STUDENTS’ VOCABULARY MASTERY IN THEIR DESCRIPTIVE

TEXTS AT ELEVENTH GRADE STUDENTS OF SMAN 13 MAKASSAR

(DESCRIPTIVE QUALITATIVE RESEARCH)

A THESIS

Submitted to The Faculty of Teacher Training and Education

Makassar Muhammadiyah University in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirement
for the Degree of Education In English Department

NURHIDAYAH

10535580314

ENGLISH EDUCATION DEPARTMENT

FACULTY OF TEACHERS TRAINING AND EDUCATION
MAKASSAR MUHAMMADIYAH UNIVERSITY
2018

vi
 MOTTO

why?

Because mistakes in childhood can be

We use pencil when we were small,

But now we use pen. Do you know erased not now

^^

I dedicated this thesis to both my parents and my sisters who are

always support me
 ACKNOWLEDGMENT

‫يم‬ ِ ‫س ِم ه‬
ِ ‫َّللا ال هر ْح َم ِن ال هر ِح‬ ْ ِ‫ب‬

By reciting Bismillahi Rahmani Rahim, the researcher started the process of

this activity including the primarily observation, literature review, writing process,

getting research, and consultation. Therefore, the very gratefulness is adhered to

Almighty God (Allah SWT) who has given me the best everything to complete

the whole process of this research.

Further, the researcher also express sincerely unlimited thanks to her

beloved father and mother (Sultan and Sarimada) and all her 4 sisters (Sukmawati,

Sulfitri, Ma’rifa, and Jamila) who always pray and give support to finish my

thesis.

Thanks to the Headmaster and English teacher of SMAN 13 Makassar who

gave me a chance to conduct my research and gave some guidance and advice

during my research process.

Special thanks is given to Muhammadiyah University of Makassar for

giving an opportunity to the researcher in getting undergraduate education.

Therefore, the researcher also includes the thanks to the all people and instances

that provide the best four years moment in this blue campus.

1. Dr. H Abd Rahman Rahim, SE, MM, the Rector of Muhammadiyah

University of Makassar who brings the campus to the advances.

2. Dr. St. Asriati, AM, SPd., M.Hum. the first advisor , who has

painstakingly spent his valuable time to guide and give excellent

suggestions to me in preparing this Thesis from very beginning till the end.

3. Maharida SP.d., M.Pd, the second advisor, for the very clear correction

and valuable advice and care she has rendered to me the completion of the

Thesis.

4. My beloved parents Sultan and Sarimada who have prayed for me every

time.

5. My beloved sisters who have given motivation and always reminded the

researcher to do her research thesis so far.

6. All my friends Ahmad Fitra, Zurtia Musdir, and Agus Salim who have

helped me a lot from counting my research data to accompanying me to go

my research location.

Finally, the writer surrenders everything to Allah SWT and the writer hope

it will be useful thing for the writer to improve the quality of education.

Makassar, December 2018

The writer

Nurhidayah
 LIST OF CONTENTS

Page

TITLE PAGE . ...................................................................................................... i

APPROVAL SHEET .......................................................................................... ii

SURAT PERNYATAAN ................................................................................... iii

SURAT PERJANJIAN ...................................................................................... iv

CONSELING SHEET ......................................................................................... v

MOTTO ............................................................................................................... vi

ACKNOWLEDGMENT ................................................................................... vii

TABLE OF CONTENT ................................................................................... viii

LIST OF FIGURE .............................................................................................. ix

ABSTRACT ......................................................................................................... x

CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION ....................................................................... 1

A. Background ................................................................................................ 1
B. Problem statement ..................................................................................... 3
C. Objective of The Study .............................................................................. 3
D. Significance of The Study ......................................................................... 3
E. The Scope of Study .................................................................................. 4

CHAPTER II REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE

A. PREVIOUS RESEARCH FINDINGS ..................................................... 5

B. SOME PARTINENT IDEAS .................................................................... 6
1. Conspt of Vocabulary .......................................................................... 6
2. Concept of Writing ........................................................................... 16
3. The Definition of Descriptive Writing .............................................. 20
 C. CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORK ........................................................... 25

CHAPTER III RESEARCH METHOD

A. Research Design ..................................................................................... 27

B. Variable ................................................................................................... 27
C. Sample and Population ............................................................................ 27
D. Research Instrument ................................................................................ 29
E. Procedure of Collecting Data .................................................................. 29
F. Technique and Data Analysis .................................................................. 30

CHAPTER IV FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION

A. Description ............................................................................................. 35
B. Discussion................................................................................................ 39

CHAPTER V CONCLUSION AND SUGGESTION

A. Conclusion ............................................................................................... 39
B. Suggesstion ............................................................................................. 39

BIBLIOGRAPHY

APPENDICES

CURRICULUM VITAE
 LIST OF TABLES

Page

Table 2.1 Generic Structure of Descriptive Text ................................................. 24

Table 3.1 The Population of The Eleventh Grade ............................................... 28

Table 3.2 Assessing Vocabulary ......................................................................... 30

Table 3.3 the classifications of Students’ Vocabulary Masteryscore ................. 30

Table 3.4 The Classification of Descriptive Writing ......................................... 31

 LIST OF FIGURE

Page

Figure 2.1 Conceptual Framework ................................................... 26

 Abstrack

Nurhidayah.2018. The effect of students’ vocabulary mastery in writing skill

at eleventh grade students of SMAN 13 Makassar. Supervised by Sitti Asriati
and Maharida.

