Computer-Based Vocabulary Teaching: The Students’ Perception
B.B. Dwijatmoko
Hunt
and Beglar (2002) identifie
three kinds of approach to teaching vocabulary, namely incidental learning,
explicit instruction, and independent strategy development. The choice
of the approach depends on the English mastery level. According to Nation (2002),
an explicit instruction is essential for second language learners. He states
that second language learners need a course in which the focus is on the form,
including vocabulary, in order to learn the form. For that purpose, a computer-based
vocabulary teaching can be a good solution to teach vocabulary to second
language learners. A software which is installed for a local area network and
provides (i) a list of words, (ii) the meanings of
the words, (iii)the context in which the words may
occur, (iv) a practice on the meanings of the words, and (v) a practice in the
use of the words can be used to teach vocabulary to second language learners In
this study, the software Word_Master was used. The
software meets all the features above. The software provides a list of the
first 5000 words with their equivalents in Indonesian and the example of their
use in context and gives exercises in which the learners match English words
with their equivalents in Indonesian or sentences with missing words and the
missing words. The software also provides an exercise in which the learners are
required to make sentences and, later, to check another student's sentences to
see if the words are used correctly.
The
subjects of the research were the second semester students of a two-year
extensive English program who took Vocabulary B course. The number of the
subjects was 85. They learned vocabulary for 90 minutes in class every week. The
aim of the research was to see if the perception of the learners of the
vocabulary instruction. The research result reveals how well the vocabulary
instruction has helped the learners learn the words and what advantages and
weaknesses a computer-based vocabulary teaching has.
Dwijatmoko, B. B. (2006, December). Computer-based vocabulary
teaching: The students’ perception. Paper
presented at the 54th TEFLIN International conference,
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