DEVELOPING

VOCABULARY BY

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EDUCATIONAL GAME
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Dr. Sholihatul Hamidah Daulay, M.Hum.

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 DEVELOPING
VOCABULARY BY

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EDUCATIONAL GAME
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Dr. Sholihatul Hamidah Daulay, M.Hum.
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PENERBIT CAKRAWALA SATRIA MANDIRI

DEVELOPING VOCABULARY
BY EDUCATIONAL GAME

ISBN : 978-623-6282-26-7
Penulis : Dr. Sholihatul Hamidah Daulay, M.Hum.

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Editor : Nurika Khalila Daulay
Emeliya Sukma Dara Damanik
Rora Rizky Wandini
Tata Sampul : Nurul Lailatul Khasanah
Tata Isi : Tim Cakrawala
Pracetak : Tim Cakrawala

PENERBIT
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CV. CAKRAWALA SATRIA MANDIRI
Pliken RT.04 / RW.09, Kembaran, Banyumas
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Jl. Pesantren XII No.03, Pesantren, Kota Kediri
Telp : 08155525121
Email : [email protected]
www.cakrawalaonline.co.id
Anggota IKAPI
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PEMASARAN
CAKRAWALA, Jl. Brigjend Pol Imam Bahri No. 129,
Pesantren, Kota Kediri
Telp/Fax. 0354.7418363
Email: [email protected]
www.cakrawalaonline.co.id
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Cetakan Pertama, Juni 2021

Hak cipta dilindungi undang-undang
Dilarang memperbanyak karya tulis ini dalam bentuk dan cara
apapun tanpa izin tertulis dari penerbit
 PREFACE

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Alhamdulillah, all praises is due to Allah Azza
wa Jalla, The Most Gracious, The Most Merciful and
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The Most Bene�icent who has given me love and
blessing that make me able to �inish the book under

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title “DEVELOPING VOCABULARY BY EDUCATIONAL
GAME”. Peace and salutation be upon our beloved
prophet Muhammad SAW, his family and companions
who is always be a true inspirator for all human being.
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Today there is so much freedom in choosing the
methods to be used during English classes. The English
syllabus is organized around both vocabulary and
grammar structures. Teachers, therefore, usually have
the necessary time to insist on teaching and practicing
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vocabulary. Vocabulary is no longer treated as an add-

on and this means teachers becoming more aware of
the importance of vocabulary and attention is paid
to especially with the teaching of grammar of words.
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Words! Words! Words! A student’s vocabulary —

the words he or she can understand when reading
and listening and use when writing and speaking
are critical to success in school. This is the reason

Developing Vocabulary by Educational Game v

vocabulary is an essential element of effective reading
programs. Vocabulary represents one of the most
important skills necessary for teaching and learning
a foreign language. It is the basis for the development
of all the other skills like reading comprehension,
listening, speaking, writing, spelling, and pronunciation.

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This book gives a solution for English teacher in
developing student’ vocabulary by using educational
game, such as stirred word game, pictionary game,

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blindfold game, �ly swatter game, observe and
remember game, monopoly game etc. It will help
students’ to know about the meaning quickly and
easily. On the other hand, games have many advantages
and disadvantages for both language teachers and its
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learners. The writer hopes this book will help students’
in increasing their vocabulary as many words as possible.

Finally, I am grateful to Nurika, Emeliya, and Rora for

their kindness, support, patience to edit my draft, especially
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alerted me to various errors in this book. Thank you.

Medan, 02 April 2021

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vi Developing Vocabulary by Educational Game

 Editor’s Preface
In mastering English, the students need to know

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about grammar, vocabulary, organization, and mechanics.
Basically, vocabulary is one of the elements that students
need to know. There are many methods and techniques to
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make the English teaching–learning process enjoyable and
interesting. One of them is using game. A game is simpli�ied,

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operational model of the real life situation that provides
students with vicarious participation in a variety roles and
events. Thus there are some problems that the students
faced in developing their vocabulary as well as possible.

In order to solve those problems, the solution to

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overcome the problem is by using an interest game. Game
is one of the techniques for teaching to the students
in ful�illing and relaxing learning atmosphere. This
book begins an explanation in chapter 1 about a brief
of vocabulary generally that consists of de�inition of
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vocabulary, types of vocabulary and the relation of teaching

and game, chapter 2 discussed about the importance of
vocabulary, chapter 3 related to what is educational game?,
then chapter 4 discussed about developing vocabulary by
educational game and the last chapter about conclusion.
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The book is, too, highly give solutions especially in

developing vocabulary by using educational games.

Nurika Khalila Daulay

Emeliya Sukma Dara Damanik
Rora Rizky Wandini

Developing Vocabulary by Educational Game vii

 Which then, of the favours of your Lord
will you deny? (QS. Ar Rahman, 55: 13)

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This book is fully dedicated to:
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My sweetheart,
Farhan Dhuha Al Haris
Fania Dhawiyah Al Haris
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Fathur Daffa Al Haris

Fahira Dzakiyah Al Haris

viii Developing Vocabulary by Educational Game

 CONTENTS
Preface ......................................................................................... v
Contents ...................................................................................... ix

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1. A Brief of Vocabulary................................................... 1
A. De�inition of Vocabulary ................................. 6
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B. Types of Vocabulary.......................................... 13

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C. The Relation of Teaching and Game .......... 25
2. The Importance of Vocabulary................................ 27
3. What is Educational Game? ...................................... 39
A. The Advantages of Using Games in
Foreign Language Teaching and Learning
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................................................................................... 51
B. Why We Should Use Games in
Language Teaching ........................................... 55
C. Types of Games for Vocabulary
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Learning ............................................................... 56
D. Criteria for Good Games ................................. 58
4. Developing Vocabulary by Educational Game .. 59
5. Conclusion ....................................................................... 123
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References .................................................................................. 127

Author’s Pro�ile ........................................................................ 141

Developing Vocabulary by Educational Game ix

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 1 A BRIEF OF
VOCABULARY

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The importance of language in society cannot be
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overstated. It is used as a means of communication in daily
activities; it is a fact that we use language to communicate

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with one another every day. English is a foreign language
that is taught in schools and universities in Indonesia.
As a result, it has become common knowledge for all
Indonesians, particularly Muslims, to seek knowledge,
particularly in the field of language learning. Language
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is also an instrument to convey information. In reality
language has function as a medium to apply the social
relationship.

English is widely used as an international language

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for communication around the world. It is used in

almost every aspect of human life, including education,
mass media, business, sports, science, economics, law,
technology, culture, and many others. Many countries,
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including Indonesia, recognize that the people urgently

require the ability to compete with other countries on
a global scale. Therefore, the knowledge and skills of
English are highly valued in daily life.

English has also become the most important language

Developing Vocabulary by Educational Game 1

to learn in the educational field. As a result, some
Indonesian educational institutions have introduced
English from the pre-elementary level to the university
level. At the kindergarten level, they are introduced as
the foundation of English as a language.

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As a result, while studying English is not a new
experience for junior high school students, the fact
remains that they still struggle with it. As we know, their
first language is Indonesian, which differs from English

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in terms of grammar, vocabulary, pronunciation, and
so on. Students must be able to speak fluently in order
to communicate effectively in English. They must also
be able to read and write in English fluently. To do so,
students must be fluent in a wide range of vocabularies.
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One of the most important aspects of achieving all four
language skills is the teaching of vocabulary. Teaching
vocabulary is an essential part of teaching English
because vocabulary is linked to all learning and affects
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all four language skills.

Vocabulary is crucial in language learning and teaching.

We couldn’t learn a language without vocabulary because
vocabulary is one of the language elements that has
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a direct impact on mastery of the four language skills:

listening, speaking, reading, and writing.

Vocabulary is one of the most important aspects of

2 Developing Vocabulary by Educational Game
 mastering all four languages. Vocabulary mastery is
related to all language learning and is concerned with all
four language skills as learning, speaking, reading, and
writing.

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Vocabulary teaching is a difficult task. The best or
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most effective method for teaching English vocabulary
should be determined by the teacher. Language learning,

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according to Brown (2000:1), is not a series of simple
steps that can be programmed in a do-it-yourself kit. In
general, many teachers teach vocabulary using only the
handbook and no other media. Inadvertently, it makes
students bored and lazy to learn new words. Indeed,
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many students fail to learn English because they lack
vocabulary. Given the importance of vocabulary in
learning English and the students’ vocabulary mastery,
teachers should be able to make the lesson more engaging.
In this case, teacher is demanded to be more creative,
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not relying on handbook in teaching the vocabulary.

Vocabulary is central to language and critical to

the typical language learner, and it is important from
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the beginning (Andrew, 2006). Without a sufficient

vocabulary, it is impossible to communicate effectively
or express one’s ideas in both oral and written forms. It
means that students in junior high school must be fluent
in English vocabulary and grammatical rules in order to
communicate with others.

Developing Vocabulary by Educational Game 3

 One of the factors in mastering English as a foreign
language is vocabulary mastery. It denotes that the
students are capable of comprehending and applying
the words and meaning. It is also important for language
skills. Students must master vocabulary in order to
develop their language skills in reading, listening,

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speaking, and writing. Each language skill requires
the mastery of vocabulary, because in order to create
a sentence or communicate in a foreign language, they
must first learn the vocabulary.

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Students cannot obtain the four English skills of
listening, speaking, reading, and writing unless they
have a strong vocabulary. Vocabulary development is a
critical component of English instruction. Students will
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find it easier to remember and more motivated in class
if you use a good technique to present the revise new
vocabulary items used in the text book.

Over the past year, there has been a significant shift

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in the teaching profession. It used to be that students

were expected to be passive in the classroom. However,
today’s students are much more active in the classroom,
and what better way to be active than to play games.
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Some people have a passive vocabulary (words they

understand) of up to 10.000 words, while native speakers
of a language have an active vocabulary of between

4 Developing Vocabulary by Educational Game

 10.000 and 20.000 words. An intermediate to upper
intermediate level of proficiency in foreign learning is
defined as an active vocabulary of approximately 3.000 to
5.000 words and a passive vocabulary of approximately

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5.000 to 10.000 words (Richard: 1992)
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According to June (2006), vocabulary is more than
just a list of words, and while the size of one’s vocabulary

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is important, knowing how to use it is more important.
Vocabulary is a study of words organized alphabetically
for reference and defined or explained the special stock
of words used by an individual in business or author.
In another dictionary vocabulary is a total of number of
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words which (with rulers for combining them) make up
languages.

Vocabulary is an important part of a student’s

background knowledge, and research shows that
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vocabulary instruction can be an effective way to improve

it (Bj Stone, 2008). Children with low vocabularies,
according to Biemiller (2008), would have to learn words
much faster than their peers, at a rate of three to four root
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words per day, if they were to catch up in five or six years.

Vocabulary is the important part of language, without
vocabulary someone cannot produce the sentences and
communication well.

Vocabulary is also used to represent ideas that are

Developing Vocabulary by Educational Game 5

communicated by others. If a person’s vocabulary is
limited, so is the number of ideas that can be expressed. As
a result, if a person studies a language for communication
purposes, he must adequately master the vocabulary
studied. Vocabulary should not be thought of as a long
list of words to be defined and memorized. In contrast,

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the vocabulary should be an integral role in the use of
language is contextual and meaningful.

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DEFINITION OF VOCABULARY
The Oxford Dictionary (2008: 495) defines
vocabulary as “all the words in a language”. Penny
Ur (1991: 60) defined vocabulary as “the words we
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teach in the foreign language”. Without grammar,
very little can be conveyed, and without vocabulary,
nothing can be conveyed. This is how linguist David
Wilkins summarized the significance of vocabulary
learning. According to McCarten (2007: 21), learning
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vocabulary is primarily about remembering, and

students must typically see, say, and write newly
learned words several times before they can be said
to have learned them. Before they say anything, the
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students should learn the word so that they can easily

express their ideas to one another.

Read (2000: 1), on the other hand, explained

6 Developing Vocabulary by Educational Game

 that vocabulary knowledge continues to develop
naturally in adult life in response to new experiences,
invitations, concepts, social trends, and opportunities
for learning, and it is necessary in the sense that

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words are the basic building block of language, the
units of meaning from which larger structures such as
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sentences, paragraphs, and entire texts are formed.

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But some expert, like Nation (2008: 7) said that
based on how often vocabulary occurs in language,
he divides vocabulary into high frequency words,
academics words, technical words. That is:
(a) High frequency words, the high frequency words in
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English have some characteristics. First, because
each high frequency word occurs frequently, the
effort of learning it will be expedited by numerous
opportunities to meet and use it. Second, high
frequency words are useful regardless of how
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English is used. Third, because of their frequency

and wide range they make up a very large
proportion of running words in all kinds of texts
and language use. Fourth, they are relatively small
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group of words (2,000) that could be covered in a

school teaching program over three to five years.
(b) Academic words: Academic words are similar to
high frequency words for learners with academic
goals, and they deserve equal attention.

Developing Vocabulary by Educational Game 7

 (c) Technical vocabulary is also important for
academic learners, but it is probably best learned
while studying the content of the specific specialist
area.
(d) Low frequency words have the following
characteristics: To begin with, each of these

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words is uncommon. Second, the range of most
low frequency words is extremely limited. They
are not required in a very small proportion of
running words in a text, usually less than 10%

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of the running words once proper nouns are
excluded. Fourth, there are a very large group of
words, numbering well over 100,000.

Vocabulary is a collection of words that are

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organized and defined alphabetically. Furthermore,
Hornby (1974) defined vocabulary as follows: (1)
the total number of words that make up a language
(along with the rules for combining them); (2) words
known or used by a person in a trade, profession,
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or professions, etc.; and (3) book containing a list

of words, list of words used in a book, etc., usually
with definitions or translation. Therefore, it can be
concluded that vocabulary is a combination of words
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that people know and use them in language and has

meaning.

English vocabulary must be taught as a foreign

8 Developing Vocabulary by Educational Game

 language in order for students to effectively use the
language. The words are organized in such a way that
people can use that vocabulary to construct sentences
and communicate with one another. It is consistent

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with Thombury’s (2002) claim in his book that all
languages have words. Language emerges first as
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words, both historically and in terms of how each of us
learned our first and subsequent languages. It means

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that a language user constructs some words to form
sentences as a communication tool with a specific
person or group.

To sum up, vocabulary is the words that should be

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arranged in a good way in order the people can use it
to build the sentence so the people can express their
mind to communicate each other in a group of society.
As the consequence, as a foreign language learner it
is an obligatory to master the vocabulary in order we
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can communicate to other learner and to its native

speaker.

According to Robertson (2004: 4), vocabulary

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consists of the words that make up a language.

Furthermore, Lado (1964: 65) defines vocabulary as
a lexical unit, also known as a word. Having a large
vocabulary is an important part of learning a language.
According to the American Heritage Dictionary defines
vocabulary as the sum of words used by, understood

Developing Vocabulary by Educational Game 9

 by, or at the command of a particular person or group
(John, 2004: 1).

Meanwhile, Hadi (2012: 2) defined vocabulary as

a large number of words that students must know;
not only memorize the form of the words, but also

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understand the meaning.

Hiebert and Kamil (2005: 3) defined vocabulary as

“knowledge of words or word meaning”. Furthermore,
Barnhart (2008: 697) defined vocabulary as “a stock

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of words used by person, class of people, profession,
and a collection of list of words, usually in alphabetical
order and defined”.

Furthermore, the Oxford Advanced Learner’s

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Dictionary (2000: 1506) defines vocabulary as
follows: all words that a person knows or uses; all
words in a specific language; the word that people use
when talking about a specific subject; a list of words
with their meanings, especially in a book for learning
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a foreign language.