This research was aimed as follow: to get empirical data and analyze the
students’ vocabulary mastery in their descriptive text at eleventh grade students of
Senior High School. The research was held at SMAN 13 Makassar, the population
of 267 students with a sample that was taken purposive random sampling about 29
students. Data collective done by giving test (make a descriptive text in three
paragraphs based on the topic provided) analyzing students’ vocabulary mastery
score in the written text given to class IPA 3. The result of study identified if there
was effect of students’ vocabulary mastery to their writing skill.

Based on the data, the result of students’ vocabulary mastery showed that
the verb score was 47 categorized enough, noun was 61 categorized enough,
adjective was 47 categorized enough, the adverb was 27 categorized poor. Thus, it
meant that students’ vocabulary mastery in their descriptive text was enough in
the case study of the eleventh grade students of SMAN 13 Makassar in the
academic year 2018/2019.

Key words: Vocabyulary Mastery, Writing skill

 Abstrak

Nurhidayah.2018. Penguasaan Kosa Kata Siswa dalam Teks Deskriptif di sekolah

menengah atas di Makassar.

Penelitian ini bertujuan untuk mengetahui penguasaan kosa kata siswa

dalam teks deskriptif mereka di sekolah menengah atas di Makassar.

Penelitian ini menggunakan metode deskriptif. Pengumpulan data dilakukan

dengan menggunakan angket (sebuah test menulis deskriptif teks). Jumlah
populasi siswa sebanyak 267. 29 siswa dikelas IPA 3 sebagai sample untuk
mengikuti test.

Berdasarkan data yang diperoleh, hasil dari penguasaan kosa kata siswa
menujukkan perolehan nilai kata kerjanya adalah 47 dikategorikan cukup, kata
benda memperoleh nilai 61 dikategorikan cukup, nilai kata sifatnya 47
dikategorikan cukup dan nilai kata keterangannya 27 dikategorikan rendah. Dapat
disimpulkan bahwa penguasaan kosa kata siswa dalam teks deskriptifnya
dianggap cukup pada kelas sebelas SMAN 13 Makassar tahun akademik
2018/2019.

Kata kunci: Penguasaan kosa kata, deskriptif teks.

 1

CHAPTER I

INTRODUCTION

A. Background of The Study

English is the most widely used in world society. Nevertheless,

English is an International language, formally or informally, in the parts of

society in many countries. Indonesia as one of developing countries needs to

communicate or interact to English to conduct social relationship, commercial,

and educational activities. Realizing that English is an important tool of

communication, the government has decided that English is used as the first

foreign language and as one of the compulsory subjects in junior and senior

high school and universities. In learning foreign language, some aspects can

affect the successful of learning and teaching process for instance, vocabulary

mastery.

Vocabulary is one of the most important components in learning

English. Learning language without vocabulary is impossible. The

psycholinguistic study showed there is relationship between the mastery of

vocabulary and creativity as well as skill the language, such as speaking or

writing skill. Someone who has a lot of vocabulary will be easier and more

creative in speaking and writing.

However, mastering vocabulary needs some efforts to be seriously

done, Fries (1974:45) classifies vocabulary into four types; content word,
 2

function word, and substitute word which is, then, divided into some sub-

types. Indeed, content word is classified as the closest vocabularies for the

students at the elementary school which is expected enabling to be mastered.

Furthermore, the students must be aware of the vocabularies. It means

that the students recognize its meaning, written form, and pronunciation. This

will be a great challenge for the teachers to teach vocabulary and develop their

students’ vocabulary, while they are also faced by the students’ inadequate

vocabularies which are later affected in their score. In this case, teaching

vocabulary must consider some principles by integrating the new one with the

previous one (Schmitt, 1997: 146).

Writing is one of the skills that should be mastered. However, when

teaching in senior high school several months ago the writer found that

students find difficulty in writing. Ideally, the students who have practiced

more in writing are able to understand the English test. It can be seen that the

failure of writing in this school are caused by the less motivation of the

teacher in developing the teaching of vocabulary and the less mastery of

vocabulary by the students. The teacher takes the materials of vocabulary from

the text book only. Consequently their vocabulary is very limited.

Based on the background explain above, the researcher is interested in

conducting a research to get to know the effect of vocabulary mastery in

writing skill in senior high school.

 3

B. Problem Statement

Referring to the background of the study previously presented, the

researcher formulated problem statement as follows: how is the students’

vocabulary mastery in their descriptive text?

C. Objective of The Study

Based on the problem statement, this particular study aimed to find out the

students’ vocabulary mastery in descriptive text.

