question by using the new word27

When learners have learned various words, the next step is how they

can access them quickly in the daily use. In this case, it needs a variety of

presenting vocabulary building activities to encourage learners in memorizing

the vocabulary.

According to James Coady and Thomas Huckin, vocabulary can be

taught in two ways so that it can be readily accessed, there are:

a. Fluency activities that provide a well-beaten path to an item Its have certain characteristics: (1) They may involve processing quite a lot of language. (2) They make limited demands on the language user; that is, they involve material that does not contain much unfamiliar language or many unfamiliar ideas. (3) They involve rehearsal of the task through preparation, planning, or repetition. (4) They involve some encouragement for the learner to reach a high rate of performance which requires that the activities reach a high level of automaticity.

27 Adrian Doff, Teach English: A Training Course for Teachers, (Cambridge: Cambridge

University Press, 1990), p. 11

Fluency techniques can be based either on texts provided by the teacher or on material prepared by the learners. Using texts provided by the teacher allows the teacher focus on particular vocabulary.

b. Richness activities that aim to increase the number of associations

attached to a word can be of two types: those that establish syntagmatic relationships and those that establish paradigmatic relationships . 1) Syntagmatic relationships are those that associate a word with

other words that can typically precede or follow it. For example, the word fuel can be preceded by words like cost (as in the cost of fuel). Activities can be used to develop these relationships include the following: a) Collocation activities. A typical collocation activity gets

learners to match collocates with given items. b) Semantic mapping. Semantic mapping involve drawing a

diagram of relationships between words according to their use in a particular text.

c) Dictation and related activities. The nature of the dictation activity is that it focuses learners’ attention on the collocational relationships within dictated phrases.

2) Paradigmatic relationships are those associate a word with others of related meaning.28

B. Letterland

1. Definition of Letterland

In terms of teaching and learning process, letterland is highly

sophisticated teaching techniques that combine stories with the pictograms of

28 James Coady and Thomas Huckin, Second Language Vocabulary Acquisition, (Cambridge:

Cambridge University Press, 1997), p. 248

letters. It is a fun way, child-friendly, multi-sensory/ multi-modal system for

teaching or introducing children to literacy skills (read, write, and spell).29

Letterland uses pictograms (alphabet-shaped picture-characters). They

are a careful fusion of letters and animated characters that is designed to carry

information. These simple powerful images contain the basic phonic

information that children need for accessing print. Each character has been

created and designed which letters make in words. 30

The letterland pictograms activate every learning channel, linking all

the things that children love-social interaction, movement, art, craft, rhyme

directly to letter knowledge.

When child’s interest in some object or animal is high, that is the best

time to name it, thus associating the object with the spoken word and later

with the printed symbols for it. To increase his understanding and use of verbs

provide interesting activities. 31

In traditional phonic teaching, confusing variations, which make no

sense to a child, have to be learned with little to help the child remember

them. With letterland, rules are replaced with brief stories which entertain

while they teach. Some of these stories may seem far-fetched to an adult, but

29 Playgroup Training Division, Tumble Tots Playgroup Handout Letterland and Fun Math

( unpublished: Tomble Tots Playgroup, 2005), p. 1 30 Ibid, p. 1 31 Ruth Strang, An Introduction to Child Study, (New York: The Macmillan Company, 1957),

p. 223

to a child these stories make boring rules vastly easier to remember. Each

story catches a child’s imagination.

Three and four year olds enjoy stories rich in sense impressions and

action stories about the sights they see, the substances the touch, the activities

in which they engage, the sound they hear are fascinating to them. 32

By hearing nursery rhymes and stories again and again the child is

encouraged to remember them. Pictures in story books suggest the events that

they illustrate and thus give practice in recall, after one or two repetitions of

story children as young as two and a half years will supply the words when

the storyteller pauses on certain points. 33

By using interactive storytelling to explain new sound and spelling

patterns, children quickly grasp the alliterative principle. With the single letter

shape, children can picture code any letter combinations, which helping them

to remember this new behavior.

On learning process children need an important condition for

successful language learning is the absence of stress. By focusing on meaning

interpreted through movement, rather than on language forms studied in the

32 Ibid., p. 224 33 Ibid, p. 227-228

abstract, the learner is said to be liberated from self-conscious and stressful

situations and is able to devote full energy to learning. 34

Three- to five year old children commonly are noisy, responsive, adept

at mimicry, unashamedly emotional, and without pretense. They love

exaggeration and enjoy experimenting with new sounds and motions. 35

Associating letters with interesting characters and incorporating this

into activities and games that makes fun to the children. It is important for

promoting young children’s learning.