According to the definitions above, vocabulary is a

list of words that has meaning and can be understood
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by someone and that can be used to communicate

with others. A better understanding of the vocabulary
would result in improved communication and
comprehension of the text’s meaning.
10 Developing Vocabulary by Educational Game
 Vocabulary is one of the most important language
components for language learners to master when
learning a new language. Every language learner
cannot master a language without first learning about

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vocabulary. Language learners must have a large
vocabulary in order to understand a text written in
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English, comprehend the message, and also speak
and write in English. This explains the significance of

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vocabulary in language learning, which aids language
learners in developing their language skills.

According to M. Soenardi Djiwandono (2011),

vocabulary is defined as vocabulary in a variety of
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forms, such as words with or without affixes, each with
its own meaning. It means vocabulary about word
and word meaning, for example we learn vocabulary
about happy and unhappy. Happy was adjective and
unhappy was adjective, but the different unhappy was
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antonym from happy.

Meanwhile, Graves (2006:2) stated that vocabulary

knowledge is vital to success in reading, in literacy more
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generally, in school and in word outside the school.

Vocabulary consists of those words that students
use in daily writing and speaking. According to the
Visnja (2001) that vocabulary could be defined as a
‘dictionary’ or a set of words, but also vocabulary is the
range of words that a person uses and understands.

Developing Vocabulary by Educational Game 11

 Besides that, Hiebert and Michael (2005) stated
that vocabulary is not only for expressing the
meaning and making it understandable, but also for
understanding the meaning uttered by other people.
Vocabulary is as the knowledge of meaning of word.
Vocabulary is also very important part that should not

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be neglected in language learning and it is very useful
for communication with other people either in spoken
or written form.

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Vocabulary is critical to reading success for three
reasons:
a. Comprehension improves when you know the word
means. Since the comprehension is the ultimate goal
of reading, you cannot overestimate to important of
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vocabulary development.
b. Words are the currency of communication. A robust
vocabulary improves all areas of communication
listening, speaking, reading, and writing.
c. When students improve their vocabulary, their
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academic, and social confidence, and competence

improve too.

Based on the definitions above, a vocabulary is a

group of words that all humans know and use to speak
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in interaction with the other people. Thus, without

vocabulary the people cannot do an interaction in
oral language and so difficult to understand each

12 Developing Vocabulary by Educational Game

 other. Therefore, each people should have to obtain
vocabulary mastery, especially the students.

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B TYPES OF VOCABULARY
According to Judy K. Montgomery’s book: The
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Bridge of Vocabulary (2007) that elaborates there are
four types different vocabularies, they are listening

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vocabulary, speaking vocabulary, reading vocabulary,
writing vocabulary.

1. Listening Vocabulary
Listening vocabulary is a passive type of
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vocabulary. Listening vocabulary is the words
we hear and understand. The listener is able to
link the words being spoken their meaning. This
level of understanding is aided by word context,
intonation, and if there is visual contact with the
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speaker, by gestures and facial expressions. By the

time we reach adulthood, most of us will recognize
and understand close to 50,000 words.

2. Speaking Vocabulary
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Speaking vocabulary is the words we use when

we speak. Speaking vocabulary is one types of
vocabulary that demonstrates a person’s knowledge
of words. Our speaking vocabulary is relatively
limited. Most adults use a mere 5,000 to 10,000

Developing Vocabulary by Educational Game 13

 words for all their conversations and instructions.

3. Reading Vocabulary
Reading vocabulary is a passive type of
vocabulary. Reading vocabulary is the words we
understand when we read text. We can read and

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understand many words that we do not use in our
speaking vocabulary. The person is able to recognize
the form the letters and how they can correspond to
one another, and how their sum is understood.

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4. Writing Vocabulary
Writing vocabulary is the active vocabulary
equivalent to reading. The writer demonstrates his
or her knowledge of a word in terms of its meaning
and how to spell it and use it correctly. Our writing
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vocabulary is strongly influenced by the words we
can spell.

Based on Laurel (2000:118), words fall into two

quite categories, content words and function words:
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1. First category is content words fall into the major

part of speech, including nouns, verbs, adjectives,
adverbs, and some pronouns.
2. Second category is function words fall into the
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minor part of speech, including preposition,

conjunction, interjection, particles, auxiliary,
articles, demonstratives, and some adverbs and

14 Developing Vocabulary by Educational Game

 pronouns.

Based on explanation above it can be concluded

that vocabulary comes into oral and print forms; oral

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form refers to words used and recognized in speaking
and listening, and print form refers to all words
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recognized in reading and writing. Also, knowing a
word comes into two kinds: receptive (listening and

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reading) and productive (speaking and writing). The
last, vocabulary divided into two categories as follows;
function words and content words.

Lehr & Osborn (2017 in Masoumeh Rostami)

explained that two kinds of vocabulary description as
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follows:
1. A word has two forms, oral, and print.
a. Oral vocabulary includes the words that are
recognized and used in listening and speaking.
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b. Print vocabulary includes the words that are

recognized and used in reading and writing.
2. Word knowledge is composed of two forms,
receptive and productive.
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a. Receptive vocabulary includes words that are

recognized when we hear or see them. It is the
ability to comprehend passive vocabulary which
is used in reading and listening context.
b. Productive vocabulary includes words that are
recognized when we speak or write. It is an active

Developing Vocabulary by Educational Game 15

 ability which is used in speaking or writing.

In relation to kinds of vocabulary, according to

Finocchiaro in Hiebert and Kamil (2005), there are
kinds of vocabulary and divided into two kinds:
1) Active Vocabulary

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Active vocabulary consists of words which students
understand, can pronounce correctly and use
constructively in speaking and writing.
2. Passive Vocabulary

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The passive vocabularies consists of words those
students recognize and understand when they
occur in a context and they never use then in
communication. They understand them when they
hear or read them, but they do not use them in
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speaking or writing.
According to Kral Thomas (1995), there are some
different ways to think about vocabulary such as:
1. Meaning
When we meet words, the first thing we want to
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know it means. If we do not know the meaning we

cannot understand what we read and listen.
2. Pronunciation
It is important when we speak because the different
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intonation can bring different meaning.

3. Collocation
Collocation is the way to combine the word with

16 Developing Vocabulary by Educational Game

 other words. There are many particular words that
have special combination in English.
4. Expression
Expressions are groups of two, three, four or more

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words which always go together. It usually consists
of verb followed by preposition. E.g. look over, carry
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out, turn down, etc. It is often used in spoken form.
5. Synonym

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Synonym is a word that means the same, or nearly
the same as another word.
6. Antonym
Antonym is a word that has meaning opposite to
that or another.
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7. Homonym
Homonym is a word that is the same in pronunciation
as another but different in spelling and meaning.

Specific word instruction, or teaching individual

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words, can deepen students’ knowledge of word

meanings. In depth knowledge of word meanings can
help students understand what they are hearing or
reading. While developing a base of rich oral language,
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wide reading, word consciousness, and problem

solving are undeniably valuable, some vocabulary
words need to be taught in depth. Reinforcement
includes activities designed to deepen vocabulary
knowledge and provides ways to make connections

Developing Vocabulary by Educational Game 17

 between vocabulary words (Graw Hill: 1995).

Types of activities that fall under this category

might include, but are not limited to, the following
examples:
1. Activating and assessing background knowledge.

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2. Using reality, video clips, and pictures to clarify
word meanings.
3. Comparing and contrasting new words with other
similar words to capture the nuances of meaning.

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4. Connecting vocabulary words with other
morphologically related words.
5. Developing rich word schemas for vocabulary
through exposure in a variety of settings.

There are some types of vocabulary that distinguish

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vocabulary into some groups, they are Noun, Pronoun,
Verb, Adverb, Adjective, and preposition. Khaisaeng
(2017:44) said that kinds of vocabulary are one of the
important components in studying any language and
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to help students and learners to understands and use

the target language more efficiently.

a. Noun
Noun is the word that used for the name of
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person, place or thing. Noun is all about everything

that we can see (chair, table, and so on), hear
(voice), touch (water, face, ears and so on), and feel

18 Developing Vocabulary by Educational Game

 (wind, smoke, and soon).
According to Algeo in Adebileje (2016) said that
noun is along with verbs are a dominant part of
speech, and that the semantic content of sentences

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is borne mostly by nouns.
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b. Pronoun
Pronoun is a word or phrase that used to

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substitute a noun or noun phrase in the particular
sentence. Pronouns can be used as the subject,
object, possessive adjective and more, and also it
can take a place of person, animal or thing. The
common pronouns used are I, You, They, We, She,
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He, It.
According to Nelson in Hardiyanti et al (2015)
said that pronoun is very important to teach in order
to make students to able to construct grammatical
sentence.
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c. Verb
Verb is a word that used in a sentence to explain
what a noun do in the particular time or to explain
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what’s being done to a noun, for examples speak,

give, look, and so on. According to Eastwood in
Kurniawan et al (2016) declared that verb is a basic
sentence structure that should be mastered by the
second language learners.

Developing Vocabulary by Educational Game 19

 d. Adverb
Adverb is the word that used to modify a verb,
adjective, or another adverb or sentences. The
adverb can answer the questions that related to
adverb itself, such as How, When, Where, How
Often, and How Much the action is performed. An

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adverb is used to qualify any part of speech, except
noun or pronoun (Crystal, 2008).

e. Adjective

M
Adjective is the word which describes, identifies,
or quantifies a noun or pronoun. Adjective explains
the noun or pronoun to be more specific. Adjective
also help add the meaning to message delivered in
sentences by helping readers to better visualize or
M
understand specifics about the nouns or pronouns
the modify, for examples, beautiful, good, diligent,
and so on.
According to Greenbaum in Al-Hassani et al
(2017) Adjectives are attributive when they pre-
U

modify nouns, and they appear between the

determiner and the head of the noun phrase”.

f. Prepositions
Prepositions are the words that used to connect
D

a noun or pronoun to verb or adjective in the

sentence. It also used to show the relationship of a
noun or pronoun to some other word in a sentence,
20 Developing Vocabulary by Educational Game
 for examples on, in under, and so on.
According to Longman in Napitupulu (2017)
said that preposition is defined as a word that is
used before a Noun, Pronoun, or Gerund to show

Y
that word’s connection with another word, such as
of’ in a house made of wood and by in We open it by
Y
breaking the lock.

M
Vocabulary is very important for second language
learners; only with sufficient vocabulary learners can
effectively express their ideas both in oral and written
form. Thus they should have a good idea of how to
expand their vocabulary so that they can improve their
M
interest in learning the language. Language teachers,
therefore, should possess considerable knowledge on
how to manage an interesting classroom so that the
learners can gain a great success in their vocabulary
learning. Teaching vocabulary plays an important
U

role in language acquisition because the mastery of

vocabulary will help students to master all the language
skills: speaking, listening, writing, and reading.
D

Furthermore, in teaching vocabulary the teacher

can introduce the list of vocabulary that is taken from
the book. The teacher uses and adds other vocabulary
which is relevant to the students. Teacher needs a good
knowledge on their teaching materials. When they
have to teach the students about vocabulary, teachers
Developing Vocabulary by Educational Game 21
 should know the general knowledge of vocabulary,
words and also the meaning. The words or vocabulary
can be spoken and written (Harmer: 1978).

Teaching vocabulary should consider these

following factors:

Y
1. Aims
The aim of teaching vocabulary is to make the
teacher easy to formulate the materials, which will
be taught to the students.

2. Quantity

M
The teacher has to decide the number of
vocabulary items to be learned. The learners will get
confuse or discouraged if they get many new words.
Therefore, the teacher should select new words,
M
which can easy to understand by the learners.

3. Need
In teaching vocabulary, the teacher has to
choose the words really needed by the students in
U

communication.

4. Frequent Exposure and Repetition

Frequent exposure and repetition here means
D

that the teacher should give much practice on

repetition so that the students master the target
words well. They also give opportunity to the
students to use words in writing or speaking.
22 Developing Vocabulary by Educational Game
 5. Meaningful Presentation
In teaching vocabulary the teacher should present
target words in such a way that the meaning of the
target words are perfectly clear and unambiguous.

Y
6. Situation and Presentation
Y
The teachers tell the students that they have
to use the words appropriately. The use of words

M
depends on the situation in which they are used and
depends on the person to whom they are speaking.

From the explanation above, the writer concluded

that the teachers must know the different kinds of
vocabulary. In addition, understanding the above
M
factors is very important for the teacher before
teaching vocabulary.

In addition to seeing the grammar of individual

words – the grammar of vocabulary – we can also
U

learn about the vocabulary used with certain grammar

structures – the vocabulary of grammar. For example,
the Corpus can tell us the most frequent verbs used
in the past continuous structure was . . . ing. The top
D

ten are going, thinking, talking, doing, saying, trying,

telling, wondering, looking, working.

Teachers are familiar with the kinds of words

and expressions that writers use strategically to
organize written texts, from simple conjunctions like
Developing Vocabulary by Educational Game 23
 and and however, which organize ideas within and
across sentences, and adverbs such as first, secondly,
etc., which list ideas within a paragraph or text, to
expressions such as in conclusion, which signal that
the text is about to end. Written texts are easy to
find in newspapers, books, on the Internet, etc., as

Y
models for teaching or our own writing. But what is
the strategic vocabulary that speakers use to organize
and manage conversations, and how can we find it? To
help us answer these questions, we need a corpus so

M
we can analyze many different conversations. We can
start by looking again at frequency lists to identify and
analyze the kind of strategic vocabulary speaker use.

In addition to looking at single words, we can ask

M
the Corpus to give us frequency lists of phrases –
vocabulary items that contain more than one word,
sometimes called “chunks,” “lexical bundles,” or
“clusters”. These lists contain “fragments,” or bits of
language that don’t have a meaning as expressions in
U

their own right, such as in the, and I, and of the.

When we look at the most frequent words and

phrases in conversation, we find many items that
conversation shares with the written language, such as
D

grammatical words (articles, pronouns, prepositions,

etc.), common everyday nouns, verbs, adjectives, and
adverbs (people, money; go, see; different, interesting;
24 Developing Vocabulary by Educational Game
 still, usually), and modal items (can, should, maybe,
probably). As we saw earlier, some of these may be far
more frequent in conversation than in writing (e.g.,
probably) or have different uses.

Y
Y
C THE RELATION OF TEACHING AND GAME

Teaching today has changed a lot over the past

M
years. Once it was all about learners being passive
and listening in the classroom, but today learners are
usually much more active in the classroom, and what
better way to be active than by playing games (Sugar,
1998: 2).
M
Language learning is hard work. One must
make effort to understand, to repeat accurately, to
manipulate newly understood language and to use
the whole range of known language in conversation
U

or written composition. Effort is required at every

moment and must be sustained for several years.
Games help and encourage many learners to make
and sustain these efforts. Games can help the teacher
D

to create context in which the language is useful and

meaningful.

Language game can add fun and variety to

conversation sessions. They are valuable both in
the manipulative and the communicative phrase of
Developing Vocabulary by Educational Game 25
 language learning. Of course, for maximum benefit
from a language game in either phrase, the teacher
should select only the best from the hundreds of
language games available.

According to Scrivener (1994), there are numerous

Y
types of games that can be used to teach English
vocabulary, they are:
a) Role-play games: they are able to range from
guided drama to unfastened speaking sports but

M
it relies upon on the language stage, curiosity, and
self belief of players.
b) Crossword puzzles games: those forms of video
games allow utilizing kids’ amusement with
phrases.
M
c) Drawing games: They require creativity and
sensitivity in the direction of global, the children
need to be capable of apprehend commands and
describe their artwork.
d) Card games: Games, all through which children
U

acquire, give away, type and rely playing cards;

playing cards could have that means in a game, or
really function symbols for items or moves.
e) Fly Swatter Games: It has the potential to improve
D

their linguistic abilities, particularly in terms of

spelling, pronunciation, and awareness.