D. Significance of Study

The results of this study had several advantages for other researchers,

teachers, and other researchers. Here some benefits:

a. Other researchers

This research could be a reference for other researchers who conduct for

the research with the same topic.

b. The teachers

This study was expected to provide information to students about

vocabulary mastery and writing skill, where teachers would help their

students when they faced some problems in mastering all of it. Teacher

could use the results of the research as feedback in teaching writing so

that the goal of English teaching program could be achieved.

 4

E. The Scope of the study

The scope of this study was limited on students’ vocabulary mastery verb,

noun, adjective adverb (effective choice of words and word forms) and

students’ descriptive text.

 CHAPTER II

REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE

A. Previous Research Findings

There are some previous findings have relations to this research.

Some of them also investigate the students’ vocabulary mastery and writing

skill.

Wilson, Agus.2014.The effect of vocabulary mastery and students’

perception on teaching materials towards writing skills. The result of this

study is vocabulary mastery has a positive and significant effect towards

students’ writing skill..

Nur Fahmi, Royal. (2017). The influence of vocabulary mastery and

reading comprehension of argumentation writing skills. The result is there is

effect of vocabulary mastery and reading comprehension towards writing

argumentation writing skill.

Muslikh. (2004). Relationship between students’ vocabulary mastery

and their writing descriptive text ability. The result of this research is there is

a significant relationship between the students’ vocabulary mastery and their

writing descriptive text ability of the seventh grade students of MTs Soebono

Mantofani Jombang.
 6

Based on the findings above, the similarities with this research is to

investigate the effect of students’ vocabulary mastery in writing. The

difference is the previous research focused on the influence of vocabulary

mastery and reading comprehension of argumentation writing skills. While in

this research more focus on students vocabulary mastery in writing

descriptive text.

B. Some Pertinent Ideas

1. Concept of Vocabulary

a. Vocabulary definition

Vocabulary is a core component in studying a language and it is

very necessary to be known. Some experts proposed various definition of

vocabulary. Horny (1987:959) defines that vocabulary is the total number of

words (with rules for combining them) that make up a language. It means that

vocabulary is a list of word that has meaning. In addition, Lado (1964:74)

stated that vocabulary is the lexicon of written language that is called words.

Moreover, Stahl (2005) stated that “vocabulary is the knowledge of words

and words meanings also puts vocabulary knowledge as the knowledge of a

word not only implies how that word fits into the context”. Vocabulary

knowledge is not something that can be fully mastered. It is something that

expands over the course of a life time. Teaching vocabulary involves looking

up words in a dictionary and using the words in a sentence. Vocabulary is

acquired accidentally through indirect exposure to words and intentionally

through explicit teaching in specific words and word-learning strategies.

 7

In addition, Richard and Schmidt (2002: 580) argue that a set of lexemes,

including single words, compound words and idioms. Share reading , defined

by Hatch and Brown (1995) as the term vocabulary refers to a list or set of

words for a particular language or words that individual speakers of language

might use

According to Ur (1996:60) vocabulary can be defined roughly as the words

teacher teaches in the foreign language. The term “words” here means that

the new item of vocabulary maybe more than a single word , for example,

father in law and police office, which are made up from two or more words

but express a single definition or idea. Furthermore, Hornby (1995:1331)

mentions that vocabulary is the total number of words in a language known to

a person or used in particular book, subject, etcetera.

b. Kinds of vocabulary

There are many kinds of vocabulary according to some experts. Harmer

(1991:150) distinguishes two kinds of vocabulary. The first refers to the

stock of words which have been taught by the teacher or learnt by the

students and which are expected to be able to use. While the second term

refers to the words of which the students will recognize when they meet

them, but of which they will probably not be able to pronounce.

According to Nation (2001: 24), there are two kinds of vocabulary.

They are perceptive and productive vocabulary. Receptive vocabulary refers

to the words that native speakers and foreign learners recognize and

understand but hardly ever use it. It is used passively in either listening or
 8

reading. Productive vocabulary is utilized actively either in speaking or

writing. Listening vocabulary is generally larger than speaking vocabulary

while reading vocabulary is relatively larger than writing vocabulary.

Therefore it can be concluded that vocabulary can be presented in four units.

They are listening vocabulary, reading vocabulary, speaking vocabulary, and

writing vocabulary. Reading vocabulary consists of the word found by people

when they are reading. While listening vocabulary is the words that people

hear and understand when they are talking to others or listening to radio and

television. Speaking vocabulary includes the words people used in their daily

life and conversation. The last is writing vocabulary that consists of the word

people use in writing essays, reports, letter, etc.

c. The Importance vocabulary

Vocabulary is the body of words that make up a language, and the

importance of vocabulary in reading comprehension cannot be overstated.

Without a good working knowledge of words and their meanings, both

written and verbal communication will be poorly understood. Teachers and

parents can emphasize reading and verbal interaction with children to help

them build a strong working vocabulary.

Thornburry (2002:14) states that vocabulary means a large

collection of items. He adds that learning vocabulary is important because it

enriches someone’s knowledge of words. This implies that. The success of

 9

the learner in learning a language depends on not only the size of vocabulary

but also vocabulary building.

