Abstract:
This final project is an action research. In this study, the researcher limit
the discussion by stating the following problem: “How is the students’
achievement in learning English vocabulary by using a puppet?” The aims of the
research is to find out whether teaching vocabulary using puppet is effective to
improve the students’ achievement. It is expected that the result of the study can
enrich the teacher’s strategy in teaching vocabulary through puppets especially for
Junior High school students.
The subject of the study was the students of SMP N 1 Idi Timur in the
Academic Year 2016/2017. There were 26 students (11 boys and 15 girls). There
were three steps in this action research. The first step of the activity was the pretest. The second step of the activity was action which consisted of four activities.
In the first activity, the researcher performed a puppet in front of the class. The
theme of the first activity was fruits and animals. In the second activity, the
researcher taught about road sign. In the third activity, the researcher taught about
parts of body. In the last activity, the researcher taught about things in the
classroom. The third step of the activity was giving post-test.
Based on the data analysis, it can be seen that there is significant
difference in the result of the students’ pre-test and post-test. The average
achievement of the students’ pre-test was 62,30% and 97.5% in the post-test. The
main factor affecting this improvement was the students’ interest in the puppet
given.
Therefore, it can be suggested that the use of puppet can be an alternative
way to teach vocabulary, especially to improve the students’ mastery in
vocabulary. This result hopefully would motivate language teachers to use a
puppet in teaching English in the classroom, especially when teaching English
vocabulary to Junior High School students