26 Developing Vocabulary by Educational Game

 2 THE IMPORTANCE
OF VOCABULARY

Y
Vocabulary is the first element that the English
Y
learners should learn in order to master English well
besides the other English components and skills. It

M
means that vocabulary is a necessary ingredient for all
communication. The students realize that the importance
of vocabulary when learning languages, but most
students passively learn vocabulary. First, they consider
M
the teacher’s explanation of understanding or definition,
pronunciation, spelling, and grammatical functions to
be boring. Second, the students usually only get new
vocabulary in their textbooks or when during English
class. Then, the lack of English vocabularies owned by
U

the students; especially the academic subject matter,

so many students do not understand the oral or written
English text in doing interaction. So, learning vocabulary
is likely to be one of the biggest challenges that student
D

will face in their studies.

Vocabulary is important because an extensive

vocabulary aids expressions and communication.
Vocabulary size has been directly linked to reading
comprehension. Linguistics vocabulary is synonymous

Developing Vocabulary by Educational Game 27

with thinking vocabulary. A person may be judged by
others based on his or her vocabulary. An impressive
vocabulary makes an impression. So people can speak
concisely and precisely, people can better understand
what they read and hear. When they don’t recognize a
word in their reading, it depletes their understanding of

Y
the piece.
According to David Wilkins in Thornbury (2002)
stated that without grammar very little can be conveyed,
without vocabulary nothing can be conveyed. It shows

M
that learning vocabulary is very important, by vocabulary
everyone can say anything they want, but grammar
people just say little thing because they speak with words
not grammar. In order to understand the language,
M
vocabulary is crucial to be mastered by the learner.
Vocabulary mastery is needed to express our ideas and
to be able to understand others people saying.
According to Webster (1992: 732) mastery refers to:
(1) a. the authority of a master: dominion,
U

b. the upper hand in a contest or competition;

superiority, ascendancy.
(2) a. possession or display or great skill or technique,
b. skill or knowledge that makes one master of a
D

subject comment.

Vocabulary mastery had an important role in learning

language. There are some definition of mastery that are
28 Developing Vocabulary by Educational Game
 proposed by many experts. Mastery as worthy of a mastery
skill, use, or knowledge. This definition is supported by
Hornby (2006) who defines mastery as great knowledge
about or understanding of detail knowledge. From

Y
these definition, it comes to the conclusion that mastery
means the competency to learn or understand a number
Y
of words learned. Without having proportional English
vocabulary, students will get some difficulties in using

M
English.

Vocabulary mastery not only memorize every words

but also know the meaning in order we can use every
words but also know the meaning in order we can use
M
every word in a good language. Hornby (2006) defines
learning as going knowledge or skill in learning vocabulary
means process of gaining knowledge of vocabulary. In
vocabulary mastery usually teacher has a lot of types to
teach vocabulary in order students easier to memorize
U

it because the main purpose learning vocabulary is to

increase total students vocabularies.

One cannot learn a language without learning

D

vocabulary. There are two reasons why we should learn

vocabulary:
1) We want other people to understand what we are
speaking to them and we also want to know what
other people want to communicate to us.

Developing Vocabulary by Educational Game 29

2) We do not want that there will be miss interpretation
and misunderstanding in our communication
(Jonathan, 2013). So, without vocabulary, the
language cannot be used to maintain all information
in language. People cannot communicate effectively
or express his ideas in both oral and written form.

Y
According to Coles (2010), learning vocabulary builds
literacy skills and prepares them for their academic
journey. It means that a student with high vocabulary

M
mastery will be better able to follow instructions
from teacher. They also more confident in expressing
themselves, and will possess the ability to communicate
more effectively in a conversational setting.

Meanwhile, Bintz (2011) also stated that vocabulary is

M
critically important because a word is an instrument for
thinking about the meaning which it expressing. Then,
vocabulary also is a main of the language (James, 2003).
Based on statement, to support the speaker’s interaction
U

in communication, vocabulary becomes important

because it can be used as basic foundation to construct
a word into a good sequence of sentence. By learning
vocabulary, we can communicate with others and convey
our meaning.
D

Furthermore, according to Graves (2016) stated that

the importance of vocabulary as following:

30 Developing Vocabulary by Educational Game

 (1) Vocabulary knowledge is one of the best indicators of
verbal ability.
(2) Vocabulary knowledge contributes to young
children’s phonological awareness, which in turn

Y
contributes to their word recognition.
(3) Vocabulary knowledge in kindergarten and 1st grade
Y
is a significant predictor of reading comprehension
in the middle and secondary grades.

M
(4) Vocabulary difficulty strongly influences the
readability of the text.
(5) Teaching vocabulary can improve reading
comprehension for both native English Speakers.
(6) Growing up in poverty can seriously restrict the
M
vocabulary children learn before beginning school
and make attaining an adequate vocabulary a
challenging task.
(7) Disadvantage students are likely to have substantially
U

smaller vocabularies than their more advantage

classmates.
(8) Learning English vocabulary is one of the most
crucial tasks for English learners.
(9) Lack of vocabulary can be a crucial underlying the
D

school failure of disadvantage students.

From statement above, vocabulary mastery supports

the mastery of the four skills which are listening, speaking,
reading, and writing. Vocabulary mastery also influences

Developing Vocabulary by Educational Game 31

the students’ learning process. Therefore, the students
should have to obtain vocabulary mastery. Vocabulary is
the easiest aspect at a second language to learn and it
hardly requires formal attention in the classroom.
In other words, students also need the vocabulary in
the learning process, because they use it for many kinds

Y
of learning activity. For instance, the students who want
to convey their opinion about synonym, so they have to
express their ideas through the sentences. When they
have a conversation with a foreigner, they will hear and

M
need many vocabularies to respond what the foreigner
says. They also will use many vocabularies to write or
read a short paragraph. Those activities will increase
their vocabularies and assist them to master English.
M
Vocabulary has an important role in the language
learning. It means that learning vocabulary is very
important. One should know a certain amount of
vocabulary in order to be able to use the language
productively. It is not only for communicating orally, but
U

also in written form. In conclusion, learners have to pay a

greater attention to the vocabulary teaching because the
knowledge of vocabulary is very important. The teacher
must have an effective and efficient method in order
D

to make the goal of teaching of vocabulary successful.

Someone will be able to improve achievement and
enhance communication if he/she can master vocabulary

32 Developing Vocabulary by Educational Game

 well.

According to Brett in Fitri Kurniaty, there are some

benefits of building vocabulary:

Y
a. Gives you the ability to say what you mean. This
increases your chances of having other people
Y
understand what you wish to express.
b. Helps you understand other people. Just as learning a

M
second language can help you understand people from
other countries, increasing your working vocabulary
allows you to understand those who may share your
mother tongue but also have a special “dialect” of their
own.
M
c. Helps you understand what you read. Vocabulary not
only aids you in understanding other people, it is also
essential in comprehending the books and articles you
read.
d. Assists you in becoming a more informed and involved
U

citizen. The better able you become to understand

news and currents events.
e. Bolsters your ability to grasp ideas and think more
logically and incisively. While we often think of our
D

thoughts as shaping our words, it works the other way

around as well.
f. Allows you to communicate effectively. A masterful
command of words, and the ability to select just the
right ones to express a specific idea.

Developing Vocabulary by Educational Game 33

g. Helps you make a good impression on others.
How articulate you are constitutes a big part of the
impression you make on others.

Based on the theories above, it seems that the study of

vocabulary is one of important thing in teaching foreign

Y
language. Students often instinctively recognize the
importance of vocabulary to their language learning.

Vocabulary is one of the components of language

and takes such a vital role in mastering English as a

M
foreign language. “Without grammar very little can be
conveyed, without vocabulary nothing can be conveyed.”
(Thombury, 2002). Vocabulary is central to English
language because without the rich vocabulary students
cannot understand others or express their thought.
M
Teaching vocabulary helps students to understand
and keep communicating with English in the class.
Researcher believes that the sufficient vocabulary will
help students master English for their purposes. This
U

point manifests my own experience; even without

grammar, with some useful words and expressions, I still
can manage to communicate.
D

Moreover, Dellar H. and Hocking D. in Scott

Thombury (2002) stated that “If you spend most of your
time studying grammar, your English will not improve
very much. You will see most improvement if you learn
34 Developing Vocabulary by Educational Game
 more words and expressions. You can say very little with
grammar, but you can say almost anything with words!”.
If the learners don’t know how to enrich their vocabulary,
they gradually lose interest in learning English.

Y
According to Allen (1983) that students need to
Y
learn about elements of vocabulary. However, the more
important thing is that students must learn English

M
vocabulary appropriate to their needs and so teachers
must understand what students’ need are. And predicting
what learners will need in the way of vocabulary is
important in selecting what to teach; equally important
is creating a sense of need for a word.
M
According to Schmitt in Alqahtani (2015) mentioned
that vocabulary knowledge is often viewed as a critical
tool for second language learners because a limited
vocabulary in a second language impedes successful
U

communication. Underscoring the importance of

vocabulary acquisition, he also emphasizes that “lexical
knowledge is central to communicative competence and
to the acquisition of a second language”. The importance
D

of vocabulary is demonstrate daily in and out the school.

In classroom, the achieving students possess the most
sufficient vocabulary.

Researchers such as Laufer and Nation, Maximo, Read,

Gu, Marion and others have realize that the acquisition of

Developing Vocabulary by Educational Game 35

vocabulary is essential for successful second language use
and plays an important role in the formation of complete
spoken and written texts. In English as a second language
(ESL) and English as a foreign language (EFL) learning
vocabulary items plays a vital role in all language skills
(i.e. listening, speaking, reading, and writing).

Y
Rivers and Nunan, furthermore, argue that the
acquisition of an adequate vocabulary is essential
for successful second language use because without

M
an extensive vocabulary, we will be unable to use
the structures and functions we may have learn for
comprehensible communication.

Research has shown that second language readers

rely heavily on vocabulary knowledge and the lack of
M
that knowledge is the main and the largest obstacle for
L2 readers to overcome. In production, when we have a
meaning or concept that we wish to express, we need to
have a store of words from which we can select to express
U

this meaning or concept. ‘‘When students travel, they

don’t carry grammar books, they carry dictionaries’’.

Many researchers argue that vocabulary is one of the

most important -if not the most important- components
D

in learning a foreign language, and foreign language

curricula must reflect this. Wilkins states that ‘‘There is
not much value in being able to produce grammatical

36 Developing Vocabulary by Educational Game

 sentences if one has not got the vocabulary that is
needed to convey what one wishes to say. While without
grammar very little can be convey, without vocabulary
nothing can be convey’’

Y
Other scholars such as Richards and Krashen, state
Y
many reasons for devoting attention to vocabulary. “First,
a large vocabulary is of course essential for mastery of

M
a language. Second language acquirers know this; they
carry dictionaries with them, not grammar books, and
regularly report that the lack of vocabulary is a major
problem’’.

Oxford also claims that vocabulary is “by far the most

M
sizeable and unmanageable component in the learning of
any language, whether a foreign or one’s mother tongue,
because of tens of thousands of different meanings”.
Despite these difficulties that language learners face
U

in L2 vocabulary, they still have to deal with it in their

examinations as ‘‘vocabulary has traditionally one of
the language components measure in language tests’’.
Furthermore, many learners see second language
D

acquisition (SLA) as essentially a matter of learning

vocabulary and therefore they spend a great deal of
time on memorizing lists of L2 words and rely on their
bilingual dictionary as a basic communicative resource.

As a result, language teachers and applied linguists

Developing Vocabulary by Educational Game 37

now generally recognize the importance of vocabulary
learning and are exploring ways of promoting it more
effectively. Some of this research takes the form of
investigation of strategies learners use specifically for
vocabulary, which is our focus of attention.

Y
Students often instinctively recognize the importance
of vocabulary to their language learning. As Schmitt
(2010) noted, “learners carry around dictionaries and not
grammar books”. Teaching vocabulary helps students

M
understand and communicate with others in English.
Voltaire purportedly said, “Language is very difficult
to put into words.” I believe English language students
generally would concur, yet learning vocabulary also
helps students master English for their purposes.
M
U
D

38 Developing Vocabulary by Educational Game

 3 WHAT IS
EDUCATIONAL GAME?

Y
A game is a description of strategic interaction that
Y
includes the constraints on the actions that the players
can interest (Osborne, 2012). It means that by using the

M
game in learning can interest the students’ attention to
the instruction of the teacher. The student will follow
what the teacher talking about.

Actually, games also help and encourage many learners

to sustain their work. Games help the teacher to create
M
contexts in which the language is useful and meaningful.
The learners want to take part, so they must understand
what others are saying or have written, and they must
speak or write in order to express their own point of view
U

or give information. Games provide one way of helping

the learners to experience language rather than merely
study it (Wright, 1993). The games and activities will
enhance the students’ experience that can give them
occasions to use literature and language creatively.
D

In addition, games offer a unique structure to

complement traditional teaching strategies and infuse
teaching with energy, spark innovative thinking and
provide diversity in teaching methods (Boyle, 2012).

Developing Vocabulary by Educational Game 39

Game make learning concept more enjoy and supply
learners with an opportunity for their creative thought
to grow up.

Game is one of media that can be applied in language

teaching and learning. All people are like games either

Y
young or adult. But different age or group requires
various topic material, competence and model of game.
For example, the children like fun game, then the adult
more like challenging game. So, as a teacher has to choose

M
the appropriate game for all students in order to be fun
learning and active class.

Language games comprise many factors such as rules,

competition, relaxation and learning in particular. Rules
have to be clear, few and well-explained so as no difficulty
M
is faced. They are designed in different levels as well as
topics that suit different students’ levels what make them
enjoy all together and gain the best results.

Using games in the process of language teaching-

U

learning is not restricted for any language level; it helps

all students to feel comfortable and more confident in
acquiring a new language. However, this technique is
much more applicable and beneficent with beginners -of
D

interest in the present research-.

The use of innovative educational games in the

classroom can increase enthusiasm and reinforce
40 Developing Vocabulary by Educational Game
 previously presented didactic information. It is also a
positive, interactive alternative method of teaching and
information sharing. In addition, team learning and
active peer-to-peer instruction are strongly reinforced by

Y
educational games. (Bailey, 1999).
Y
Games increase students’ involvement, motivation,
and interest in the material and allow the instructor

M
to be creative and original when presenting topics.
(Odenweller, 1998). Games also challenge students to
apply the information, thus allowing them to evaluate
their critical thinking skills. They create a challenging
constructively competitive atmosphere that facilitates
M
interaction among students in a friendly and fun
environment. (Patil, 1993).

A game should not be regarded as a marginal activity

filling in odd moments when the teacher and class have
U

nothing better to do. Games ought to be at the heart of

teaching foreign languages, games should be used at all
the stages of the lesson, provided that they are suitable
and carefully chosen. Games also lend themselves well
D

to revision exercises helping learners recall material in a

pleasant, entertaining way.

All agree that even if games resulted only in noise and

entertained students, they are still worth paying attention
to and implementing in the classroom, since they

Developing Vocabulary by Educational Game 41

motivate learners, promote communicative competence
and generate fluency and may have a significant role in
improving a second language acquisition.

Educational games are games explicitly designed

with educational purposes, or which have incidental or

Y
secondary educational value. As educators, governments,
and parents realize the psychological need and benefits
that gaming has on learning, this educational tool has
become mainstream. Educational games are those

M
intentionally designed for the purpose of education,
or those entertainment games that have incidental or
educational values. Educational games are designed
to help people understand concepts, learn domain
knowledge, and develop problem solving skills as they
M
play games.

Teaching English may confront difficulty because the

learners tend to feel not interested with English. To figure
out this problem, the teacher should be able to create a
U

fun and comfortable teaching learning atmosphere in the

classroom. One of the most enjoyable path in teaching
English is using game. Learning English especially
vocabulary can be so much fun through game, because
game encourages and assists many learners to keep their
D

interest and work. Children love playing games and they

can study a lot of words in an interesting way.