Furthermore, Cameron (2001:72) believes that building a useful

vocabulary is central to the learning of a foreign language at primary level.

Building vocabulary means both understanding the meanings of words and

learning to decode those words. Thus, the students can also enlarge their

vocabulary mastery by using vocabulary building.

To show how important vocabulary is, Bromley (2004:3-4) states

that vocabulary holds some important roles in teaching learning process.

They are as follows:

1. Promoting fluency

Students who recognize and understand many words read more

quickly and easily than those with smaller vocabularies.

2. Boosting comprehension

Vocabulary knowledge strongly influences comprehension. On a

component analysis of comprehension, word meanings were found to make

up 74% of comprehension.

3. Improving achievement

A large vocabulary means a large of conceptual knowledge which

makes academic learning easier. Students with large vocabulary score

higher on achievement test then those with small vocabularies.

4. Enhancing thinking and communication

 10

Words are tools for analyzing, inferring, evaluating and reasoning. A

large vocabulary allows for communicating in ways that are precise,

powerful, persuasive and interesting.

In conclusion, realizing that the knowledge of vocabulary is very

important, learners have to pay a greater attention to the vocabulary

teaching. Teachers can emphasize the importance of vocabulary early in

school and continue to provide students with opportunities to build word

skills. One way to do this is to pre-teach key words in all subjects. This

strategy helps students grasp concepts that contain terms with which they

may be unfamiliar. Putting emphasis on root words, prefixes, and suffixes

assist students in morphemic analysis, which combines this knowledge with

the context to figure out a new word’s meaning. Multimedia tools are good

ways to expose students to new concepts and enhance their desire to build

vocabulary skills. If someone can master vocabulary well, He or she will be

able to promote fluency, boost comprehension, improve achievement and

enhance thinking and communication.

d. Vocabulary Mastery

According to John (2000: 16), vocabulary is knowledge of knowing

the meanings of words and therefore the purpose of a vocabulary test is to

find out whether the learners can match each word with a synonym, a

dictionary – tape definition, or an equivalent word in their own language. In

 11

learning vocabulary automatically they have to know the meaning of words

themselves and can use it in sentences.

The vocabulary mastery is not a spontaneous process which is easy

to be done. The process of vocabulary mastery begins when someone is

still an infant. Basically, the baby’s first language comes from the mother

tongue. They will master the vocabulary through the simple words by

listening to the words which are uttered by someone else. It is known that

English vocabulary learning cannot run successfully without English

ability (English skills) because both of them are very important in English

teaching and learning process.

The students cannot do well in comprehension without large

vocabulary, for the passages and questions involve a range of words much

wider than that of daily conversation.

To make the discussion clearer, Harmer’s opinion can be added. In

his book, Harmer (2001: 16) says that there are some aspects that have to

be discussed in vocabulary, namely: word meaning (synonym, antonym,

connotation, and denotation), extending word use such as idioms, word

combination or collocation, and the grammar of words which comprises

noun, verb, adjective, and adverb.

1. Meaning

The meaning can be classified according to the form they attach to.

It can be classified into three forms: lexical meaning, morphological

meaning, and syntactic meaning. Lexical meaning is the meaning that

 12

attaches to words as word. For example, the meaning of a building for

human habitation that attaches to house is lexical meaning. Morphological

meaning is the meaning that attaches to morpheme. Morpheme is the

smallest unit that carries information about meaning or function. And the

meaning that attaches to the word arrangement in a sentence is the

syntactic meaning. A word meaning can also be defined by its relationship

to other words. One should also know the denotation and connotation of a

word in order to know the negative or positive meanings that occur in the

word.

2. Synonym

The term synonymy derives from Greek: syn- + -nymy. The two parts

mean “same and name”. Synonymy deals with sameness of meaning, more

than one word having the same meaning, alternatively the same meaning

being expressed by more than one word. In other words, synonym is words

whose denotation is the same but has different connotation.

2. Antonym

Antonym is the opposite of meaning. It derives from Greek, “ant-

and -nymy”, the two parts mean “opposite + name”. Antonym deals with

oppositeness of meaning. Antonyms are not differentiated for formality or

dialect or technicality; antonyms occur within the same style, dialect, or

register.

3. Denotation
 13

Denotative meaning is called as some terms such as den notational

meaning, cognitive meaning, conceptual meaning, ideational meaning,

referential meaning, or proportional meaning. This is called dennotational,

referential, conceptual, or ideational because the meaning refers to a

certain referent, concept, or idea from reference. Denotative meaning is

also called cognitive meaning because the meaning concerns with

consciousness or knowledge.

