A STUDY OF STUDENTS MASTERY OF PHRASAL VERBS

(The Case of the Fourth Semester Students of Regular Education Class

of English Department of UNNES in the Academic Year of 2006 / 2007)

a final project
submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements
for the degree of Sarjana Pendidikan in English

by
Muhamad Yusuf
2201403672

ENGLISH DEPARTMENT
FACULTY OF LANGUAGES AND ARTS
SEMARANG STATE UNIVERSITY
2007

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
First and foremost, I would like to express my greatest gratitude to Allah the
Almighty for the blessing and inspiration leading to the completion of my study.
In this opportunity, I would like to express my gratitude to the people who
helped me in finishing my final project.
Here my greatest gratitude goes to:
1. Prof. Dr. H. Mursid Saleh, M.A., my first advisor, for his patience in
providing continuous and careful guidance as well as encouragement,
indispensable suggestion and advice.
2. Novia Trisanti, S.Pd., M.Pd., my second advisor, for her patience in giving
guidance and supports for the finalization of the study.
3. H. Eko Yulianto, S.S., M.Hum., who has permitted the writer for
conducting a try-out test in his class.
4. Drs. Warsono, M.A., who has permitted the writer for conducting the
research in his class.
5. My beloved family and my best friends in campus who always give their
love, pray, and support me to finish my final project.
Finally, I realize that the study is still far from perfect. I have great
expectation that this final project would be useful for further study.

Semarang,

The writer

August, 2007

PERNYATAAAN

Dengan ini saya:

Nama: Muhamad Yusuf
Nim : 2201403672
Prodi / Jurusan: Pendidikan Bahasa Inggris / Bahasa dan Sastra Inggris
Fakultas Bahasa dan Seni, Univesitas Negeri Semarang
menyatakan dengan sesungguhnya bahwa final project yang berjudul:
A STUDY OF STUDENTS MASTERY OF PHRASAL VERBS
(The Case of the Fourth Semester Students of Regular Education Class
of English Department of UNNES in the Academic Year of 2006 / 2007)
yang saya tulis dalam rangka memenuhi salah satu syarat memperoleh gelar sarjana
ini benar benar merupakan karya saya sendiri yang saya hasilkan setelah melalui
penelitian, pembimbingan, diskusi, dan pemaparan / ujian. Semua kutipan, baik
secara langsung maupun tidak langsung telah disertai keterangan mengenai identitas
sumbernya dengan cara sebagaimana yang lazim dalam penulisan karya ilmiah.
Dengan demikian walaupun tim penguji dan pembimbing penulisan final project ini
membubuhkan tanda tangan sebagaimana keabsahannya, seluruh karya ilmiah ini
tetap menjadi tanggung jawab saya sendiri. Jika dikemudian hari ditemukan
ketidakberesan, saya bersedia menerima akibatnya.

Demikian, harap pernyataan ini dapat digunakan seperlunya.

Semarang,

Agustus 2007

Yang membuat pernyataan

Muhamad Yusuf

ABSTRACT
The title of this final project is A study of the students mastery of phrasal
verbs: The case of the fourth semester students of regular education class of the
English Department of UNNES in the academic year of 2006/2007.
The research is carried out to measure to what extent the fourth semester
students of regular education class in the academic year of 2006/2007 have mastered
the English phrasal verbs and what problems encountered by the students. Although
phrasal verbs are not taught in a vocabulary class in this department, but this research
is carried out on consideration that vocabulary is not less important than the other
language components.
A test was employed in the form of multiple choice and completion type to
collect the data. A try-out test was carried out before administering the test.
It was proved that there were 4 out of 24 students who got B grade, 9 students
got BC, 6 students got C, 2 students got CD, 2 students got D, and one student got E.
Moreover, in statistical analysis, the mean was 64, 83. It means that the students
mastery of phrasal verbs is average. In other words, I can conclude that the students
mastery of phrasal verbs is good enough.
To improve the quality of teaching learning process and to get satisfactory
results in teaching phrasal verbs at the English department of UNNES, I suggest the
English department lecturers intensify vocabulary, especially phrasal verbs taught in
contextual meaning so that the students mastery of phrasal verbs can be improved.

ii

MOTTO
Experience is the best teacher.
A friend in need is a friend indeed.
Every cloud has a silver lining.

To
My beloved family.
My best friends in campus.

APROVAL
The final project was approved by the Board of Examiners of the English
Department of the Faculty of Languages and Arts of Semarang State University on
August 27, 2007.