42 Developing Vocabulary by Educational Game

 Games are helpful because they can make students feel
that certain words are important and necessary, because
without those words, the object of the game cannot be
achieved (Virginia French Allen, 1983). Communicating

Y
with students about words via conversation, reading the
words in a various context, or playing word games are
Y
more amygdala-resonant ways of learning vocabulary
words than over-correcting students, eliciting their

M
affective filters, and inhibiting their willingness to
participate (Willis, 2008).

There are many advantages of conducting games in

the classroom, as Gada Sari lists them in Maryam and
M
Behzad (2013):
(1) Game make relaxation and amusing for students,
thus help them study and hold new words more
easily,
(2) Game generally take friendly competition, and they
U

deep learners interested,

(3) Game are extremely motivating and games give
students more chance to express their beliefs and
thoughts,
D

(4) Vocabulary games make literal word context into the

teaching learning process.

In conclusion, studying vocabulary by using games is

an effective and interesting way that can be conducted
in the classroom. Through games the learners try out,
Developing Vocabulary by Educational Game 43
expose, and act with their environment. The games are
used not only for fun, but more importantly, for the
practicable exercise and review of language lesson, thus
extending the goal of improving students’ vocabulary
mastery.

Y
Game is an activity or sport with rules, a goal and
an element of fun in which people or teams compete
against each other (Hornby, 2007). Gerlach (2008)
said that a game is a simplified, operational model of

M
real-life situation that provides students with vicarious
participation in a variety of roles and event. According
to Richard (2007) declared that games (in language
teaching) is an organized activity that usually has the
following properties:
M
1) A particular of task or objective
2) A set of rules
3) Competition between players
4) Competition between players by spoken or written
language.
U

From the explanation above, explains games help

and encourage many students to sustain their interest in
learning English because they are amusing, interesting
and at the same time challenging. Playing games in
D

the classroom develops the ability to cooperate well,

to compete without being aggressive, and to become
a winner. They also can be used to give practice in all
44 Developing Vocabulary by Educational Game
 language skills.

Huyen and Nga (2008) suggested that games are used

not only for more fun, but more importantly for the useful

Y
practice and review of language lessons, thus leading
toward the goal of improving learner’s communicative
Y
competence.

According to Nalasco (1991) said that “in addition

M
to the personal challenge, younger students also enjoy
competing with their peers, and introducing a game
element is a way of livening up any material”. It is often
difficult to maintain their attention for too long as they
cannot remember new words and expressions of a
M
language they deal with for the first time and which is not
their mother tongue. It is true that children like things to
be repeated but they do not need only to keep repeating
the desired part of the target language. Instead, a short
U

and a simple game can be repeated more than once.

Incorporating games, then, in the language teaching-

learning process helps building a good relationship with
the new language. They do not just relax from serious
D

learning but they reinforce the new vocabulary as well.

Although a game in a class of beginners could be a disaster
but it succeeds in making a good classroom atmosphere.
By time, they realize that language is more than just long
lists of words and sets of rules.

Developing Vocabulary by Educational Game 45

 Prabhu (1987) offers two main reasons why teachers
should use games in teaching second language. The first
reason is based on spontaneous interaction that games can
generate amongst the children, ‘creating opportunities
for the deployment of their emerging internal systems’.
A second major reason for using games is the supportive

Y
environment that is created. Interaction between learners
is less threatening than interaction with the teacher.
Game-like activities provide choices for the classroom.
‘They allow teachers to add variety and flexibility to the

M
teaching menus’, Sometimes educators feel weighed
down by assigned curricula and need to come up with
new ideas and interesting activities. Another advantage,
in language classes, learners feel stressful because they
think that they have to master the target language that is
M
unknown to them. Besides, learners become too anxious
about being criticized and punished by their teachers
when they make a mistake (Sugar, 2002).

Games are advantageous at this point because they

U

reduce anxiety, increase positive feelings and improve

self-confidence because learners are not afraid of
punishment or criticism while practicing the target
language freely (Crookal & Oxford, 1990).
D

According to Chen (2005) declared that the benefit of

using games in learning classrooms can be summed up
in nine main points which are the following:
46 Developing Vocabulary by Educational Game
 1. Games are learner-centered (the student is always in
focus).
2. Games promote a communicative competence.
3. Games create a meaningful context for language use.

Y
4. Games increase learning motivation
5. Games reduce learning anxiety.
Y
6. Games integrate many various linguistic skills.
7. Games encourage creativity and spontaneous usage of

M
the language.
8. Games construct a cooperative learning environment.
9. Games foster participatory attitudes of the students.

Language games are not activities mainly aimed to

M
break the ice between students or to kill time. Byrne
(1995) gave the definition to games as a form of play
governed by rules. They should be enjoyed and fun. They
are not just a diversion, a break from routine activities,
but a way of getting the learner to use the language in
U

the course of the game. Similarly, Jill Hadfield (1990)

defined games as an activity with rules, a goal and an
element of fun.
D

There are a great number of language games. So

teachers have a variety of choices. However, in deciding
which game to use in a particular class and which games
will be most appropriate and most successful with their
students, teachers must take many factors into account.

Developing Vocabulary by Educational Game 47

 According to Richard-Amato (1996), even though
games are often associated with fun, we should not lose
sight of their pedagogical values, particularly in second
language teaching. Games are effective because they
provide motivation, lower students’ stress, and give them
the opportunity for real communication.

Y
The main reason why games are considered effective
learning aids is that “they spur motivation and students
get very absorbed in the competitive aspects of the games;

M
moreover, they try harder at games than in other courses”
(Avedon, 1971). Naturally when playing games, students
are trying to win or to beat other teams for themselves or
on the behalf of their team. They are so competitive while
playing because they want to have a turn to play, to score
M
points and to win. In the class, students will definitely
participate in the activities.

Therefore, it is possible for a teacher to introduce

students to new ideas, grammar, and knowledge and so
U

on. As in the dictation game, students are so competitive

that they want to finish first and win. It can be clearly
seen that games can capture students’ attention and
participation. They can motivate students to want to
learn more. Moreover, they can transform a boring class
D

into a challenging one.

Another reason why games are often used in language

48 Developing Vocabulary by Educational Game

 classes is that they lower students’ stress in the classroom.
In conventional classrooms, there is a lot of stress
put on students trying to master the target language.
Schultz (1988) said that “...Stress is a major hindrance

Y
in language learning process. This process [Learning
language in traditional way] is by its nature time
Y
consuming and stress provoking...raise the stress level to
a point at which it interferes with student attention and

M
efficiency and undermines motivation. One method has
been developed to make students forget that they are in
class relax students by engaging them in stress-reducing
task (games).”
M
There is a high level of stress in the classroom
because students have to face unfamiliar or unknown
grammatical structures, words, texts and so forth.
Therefore, students often feel uncomfortable and
insecure in class, which inevitably affects their ability
U

to learn. As a result, games can help lower their anxiety,

make them feel comfortable, and want to learn more.
It is believed that when students play games, they relax
and have fun. Since students know that they are playing
D

games and want to communicate efficiently they do not

worry about making mistakes and do not try to correct
themselves in every single sentence. When students
are free from worry and stress, they can improve their
fluency and natural speaking styles.

Developing Vocabulary by Educational Game 49

 There are many advantages of using games in the
classroom:
1. Games are a welcome break from the usual routine of
the language class.
2. They are motivating and challenging.
3. Learning a language requires a great deal of effort,

Y
games help students to make and sustain the effort of
learning.
4. Games provide language practice in the various skill-
speaking, writing, listening, and reading.

M
5. They encourage students to interact and communicate.
6. They create a meaningful context for language use.

In a research paper done by Mei and Yujing said

that games are fun and children like them. Through
M
games children experiment, discover, and interact with
their environment. Through playing games, students
can learn English the way children learn their mother
tongue without being aware they are studying; thus
without stress, they can learn a lot even shy students can
U

participate positively. They point how to choose a game.

• A game must be more than just a fun.
• A game should involve “friendly” competition.
• A game should keep all of the students involved and
D

interested.
• A game should encourage students to focus on the use
of language rather than on the language itself.

50 Developing Vocabulary by Educational Game

 • A game should give students a chance to learn,
practice, or review specific language material.
Students may wish to play games purely for fun.
Teachers, however, need more convincing reasons.

Y
Teachers need to consider which games to use, when to
use them, how to link them up with the syllabus, text book
Y
or programmed, and how, more specifically, different
games will benefit students in different ways. The key to

M
a successful language game is that the rules are clear, the
ultimate goal is well defined and the game must be fun.
M
A The Advantages of Using Games in Foreign
Language Teaching and Learning

Games help the teacher to create contexts in which

the language is useful and meaningful. Even though
games are often associated with fun, we should not
U

lose sight of their pedagogical value, particularly in

foreign language teaching and learning. Games are
effective as they create motivation, lower students’
stress, and give language learners the opportunity for
D

real communication.

According to J. Haldfield (1999), “a game is an

activity with rules, a goal and an element of fun.….
Games should be regarded as an integral part of the
language syllabus”. This definition highly evaluates

Developing Vocabulary by Educational Game 51

 the importance of games in teaching. It shows that
games serve not only as an ‘amusing activity’, but also
as a technique to carry out many pedagogical tasks.
Classifying games into categories can be difficult
because categories often overlap.

Y
J. Hadfield (1999) proposes two ways of classifying
language games. First, language games are divided
into two types: linguistic and communicative
games. Linguistic games focus on accuracy, such

M
as supplying the correct antonym. Communicative
games presuppose successful exchange of information
and ideas. He also offers to classify language games
into many more categories: sorting, ordering, or
arranging, information gap games, guessing, search
M
games, matching games, labeling, exchanging games;
board, role play games.

According to W. Lee (1991), games can be classified

into ten categories: structure games which provide
U

experience of the use of particular patterns of syntax

in communication; vocabulary games in which the
learners’ attention is focused mainly on words;
spelling, pronunciation games; number games; listen-
and-do games; games and writing; miming and role
D

play; discussion games.

Some of the common advantages of using games in

52 Developing Vocabulary by Educational Game

 foreign language teaching and learning.

1. Games promote learners’ interaction

Interaction comprises the nature of classroom

Y
pedagogy and classroom behavior. Pair or
group work is one of the main ways to increase
Y
cooperation. Many games can be played in pairs or
in small groups, thereby providing an opportunity

M
to develop their interpersonal skills such as the skill
of disagreeing politely or the skill of asking for help.
In the classroom learners will definitely participate
in the activities.
Therefore, in groups or in pairs, they are more
M
willing to ask questions, communicate and discuss
topics with their partners and think creatively
about how to use foreign language to achieve
their goals. The competition in the games gives
students a natural opportunity to work together
U

and communicate with each other a lot.

2. Games improve learners’ language acquisition

Thanks to the motivation and interaction created
D

by games, students can acquire knowledge faster

and more effectively than by other means. Games
can stimulate and encourage students to participate
in the activity since they naturally want to win.
Apart from having fun, students are learning. They

Developing Vocabulary by Educational Game 53

 acquire a new language. Students begin to realize
that they have to use the language if they want
others to understand what they are saying.
Furthermore, games can lower anxiety. In the
easy, relaxed atmosphere which is created by using
games, students remember things faster and better.

Y
The meaning of the language students listen to, read,
speak and write in will be more vividly experienced
in a game and, therefore, they will better remember
the language they learn.

M
3. Games increase learners’ achievement
Games can involve all the basic language skills,
i.e., listening, speaking, reading, and writing, and a
number of skills are often involved in the same game.
M
Games can motivate learners, promote learners’
interaction, and improve learners’ acquisition. As
a result, games can increase learners’ achievement,
which means that learners’ test results, ability of
communication, knowledge of vocabulary, or other
U

language skills can improve.

C. Riedle (2008) emphasizes the advantage of

games in improving learners’ achievements: “We
D

are teaching a new generation of students, which

requires unconventional teaching strategies to be
put into practice in the classroom. And when schools

54 Developing Vocabulary by Educational Game

 use games, student benefits speak for themselves –
a greater desire to learn and higher test scores.”.

In brief, games prove to be a useful tool in

Y
language teaching. Games not only motivate
learners and create a friendly atmosphere, they
Y
are aimed at developing all language skills.
Consequently, games can motivate, promote

M
learners’ interaction, improve their acquisition and
increase their achievement.

B Why We Should Use Games in Language

M
Teaching
In fact, we should use games in language teaching in
order the teaching learning process well. It is because:
a) Games are a welcome break from the usual routine
U

of the language class.

b) Learning a language requires a great deal of effort.
Games help students to make and sustain the effort
of learning.
c) They encourage students to interact and
D

communicate.
d) They create a meaningful context for language use.
e) Games lower anxiety especially when played in
small groups.
f) Games can involve all the basic language skills,

Developing Vocabulary by Educational Game 55

 i.e., listening, speaking, reading, and writing, and
a number of skills are often involved in the same
game.
g) Many games can be played in small groups, thereby
developing their interpersonal skills.
h) Games involve students in active learning.

Y
i) They can encourage students to draw on analysis,
synthesis, evaluation.
j) They foster a more positive attitude toward the
classroom experience – more attention, better

M
attendance, better participation.
k) They improve retention, decision-making skills,
and comprehension of general principles.
l) Games can be a very worthwhile teaching element.
M
A successful game is successful because of the reason
that it is based on specific time allocation, it has clear
relevance to the material, there is appropriateness
to all members of the class, and ultimately, the
enjoyment of the learners is increased through their
U

active engagement with the language.

C Types of Games for Vocabulary Learning

D

There are several types of games that can be used

to teach English. According to Hadfield (2001), the
following are seven types of games:

56 Developing Vocabulary by Educational Game

 1. Guessing games are a familiar game type. The
information player actively keeps it, while others
guess what it could be. For example: Hangman
Game, Taboo Game, Kangaroo Game.

Y
2. Search games are another type that covers the full
Y
class. In such games, everyone in the class has one
piece of information that players must have all or

M
a large amount of information available to fill in a
chart or a picture or solve a problem.

3. Matching games are based on a different concept

but often require the sharing of information. These
M
include matching the corresponding pairs of picture
cards and may be played as a whole class activity.

4. Labeling games involve matching labels to picture

items.
U

5. Exchanging of games is based on the “barter”

concept. Players have certain objects, cards, or ideas
that they want to share with others. The goal of the
game is to make an exchange that is acceptable to
D

both sides.

6. Role play games are given the name and

characteristics of a fictional character.

7. Board games and card games are familiar game

Developing Vocabulary by Educational Game 57

 types, where the goal is to be the first round of
the board, collect the most cards, or get rid of the
cards and squares on the board. They are used as a
stimulus to express a communication exchange.

Y
D Criteria for Good Games
According Tyson (1998), there are some guidelines
for how to select the games to be played in the
classroom as follows:

competition.
M
a. The game had to be more than just fun.
b. A game is supposed to involve a “friendly”

c. The game should keep all the students active and

interested.
M
d. A game should allow students to concentrate on the
use of language rather than the language itself.
e. A game can give students a chance to learn, practice,
or interpret a specific language.
U
D

58 Developing Vocabulary by Educational Game

 DEVELOPING VOCABULARY
4 BY EDUCATIONAL GAME

Y
Vocabulary is an important in language besides
pronunciation and grammar. We cannot express ideas
Y
in English without learning vocabulary. So that, when
students are given a passage with word that are supposed

M
to have been taught earlier, they still find it difficult to
understand the meaning. To make students motivated
and enjoyed to study vocabulary, the teacher should be
creatively is delivering material.
M
Teaching English as a second language sometimes be
boring and other times monotonous. An efficient way
to minimize these obstacles is to make profit from the
so called stirring activities, as a way of lightening up
the atmosphere in the classroom and providing enough
U

practice in exploring the English language.