4. Connotation

Connotation is more complicated than denotation. Connotation is

feeling and emotion that occurs within a word. Thus, it can be said that

connotation is denotative meaning which is stretched. In other words,

connotation is the feeling and emotion associated with a meaning.

a. Use

According to Nation (2001:1), there are some ways to draw the

attentions to the use of words by quickly showing the grammatical

pattern the word fits into (countable/uncountable,

transitive/intransitive, etc.), giving a few similar collocates,

mentioning any restrictions on the use of the word (formal, informal,

impolite, only used with children, etc.), and giving a well-known

opposite or a well-known word describing the group or lexical set it

fits into.

b. Spelling
 14

Spelling is the writing of a word or words with the necessary letters

and diacritics present in an accepted standard order and an

arrangement of letters that form a word or part of a word; the process

of forming words by putting letters together. According to Ur (1996:

60) there are some important points that should be considered when

teaching vocabulary that is form (pronunciation and spelling). The

learners have to know what a word sound is like (its pronunciation)

and what it looks like (its spelling).

c. Pronunciation

According to Hewings (2004:3), pronunciation of a language is the

main components of speech which combine together. These

components range from the individual sounds that make up speech, to

the way in pitch (the rise and fall of the voice is used to convey

meaning).

Pronunciation can be said as the act of uttering with articulation;

the act of giving the proper sound and accent; utterance; as, the

pronunciation of syllables of words; distinct or indistinct

pronunciation.

It is a way in which language is spoken. It includes segmental

feature, vowel, and the intonation patterns. The listeners are supposed

to apply them well and correctly.

 15

According to Ur (1996: 60), there are some important points that

should be considered when teaching vocabulary that is form

(pronunciation and spelling). The learners have to know what a word

sound is like (its pronunciation) and what it looks like (its spelling).

These are fairly obvious characteristics and the words will be

perceived by the learners when encountering the items for the first

time.

From the definitions above, it can be inferred that learners should

master the words of the language because language consists of words.

It is in order to be able to use the language approximately. Having

mastered a large number of words, they will be able to express their

ideas in the language approximately.

2. Concept of Writing

a. Definition of Writing

Some definition of writing according to some experts:

Byrne (1993 ) states that writing is the act of forming graphic

symbols, that is better or combination of letters in which related to the

sounds when the writers make in speaking. In this sense the symbols have

to be arranged according to certain convention, to from words, and words

have to be arranged to form sentence.

 16

Brain (2003:7) states to writing means procedure or reprocedure

messages into written language. It involves an active process to organize

and formulate the ideas on the paper so that the reader can follow the

writer’s messages as well in oral from.

Based on definition above the writer can conclude that writing as

one of language skills in English is used to express ideas. In writing, the

writing will be involved in the process of building the larger units of ideas

from the larger ones. These will be linked to a from a piece of program

which will be also linked together to form a larger unit of writing that is a

piece of composition.

b. The component of writing

There are five main component of writing. They are content,

organization, grammar, vocabulary and mechanism Baker in

Yakkop:(2006: 16).

1. Content

The content of writing should be clear for the readers so the readers

can understand the message convey and again information from it. In order

to have a good content of writing, its contet should be will unified and

completed. This term is usully known as unity and completeness, which

because characteristic of good writing.

2. Unity
 17

The writing regard to have good unity, if it has some mind ideas and

these sentences contained in it develop that idea. The main is stated in the

topic sentences and each or every supported sentences and related to that

idea of the topic sentences. If a writer ones his writing is unified her or she

should not include the sentences that do not suppor the main idea of the

topic sentences.

3. Completeness

Writing is said to have completeness if the main idea have been

explained and developed fully completeness. The controlling idea with

develop through be these of particular information. Is is relative to know

how complex or general the topic sentences by haning a complete writing It

is expected that the content of writing will be clear and understand able for

readers.

4. Organization

In organization of the writing concern with the wise through writer

arranges and organization the ideas in order message in the words. There

are many wise used by writer to organize or arrange the writing

organization is mainly recognized as order. There are two parts of

organization in this case they are below:

a. Coherence

Coherence means that sticking together coherence assay, all the idea

sticks together a coherence paragraph is each idea in supporting sentences

related to hhe topic sentences of the idea. One in which the idea are put in
 18

the writer order and never confused. This makes the writer through essay

to follow sentences paragraph.

b. Spatial order

If it purpose of the paragraph is to tell them something looks most

effective organization pattern is usually spatial, if the writers a description

of neighborhood, a room, or a holding that they want to the readers have a

mental picture of what they are describing a house of building, they will

probably describe the exterior and the interior of the building by moving

systematically rather than haphazardly over the scene, convey the viewer

of the overall plan arrangement of the scene. According to Virginia, 2008

she said that content was one of idea, and the sentences structure correct.

c. Process of Writing

a. Prewriting

Graham and Perin (2007:18) explain that pre-writing engages

students in activities designed to help them generate or organize ideas for

their composition. Engaging the students in such activities before they

write a first draft improves the quality of their writing. Pre-writing

activities include gathering possible information for a paper through

reading or developing a visual representation of their ideas before sitting

down to write.

In this section, the students are required to cluster or list what they

know for each topic before deciding on one topic as the subject of their
 19

report of information essay. Some students list subtopics for two or three

choices and then select the topic that yield the greatest number of

subtopics.