The letterlanders (Annie Apple, Bouncy Ben, Clever Cat, etc) are

alliterative which immediately taps into the building of phonemic awareness

skills. Children are enchanted by the characters and animals in the secret place

called letterland. And educators know that if children are interested, they learn

without even words. 36

Learning to read, write and spell, children need to know the sounds

that letters represent in words. By starting to say each letterland character’s

name, children discover the sounds that letters make in words surprisingly

quickly. By bonding intriguing images into the otherwise uninteresting black

letter shape and replacing dry rules with little stories, the system makes

34 Jack C. Richards and Theodore S. Rodgers, Approaches and Methods In Language Teaching: A description and analysis, (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1992, eight printed), p. 91

35 William C. Morse and G. Max Wingo, Psychology and Teaching. 2nd edition, (USA: Scott,

Foresman and Company, 1962), p. 79 36 Playgroup Training Division, op. cit., p. 3

learning to read, write, and spell in English both easier to remember and a lot

of fun. 37

In this case Penny Ur stated on her guided book, that in teaching

vocabulary “the learner has to know what the word sounds like (its

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

characteristics, and one or the other will be perceived by the learner when

encountering the item for the first time. 38

So, second language teaching and learning process should reflect the

naturalistic processes of first language learning. Asher sees three processes as

central. (a) Children develop listening competence before they develop the

ability to speak. (b) Children’s ability in listening comprehension is acquired

because children are required to respond physically to spoken language in the

form of parental commands. (c) Once a foundation is listening comprehension

has been established, speech evolves naturally and effortlessly out of it. 39

Thus, in presenting the new items of vocabulary language must be

presented in spoken form before they are introduced in written form. In the

37 Playgroup Training Division, Letterland Common Quest, (unpublished: Tumble Tots

Playgroup, 2005), p. 6 38 Penny Ur., op. cit., p. 60 39 Jack C. Richards and Theodore S. Rodgers, op. cit., p. 90

initial phrase of language instruction, the audio-lingual skills must be

dominant over reading and writing. 40

To clarify the lesson in using letterland technique, the form of new

words can be demonstrated with examples. The meaning of new words is not

conveyed through translation. It is made clear visually (with object, pictures,

action, and mime). 41

Using letterland technique to the children, which can help them

achieve to following goals to enrich vocabulary for foundation stage to read

can be carried out. Here the following goals for foundation stage to read:

a. Listening to using spoken and written language.

b. Exploring and experimenting with language.

c. Sustaining attentive listening, responding to what they have heard.

d. Extending vocabulary, exploring the meaning and sounds of new words.

e. Hearing and saying initial sounds in words.

f. Linking sounds to letters, naming, and sounding letters of the alphabet.

g. Knowing that print carries meaning and it is read from left to right.

By using letterland technique means the use of concrete objects and

pictures, which together with storytelling can be used to demonstrate the

40 Theo. Van, Els., et al., Translated by R.R. Van Oir Souw, Applied Linguistic and The

Learning and Teaching of Foreign Languages, (London: Edward Arnold, 1984), p. 256 41 Op. cit, p. 38

meanings of new vocabulary items and to recognize the sound of letter that

are used to the learners to read, write and spell.

2. Function of Letterland Pictogram

As the heart of letterland, pictogram has some functions to enrich new

vocabulary items to the learners in learning English. Here are some functions

of letterland pictogram:

a. Linking sounds to letter shape Basically, there are no obvious reasons for a particular sound to be represented by a particular letter or group of letter. In letterland, each letterlander becomes the reason for a letter’s shape and sound to be represented.

b. Reading direction The reading direction is an orientation cue built into each letterland pictogram.

c. Child-friendly metalanguage Letterland pictogram makes it possible to talk about phonic concepts without jargon. Using language children already have to talk about letters, sounds and concepts (metalanguage).

d. Picture coding Picture coding is the process of adding letterland pictogram details to a plain shape. By doing this, children become the animators of lifeless letters. The drawing process is fun, as the children bring the letter shapes in their own. Picture coding also can used on the blackboard, worksheet, or cards to draw attention to target sounds within words.42

3. Strategies of Letterland

Letterland has eight main child strategies as that of the letterlanders

(letterland characters) have thought up to help children to become better

readers and writers, there are:

42 Gudrun Freese, Teacher’s Guide, (London: Collins Educational, 2003), p. 12 - 13

a. The Sound Trick Objectives 1) To discover a-z letter sound 2) To match a-z letter sound to the plain letter shapes

The letterlanders have a special trick to help learners to learn their letter sound. The first sound of the letterlander’s name is the sound their letter makes in words.