Wright, Betteridge, and Buckby (2006) also stated

some reason why games are used in teaching-learning
process. First, language learning is a hard work. In
D

language learning, learners have to understand the

foreign language that is being learned and they have to
do some efforts to use the language in conversation or
in written composition, so they get new understandings
about the language. In this case, games help and

Developing Vocabulary by Educational Game 59

encourage many learners to sustain their interest and
work. Second, games help teacher to create useful and
meaningful contexts. Students want to give participation
in class, students have to know what does the written text
mean or what the others are saying. Students must speak
or write to express their thought or give information.

Y
Games help student to experience language rather than
study it merely.

Evans (cited in Aisyatin, 2013), proposed some

M
characteristics of games that games are entertaining and
exciting for learners by the competition and suspense
of the outcome and the winner of the game. Games
are challenging and helping in improving students‟
motivation to involve in the learning process. While
M
playing the games, indirectly, students are also learning
the lesson that has already given by the teacher Through
games, students can use the language communicatively
in the context created by teacher, exchange information
and express their own opinions (Wright, Betteridge,
U

Buckby in Huyen and Nga, 2003).

Huyen and Nga (2003) concluded their research that

games really give a good contribution if students are
given a chance to learn, practice, and review the English
D

language in pleasant atmosphere. Students have a new

way of learning by experiencing learning through games.
Games give relaxation and fun for students and games
60 Developing Vocabulary by Educational Game
 help students to learn and retain new words easily. A
competitive game gives some motivations for students.
Students would try to compete friendly with another. It
gives a chance to students to participate actively in the

Y
class.
Y
Games are one of the most important components in
EFL classrooms. They include activities which have goals

M
and rules at the same time fun. Hadfield (1990; Quoted
in Deesri, 2002) describes games as “an activity with
rules, a goal and an element of fun.”

Some authors suggest that language games should

be placed at the center of the foreign language teaching
M
program rather being accepted as a peripheral part of
the program, since, besides being fun, additionally they
include goals and controlled by rules (Haldfield, 1999). S.
M. Silvers, the author of the book Games for the Classroom
U

and English Speaking Club, claims that games are often

agreed by many teachers as tools which stop monotonous
repetitions in the lesson are used to fill in time (Silvers
1992). He claims that many teachers often miss the fact
D

that in a relaxed environment it is mostly possible that

real learning take place, furthermore learners are able to
use the target language that have been exposed to and
have been practiced earlier by the learners. Following
definition given by Greenall, it can be said that games
create a competition positively among students who are
Developing Vocabulary by Educational Game 61
involved in a language activity (Greenall, 1990).

The approval for using games in a foreign language

classroom can be seen in the fact that learners provide
a lot of benefits through games. It was ensured by
many experienced writers that games are educationally

Y
valuable. Some reasons are mentioned by Lee as in the
following (Lee, 1995): games give a chance to escape from
unusual routine, but they are very important in terms of
motivation and challenges.

M
Moreover, games provide encouragement to interact
and communicate successfully for learners and
permanence to carry on the effort of learning and create
a context to use the language meaningfully, decreases
anxiety, and allow learners to study in a relaxed and
M
enjoyable atmosphere.

There are many games that can be used in increasing

students’ vocabularies, such as:
1. Stirred Word Game
U

Stirred Word Game is a technique that helps

learners to become more active and more motivated.
The teacher can integrate stirring activities at any time
during the lesson when the energy level is decreased.
D

They also aim to overcome the poor motivation that

usually leads to the loss of learner concentration.

Clarks (2010) declared that stirring activities are

62 Developing Vocabulary by Educational Game
 described as a teaching tool that helps learners to
become more active and more motivated. The teacher
can integrate stirring activities at any time during the
lesson when the energy level is decreased. They also

Y
aim to overcome the poor motivation that usually
leads to the loss of learner concentration.
Y
According to Hadfield & Maley (1992), this situation

M
usually happens in the morning during the very first
lesson of the day. Learners come to the school in a
sleepy mood, reflecting on the things far from being
related to the school lesson. In this case, it is advisable
to present a short activity stimulating their energy
M
level.

In this game you will face more interesting challenge,

in the form of a series of letters or vocabulary are
stirred. The task you are composing: the letters into
U

words that are meaningful, while the words that stirred

in stacking the sentence that are true and meaningful.

The rules of the game

1. Forming several groups consisting of three until
D

five persons.
2. Prepare your group to compose the letters or words
that are scrambled, according to the order given.
3. Commands can be written on the board or orally.
Answer written on the answer sheet.

Developing Vocabulary by Educational Game 63

 4. The materials prepare answer sheet.
5. Card of origami paper size 7x10 a number of needs.
On each card was written with the letters and the
words that still messy or mixed up.

Advantages

Y
1. Easy to use in teaching English vocabulary.
2. Give the test precision and accuracy in recognizing
words.
3. Test your accuracy and thoroughness in recognize

M
words and compose sentences correctly.
4. Add the vocabulary of course.
5. Train the sharpness of the reading.

Disadvantages
There is still the little bit theory that describes about
M
stirred word.

2. Pictionary Game
Pictionary is a game that reflect the picture of the
word that should be guessed. Pictionary game is one of
U

the most popular games. It was created by Rob Angel

at the age of 24 years, pictionary was presented by him
in 1986 (Tinsman, 2002).
D

According to Claire Howell Major, Michael S.Harris,

Todd Zakrajsek (2016), in pictionary game, the
student has to choose a card with a course idea, fact or
person on it. The student draw pictures to define the
64 Developing Vocabulary by Educational Game
 idea while teammates guess the word or phrase based
on the card.

It is like the Thornbury statement that Pictionary

Y
game is a game that is conducted for team; there
are some importance and also the big influence by
Y
implementing the game in the classroom. The previous
research from Yuni (2017), she stated that Pictionary

M
game made the students able to work in team.
Pictionary game also could be used as an instrument
in reviewing the material so that the teacher could
know what materials that the students had not yet
understood without having to ask them.
M
In addition, Thornbury (2002) also stated that
Pictionary game engages the students in trying to
guess words or phrases from the drawings. The game
builds the students to work in teams and each member
U

of the team should turn to be the artist. The things that

are required to play Pictionary game are a list or card
of vocabulary items, whiteboard, chalkboard, or smart
board and markers, it means that the students guess
D

the pictures and should the word that can describe the
picture. From the picture, the students will know the
new vocabulary to describe the picture. So the students
try to guess the picture with the correct vocabulary
that can describe about what the picture about.

Developing Vocabulary by Educational Game 65

 Procedures of Pictionary Game
There are some studies that explained about the
procedures of Pictionary game, almost all of the
studies use the statement from Paula for implementing
Pictionary game in classroom. Paula in Buttner (2013)
stated that there are some steps that are needed in

Y
applying Pictionary game.
1. The students are separated into some teams.
2. Every team has to choose one person as the person
who draws on the whiteboard. It can be called as an

M
artist. Every group members takes a turn to be an
artist.
3. The teacher says what the artist should draw.
4. The team who can immediately guess deserves to
get a score.
M
These are many procedures that can be used in
the classroom when applying Pictionary game. It
commonly used for enhancing vocabulary. Due to
one of the problems in writing is word choice that
U

related with vocabulary, the researcher believes that

Pictionary game can be used in students’ writing
descriptive text.

Advantages
D

In applying the teaching strategies in the classroom

is sometimes very hard for the teacher because it is
not only to increase the skill that the students must
66 Developing Vocabulary by Educational Game
 learn but also thing about how to apply it correctly in
the classroom, every strategies has the weakness and
the strength.

Y
In addition, there are many advantages that the
teacher and students got by using Pictionary game in
Y
learning process. The research came from Rilly Yaumil
Akrimah, et.al (2017) that stated the advantages of

M
Pictionary Game, as follows:
1. In guessing the words, the students become
more active and creative because they have to
communicate with other group members in
guessing the words which is appropriate with the
M
drawings.
2. In playing the game, the teams also choose the
appropriate sketches that will more effective to
communicate the association to the rest of their
team.
U

3. This game brought relaxation and fun for the

students and created motivation for learners to
participate actively in learning activities.
4. Before the students played the game, they were
D

demand to complete the game about matching the

words which related with the game. It means that
the students were trained to drill the words

From the advantages above, it can be known that

Pictionary game give the positive impact for the
Developing Vocabulary by Educational Game 67
 students’ interest in learning. One of the advantages
that can be reference for the research is Pictionary
game can make the students to be active especially in
guessing word. Thus, in Pictionary game, the students
can learn about the appropriate word for writing.

Y
Disadvantages
Meanwhile, Fadhilah (2011) states that the
disadvantages of the implementation of Pictionary
game are it might make the students become too noise

M
the classroom and teaching learning activity might
not give any conducive atmosphere at all. Ellen (2007)
also stated that the disadvantage of Pictionary game is
the noise will be unbearable.

Pictionary game is mostly making the students

M
active in the class. The game is one of the games
which are student-centered. Thus before the teacher
conducted the game, the teacher must suggest the
students to making less noisy. Or maybe the teacher
U

can give the rule to make the students before the game
started.

3. Blindfold Game
Blindfold game is one of alternative techniques that
D

can be used by English teacher in teaching vocabulary

which is more interesting. The Blindfold is a game
of free movement and exploration of a virtual space

68 Developing Vocabulary by Educational Game

 that allows simple interactions with key elements and
assets, which ends up being quite a challenge. The
game simulates a realistic sounds setting, allowing
players to make sense of the sound driven experience.

Y
The Blindfold is a game of free movement and
Y
exploration of a virtual space that allows simple
interaction with key elements and assets, which ends

M
up being quite a challenge. The games stimulates a
realistic sound setting, allowing players to make sense
of the sound driven experience.

The Blindfold game (2018) is one of the media that

can improve students’ vocabulary. The Blindfold game
M
is a practical exercise in verbal communication that
used Blindfold in the game. This game used to teach
directions, number, and making instructions. Besides,
this game can bring the students that they need to
U

study the expressions of others to direct a person. The

Blindfold can implies team members into working
together more memorable and wearing blindfold can
be fun. So that the students can be more interested
D

and enjoy in English learning process.

a. Type of Blindfold Game

There are many types of blindfold game can be
used in the classroom, such as:

Developing Vocabulary by Educational Game 69

 1. Blindfold Cat and Mouse
Blindfold Cat and Mouse is a fully accessible
card game inspired by the kipbo card game,
for both sighted and visually impaired people,
designed for rapid audio play. The objective of
the game is to be the first one to empty your

Y
stock pile. You have a stock pile with 30 cards,
4 discard piles, and your hand of 5 cards, your
opponent has the same. The deck consists of
cards from 1 to 12.

M
The games starts by playing a 1 card from your
hand into a build pile. Then if you have a 2 card,
you play it. Then a 3 card so on, until you play
a 12. The build file is cleared off, and you start
M
again. If you cannot play a card, you discard a
card, and you opponent goes. There are other
rules, but that’s quick summary of the game.

2. Blindfold Bingo
U

Blindfold Bingo is an fully accessible audio

game where you play bingo by yourself, or againts
several computer players. In bingo, numbers are
announced, and you press to dab your card on
that number. You can choose how many other
D

computer players are playing, and how many

cards they can buy. If you get a bingo, you win
50% of the coins that were used to purchase
70 Developing Vocabulary by Educational Game
 cards by you and the others players.
Blindfold Bingo comes with over 16 patterns
of paly, and lets you both explore a pattern and
then play that pattern, such as a clover leaf, or the

Y
letter X, or an inside diamond. You can record
yourself saying bingo, and blindfold bingo will
Y
play it back to you when you get bingo. You can
also select from other people’s voice with the

M
people who play blindfold bingo.

3. Blindfold Word Games

Blindfold Word games are a fully accessible
word game for both sighted and visually impaired
M
people, designed for rapid audio play. Word
game includes the games word ladder, word
flick, hangman, unscramble and 7 small words.

(1) The Game Word Ladder: the objective of

U

blindfold word ladder is to convert one word

into another word by changing only one
letter time. For example, to change the word
‘COLD’ to ‘WARM’, you can first change the
D

third letter of COLD from ‘L’ to ‘R’, making

the word CORD. Then change the second
letter of ‘CORD’, so the new word is ‘CARD’,
then the fourth letter of ‘CARD’, so the new
word is ‘WARD’. Finally, change the last letter

Developing Vocabulary by Educational Game 71

 of ‘WARD’, so the new word is ‘WARM’.
(2) Word Flick: you have a 16 randomly choose
letters arranged in a 4 by 4 grid. You build
as many words as possible using adjacent
letters. The longer the word, the higher you
score,. For example, if the top line has the

Y
letters C, A, T, S, and the second line has the
letters O, L, D, X, you could form CATS from
the first line and COLD using the C from the
first line, and the O, L, D from the second
line.

M
(3) Unscramble: you must unscramble the
word. The letters L, E, H, O, L unscramble to
become the word HELLO.
(4) In Hangman: you must discover the word
M
before using up you moves. In seven small
words, you must combine word fragments
into a word that matches the definition you
are given.
U

4. Blindfold War
Blindfold War is a fully accessible classic card
war game for both sighted and visually impired
people, designed for rapid audio play. Blindfold
D

War tells the cards you and the computer play,

and the number of total cards in your hand. You
can customize the game to your liking: how much

72 Developing Vocabulary by Educational Game

 extra information is spoken and how quickly it is
spoken.
The way of Blindfold War is each player starts
with a deck of 26 cards. The game takes through

Y
a series of battles in which each player reveals
one card. The player with the highest card wins
Y
both cards. If both players reveal a card of the
same rank, a war ensues, giving each player a

M
chance to win many of their opponents cards.
The cards are not visible, instead, you play by
listening. Tap the screen to play your next card,
and the computer plays its next card too.
Blindfold Game is the way that used by a
M
teacher to convey a message in order to achieve
the purpose of learning by using blindfold.
Example of blindfold:
1. Tina (e-n-t-w) to zoo last week.
U

2. They (l-a-p-y-e-d) football last month.

3. They played the game (s-t-l-a-i-g-h-n-t).
4. The students went to zoo when they were
(t-s-u-d-y-i-n-g) animal’s name.
6. He (w-r-e-t-o) a letter yesterday.
D

7. I was (l-s-t-i-n-i-n-g-e) a music when my

teacher (n-t-r-e-e-e-d) my class.
8. I (t-l-o-s) my drawing book two days ago.
9. The students went to zoo when they were
(t-s-u-d-y-i-n-g) animal’s name.

Developing Vocabulary by Educational Game 73

 10. I and my sister went to campus and then we
(r-l-a-x-e-e-d) in a cafetaria.
11 Sam (l-s-e-t-e-n-i-d) to English conversation
when her friend was (n-i-s-g-i-g-n) beside
her.

Y
The answer:
1. Tina went to zoo last week.
2. They played football last month.
3. They played the game last night.

M
4. The students went to zoo when they were
studying animal’s name.
5. He wrote a letter yesterday.
6. I was listening a music when my teacher
entered my class.
M
7. I lost my drawing book two days ago.
8. The students went to zoo when they were
studying animal’s name.
9. I and my sister went to campus and then we
U

relaxed in a cafetaria.
10. Sam listened to English conversation when
her friend was singing beside her.

The other examples in reading text, such as:

D

Dear Nisa,
Nisa, I am (6) w-n-i-g-t-i-r to you just to

74 Developing Vocabulary by Educational Game

 memorize about our holiday in your city last
year.

I am so (7) h-y-p-p-a being there with you. We

Y
visited many tourism objects like Parangtritis
Beach, Prambanan Temple, and Malioboro. I
Y
really enjoyed the (8) l-e-a-p-c-s. We bought
many foods and souvenirs there. We also (9)

M
o-o-k-t the picture scenery. We are so happy (10)
s-e-p-i-d-n-g-n time together.