You quickly write down a list of ideas that come to your mind as you

are thinking about a general subject or specific topic. These following are

brainstorming steps:

1. Write down your general subject or specific topic

2. Make a list everything that comes to your mind about it.

3. Use words, phrase, and/or sentence. Don’t worry about the order of

ideas, mechanics, grammar, or spelling.

4. Just keep writing down whatever comes to your mind until you run

out of ideas. Because you are only brainstorming, don’t be concerned

if you repeat several ideas.

b. Writing

Graham and Perin (2007:20) the process of writing approach stress

activities that emphasize extended opportunities for writing.

c. Rewriting

At this stage of the process you will need to work more carefully.

Read what you have written and repair it as you can. Finally, when are

satisfied that your writing is clear and correct, write it out its final form.

Write carefully. Make your work as neat as possible.

3. The Definition of descriptive writing

 20

Descriptive writing appeals to the senses. It tells how something looks,

feels, smells, tastes, or sounds. A good description is a word picture. The

reader can imagine the object, place, or person in his or her mind,

(Oshima & Hogue, 2007: 61).

Similarly, Ploeger (2000: 241) also defines that descriptive writing or

description is the method that used in writing. The aim is to describe

physical items or objects. The features are concrete or touchable. It should

be attained through using the sensory of language or five senses that

consist of sight, hearing, smell, taste, and touch.

Jordan (1999:21) has different definitions about descriptive writing. he

said, ―physical description may occur in a number of disciplines or

subjects. A description of people, family, relationship, occupations and

institution may occur in social or physical anthropology or sociology‖

The purpose of a description is to create the picture using word. The

important part of writing in description is using clear and effective word

that creates exactly from the picture that the writer wants (Blanchard &

Root, 1994: 57)

From the statement above, the writer concluded that descriptive

writing is a type of writing that given clear and concise description of a

place, people, object or an event. The primary objective of descriptive

writing is to frame an image of the place, people or thing in the minds of

 21

readers through sufficient details and allow them to feel that thing through

their five senses.

Grammatical Feature of Descriptive Writing According to Knapp and

Watkins (2005:98), there are some grammatical features of descriptive

writing as follows:

1. The descriptive writing uses the present tense in terms of describing

things from a technical or factual point of view. For instance: eats,

drinks, swim, and so on.

2. In terms of literary description, the past tense is able to be used. For

instance: had, enjoyed, seemed, sparkled, and so on.

3. To classify or describe appearance/qualities and parts/functions of

phenomena. The relational verbs (to be: is, are, has, have) are used.For

instance:

a). My favorite drink is apple juice because it is tasty and good for my

health.

b).Leeches do not have teeth, but they have a sucker at each end of

their

body.

4. Descriptive writing uses action verbs in terms of describin

behaviors/uses.For instance: A swan glides by the river.

5. In literary and commonsense descriptions, action verbs are used

metaphorically to create effect. For instance: Dawn broke over Jakarta

city.
 22

6. Mental verbs are used when describing feelings in literary descriptions.

For instance: She felt sad as she heard the news.

7. Adjectives are used to add extra information about nouns and

technical, every day or literary, depending on the text. For instance:

a). Technical: Most bats are nocturnal animals.

b). Everyday: It is blue and red.

c). Literary: The panorama of Dieng Mountain is majestic.

8. Adverbs are used to add extra information about verbs to provide more

detailed description For instance: She dances beautifully.

9. Adverbial phrases are used in descriptions to add more information

about the manner, place or time. For instance:

a). Place: My brother lives in the old farmhouse.

b). Time: The students only study hard just before exams.

10. Sentences and paragraphs are thematically linked to the topic of

description. For instance: The sea is the salty water covering a large

part of the surface of the earth.

11. Personal and literary descriptions generally deal with individual things.

For instance: My big bag, my favorite doll.

12. Technical descriptions generally deal with classes of things, rather than

individual things. For instance: snails, turtles, volcanoes.

 23

b. Structure of descriptive writing

Ploeger (2000: 247) mentions that there are some parts of structure of

descriptive text. That are presented in table below:

Table 2.1
Generic structure of descriptive text

Elements text Content

Identification An introduction to the objects/things described

which includes who or what, when, and where.

Description A description of an object. For example the

color, the size, the smell, the taste, what makes it

special, etc.

For persons : what they look like, what they do,

how they act and so on.

For something : how it looks, sounds, feels,

smells or taste, where it is seen or found, what

does, how it is used, what makes it special.

C. Conceptual Framework
 24

Vocabulary Mastery

Effective choice of word and word forms

Students’ descriptive text

Figure 2.1 conceptual framework

Figure 1 describes the students’ vocabulary mastery which consists of the use of

verb, noun, adjective and adverb in sentence in the correct context. The following

figure, the vocabulary mastery of students is analyzed in order to see if the

students have already use the effective choice of words and word forms in the

correct way by using descriptive text test. In result, the researcher will find out the

students’ vocabulary mastery in their descriptive texts by classifying their average

score into excellent, good, enough, poor or failed.

 CHAPTER III

RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

This chapter outlined the methodology of this research. The researcher

began by outlining the method that researcher was used for this study. It

was followed by sample and population, instrument data and data

collection then researcher explain method of analyzing the data.