To discover any letter sound, teacher started to say a letterlander’s name. Whenever the teachers talk about letter sound, she always shows the plain letter side of picture code card.

Letter names are not much help to a child when it comes to blending words. The 21 consonants letter names are never used in reading and letter names actually begin with another letter’s sound.

Having the letterland character names (Annie Apple, Bouncy Ben, Clever Cat, etc) gives a temporary alternative to the traditional alphabet names.

b. The Capital Letter Trick

Objective 1) To learn when capital letters are used 2) To learn capital letter shapes

Each letterlander has a special way of turning their letter into a capital. They are so proud at being given the important job of beginning someone’s name, or a sentence that they do their CAPITAL LETTER TRICK.

c. The Character Names Trick

Objectives 1) To make use of noticeable recurring capital letters for the rapid

identification of the 26 a-z letterland character names as sight words. 2) To use character names to read rhyming words by analogy

In presenting the letterland character names, the teacher always start a name with a capital letter, because names are important words. So in every letterlander’s name learners will see their capital letter.

d. The Actions Trick

Objectives 1) To develop multi-sensory (kineasthetic, auditory, oral, visual) memory

cues for letter sounds. In explaining each letterlander to the children, the teacher has

given an action to help their letter sound. To begin with, encourage children to make the sound each time they make an action, so that the action and sound become firmly associated. Later the teacher could try an action in various activities. For example:

1) A child makes an action and the rest of the class say the corresponding sound 2) Children play an action game where they make each action in

alphabetical order 3) Some children spell a word using actions only, the others convert the

action into sounds to build the word The actions are designed to be performed either sitting or standing.

Example: when children ‘become’ letters themselves and stand in a row form a word (see appendix).

e. The Alliteration Trick and The Alliteration Game

Objective 1) To develop phonemic awareness of initial sounds

The alliterative ‘logic’ of letterland adds engaging discover factor to phonemic awareness activities. In letterland, the characters love things that start with their sounds.

The activity of searching for alliterative words enables children to have creative input as they build up a bigger picture of each character. Children feel like they are discovering new things about their letterland friends. This element of discovery has proved a real strength of the letterland in making the children highly motivated to learn more about letterland friends.

f. The Rollercoaster Trick

Objective 1) To blend individual sounds into words

The rollercoaster trick is a multi-sensory strategy to help children move on from just saying individual sounds to running sounds together to read words.

g. The Slow-speak Trick

Objective 1) To segment words into individual sounds

It helps children to break up spoken words into their individual phonemes, in order to aid spelling.

h. The Rhyming Words Trick Objective 1) To spell and read by analogy

One of the strategies children should consciously use when attempting to read or write a word is to identify a spelling pattern in a word they already know.43

43 Gudrun Freese, op. cit., p. 143 - 152

CHAPTER III

RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

A. Purpose of Study

The main purpose of this “skripsi” is showing for an appropriate technique

in teaching vocabulary to the playgroup class. Not only does the writer show an

appropriate technique, but she hopes that this “skripsi” will give a better solution

too.

Regarding that point, hopefully the teacher can apply it in doing the

teaching and learning process at the school. All ideas which are related to that

point will be discussed and analyzed later.

B. Place of Study

The writer took place of field research at Tumble Tots Playgroup, located

in Pondok Indah, south Jakarta. And I was taken my observation for 3 months

from 9th of October ’06 until 29th of December’06. Meanwhile, the library

research will be taken from sources such as Faculty of Tarbiya Library, The State

Islamic University Library, and other sources.

C. Method of Study

This “skripsi” will be written based on field research. The writer will carry

out the field research at Tumble Tots, Pondok Indah, Jakarta.

D. Use of Letterland

In this teaching activity, the writer introduces one of the letterland

characters (Clever Cat) taught according to letterland technique. The course was

for the students of tumble tots playgroup.

First, the teacher says greeting to the students. By the time the class get

started, the teacher asks the students to join together to make a circle, by saying

“let’s all join hands together”. Then teacher says “good morning Tumble Tots?”,

children answer “good morning auntie!”. Then, teacher says “ok. now let’s greet

our friends and aunties here by doing rush in and rush out and say “good

morning! Nice to see you!. Before that, how about if we go the right side by

walking, jumping, and running. Here we go....... walking (4X), jumping (6X),

running (8X), now let’s walk, now let’s stop!”. Then, teacher and students do rush

in by saying “good morning Tumble Tots”, and then they do rush out by saying

“Hii... nice to see you”.