I hope we can (10) i-v-i-s-t there again next

time.
M
Dear Nisa,
Nisa, I am (6) writing to you just to memorize
about our holiday in your city last year.
U

I am so (7) happy being there with you. We

visited many tourism objects like Parangtritis
Beach, Prambanan Temple, and Malioboro. I
really enjoyed the (8) places. We bought many
D

foods and souvenirs there. We also (9) took the

picture scenery. We are so happy (10) spending
time together.

I hope we can (10) visit there again next time.

Developing Vocabulary by Educational Game 75

4. Fly Swatter Game
Fly Swatter is a device for killing flies that consists
of a flat piece of plastic and other materials that are
used over a long period of time (Macmillan: 2016). Fly
swatter games are a type of game in which students
must use the teacher’s guidance to write the word on

Y
the blackboard or whiteboard. The Fly Swatter is a
bug-killing device (Webster’s: 2001).

Fly Swatter recreation is one of the games that

M
may assist in stimulating getting to know overseas
language method mainly in coaching of vocabulary.
As a result, letters are guessed by gamers to expose
a phrase or word in the whiteboard. After instructor
says the phrase, the pupil will run to whiteboard.
M
Then, bet the word through hit the whiteboard. It gives
a mission so as to encourage the students to try to bet
word based on hit the whiteboard. it’s far an fantastic
way to feature vocabulary, and maintain the thoughts
cognizance on coaching gaining knowledge of process.
U

The Procedure of Fly Swatter Game

According Helena (2013), the procedure of Fly
Swatter game also can be played by:
a) College students will entire every different to hit the
D

phrase by way of fly swatter.

b) Two students face their friends in front of the
elegance.
76 Developing Vocabulary by Educational Game
 c) College students concentrate to what the teacher
says cautiously.
d) When they pay attention to the phrase said with the
help of the teacher, they will face the white board

Y
and locate the word.
e) The students hit the word.
Y
f) They spell it out in front of their friends once they
have figured out the phrase.

M
g) Finally, trainer is aware of their winner through
concentrate the primary sound of fly swatter.

Three rounds comprise this game, the pastime is

identical in the first and second rounds. To win the
M
game, each student competes. The students, on the
other hand, work together in the third round to try
and win the game. The students will be divided into
three groups. By using a trainer, each institution is
given a fly swatter (Dimas: 2013).
U

Advantages
There are several advantages to using the fly swatter
game to help students learn vocabulary. To begin with,
D

it is not a monotonous activity. Second, it is enjoyable

for students, and third, it facilitates the learning and
acquisition of new words. Last but not least, it involves
friendly competition, which keeps students’ attention.

Besides that, Fitriyani (2016) claims that Fly

Developing Vocabulary by Educational Game 77

 Swatter Game has several advantages, including:
a) It can encourage students to be interested in
teaching English, and if students enjoy their
teaching-learning activities, it can foster positive
attitudes such as a desire to learn the language.
b) Boredom can be relieved by playing games.

Y
c) It can help them improve their linguistic abilities,
particularly in the areas of spelling, pronunciation,
and concentration.
d) Encourage students to work together rather than
compete.

Disadvantages
M
The use of a fly swatter game for student vocabulary
mastery has several disadvantages, including:
M
1) The teacher must prepare more time for time
allocation, such as time for divided groups.
2) There was a lot of noise in the classroom.
3) When some students play the games, they do not
seem to mind.
U

5. Observe and Remember Game

This is a game that can be played pretty much
anywhere, by using pretty much anything. This game
D

was actually invented by Rudyard Kipling in his book,

Kim. Essentially, to play, you play against each other
to see how much you can remember of something in a
78 Developing Vocabulary by Educational Game
 given amount of time compared to someone else.

The short version to play this game is that we can

just put out a bunch of things on the table for someone

Y
to study and then after so many minutes or seconds,
cover them up. They have to remember as many objects
Y
as they can, and as many details about each object. The
more you play this game, the more detailed you can

M
get, and the more objects you can put out there. This
is a fantastic game that you can play with your kids or
your team to get them to be much better at noticing
and remembering details. This game is a good test of
observation and memory. This game is great because
M
it will absolutely come in handy in our everyday life,
will improve our brain functions and will keep kids
from getting bored.

The importance of vocabulary in learning English

U

is to enable students having the real meaning of

a word successfully. It means that the students
can improve the students’ vocabulary enrichment.
Teaching vocabulary through observe and remember
D

game makes the teaching and learning process more

enjoyable and productive place for both students and
teacher.

Observe and remember game can be useful game to

teaching the nouns around us because the teacher can

Developing Vocabulary by Educational Game 79

 use the things in the class, in the garden, in the library
and any places. By using the objects and picture given
in the class, the learners will remember strongly the
new words that they can get.

Additionally, direct presentation is also a very

Y
effective and vivid way to vocabulary teaching.
The teacher uses pictures, objects, to teach some
vocabularies (Gang Li and Hang Pang, 2015). This is
the activity that will be done in observe and remember

M
game. Even better, ask the students to close their eyes
when they’re not expecting to play. This is where the
training really gets good. The teacher can do this in
the class, at the cafeteria, in the field, at the park, or
wherever. Have them close their eyes and start naming
M
off the stuff they observed – when they didn’t know
they were playing it.

It will amaze the teacher and the learners just how

little of the world actually take notice of if the learners
U

do it this way. It also will amaze the teacher and the

students how many times this skill will come in handy
once the learners develop it. By playing the game
without notice, the teacher trains the students to not
only be getting better at remembering things, but also
D

the teacher train the students to always be noticing

things.

80 Developing Vocabulary by Educational Game

 The Procedures of Observe and Remember

Game
At real, those steps of the study with observe and

Y
remember game is described below. There are some
ways in doing observe and remember game. Example:
Y
Students try to remember items in the illustration in
the Picture Dictionary.

M
1. Tell students to spend 3 minutes looking very
carefully at the Picture Dictionary.
2. Have students close their books and write down
what they remember about the scene.
3. Have students compare notes with a partner and
M
then look at the pictures in the Picture Dictionary
to see how well they remember the scenes.

Variation 1: instead of students writing descriptions,

ask them questions about the scenes to see how much
U

they remember. For example:

1. How many spoons are there in the table?
2. Is there a glass in the table?
3. What is on the napkin?
D

Variation 2: have students do this activity in pairs,

with partners taking turns asking and answering
questions about the pictures.

Variation 3: divide the class into several teams

Developing Vocabulary by Educational Game 81

 and do the activity as a game in which team members
help each other to remember. The team with the most
correct answers wins the game.

Another way to play observe and remember game:

1. Divide the class into the group of 4 or 5.

Y
2. Play this game with either collection of small objects
or a chart with pictures of things the students can
identify.
3. Place the objects or chart at the front of the room

M
and give the students a set amount of time (maybe
two minutes) to look at them/it.
4. After they have returned to their seats, tell them to
take out paper and pen, then either individually or
in groups, have them write down the names of as
M
many of the objects as they can remember. (The
objects or chart should be covered at this time).
5. At the end of the set time limit (five minutes is
good), let the students check their lists and whoever
has the longest list is the winner.
U

Advantages
One of the good ways in teaching vocabulary is using
observe and remember game. Observe and remember
game is one of the best games in memorizing words.
D

Besides, learning vocabulary through observe and

remember game is considered as an effective and
enjoyable way to teach vocabulary.
82 Developing Vocabulary by Educational Game
 Observe and remember game serves the game
by using real objects or pictures. The teacher will
provide the objects which are fit with the object of the
study. Before entering the class, the teacher will look

Y
for appropriate pictures or objects to delivering the
vocabulary. Then, the students will work themselves
Y
or even in a group to make them competing and make
the learning process more challenging.

M
They can remember the vocabulary by the pictures
and objects introduced easily. By playing the game,
the students are motivated to remembering the
vocabulary. The students will show their ability in
M
observing and remembering the vocabulary given in
the class. The students will have conversation and
talking too in the game. This way, the students will
comprehend what vocabulary that they are learning
about.
U

Based on the various kinds of advantages that had

been stated above, observe and remember game as a
technique in delivering vocabulary can help students
D

to enriching their vocabulary. The students do not

only learn vocabulary but also they convey new words
in their learning process.

Developing Vocabulary by Educational Game 83

6. Monopoly Game
According to Dossuwanda (2008), monopoly game
is a game that is in great demand by people around
the world. The way to play this game is that players
compete to collect wealth by buying or renting land by
paying using the money bought by the previous bank

Y
according to the number of provisions. The player
takes a turn to throw the dice and move around the
game board following the numbers obtained by the
dice.

M
According to Ana Hamriani K (2011), monopoly is
a paper game on which it is written vocabulary which
every player should know. This monopoly games is
the same as the usual monopoly game. The purpose
M
of this game is to master all the vocabulary plots that
are on paper through the purchase and mastery of
vocabulary. The vocabulary comes from a vocabulary
that has been memorized and studied. Vocabulary
examples: names of fruits, animals, school equipment,
U

limbs and others.

From the definition above, it can be concluded

that monopoly game is a unique game that can help
students learn vocabulary because this game is familiar
D

and students can play it. On the other hand monopoly

games was very important in learning because in the
teaching and learning process requires a fun method.
84 Developing Vocabulary by Educational Game
 According to monopoly game theory, the monopoly
game media is worthy of being used as a learning
medium because this monopoly game media is one
of the game media that can make learning activity

Y
interesting, vibrant, enjoyable, and comfortable. This
medium also has the potential to engage students
Y
in problem solving learning exercises, so that the
students learning outcomes can be enhanced.

M
The nature of the monopoly game for vocabulary
teaching is exactly the same as the normal monopoly
game to master. Vocabulary is not only to regulate
money, but also to master vocabulary. According
M
to Dossuwanda (2008), reading and recalling the
meaning of the vocabulary that occurs in each plot is
the design of the monopoly game to teach vocabulary.

The way to play it is that each player is given capital

U

money by the participant of the monopoly game

consisting of 4 or more than 4 players. Dice are also
required to figure out how many plots to go in this
game. The sense of the vocabulary should be mentioned
D

by any player that stops in a vocabulary story. Each

player is entitled to buy the plot in the second round
after the first round begins with the second round,
if the plot has been purchased by one of the players,
then the other player must memorize the vocabulary
if it passes through the plot already purchased by one
Developing Vocabulary by Educational Game 85
 of the players. At the end of the semester, the teacher
assesses the vocabulary.

Procedure of Monopoly Game

Before starting the game, the instructor should
explain how to play a monopoly game, the way in

Y
which the students first go to the monopoly vocabulary
game. These ways are:
(1) Planning game related playing papers and tools,
e.g. dice, money and monopoly cards.

M
(2) For a monopoly, in compliance with the
participants and put the gift card and the penalty
and the card in place.
(3) Start rolling the dice and switch according to the
amount of dice you get with other players to work
M
interchangeably.
(4) Any players wishing to purchase a vocabulary plot
must first memorize their English at a price in a
vocabulary bank.
(5) Every player who lands on a vocabulary learned
U

by someone else must rent gift cards unless they

can. But the writing in the gift card must conform
to the occupied vocabulary story, otherwise they
should still pay.
D

(6) In the gift card and punishment box, any players

who lands on a gift plot or in a penalty court must
remove the card and follow the other imposed on

86 Developing Vocabulary by Educational Game

 the card.
(7) Within the time set by the teacher, players with
lots of vocabulary will be the winner.

Y
Advantages
There are 5 advantage of monopoly game, such as:
Y
(1) Students enjoyable, fun and competitive in
monopoly game.

M
(2) Increase students memorize vocabulary.
(3) Increase students’ concentrate.
(4) For students to increase their vocabulary, the
game is really interesting because with monopoly
games they can quickly remember the vocabulary.
M
(5) It is very easy to adapt this game to the classroom.

Disadvantages
There are 2 disadvantages of monopoly game, such
as:
U

(1) The teacher cannot manage the lesson, the game

cannot be effectively enforced.
(2) Confusion and miscommunication, unless the
students are concentrated and serious.
D

7. Bits and Pieces Game

Language learning is hard work. One must make
an effort to understand, to repeat accurately, to adapt
and to use newly understood language in conversation

Developing Vocabulary by Educational Game 87

 and in written composition. Effort is required at every
moment and must be maintained over a long period
of time. Games help and encourage many learners to
sustain their interest and work. Games also help the
teacher to create contexts in which the language is
useful and meaningful. The learners want to take part,

Y
and in order to do so must understand what others are
saying or have written, and they must speak or write
in order to express their own point of view or give
information. Games provide one way of helping the

M
learners to experience language rather than merely
study it (Wright, 1993).

In language teaching, game is an organized activity

that usually has the properties, they are: A particular
M
task or objective, a set of rules, a set of rules, competition
between players, and communication between players
by spoken or written language. Games are often used
as a fluency activity in communicative language
teaching and humanistic methods (Richards, 1985).
U

Game is one of media that can be applied in

teaching and learning of language. Game can make
the learning process being fun. Game can be various
types. It is used based on the stage and age of the
D

student. For example, the junior high school students

are like challenging game, the teacher must give them
the challenging game that suitable for them. So, the
88 Developing Vocabulary by Educational Game
 teacher should know to choose the best game to teach
his student.

Bits and pieces game is kind of game with picture-

Y
strip story. It is suitable for narrating events and
describing person, place or something, principally in
Y
the present tense. This game is appropriate to listening,
speaking and writing skills. All students can play this

M
game. To play this game we spend 15-40 minutes only,
the material that we need are picture-strip stories, or
texts (Wright, 1993).

The Steps of Bits and Pieces Game

M
These are the following steps in teaching descriptive
texts using bits and pieces game:
(1) Teacher divides students in 4 groups.
(2) The teacher distributes to every group, one
stripping pictures and many paper to stick the
U

picture and writing about the picture.

(3) It group should arrange the striping pictures in
order to be good picture in 10 minutes.
(4) After the striping picture have been arranged,
D

the teacher gives 20 minutes for every group to

describe it and write it in a pieces of paper.
(4) Then he or she asks every group to stick the
arranging picture on the board and the writing
under it.
(5) Then he or she checks what they have done,
Developing Vocabulary by Educational Game 89
 and tells them the winner of this game based on
arranging picture and detailed describing of their
writing.

The bits and pieces game has little different with

the scrabble game. It can see from the definition that

Y
is scrabble is more of a puzzle type of activity that can
be fun for English learners as a break from traditional
worksheets. Create a target word that you wish the
students to discover (this can be an answer to a key

M
question as well, if you wish). Use various vocabulary
words that contain letters to be used in the target
word. Then, scramble the vocabulary words so that the
students must discover from each scrambled word the
vocabulary to go letter-by-letter in the boxes behind
M
it. The target word can then be placed in a vertical
fashion using those letters from the vocabulary.

Advantages
a) Bits and pieces involve several useful skills
U

including listening, speaking and writing.

b) Games bring in relaxation and fun for students,
thus help them learn and retain new words and
idea more easily.
c) To exercise creativity and imaginity.
D

d) Bits and pieces is appealing to all levels.

e) The students can share their idea to develop their
writing ability in their group.
90 Developing Vocabulary by Educational Game
 f) Another benefit of using bits and pieces game in
classroom that is teacher can apply this game in
some variation.

Y
Disadvantages
a) This game is really hard if the teacher cannot give
Y
instruction clearly
b) Use bits and pieces game sometimes to be noisy

M
class.
c) The teacher’s feel that they lose control.
d) Not all students enjoy it since they would prefer to
be the focus of the teacher’s attention rather than
working with their peers.
M
e) Some students are passive whereas others may
dominate.

8. Dice Game
Freeman defines that a game as an activity that
U

helps children achieve full development, physical,

intellectual, social, moral, and emotional. Game is
fun and fun is motivating. It motivates people to do it
again and again. Haycraft (1978) said that games are
D

the ways of class to make use their initiative in English.

Through the games, the students can be creative and
be motivated to learn English.