A. Research Design

The research used a descriptive design which emphasized the students’

vocabulary mastery in their descriptive text .It was categorized as a

descriptive design method because the result of this research is interpreted

into words.

B. Variable

The variables of the research were students’ vocabulary mastery and

their descriptive text.

C. Sample and Population

1. Population

The population of this research was the students of SMAN 13

Makassar in the academy year at 2018/2019. The total classes for

eleventh grade were eight classes. The total population was 267. The

numbers of students in each class were as follows:

 26

Table 3.1

The population of the eleventh grade of SMAN 13 Makassar

No. Class Name Population

1. Class XI IPA 1 32

2. Class XI IPA 2 33

3. Class IPA 3 34

4. Class IPA 4 34

5. Class IPS 1 35

6. Class IPS 2 32

7. Class IPS 3 33

8 Class IPS 4 34

TOTAL 267

2. Sample

The researcher used purposive sampling method. The sample was 29

students XI IPA 3. The reason researcher used this purposive sampling

method than other methods, researcher believed by using this purposive

sampling method the purpose of this study achieved. In accordance with

Sugiyono (2011:300), purposive sampling was a technique of taking

sample data sources based on consideration or focus of a particular

sample. The respondent were selected by the total samples namely 29

students who would do the test.

 27

D. Research Instruments

In collecting data, the researcher used writing test as the instrument

of the research. The writing test was supposed to measure students’

vocabulary mastery. In the writing test, it was composed of five topics

and the students had to choose one of the topics provided. Then, the topic

they chose would be described into two until three paragraphs in a piece

of paper. This test was supposed to measure students’ vocabulary.

E. Technique of Collecting Data

The test for collecting data is important thing in this research that

could determine the result of the research. The steps can be seen as

follows:

1. The researcher asked for permission to the administration staff that

she wanted to conduct a research.

2. The researcher met the English teacher.

3. The researcher came into the class and explained the purpose of the

researcher coming. Researcher gave brief explanations about

descriptive text to the students. After that, the researcher collected

data by handing in every student a piece of paper. Then, the

students had to write descriptive text to be assessed their

vocabulary mastery.
 28

F. Technique of Data Analysis

In this research the researcher used one kind test namely descriptive

text to measure students’ vocabulary mastery. The researcher tried to

find out the score of the students by using the rubric as follows:

Table 3.2

Assessing vocabulary

4 Effective choice of words and word forms

3 Few misuse of vocabularies, word forms, but

Vocabulary not change the meaning
(V)

2 Limited range confusing words and word

form

1 Very poor knowledge of words, word forms,

and not understandable

Adapted from Brown 2007

 29

Table 3.3

The classifications of students’ vocabulary mastery score

No Interval Criteria

1. 86-100 Excellent

2. 66-85 Good

3. 46-65 Enough

4. 26-45 Poor

5 Under 25 Failed
(Depdikbud, 2004:10)
 CHAPTER IV

FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION

In this chapter, the researcher presents findings and discussion of the research.

The research findings show the data which obtained from the result in order to see

Students’ Vocabulary Mastery in Their Descriptive Texts at Elevanth Grade

Students of SMAN 13 Makassar (Descriptive Qualitative Research). The

discussion contains the description and interpretation of the research findings.

A. Findings

1. The research was held at SMAN 13 Makassar. To get the data, the researcher

used writing test in order to measure students’ vocabulary mastery. The

researcher took the score of 29 students as the participants. From the data, the

result of students’ verb score was 47 categorized enough, noun was

61categorized enough, adjective was 47 categorized enough, or the adverb

was 27 categorized poor. Thus, it could be inferred that their vocabulary

score was enough. Data of students’ vocabulary mastery score that being

sample can be seen as follows:

Table 4.1
Score of students’ vocabulary Mastery (X)

Vocabulary mastery Mean score Criteria

Verb 46 Enough

Noun 61 Enough

Adjective 47 Enough
 31`

Adverb 27 Poor

Total ∑ = 182

B. Discussion

From the research findings, it is able to be considered that good writers

may affectively create a composition. In case, they may use words; therefore,

to have the adequate vocabulary knowledge is insisted for them. Vocabulary

mastery is important part of foreign language teaching. Teacher must help

students to increase their vocabulary, for instance, through writing activity.

Richard et al (2002:225) claim that vocabulary is a core component of

language proficiency. It provides much of basis for how well learners speak,

listen, read and write. Thus, it can be inferred that there is a necessary

connection between students’ vocabulary mastery and their writing ability.

The writing ability is able to be developed through vocabulary mastery.

Vocabulary mastery is dealing with the measurement of productive skills that

is the vocabulary knowledge required for writing (Nation, 2012:1).