After that, teacher says “all right, let’s warm up our body by singing our

warm up song ‘Hello Time’ (see appendix). Teacher asks the students to say the

magic word together “what is the magic word?”. Students say “music please

auntie cha-cha!”. After they finished singing the song teacher says “big clap”,

then she says “well done Tumble Tots, now take a bow, please” students say

“wek, wek, wek”. Then, she asks the students to sit on the floor.

Second, teacher asks about students feel individually. Teacher asks “now,

I want to ask you about you are feeling, whether you are fine or not, show auntie

your two thumbs up and say “I am fine auntie”. Teacher asks a student “good

morning Defa”, then he answers “good morning auntie”, teacher asks “how are

you today Defa”, he answers “I am fine auntie”. Teacher asks the students to

recite the rhymes, but before that she explains how the action of the rhymes to the

students. Teacher says “alright, the rhymes go!” (1st. Spider, 2nd. Tall Shop, and

3rd. Golden Fish). After that, teacher says “ok, now let’s sing our opening song

and the title is ‘I’ am a Little Green Apple’ (see appendix), and she explains to

them how to do the action of the song does. Teacher asks one of the Tumble Tots

to say the magic words to another auntie. One of the Tumble Tots says “Music

please auntie”, and then music is coming. When finished the song teacher

requests the children to take a bow. Then children say “wek, wek, wek”. After

that, teacher gives them a big clap. After that teacher asks them to stand up on the

spot to sing Letterland song (see appendix). She explains to them how to do the

action of the song does.

Third, teacher invites the children to sit on the floor in front of her and

greet them one by one. After that, teacher says “alright, now let’s go to

Letterland. We are going to meet our new friend. But before that, how about if we

go to Letterland by riding bicycle”. Then teacher requests them to lie down on the

floor, pretending they are riding bicycle by singing

“bicycle, bicycle go slow”

“bicycle, bicycle go so fast”

“bicycle, bicycle here we go”

Then teacher says “wow, where are we now?”. Children say “Letterland”.

Teacher answers “yes, that’s right. Welcome to Letterland”. “before you see our

new friend in Letterland. How about if you close your eyes and let’s count 1 till 5,

and here we go!”. Then children count 1-5, after they finished counting and open

their eyes, teacher show it the picture at the Letterland ABC book to them. And

teacher show it and introduce them to the Clever Cat. Then, teacher explains

about the Clever Cat, teacher says “this cat is a lovely cat, she has a red letter on

her head, this is Clever Cat. Clever Cat thinks of everything, she always helps

another letterlander to solve their problems. That’s way people call her Clever

Cat. Clever Cat loves to sit by the letterland castle, having a cup of cocoa and

eating a cucumber sandwich with a yummy cream cake by doing her crossword

puzzle. Can you see some white things in the sky?. What are they?. That’s right,

they are clouds in the sky. Look at this picture. Do you like Clever Cat’s car? It’s

nice and colorful, isn’t it?. Children answer “yes”. And teacher asks “and what is

that?. Children says “worm.....!”. Teacher answers “no, that is not a worm but that

is a caterpillar.” Then teacher says “Clever Cat is a very special cat in Letterland.

I’ ve got a cat and my cat says ‘Miaow’ But this cat is far too clever to say

‘Miaouw’. Clever Cat is so clever that she makes a special sound instead, like this

‘c.....c.....c’. Teacher asks children to say ‘c’ in chorus. Then they say “c.....c.....c”.

Then, teacher says “let’s stroke her letter. But first, you must watch auntie to

stroke it ok!”. “Start from her ear, go over to another ear, go around her face and

stop under her chin and tickle-tickle”. Teacher asks “do you know, what the

sound of Clever Cat is? ‘Clever Cat says ‘c...... in word’’. And teacher asks them

to stroke the letter and make a sound of clever cat one by one. Then, using

flashcard teacher explains other information about Clever Cat. Teacher says

“outside Letterland, we can find this plain letter but in Letterland we can find

Clever Cat. Clever Cat says ‘c..... in word”. Then, using the wall frieze teacher

wants to teach how to write the letter shape of ‘c’. But first they are singing the

Clever Cat song (see appendix). After that, teacher says “now we are going to

write Clever Cat letter. First, you must see auntie how to write the letter. Start

from her ear, go over the other ear, go around her face and stop under her chin

and tickle-tickle”. This explanation has given twice to the children. Then, teacher

gives them a letter ‘c’, but in dot in the whiteboard. Then, teacher request them to

trace the letter of Clever Cat and make it sound of Clever Cat. After their tracing

the letter, teacher asks them to erase the whiteboard. Then, teacher requests them

to sit on respective chair to colored the hand out/ copy master.