From the statement above it can be concluded

that game is activity with rules make situation fun

Developing Vocabulary by Educational Game 91

 and happy to challenge. Game aims to entertain,
usually the game is much liked by children’s to adults
and game are important for brain development, to
improve concentration, make happy to children and
games make students creative and motivated to learn
English in the classroom.

Y
Jimbo in Sibarani (2020) states a die (plural dice,
from Old Frenchde’, from Latin datum “something
given or played”) is a small throw able object with

M
multiple resting attitudes, used for generating random
numbers or other symbols. This makes dice suitable
as gambling devices, especially for craps or for use in
non-gambling tabletop games.

According to Merriam-Webster, Dice is a small

M
cube that is made of plastic, wood, and etcetera. It has
one to six dots on each side, and that is usually use in
pairs in various games.

According to Blomberg (2004), dice game is a

U

board and a dice to play. He added that the dice is

used usually in order to move the students to place
where they need to use their language skill. He stated
that each player will get a chance to roll the dice and
D

then they will get a task from the teacher. Meanwhile,

according to Mahardika (2013) stated that dice game
is also movement game, because this game is played

92 Developing Vocabulary by Educational Game

 by doing movement form one place to another. She
said that this game is also adapted from snake and
ladder game.

Y
Lewis and Bedson in Hakim (2018) declared that
dice game is versatile game that provides variety of
Y
instruction and can be adjusted depend on the needs
of the objectives. Dice games also add variation to

M
a lesson and increase motivation by providing a
reasonable motivation to use the target language. Dice
games can provide the stimulus. The foreign language
can be immediately useful for the students through
the dice game context. It brings the target language
M
to life.

Hadfield in Sibarani (2020) also has a theory

about dice game, according to him, dice games are
familiar game types, where the aim is to be able
U

recognize written numbers; drawing; matching, and

for language like; face and/or body vocabulary; basic
game language.

From the statement above it can be conclude that

D

dice games is versatile game also add variation to a

lesson and increase motivation the target language.
Dice games are incredibly versatile, remember that
the dice need not only have numbers on the faces.
Dice game has multi functions such as to builds new

Developing Vocabulary by Educational Game 93

 vocabulary for the students, make a good sentence,
enhancing English grammar, and understand theory
English grammar to complete the task.

It can be concluded that dice game is a small cube

that is made of plastic, wood, and etcetera with each

Y
side having a different number of spots on it used with
thrown. Dice not only have numbers but also with
letters of colors that are more interesting to make
a dice better than dice that can be seen by children.

M
It is a game used by teachers to achieve an effective
learning atmosphere and a fun learning process for
students. Therefore by using this technique a lesson
can achieve the desired goal.

Principle of Dice Game

M
There are some principles of dice game. Firstly,
class work. It is easy to demonstrate that leaners say
only one or two students in a lesson or, indeed, in a
week. The greatest mistake is for the leaner not to
U

speak at all. Although some mistakes of grammar or

pronunciation or idiom may be made in pair or group
work, the price is worth paying. If the learners are
clear about what they have to do and the language is
not beyond them, there need be view mistakes.
D

Secondly, group work. Some games require for

to nine players; in this case group work is essential.

94 Developing Vocabulary by Educational Game

 Membership of group should be constant for the
shake of good will and efficiency. In class work, it is
easy to demonstrate that learners say only one or two
sentences in a lesson or, indeed, in a week. The greatest

Y
mistake is for the learners not to speak at all. Although
some mistakes of grammar or pronunciation or idiom
Y
may be made in pair or group work, the price is worth
paying. If the learners are clear about what they have

M
to do and the language is not beyond them, there need
be view mistakes.

The last, pair works. This is easy and fast to organize.

It provides opportunities for intensive listening and
M
speaking practice. Pair work is better than group work
if there are discipline problem. Indeed for all these
reason we often prefer to organize game in pair or
general class work, rather than in group work (Rini:
2009).
U

Dice game design in this study in order to be easier

to understand. First, the English grammar teacher
explains to the students, the students pay attention to
D

the teacher explanation. Secondly, teacher divide the

students into six groups using dice, two dice which top
the group number and the second material to the group
each member of the group has task of each. Third, the
teacher gives challenge to use dice to challenge each
group to enhance the activity of each student. Fourth,
Developing Vocabulary by Educational Game 95
 before all finished orders given teachers each group
make conclusion from the lessons they get to know
the improvement obtained by the students using dice
game in learning.

Procedure of Dice Game

Y
The procedure of dice game, she also gives
procedure that is:
(a) Preparation steps: explaining the materials to
students, diving groups by dice and material for

M
each group, giving a challenge so that every child
is active,
(b) Application steps: applying dice game in the
learning process of English grammar, opening
question and answer session or asking the students
M
ability, giving positive feedback and reinforcement
orally for the students’ success.

Advantages
Using games in language teaching can help
U

students develop their structure and produce the

same grammar and structure repeatedly. We can also
use game as vehicle of the language teaching learning.
The following are some opinion of game advantages
proposed by some others experts states four major
D

advantages of using games in language learning

(Humaira:2019);
1. Dice games help and encourage many students
96 Developing Vocabulary by Educational Game
 or learners to sustain their interest and work on
learning a language.
2. Dice games can help teachers to create contexts in
which language is useful and meaningful. Teaching

Y
English involves the teaching of patterns. This
pattern can be taught meaningfully through games.
Y
3. Dice games provide the repeated use of language
form or drill. By making the language convey

M
information and opinion, games provide the key
feature of drill with the opportunity to the working
of language as living communication.
4. Dice games can be found to give practice in all
the skills, in all the stages of the teaching learning
M
sequence and for many types of communication.

Disadvantages
There are disadvantages of dice game: it takes a lot
of time to do dice games in learning such as for groups,
U

material, and challenge to increase student activity

and preparation that must be done by each group and
the situation is less controlled.

9. Mime Game
D

A Mime game is one of the guessing games besides

guessing pictures, and guessing sentences. Guessing
game could be an effective technique to develop
and reinforce some concepts of grammar. The most
important function of implementing guessing games
Developing Vocabulary by Educational Game 97
 in teaching is to give practice in communication
(Richard-Amato: 2003).

One of the most effective guessing games is Mime

Game, where one child comes forward after the
teacher secretly gives him a word, phrase or sentence

Y
and mimes an activity and his group or the whole class
try to guess what he really means (Pinter, 2006; Doff,
2000).

In doing a mime game, learners feel very excited,

M
imaginative, enjoyable and communicative when
performing their task by acting out, describing the
structure learned. A leaner feels excited because he has
to perform an activity related to the present material
learned, that he knows, but his friends do not. He
M
has to use his imaginative skill, because his job is to
describe an activity by acting out or miming an activity
without saying a single word to his friends in a team
in a certain period of time that has been agreed upon.
U

Moreover they enjoy doing acting out a role.

In playing a mime game, learners communicate

with each other through acting. As it is known
that communication has two forms; verbal
D

communication and non-verbal communication.

Verbal communication when learners can get the
message across using words, whereas in non- verbal

98 Developing Vocabulary by Educational Game

 communication, learners can only get the message
across using body language which means they use a
facial expression, body movement and hand gestures.
In a mime game, a learner has to communicate non-

Y
verbally.
Y
Mime game is using bodies to convey the meaning
of an action or an expression which the others have

M
to guess. Mime uses the creative instrument everyone
has our body, we all can use our bodies to express
our ideas and feelings, including those of us who
don’t speak English well, or who have trouble reading
(Lambdin, 2018).
M
Definition of mime as the technique of telling
something using only expression and gesture and
no words (Hornby: 1995). Mime game is the most
appropriate guessing game that applied in classroom.
U

The procedure in mime game is where one children

come in front of the class then the teacher give his a
secret word, phrase or sentence (Fadhillah: 2013).
After that, he has to mime it and his group or the
D

whole class should guess what he really means.

When students are doing mime game and acting

out to describe the secret word, phrase, or sentence,
they are enthusiastic and feel enjoyable to take a part
in the learning activity. Not only enjoyable but also

Developing Vocabulary by Educational Game 99

 they can communicate with the other in guessing the
words. It becomes interest for the students because
one student which have to mime the words, phrases,
or sentence related to the learning material, while
his friends do not know about that. In this part, the
students which have to mime the words, phrases, or

Y
sentence, should use his imaginative skill in describing
the word without saying anything to his friends in the
time when he mimes.

M
The communication process occurs when the
students acted in playing mime game. There are two
forms of communication, verbal communication and
non-verbal communication. Verbal communication
is when learners interact by using the words which
M
means they speak, read and write anything to interact
each other.

Whereas non-verbal communication is when

learners interact by using body language such as the
U

expression of face, body movement and hand gestures.

It means the student just have to pay attention or
listen to their friend. In playing mime game, students
have to communicate by non-verbal communication.
D

Based on all definitions above mime game is the

most appropriate guessing game that applied in
classroom as the technique of telling something by

100 Developing Vocabulary by Educational Game

 using bodies to convey the meaning of an action or an
expression which the others have to guess.

Procedure of Mime Game

Y
Mime game can define as express something using
gesture or body language, facial expression and action
Y
without speaking to communicate. There are many
variations of mime games. One way of playing mime

M
game goes like below:
1. Divide the students into several teams.
2. Every teams should have a leader to show the
characteristics of the word or phrase
3. The leader only giving one clue about the word or
M
phrase. For example, the word about animal or
thing.
4. The leader have to show the characteristics of
the word by his or her gesture or body language
without words.
U

5. Member of group have to discuss and guess what

the leaders show about the characteristic from the
word.
6. When the leader have finished to show about the
D

word, member of the group try to guess what it

was.

Advantages
There are some advantages and disadvantages of
mime game. The advantages are mime game can invite
Developing Vocabulary by Educational Game 101
 the students to be active in teaching and learning in
the classroom without any pressures. This technique
can make a good atmosphere in the classroom. The
situation in this class is fun and effective, this condition
is reduced students boredom and stress in teaching
learning process, and more interest in English lesson.

Y
Disadvantages
The disadvantages of mime game is the teacher
has a problem in managing the class. Playing this

M
game sometimes resulted noisiness that can make the
students out of control and disturb other classes, but
the noisiness can be reduced by managing the class
well.

10. Spelling Bee Game

M
Spelling Bee is a competition in which contestants
are asked to spell a broad selection of words, usually
with varying degree of difficulty (Floyd, 2014). The
concept of Spelling Bee is thought to have originated in
U

the United States, and Spelling Bee events, along with

variants, are now also held in some other countries
around the world.

Rahayu (2009), as the previous researcher who

D

conducted the research on Spelling Bee game, found

that Spelling Bee game was a complete package that can

102 Developing Vocabulary by Educational Game

 train students‟ spelling and vocabulary. According to
Merriam Webster (2011), the purpose of Spelling Bee
game is to help the students improve their spelling,
increase their vocabulary, learn concepts, and develop

Y
correct English usage.
Y
Spelling Bee game is one of alternative techniques
that can be applied to the students. This is one of the

M
cooperative learning techniques that can be applied
in the classroom. In order to overcome the difficulties
with the spelling of the students’ written works, it is
necessary to improve the students’ spelling ability as
well as their vocabulary mastery.
M
Spelling Bee method for learning English is very
good for our precision and accuracy in identifying word
- a word of English. Which English language writing
and pronunciation is very different. This is confusing
U

not only for learners of English as a foreign language,

but also the case for a native English speaker. Manager
of Education First (EF) Indonesia, Arleta Darussalam,
believes Spelling Bee can help optimize the English
D

language skills of children from an early age. Arleta

states during a press conference in the building
Smesco, Spelling Bee can practice pronunciation of the
vocabulary of the English language quickly, precisely
and accurately, children can also learn to increase
self-confidence to speak English.
Developing Vocabulary by Educational Game 103
 From the definition above, in the teaching learning
process, the use of game is not something strange
anymore, because the educators often use game as
the technique to teach the students in the classroom.
Because the teachers believe that through game, the
students can explore themselves to be more active

Y
in the classroom with a happiness situation of the
learning process.

Uranga (2003) states that spelling is a very

M
important part of education. It is often part of class
work and homework as a subject. Organizing Spelling
Bee in the classroom is a fun way to get the children
to brush up on their spelling skills and get everyone
involved in the fun learning.
M
Based on Kichura (2008), Spelling Bee encourages
students to study their spelling words. As well as to
learn how to compete with one another. If students
are encouraged to study their spelling words, it means
that they will increase their vocabulary which soon
U

will be able to raise their certain skills, for example

reading or writing.
Before playing any game with students, especially
in the classroom, it is important to practice so that
D

students can understand the procedure clearly. The

game can then be demonstrated in front of the class so
that everyone understands how to play. Furthermore,
104 Developing Vocabulary by Educational Game
 establish rules for playing the game and let the students
realize the rules. Accordingly, to make Spelling Bee
work fluently in the classroom we need to make the
procedure clear by explain it to the students.

Y
According Herrera and Zanata (in Rahayu, 2000)
there can be several ways to conduct Spelling Bee
Y
in the classroom, because Spelling Bee requires no
preparation and is easy to set up. Before starting

M
Spelling Bee game, teacher give the students some
words in certain topic, let them read two or three
times, asked the students understand and remember
the words with the meaning, then Spelling Bee can be
M
started. Every meeting has different topic and material,
for example: transportation tools or professions or
kinds of animal or kinds of plants, etc.
Procedure of Spelling Bee Game
The writer tried to provide a simple fun game
U

to help students ready for a Spelling Bee. The only

supplies we will need are the chalkboard and chalk
(or whiteboard and marker) we can play this game
anytime throughout the year, with any list of spelling
D

words. There are some procedures of Spelling Bee

game:
a. Students are devided into two groups named group
A and group B.
b. Next, give the students collection of words on paper

Developing Vocabulary by Educational Game 105

 by any themes, for example “Kinds of Animal”,
distribute it for each students and gave them time
to understand and remember the words. In order to
make sure if the students will not do misspelling of
the words, the teacher or instructor spell the words
first and followed together by the students.

Y
c. After ensuring that students are ready to play the
game, the students are asked to stand up and make
a line like “queue”. The game is begun from group
A to group B, one student who stand in front of

M
the line will get firstbturn to spell the word which
is given by the tester, if she/he can spell the word
correctly the group will get 100 scores and 0 for
incorrect spelling. This way is followed by the next
group and each students who had done the spelling
M
turned to the back line.
d. At the end of playing game, the team with the most
points is the winner.

Advantages
U

The first advantage of applying the Spelling Bee

game in teaching vocabulary is the students could be
more interested in learning the material. When the
students are interested in learning the material, they
D

would give more attention to the lesson given. That

condition gave a good chance for both the teacher
and the students. On the occasion the teacher could

106 Developing Vocabulary by Educational Game

 deliver the material very well and the students could
understand what they had learned on that day.

The second advantage of applying the game in

Y
teaching vocabulary was the teacher did not need to
explain too many materials. The teacher just explained
Y
the materials needed by the students because they
can understand the material on that day by doing

M
the games. The games could give the students more
chance to understand the materials given because
through playing they can learned something without
realized that.

Disadvantages
M
The first disadvantage of applying the game in
teaching vocabulary is by attracting student’s interest
to game, all of them are active and made noisy.
Sometimes they too much moved and spoke. That
U

condition made the teacher difficult to control them.

The second disadvantage of applying this game in

teaching vocabulary is by doing it the teacher only had
a little time to explain the material and give some new
D

vocabulary. So there is no longer time for teacher to

explain more and help them to memorize all the new
vocabulary.

Developing Vocabulary by Educational Game 107

11. Scattergories Board Game
According to Mills in Yuliansyah and Rosyani
(2018) that the game of Scattergories is a board game
for two to six players in which the players try to make a
list of as many words as possible starting with certain
letters and included in the list of categories. This game

Y
has been experimented in learning foreign languages,
especially in learning vocabulary.