The first impression of researcher before conducting research the

researcher believed that vocabulary mastery really affects students’ writing

ability. In fact, it was proved when the researcher observed the students, some

students had difficulty did the writing test when they were lacking knowledge

of vocabulary while those who had a lot of vocabulary knowledge did better

on the test.
 CHAPTER V

Conclusion and Suggestion

A. Conclusion

Based on the previous discussion and the result of the research, the writer

concluded that: The vocabulary mastery has effects on writing descriptive

text. It can be seen from the average score of English vocabulary mastery for

the eleventh grade students of SMAN 13 Makassar in the academic year

2018/2019. Vocabulary mastery is poor and their writing ability is enough. It

shows the result of students’ verb score was 47 categorized enough, noun was

61categorized enough, adjective was 47 categorized enough, or the adverb

was 27 categorized poor. It concluded that if the students have little

vocabulary, the descriptive text is low. On the other hand, if the students have

much vocabulary, the descriptive text is high.

B. Suggestion

Based on the conclusions above, it was able to be delivered some

suggestions related to teaching and learning of writing descriptive text as

well as vocabulary at going to:

a. English teacher

English teacher should be creative when they are teaching of

descriptive text. The way they teach determines the way the students
 33

comprehend the aspect of writing. Automatically, the students’

understanding of English words may increase.

b. Students

Students for the eleventh grade of SMAN 13 Makassar in the academic

year 2018/2019 are expected to be more enthusiast in learning English.

The students have to practice a lot in order to acquire the English

skills.

c. School

The school, SMAN 13 Makassar is expected and suggested to increase

the quality of the educators’ work. They can provide the students with

knowledge and guide them well and maximally.

 BIBLIOGRAPHY

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 APPENDIX I

LIST OF PARTICIPANTS AND POPULATION

Table 3.1

The population of the eleventh grade of SMAN 13 Makassar

No. Class Name Population

1. Class XI IPA 1 32

2. Class XI IPA 2 33

3. Class IPA 3 34

4. Class IPA 4 34

5. Class IPS 1 35

6. Class IPS 2 32

7. Class IPS 3 33

8 Class IPS 4 34

TOTAL 267

No. Participants Verb Noun Adjective Adverb

1 Devy Maharani 50 100 25 25

2 Krisna Surya Bagus 50 100 50 25
3 Sultan Ardiansyah 25 50 25 25
4 Zainul Fahri 25 50 25 25
5 Tasbih Rahman 50 75 50 25
6 Nabila Raisati 50 75 25 25
7 Devlin Vinda Aprilia 100 100 75 25
8 Putri Aulia 75 100 75 25
9 Sarah Maulida 25 25 25 25
10 Irma Maemuna 50 75 50 25
11 Nurmasita 50 50 75 25
12 Syahrani Rizki 50 75 25 25
13 Ridwan Saleh 25 75 50 25
14 Munawarah 50 50 25 25
15 Desi 50 50 100 25
16 Dwi Wahyuni 50 50 50 25
17 Nur Azizah 50 50 25 25
18 Nurmi Ismi Zakaria 25 25 25 25
19 Nur Hikma Yani 25 25 25 25
20 Ayu Amalia 25 50 25 25
21 Krist Saija 50 50 25 25
22 Alif Azhari Zainuddin 25 25 25 25
23 Iin Febrianti 50 50 25 25
24 Musliani 100 100 75 75
25 Musdalifah 75 100 50 25
26 Muhammad RifaiArief 25 50 25 25
27 Nursalsabila 25 50 25 25
28 Adrian 50 50 50 25
29 Muhammad Iqbal Arif 50 50 50 25
1350 1775 1200 775

1. Mean of verb ( x ) =
 =
=46

2. Mean of noun ( x ) =

=
=61

3. Mean of adjective ( x ) =

=
=47

4. Mean of adverb ( x ) =

=
=27

APPENDIX II

DOCUMENTATION
 APPENDIX III

INSTRUMENT

Instrument of Writing Descriptive Text

Name

Write down descriptive texts which consists of 3 paragraph by using key words as
follows:
Home Class My Mother
School Best Friend My Family

Answer :

…………………………..
………………………………………………………………………………………
…
………………………………………………………………………………………
..
………………………………………………………………………………………
…
………………………………………………………………………………………
…
………………………………………………………………………………………
…
………………………………………………………………………………………
…
………………………………………………………………………………………
…
………………………………………………………………………………………
…
………………………………………………………………………………………
…
………………………………………………………………………………………
…
………..……………………………………………………………………………
…
………………………………………………………………………………………
APPENDIX IV
 L

SCURRICULUM VITAE
Nurhidayah, was born in Soppeng regency South Sulawesi on Agustus, 8th 1995.
She has four sisters and she is the youngest. She is studying at Muhammadiyah
University of Makassar.

She studied at SD DDI Tolai in central Sulawesi. She came back to south
Sulawesi to study at Junior High School 2 liliriaja. She went to Senior High
School 1 liliriaja and joined PMR. Then, she is accepted as a student of English
department in Muhammadiayah University of Makassar in 2004.

During the study in muhammadiyah university of Makassar she used to work and
teach. She taught at BEC( Buckingham English Course). She also worked as an
assistant English teacher at Kumon Pengayoman. She teaches English grammar
for high school who wants to study grammar on private. Now she joines LBU as
an English tutor. All those give her lots of experiences in her life.