Fourth, main activities children practice their fine motoric skill with scrap

book. Teacher asks the children to sit on their respective chair and give them hand

out of the Letterland scrapbook copymasters to children to be colored. After they

finished, teacher introduces them to eating manner, that how to practice using

spoon and fork and to introduce them to pray before eating. First, before they eat

their snack, they must wash their hands at the wash stand by que up on line. After

children finished, they are back to the class. Then, teacher says “sit nicely and

close our eyes. Now we are going to pray together. Repeat after auntie cha-cha”.

Then another teacher says “thank you God for my parents, for my aunties,

for my friends, for my school, for my food, for today and for every things.

Amiens”. Then, children eat by themselves or sometime with help from aunties.

After their finished it their snack, they clean up their lunch-box, they get their bag

to put their lunch-box into their bag. Then they clean up their mouth and hands

with the wet tissue and teacher requests them to throw it to the trash.

Fifth, teacher requested children to sit on the floor. Teacher says “sorry

Tumble Tots, time is up. Now it is time to say ‘good bye’, wave our hands side to

side and don’t forget to blow our kiss by singing good bye song (see appendix),

here we go!”. Then teachers give them a big clap, with says “well done Tumble

Tots and take a bow please”. Children answer “wek, wek, wek, wek!”.

Finally, teachers say “sticker time! Ok, every body line up please!”.

Teacher requests children to line up to get the sticker. Before they get the sticker,

teacher asks them about the lessons that have been given and ask how the sound

of Clever Cat does and ask them to find the letterlander on the wall frieze.

E. Technique of Collecting Data

Research needs an instrument to collect the data. Instrument is a method

used for getting the data such as the information, notes, and explanation, which is

related to the theme of the research. The interview, observation, and

documentation are the part of the instrument. The major instrument used in this

research is observation. The writer conducts the observation as the teacher in

playgroup class to observe directly. The writer uses qualitative method to describe

and to explain about this study.

F. Description of Data

In the observation, the writer put stress on the method of teaching English,

the core curriculum, some aids to introduce the letterland character, and

reinforcement to the student at home, that is used at Tumble Tots. “Learning

through playing” is Tumble Tots philosophy. By playing, children will introduce

to the learning concepts, which is fun, enjoyable and comfortable.

Tumble Tots uses Multi-sensoric approach as the method, which includes

visual, auditory, kinesthetic, and oral/verbal to improve memory and learning.

This method is applicable to learning by doing some play, which built to

empower the children to be responsible, creative, active and broad minded.

Letterland consists of three stages early year/foundation, program

I/intermediate, and program II/advanced. Each stage has own curriculum as the

purpose of learning process.

The term of curriculum refers to the sum total of organized learning stated

as educational ends, activities, school subject and or topics decided upon and

provided within an educational institution for the attainment of the student.44

Here Letterland curriculum, which is based to the stages of the learners.

1. Early Years/Foundation Curriculum

Early years provides a unique multi-sensory experience of the alphabet,

developing listening and speaking skills while laying a solid foundation for

literacy.

The child is guided in this stage to realize that the letters the letters that

were learned during the sessions actually form words, therefore the importance of

word formation. Care should be taken not to over-emphasis the letterland

characters so much so that it takes precedence over recognition of the actual

letters of the alphabet.

Each character of letterlanders has been created and designed to represent

the sounds which letters make in words. For example, by saying the names of a

letterland, Clever Cat, Annie Apple, and Dippy Duck, children already have their

associated sound on their lips.

Clever Cat makes the sound of the beginning of her name - c , just whisper it

Annie Apple makes the sound at the beginning of her name - a (as in apple).

44 Geoffrey H. Wilson, Curriculum Development and Syllabus Design for English Teaching,

(Singapore: Eurasia Press, 1976), p. 1

Early year’s teacher teaches children to:

a. Recognize capital and lower case letter shape

In each letter of b d p q are the small differences in shape change the

letter completely. These small differences are also a feature of words. A few

example of capital letters and their small letters counterparts: Cc Aa Dd Hh

Mm Tt Ss. With these and some of the other letters, the shape of capital letter is

completely different from the shape of the small letter version. By using a

connecting idea or the same character in a different pose, letterland succeeds in

linking the two very different shapes, confirming that they both make the same

letter sound.

Each Letterlander has a special way of turning their letter into a capital.

They are so proud at being given the important job of beginning someone; name

or a sentence that they do their ‘Capital Letter Trick’ and the small letters, its

change makes an important difference by using ‘Small Letter Trick.’