However, in using this game to teach vocabulary

M
to young students, students should already have a
group of vocabularies in their minds. In other words,
the game Scattergories can only be used in teaching
vocabulary to young students if the teacher has
taught several vocabulary groups to students and also
M
this strategy can make it easier for students to learn
vocabulary so that they are happy to learn vocabulary.

Procedure of Scattergories Board Game

In utilizing the Scattergories board game to teach
U

vocabulary to junior high school students, the teacher

should explain the rules of the game to students. The
rules are:
1. Students are separated into several groups, each
group consisting of five students.
D

2. Each group has one marker pen to write on the

board.
3. Every student in the group has the opportunity to
108 Developing Vocabulary by Educational Game
 write their answers.
4. List the categories on the board or share cards such
as verbs, nouns, adjectives, adverbs, etc. Students
can also help choose a category or they can depend

Y
on the current topic.
5. One letter card is taken by the teacher and five card
Y
categories are taken by the student.
6. If the words written by students are correct based

M
on letters and categories, the score is 20 for each
word.
7. The winner is the group that has the highest score
(Hikmah: 2016)
M
The benefits of using Scattergories Board Game
are: the first is that the game Scattergories requires
students to move actively and compete with others.
This involves students actively because of the game
assignments and the essence of competition between
U

them. This fits very well with the characteristics of

students.

The second is that the Scattergories game also

D

has simple rules so students can easily follow the

instructions given by the teacher. Although there may
be some modifications in the rules of the game, it will
not change the essence of the game Scattergories. The
winner of the game is the group that has the highest
score.
Developing Vocabulary by Educational Game 109
 Finally, the game Scattergories makes teaching
and learning more enjoyable and not stressful. When
the game is played in groups, students have the
opportunity to get help from other group members in
guessing the answers so that they will not feel fear and
stress. This can provide a positive attitude towards

Y
vocabulary learning.

Scattergories game is a game published by Parker

Brother in 1988. Scattergories game is the variations

M
of the category game and can build general word
learning. Scattergories is a branch of board game.
Scattergories are usually played by 2-6 people. People
playing Scattergories game must write the words of
the initials listed and the answers from each player
M
must be different from other players.

Meddaugh and Kudrowitz in Husain stated that it

is a game that give a time limit and a random letter of
the alphabet and must come up with unique examples
U

of items beginning with that letter that fit into a set

of given categories. Furthermore, this game is given
time limit, it stimulates the player or students to think
fast and correctly and this game offers the player to
stimulate ability to categorize word by word quickly.
D

For example, the word that comes out is the letter

“M”, category “fruit” so the player should write a

110 Developing Vocabulary by Educational Game

 word that start from the letter “M” for the word like
“Mango”. As soon as possible the student must get a
different word from his friend. If he has a different
word, he will get a score and if he gets the same word

Y
with his friend, he will get nothing.
Y
Based on the example above, the Scattergories game
is appropriate to be taught in language classroom

M
especially in vocabulary. Its helps the students to
stimulated them to think fast in categorizing word.

According to Yuliansyah and Syafei by using this

game teachers can see the improvement of students’
vocabulary mastery and teach the vocabularies based
M
on each letter categories that they have got. Therefore,
students will memorize the vocabulary that they have
got while they playing the game with their classmates
in which students will feel more enjoy in learning
U

English.

Advantages
Games are always loved by children. Games
are related to fun, movement, and competition.
D

Moreover, their concentration is shorter than

adult’s concentration. However, teacher must apply
a good and creative method to keep the student’s
concentration in learning the material.
As stated by Huyen in Akdogan, games make

Developing Vocabulary by Educational Game 111

 the classroom atmosphere more relaxed and more
interesting, game involves competition between
students, vocabulary games bring real world context
to the classroom.
As cited by Dian (2010), she found some advantages
and also some disadvantages in using games.

Y
1) Applying some games in teaching learning process
was students will feel more enjoy and have fun
while learning process.
2) Applying some games in teaching learning process

M
was easier and simpler for teachers.

However, the use of games in teaching English

vocabulary not only gave benefit both to the teacher
and the students but also gave difficulty to them.
M
Disadvantages
The disadvantage of applying this game was the
class will be more noisy and the teacher has limited
time to explain the material. However, there must be
U

disadvantages from using games, such as it makes

classroom circumstances noisy and uncontrolled.

12. Hangman Game

According to Novriana et al (2013), stated that
D

Hangman game is one of the guessing games. In

addition, Parkin (2005) said, “the hangman game is
a game where players are given a secret word and a

112 Developing Vocabulary by Educational Game

 set number of guesses”. This word to be guessed is
represented by a row of dashes, representing each
letter of the word (Kumar: 2016).

Y
Wright et al (2006) described Hangman game
as a game that focuses on vocabulary and spelling.
Y
Further, Evi (2015) also said that Hangman was the
best way for kids to practice spelling, pronunciation,

M
develop their vocabulary, and have lots of fun. It can be
clarified that the Hangman game is ideal for teaching
vocabulary because this game provides a condition
in which students can learn their vocabulary in a fun
way.
M
Further, Coles in Wirawan (2013) explained that
Hangman is a fun game that students can play in
the classroom to help them develop their vocabulary
skills because they can play on the blackboard, on the
U

desk, or even on the smartboard. Using a game like

a Hangman game, there will be some clues given to
answer the secret word provided so that the players
can get the answer more quickly, and then Hangman
D

process will be started if the player2 fails to add the

connect letter.

Based on the description above, it can be inferred

that Hangman game is a fun word guessing game
for two or more people in which one person thinks

Developing Vocabulary by Educational Game 113

 of a word, and the others try to guess a word with
predicting letters. Hangman game can be played on
the blackboard, students’ desk, or smartboard, where
some clues are given to answer the hidden word,
whether the word is a verb or a noun, an adjective
or an adverb, an antonym or synonymous word, the

Y
number of letters.

Procedure of Hangman Game

Wright et al (2006) stated the hangman game

M
procedure as follows:
(a) Think of a word that should be familiar to the
learners, and draw a dash for each letter;
(b) Invite the learners to call out letters that they may
think in the word;
M
(c) If the learner guesses correctly, write the letter
above the appropriate dash. For each incorrect
guess, draw part of the hanged man as shown in
the illustration.
U
D

Picture 1: Illustration Part of the Hangman

114 Developing Vocabulary by Educational Game

 Y
Y

M
Picture 2: Illustration How to Play Hangman Game
In this study, we use several steps to apply Hangman
game in teaching vocabulary as follows:
M
1. We decided the theme of vocabulary that will be
guessed by the students. Vocabulary theme related
to the noun, adjective, verb, and adverb;
2. The students will be divided into five groups. Each
group consists of about 4 students;
U

3. One student in each group will be asked about the

antonym/synonym/definition/connotation of the
word as a clue before creating several letters with
a series of lines. One student in each group who
D

chooses to make several letters with a series of

dashes will be forced to know the word;
4. The other groups will guess the word by spelling
the letters of the word one by one based on the
student’s clue who draws the number of letters

Developing Vocabulary by Educational Game 115

 with a series of dashes. The other groups will be
asked to guess the word in the correct spelling;
5. If the letter is in the word, the student will write it
on the right position above the dash, but if they say
the letter is wrong, the teacher will draw one part
of the hangman on the whiteboard; there are ten

Y
parts of the gallows. If there are ten wrong guesses,
the student who gives the clue get one point. But if
the other groups can guess the word correctly, the
group will get one point;

M
6. After the word can be guessed, the students and the
teacher spell and pronounce the word correctly.
The students will then be asked to say the meaning
of the word and use the appropriate word based on
context in the worksheet that will be shared.
M
Advantages
Hangman game is a popular word guessing game
where students can play in the classroom to help
students develop their vocabulary skills. Hangman
U

game has some advantages and disadvantages when

teachers in the classroom apply it. According to
Prasetiawati (2020), the Hangman game has many
advantages:
D

a. It could encourage students to be involved in

teaching English. If students feel excited about
teaching-learning activities, it could lead to

116 Developing Vocabulary by Educational Game

 positive attitudes, such as a feeling of interest in the
language they are learning.
b. Games can run out of boredom.
c. They can improve their linguistic skills, particularly

Y
in spelling, pronunciation.
d. Get students to be cooperative, not competitive.
Y
Disadvantages

M
Besides the advantages have explained before, there
are also some disadvantages in using Hangman games
in the learning process. According to Hung and Young
in Wirawan (2013), hangman games may depend on
luck and do not measure the actual skill. Moreover,
M
the weakness of this game is that children do not know
and care about its meaning. Here, the teacher can
anticipate this by putting the word games in context.

13. Riddle Game

U

Riddle games are one type of guessing game. Riddle

game can be said to be puzzle game. Riddle Games
including formal games, riddle can also be said as a
contest of intelligence and skill where players take
D

turns asking puzzles. A player who can’t answer means

he loses. According to Patricia (2003) that guessing a
game can be an easy way to hone a bit of rigor in a
concept.

According to Evan Riddle (1957) is all nouns refer

Developing Vocabulary by Educational Game 117

 to something confusing and must be solved. While
Blachowicz as quoted by Danny (2008) mentioned
that “Word puzzles” are questions with responses like
words.

Riddle is also a challenge for students, because to

Y
solve riddle correctly, a student need to listen carefully
and correctly interpret the language to learn to ask the
right and effective questions logically and logically as
well convincing solution.

M
Riddle are part of the vocabulary game, Riddle
game have game criteria, there is a sense of excitement
arising about the words, because in riddle games it
takes more ingenuity to solve the puzzles in it and
plays on the formed words. Riddles can also motivate
M
a person to be more interested, but still have rules
to play (Sarah, 2017). Riddle game are also not just
ordinary games but also require critical thinking to
solve problems.
U

Procedure of Riddle Game

Games are familiar to everyone, especially children.
All things if connected with a game or game. Riddle
game is actually already familiar. Riddle game
D

emphasizes speaking skills and vocabulary. The steps

are:
1) The teacher prepares learning materials.

118 Developing Vocabulary by Educational Game

 2) Teacher divides students into 2 groups. Question
groups and answer groups.
3) The question group is given a keyword. For example
the word “Transportation” students are asked to

Y
develop the word into a puzzle. Examples of clues
are: “Wheel 6”, if the group cannot answer with one
Y
clue, give the next clue more specific. “The carrier
goods”. The answer is “a truck”. The next example

M
is : “You answer me, but I never ask you a question,
What am I ? The answer is “A telephone”. On the
other hand, teacher tell the students that the riddle
about animal, person, place or etc.
4) The group answer guess the riddle. One of the
M
students must guess successfully given by the
answer group and the students can try only twice.
5) Then, during the game, the teacher must correct
the vocabulary they are saying, so that the speaking
U

is also good. By using riddle game, students can

memorize vocabulary more easily (Ersoz, 2016).

Advantages
Riddle game has many advantages for students.
D

As we know that all of students, especially teenager

students like a riddle game, the advantages of using
Riddle game in teaching vocabulary are:
a. Students are more interested in learning the
material. When they are interested in the material,

Developing Vocabulary by Educational Game 119

 they will pay more attention to the lesson.
b. Students also feel more challenged, because to
solve the Riddle needs a critical thinking.
c. The teacher also doesn’t need to explain more
about the topic, because the students will know it
by themselves by answering the Riddle.

Y
Disadvantages
The disadvantages of the riddle game are:
a. The disadvantages of applying the puzzle game

M
in teaching and learning is by attract students to
play game, everything is active and makes noise.
Sometimes they move too much and talk. Such
conditions make the teacher difficult to control his
class.
M
b. The second drawback is applying the riddle game
on the teaching and learning process is the teacher
only has a little time to explain the material and
give some new vocabulary. So there is no more
time for teachers to explain more and help them to
U

memorize all the new vocabulary learned (Diana,

2003).
D

120 Developing Vocabulary by Educational Game

 5 CONCLUSION

Y
Nowdays, game has been developed especially in
teaching learning process. Game is an activity which is
Y
entertaining and engaging, often challenging, and an
activity in which learners play and usually interact with

M
others.

Game is an important part of a teacher’s repertoire.

Although they are recreational activities by nature whose
main purpose is enjoyment, in language learning process
M
their purpose is to reinforce what has already been
taught. In the course of a game, learners are engaged in
an enjoyable and challenging activity with a clear goal.
Often, students are so involved in playing games that
they do not realize they are practicing language.
U

Vocabulary is one of the basic elements to achieve

language skill. So, to achieve these aims, students
must master a number of vocabularies. With the rich
vocabulary student will be able to talk about more things
D

and communicate well. English vocabulary is complex,

with three main aspects related to form, meaning, and
use, as well as layers of meaning connected to the roots
of individual words (Nation & Meara, 2010).

Developing Vocabulary by Educational Game 121

 Vocabulary is the most important skill when learning/
teaching a foreign language. It is on vocabulary that
all the other skills like reading, writing, speaking, and
listening are based and developed. This has shown why
it is important to learn new words.

Y
Vocabulary helps students express themselves
more precisely and sharpens communication skills it
also requires students to cognitive academic language
proficiency. When students learn more of 90-95% of the

M
vocabulary words helps students to understand what
other people are saying and what she/he is reading.
Without a sufficient understanding of words, it’s difficult
for students to understand others or express their ideas.

Teaching vocabulary is important across the

M
curriculum from language arts and social studies to
mathematics and science. By learning several words at
the students’ disposal of describing events or emotions,
they can be that explicit when sharing ideas their ideas
U

and opinions.

Teaching vocabulary is not just about words; it involves

lexical phrases and knowledge of English vocabulary and
how to go about learning and teaching it, which the next
D

chapter explores. Vocabulary as a supporting element to

master the four language skills plays a very important
role in learning English. The learners who are rich of

122 Developing Vocabulary by Educational Game

 vocabulary will be successful to express their ideas in
language skill.

There are four language skills in English; speaking,

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writing, reading and listening. But one who is poor of
vocabulary will get trouble in those skills. The four skills
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are closely interdependent, the student must master
the four language skills so that they can use English

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effectively. It is possible that someone can master one of
the language skill, without mastering vocabulary.

Games are fun and they make the learning process

closer to the acquisition process, which makes students
learn in a more natural way. Games can encourage,
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entertain, teach, and promote fluency and communicative
skills. It has high motivation because it is amusing and
interesting. Therefore, the role of games in teaching and
learning vocabulary cannot be denied.
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However, in order to achieve the most from

vocabulary games, it is essential that suitable games
are chosen. Whenever a game is to be conducted, the
number of students, proficiency level, cultural context,
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timing, learning topic, and the classroom settings are

factors that should be taken into account. In conclusion,
learning vocabulary through games is one effective and
interesting way that can be applied in any classrooms.

Developing Vocabulary by Educational Game 123

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124 Developing Vocabulary by Educational Game

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138 Developing Vocabulary by Educational Game

 Author’s Profile

Sholihatul Hamidah Daulay was born in

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Surabaya, Indonesia on June 22, 1975.
She completed her S-1 program at
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English Education of the State
Institute for Islamic Studies North

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Sumatera Medan in 1999, and
her master degree in Linguistics
Study from North Sumatera University in 2002. She also
completed her doctoral program at the Linguistics program
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North Sumatera University in 2014.
At present, she administered as a senior lecturer of English
Education Department, Tarbiyah and Teacher Training
Faculty, State Islamic University of North Sumatera. She
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is also active in conducting research and presenting in

various National and International conferences. The
title of her books are Let’s Study English (Cita Pustaka,
2007), Introduction to General Linguistics (La-Tansa,
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2011), Language and Society (LPPP Medan, 2019), Basic

Morphology (UMSU Press, 2021). Her research focused
include English, Linguistics, and Sociolinguistics. Her email
at [email protected].

Developing Vocabulary by Educational Game 139