Concept of Vocabulary Mastery
Vocabulary is one of the language
aspects which should be learnt. Learning it is important because in order to be
able to speak, write, and listen learners have to know vocabulary first. A
person said to „know‟ a word if they can recognize its meaning when they see it
(Cameron, 2001: 75). It means that in
learning
vocabulary learners have to know the meaning of it and also understand and can
use it in sentence context.
According to John (2000: 16),
vocabulary is knowledge of knowing the meanings of words and therefore the
purpose of a vocabulary test is to find out whether the learners can match each
word with a synonym, a dictionary – tape definition, or an equivalent word in
their own language. In learning vocabulary automatically they have to know the
meaning of words themselves and can use it in sentences. In brief, vocabulary
mastery can be defined as a number of vocabulary (words) in a language which
contains information about its meaning, form, and usage in context of
communication. It is the basic knowledge that students should master first
before mastering English. Vocabulary learning is a principal issue for English
learning because it comprises the basic building blocks of English sentences.
The vocabulary mastery is not a
spontaneous process which is easy to be done. The process of vocabulary mastery
begins when someone is still an infant. Basically, the baby‟s first language
comes from the mother tongue. They will master the vocabulary through the
simple words by listening to the words which are uttered by someone else. It is
known that English vocabulary learning cannot run successfully without English
ability (English skills) because both of them are very important in English
teaching and learning process.
The
students cannot do well in comprehension without large vocabulary, for the
passages and questions involve a range of words much wider than that of daily
conversation. To make the discussion clearer, Harmer‟s opinion can be added. In
his book, Harmer (2001: 16) says that there are some aspects that have to be
discussed in vocabulary, namely: word meaning (synonym, antonym, connotation,
and denotation), extending word use such as idioms, word combination or
collocation, and the grammar of words which comprises noun, verb, adjective,
and adverb.
a.
Meaning
The meaning can be classified
according to the form they attach to. It can be classified into three forms:
lexical meaning, morphological meaning, and syntactic meaning. Lexical meaning
is the meaning that attaches to words as word. For example, the meaning of a
building for human habitation that attaches to house is lexical meaning.
Morphological meaning is the meaning that attaches to morpheme. Morpheme is the
smallest unit that carries information about meaning or function. And the
meaning that attaches to the word arrangement in a sentence is the syntactic
meaning. A word meaning can also be defined by its relationship to other words.
One should also know the denotation and connotation of a word in order to know
the negative or positive meanings that occur in the word.
1)
Synonym
The term synonymy derives from
Greek: syn- + -nymy. The two parts mean “same and name”. Synonymy deals with
sameness of meaning, more than one word having the same meaning, alternatively
the same meaning being expressed by more than one word. In other words, synonym
is words whose denotation is the same but has different connotation.
2)
Antonym
Antonym is the opposite of meaning.
It derives from Greek, “ant- and - nymy”, the two parts mean “opposite + name”.
Antonym deals with oppositeness of meaning. Antonyms are not differentiated for
formality or dialect or technicality; antonyms occur within the same style,
dialect, or register.
3)
Denotation
Denotative
meaning is called as some terms such as den notational meaning,
cognitive meaning, conceptual meaning, ideational meaning, referential meaning,
or proportional meaning. This is called dennotational, referential, conceptual,
or ideational because the meaning refers to a certain referent, concept, or
idea from reference. Denotative meaning is also called cognitive meaning because
the meaning concerns with consciousness or knowledge.
4)
Connotation
Connotation is more complicated than
denotation. Connotation is feeling and emotion that occurs within a word. Thus,
it can be said that connotation is denotative meaning which is stretched. In
other words, connotation is the feeling and emotion associated with a meaning.
b.
Use
According to Nation (2001:1), there
are some ways to draw the attentions to the use of words by quickly showing the
grammatical pattern the word fits into (countable/uncountable,
transitive/intransitive, etc.), giving a few similar collocates, mentioning any
restrictions on the use of the word (formal, informal, impolite, only used with
children, etc.), and giving a well-known opposite or a well-known word
describing the group or lexical set it fits into.
c.
Spelling
Spelling is the writing of a word or
words with the necessary letters and diacritics present in an accepted standard
order and an arrangement of letters that form a word or part of a word; the
process of forming words by putting letters together.
According to Ur (1996: 60) there are
some important points that should be considered when teaching vocabulary that
is form (pronunciation and spelling). The learners have to know what a word
sound is like (its pronunciation) and what it looks like (its spelling).
d.
Pronunciation
According to Hewings (2004:3),
pronunciation of a language is the main components of speech which combine
together. These components range from the individual sounds that make up
speech, to the way in pitch (the rise and fall of the voice is used to convey
meaning). Pronunciation can be said as the act of uttering with articulation;
the act of giving the proper sound and accent; utterance; as, the pronunciation
of syllables of words; distinct or indistinct pronunciation. It is a way in
which language is spoken. It includes segmental feature, vowel, and the
intonation patterns. The listeners are supposed to apply them well
and
correctly.
According to Ur (1996: 60), there are some important points that should be considered when teaching vocabulary that is form (pronunciation and spelling). The learners have to know what a word sound is like (its pronunciation) and what it looks like (its spelling). These are fairly obvious characteristics and the words will be perceived by the learners when encountering the items for the first time. From the definitions above, it can be inferred that learners should master the words of the language because language consists of words. It is in order to be able to use the language approximately. Having mastered a large number of words, they will be able to express their ideas in the language approximately.
INFO DAN FILE LENGKAPNYA KLIK DI SINI
HUB 085398507498