For example, Capital letter ‘C and A’

C ‘Whenever Clever Cat starts important words such as names, she takes a deep

breath and gets bigger’.

A ‘In Letterland, the capital A shapes are called Applestand. The apples sit on the

Applestand while they say ‘a....at the start important words, such as names like

Anne, Andrew and Ashraf.

For example, Small/lower Letter ‘c and a’

c ‘curve round Clever Cat’s face to begin, then gently tickle her under her chin.

a ‘at the leaf begin, go round the apple this way, then add a line down, so Annie

won’t roll away.

b. Form letters correctly

Letterland pictogram characters like to look or move in from the left to the

right. Simple built-in picture cues and logic like this have helped children to avoid

the common problem of reversing similarly shapes letters, such as b and d, p and

q, and to orientate all the other letters correctly. For example, it makes sense to

write the downstroke for Dippy Duck ‘draw Dippy Duck’s back, go round her

tummy, go up to her head, then down you come!

c. Link letter sounds to their shape

There are no obvious reasons for a particular letter or group of letters.

Each Letterlander becomes the reason for a letter’s shape and sound. For

example, look at Bouncy Ben, the brown bunny with a big blue letter. His head

and ears make sense of the otherwise abstract b shape. Children easily remember

that this character is called Bouncy Ben. The children already have all the

information they need to link letter sound and letter shape within one audio-visual

image. The character name acts as a cue for the letter sound: just start to say

Bouncy Ben’s name, ‘b...’ That is the sound his letter makes in words.

d. Sort out reversals

The teacher revises the entire letters on term I (c a d h m t s). It’s can help

the children to remember the letter shape belong to each letterland characters.

2. Programme One/Intermediate Curriculum

Programme one leads children quickly into confident word building

and early reading. Primary years children are taught say or pronounce to:

a. Aa- Zz, short and long vowels

b. Word building from the 4th lesson

c. The long vowels/ silent e principle

d. First essential diagraphs and word endings

e. Blending skills

3. Programme Two/Advanced Curriculum

The alphabet knowledge which children have gained from learning

about the letterland characters in programme two leads them directly and

logically to the spelling patterns. Programme two teaches children to say or

pronounce:

a. All major letter patterns in the English language

b. Advanced word building punctuation and handwriting45

To reach language competence, which is in conformity with the

curriculum, Tumble Tots uses some aids designed to encourage and familiarize

children in learning the alphabet such as Letterland ABC, Letterland Alphabet

Frieze, First Reading Flashcards, Activity Books 1-3, Board Books, Alphabet

songs CD, and Handwriting songs CD.

45 Playgroup Training Division, Playgroup Curriculum and Syllabus Letterland and Fun

Math Stage One Term I – Term IV ( unpublished: Tomble Tots Playgroup, 2005), p. 1 - 4

On introducing the letterland character (letterlanders) to the students,

teachers have to aim at the syllabus. It is a program of study which consists of

outlines of lessons per term. (See Appendix)

To reinforce teaching and learning process at home, Tumble Tots

introduces some media resources or materials to help the parents such as

Letterland ABC book, Letterland At Home: My First Reading Flashcards,

Alphabet Songs CD’s, Handwriting songs CD’s, Letterland First Alphabet Frieze,

Letterland At Home: My First Spelling Activity Book and Letterland Reading At

Home. These have given the parents a lot of information, how to practice and

enrich their child’s vocabulary in a fun way base to write a word. For example,

when parents go to the mall with their child, they see a P parking sign. Parents

can choose a simple game to explore this letter. Show the Peter Puppy card from

My First Reading Flashcard or make the letter P in modeling dough. Or they can

ask their child to make a collection of toys or some things around them, such as a

toy panda, a pen, a pencil, or a plate, because these all start with the same letter

sound.

In making a good atmosphere to the students, all teachers at Tumble Tots

have to be called “auntie” or “uncle”. There are two teachers who teach at the

playgroup there are “auntie” Imey and “auntie” Cha-cha.

The success and impact of the program would be evaluated through

feedback sessions between the parents of the child, the child concerned and

Tumble Tots at the end of every term. The child should be evaluated at the

beginning of the term and again at the end of the term to measure the child’s

parents and then kept as part of the child’s record of achievements

And also to perform effectively in teaching and learning process, Tumble

Tots playgroup teachers work cooperatively with students’ parents. With

relationship with parents as a partnership it is hoped that they can collaborate to

promote students’ long-term development and learning. This relationship is a

means of informing about the progress what students have been making so far.

And it can inform them about their children’s accomplishments which make them

alert to any behaviors that are consistently interfering to their children’s learning

and achievement. Finally, the teachers can coordinate about classroom strategies

with those that parents use at home.

Here are several ways that teachers use in communicating with parents:

a. Parent-teacher conferences

It creates a warm, nonjudgmental atmosphere, to express any appreciation

and to give parents sufficient time to express their thought. The aim of

having the conference is to work cooperatively and constructively together

to create the best educational program possible for the students.

b. Written communication

It takes variety of forms; it can be regularly scheduled report card that

documents a student’s academic progress; or it can be a quick note

acknowledging a significant accomplishment. Tumble Tots playgroup has

two written communication books; Communication Book and Student’s

Assessment Report. All of these include, not only report to parents what is

happening to their child at school, but also convey, teachers’ intention in

getting in touch on an ongoing basis (see appendix).

c. Telephone conversation

It is used when issues require immediate attention. It expresses school

concern when a student’s behavior deteriorates unexpectedly and without

apparent provocation.

d. Parent discussion group

It is used as a way to share ideas about how best to promote student’s

academic, personal, and social development.46

G. Analysis of Data

Based on the facts above, unity of the method of teaching English, the

core curriculum, some aids to introduce the letterland character, and

reinforcement to the student at home, will create a great atmosphere to the

students not only at the class , but also at home.

At Tumble Tots Multi-sensory approach is applicable to multi-sensory

teaching which children can sing, act, draw, write, move, speak, and build words

by being the letterlanders.

46 Playgroup Training Division, Working effectively with parents/ stage 1 ( unpublished:

Tomble Tots Playgroup, 2005), p. 1 - 2

The syllabus used in Tumble Tots, demands the teachers to be creative in

making the lesson plan to each term. It is important to the teachers to choose the

right aids in teaching and learning process in the class. Compositor each letterland

character or letter shape in syllabus, which is not arranged according the

alphabetical order, but arranged based on developing writing form.

Letterland is based on important phonic principles. This means that it

builds on the sound of each letter. Character names like Annie Apple, Bouncy

Ben and Clever Cat are more effective than ‘aee, bee, cee’. The letter’s sound is

always on the child’s lips when starting to say letterland character’s name.

In the term of teaching and learning process, the explanations are given by

means of simple stories about what happen when particular letters get together.

The stories provide reasons why letters sometimes change their sounds.

By starting to say any letterland character’s name, students can say correct letter’s

sound.

Teacher use Letterland ABC book to introduce and to guide in telling the

stories of letterlander life. This book has contains of letterlanders picture which

colorful. Each page introduces a new letterland character and repeats the

character’s letter sound at the start of many words. In this session, children have

showed up to Clever Cat character which it surroundings to everything that start

with letter sound ‘c’. Usually children will ask about something which findable in

the picture.

To explain other information about letter ‘c’, teacher always uses the

flashcard. It is useful to gives other relation how the letter exists in some

vocabulary outside letterland. Children also introduce how to write the letter.

Because, it is the first time for children to write the letter, teacher gives them a

letter ‘c’ in dot. Through this way, children are able to write the letter, with

tracing the dot, that teacher has given in the whiteboard. And, by using The

Letterland scrapbook to be colored children can practicing the lesson which has

given by the teacher. In teaching and learning process in Tumble Tots playgroup

class uses song to reduce children’s stress during the process. Teacher animates

children to act according to the song lyrics.

Therefore, in the end of each term teacher revises the all letters and word

formation. Children will rehearse their performance for mini concert. In the last

term or term IV, children have prepared to present a special performance for the

real mini concert. They will perform singing and dancing skill according to the

letterland characters they have learned, to show parents their progress on their

self-confidence and their language skills.

In the classroom, Tumble Tots playgroup uses some play materials to

supported children’s learning process, which they can use in their own way. Some

play materials like clay, crayons, blocks, marbels, etc evoke children’s interest

and creative responses. These play materials and equipments give children times

to cooling down after opening format session and before entering the lesson and

give possible activities to them after the lesson.

In the end of each session, teacher always explain about the lesson which

has been taught. It has helped parents to get the information to reinforce child at

home. Examples, when children have been introduced to the Clever Cat, parent

can ask to the children some objects which start with Clever Cat’s with hissing

sound: ‘c...’ sound. That means objects like camera, candle, cake, cup (or pictures

of them).

Some aids which are not used at the class can be used by parents at home

to reinforce the lesson that their child get at the class. The influence of a child’s

home and family is always stronger than the influence of school in terms of

teaching and learning process.

Communication between teachers and parents has given a lot of

information about children’s learning results. Parents not only know about the

progress of learning from the reports that teachers have given, but also know from

the act that child shows up to them. At home child acts like the letterland

characters which have been taught at school. Usually, children invite parents to be

acting, singing, or playing some rhymes. This progress make parents feel trust

that their child has come to the right place to learn.

CHAPTER IV

CONCLUSION AND SUGGESTION

A. Conclusion

So far we have known that based on the data described previously by the

writer, that using Letterland technique has much influence to the students. It turns

out that technique used at Tumble Tots not only can teach and enrich their

vocabulary as the based to write and read, but also give them some experiences in

learning a foreign language. Condition and situation that has been created in the

class makes the students feel happy and comfortable. This feeling has motivated

the students to learn. They no longer feel bored in learning, because it is fun and

an entertaining way of learning.

In introducing English to children, the teaching technique should be

integrated in language skills, such as; listening, speaking, reading, and writing.

By using letterland technique, teaching and learning process is much fun which

makes children more enjoyable in learning.

Children’s life is not separable from playing, in terms of teaching and

learning process, letterland technique which introduces a new way to

accommodate learning with play. Each letterland character which represents in

terms of teaching and learning process has inspired the student to become

themselves. It is easier for children to remember teaching materials, because it is

connected to the letterland characters.

By using letterland technique, children are able entering into the

imaginary world far more than adult. In this level, parents supporting is a main

key to reaches the goal. Parents always invite child to tell what she or he has

learned about letterland. This reinforcement become more usefully and valuable

to child to what he or she has learned at school.

Parents participate in teaching and learning process would expect in

making a good environment to children. Without parent’s participation,

successful children’s learning would not reach. For this reason why, Tumble Tots

playgroup teachers’ take parents as partnership to coordinate classroom strategies

with those that parents use at home.

It can concluded that Tumble Tots playgroup a new way in teaching

English vocabulary to the children which not separable to the language skills.

Letterland is very challenging program which encourage timid children to be

more active and creative, that make them more confidence in using their

language.

B. Suggestion

The writer would like to suggest, to the English teachers that the teaching

of vocabulary by letterland technique at playgroup needs a lot of time to reached

the goal of teaching and learning process. So, in using letterland technique in

teaching vocabulary in the playgroup class, teacher should be patient and more

creative to flow ideas, songs, and games.

Therefore, letterland is only a way in teaching English vocabulary to the

playgroup students. With, teacher’s loves and care to their students and treat them

like their child the goal of teaching and learning can be reach.

Finally, by using letterland technique it will give a contribution to the

teacher in using and developing a right technique to optimize the students’

comprehension in learning vocabulary at the playgroup, that can prepared them to

the elementary level.

Using Letterland as a Technique in Teaching Vocabulary

Focus Phonic

Reading Direction Stroking Direction

Stage 1: Early year/ Foundation

(Art & Craft) Term 1: c a d h m t s Term 2: i n y g o f

Technique Letterland Stages Term 3: p k e l v w j Term 4: b u q r x z

Stage 2: Program 1/ Intermediate (Word Building)

Stage 3: Program 2/ Advance

(Starting to Read)

Materials: ABC

Book, Flash Card, Wall Frieze, Alphabet Song, Alphabet Adventure’s Book, Sound Bag, Whiteboard and marker.

Conclusion

Opinion:

1. Make them easier to recognize the letter that combine the stories with pictograms

2. To enrich their vocabulary 3. To encourage them to be more active and creative,

that makes them more confidence in using their language

4. The children are able entering into the imaginary world far more than adult

Suggestion:

1. Teacher should be patient and more creative to flow ideas, songs, and games

2. With, teacher’s love and care to their students and treat them like their child the goal of teaching and learning can be reach

3. It will give a contribution to the teacher in using and developing a right technique to optimize the students’ comprehension in learning vocabulary at playgroup, that can prepared them to the elementary level

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www. Letterland. Com (October 12, 2006)

Zainuri., A. M. Vocabulary I. unpublished paper. The State Islamic University,2003

Theory

Vocabulary Definition

Letterland

Definition of Letterland

Functions of Letterland

• Linking sounds to letter shape • Reading direction • Child-friendly metalanguage • Picture coding

Strategies of Letterland

The Curriculum of Letterland • Stage 1: Early Years/ Foundation • Stage 2: Intermediate • Stage 3: Advanced

Materials of Letterland

• The Sound Trick • The Capital Letter Trick • The Character Names Trick • The Action Trick • The Alliteration Trick and Alliteration Game • The Rollercoaster Trick • The Rhyming Word Trick

Using Letterland as a Technique in Teaching Vocabulary to Playgroup

Results of learning Vocabulary by using letterland