Board of Examiners:
1. Chairperson,
Prof. Dr. Rustono, M. Hum.
NIP. 131281222

____________________

2. Secretary,
Drs. Alim Sukrisno, M.A.
NIP. 131095303

____________________

3. First Examiner,
Drs. Januarius Mujiyanto, M. Hum.
NIP. 131281221

____________________

4. First Advisor as Third Examiner,

Prof. Dr. Mursid Saleh, M.A.
NIP. 130354512

____________________

5. Second Advisor as Second Examiner,

Novia Trisanti, S.Pd., M.Pd.
NIP. 132308135

____________________

Approved by
Dean Faculty of Languages and Arts
Prof. Dr. Rustono, M. Hum
NIP.131281222

TABLE OF CONTENTS
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT..................................................................................... i
ABSTRACT ........................................................................................................... ii
TABLE OF CONTENTS..................................................................................... iii
LIST OF APPENDICES ..................................................................................... iv
LIST OF TABLES .................................................................................................v
CHAPTER
I INTRODUCTION
1.1 Background of the study ....................................................................................1
1.2 Reason for choosing the topic ............................................................................4
1.3 Statement of the problems..................................................................................5
1.4 Objectives of the study.......................................................................................5
1.5 Significance of the study....................................................................................5
1.6 Limitation of the study .......................................................................................6
1.7 Outline of the report ...........................................................................................6
II REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE
2.1 General concept of phrasal verbs .......................................................................8
2.2 Characteristic of phrasal verbs .........................................................................11
2.3 Types of phrasal verbs .....................................................................................12
2.4 Word order of phrasal verbs.............................................................................13
2.5 Differences between the phrasal verbs and prepositional verbs ......................14
2.6 Multiple meaning of phrasal verbs...................................................................15
2.7 General concept of vocabulary.........................................................................16

iii

2.8 Teaching of vocabulary....................................................................................17

III METHOD OF INVESTIGATION
3.1 Population ........................................................................................................22
3.2 Sample..............................................................................................................23
3.3 Instrument ........................................................................................................24
3.4 Construction of the test instrument ..................................................................24
3.5 Arrangement of the test instrument..................................................................25
3.6 Administration of the test.................................................................................25
3.6.1 Try out.....................................................................................................25
3.6.2 Validity of the test...................................................................................27
3.6.3 Reliability of the test ...............................................................................28
3.6.4 Facility value of the test ..........................................................................30
3.6.5 Discriminating power..............................................................................31
3.7 Collecting the data............................................................................................33
IV DATA ANALYSIS
4.1 Statistical analysis ............................................................................................34
4.1.1 Classification of the test items ................................................................34
4.1.2 Scoring of the test ...................................................................................35
4.1.3 Central tendency......................................................................................35
4.1.3.1 Mode ..........................................................................................35
4.1.3.2 Median .......................................................................................36
4.1.3.3 Mean...........................................................................................36
4.1.3.4 Standard deviation......................................................................37

iv

4.2 Non Statistical Analysis ................................................................................39

V CONCLUSION AND SUGGESTION
5.1 Conclusion .......................................................................................................44
5.2 Suggestion ........................................................................................................45
BIBLIOGRAPHY ................................................................................................47
APPENDICES ......................................................................................................49

LIST OF TABLES
Table
1. Students achievement based on the grading criteria of UNNES ........................... 39
2. Classification of the problems encountered by the students
based on the percentage of wrong answer.............................................................. 41

LIST OF APPENDICES
Appendix
1. The instrument of Try-out test ................................................................................ 49
2. The answer key of Try-out test ............................................................................... 57
3. The item analysis of Try-out test ............................................................................ 58
4. The computation of item validity of the test ........................................................... 62
5. The computation of item reliability of the test........................................................ 63
6. The computation of difficulty index of the test....................................................... 64
7. The computation of the discriminating power ........................................................ 65
8. The computation of

(x x )

............................................................................... 66

9. The instrument of the test........................................................................................ 67

10. The answer key of the test instrument .................................................................. 73
11. The item analysis of students mastery of phrasal verbs
(mean, median, mode, and standard deviation) .................................................... 74

vi

CHAPTER 1
INTRODUCTION
1.1 General Background of the Study
Language cannot be separated from humans life. It is one of the universal
systems in a culture that functions as a means of communication. It enables people
to interact, communicate, and make sense of the world so that it is dynamic, and it
develops and changes over time as a result of many different influences. In
addition, it is used by human beings in communicating with each other, both in
oral and in written discourse. English is one of languages, which are used by
people all around the world to communicate with each other.
In Indonesia, a lot of people are interested in learning English as a foreign
language, because they know that English is the international language used in
many countries all over the world. Besides, English is considered to be the first
foreign language there, because it has an important role in international
communication. Consequently, now English is taught in schools, from playgroups
until university level.
For Indonesian learners, the ability to speak in English is a kind of dream
which comes true, because there are few Indonesian learners who can speak
English. Learning English as a foreign language is quite difficult because there are
so many differences between English and Indonesian culture, it has different
system of language; it has different grammatical structures, differences in
meaning of words, and different sound system.

In addition, in order to master English, Indonesian learners have to master

the four basic skills, namely listening, speaking, reading, and writing. English has
its phonological, vocabulary, and grammatical system and so does Indonesian.
However, Indonesian learners face many difficulties in acquiring those English
systems. One of them is difficulty in pronouncing speech sounds in English. That
is because of English is considered to be the foreign language.
Besides the problem of speech sounds, another problem in learning
English as a foreign language for Indonesian learners is the fact that they have
their own mother tongue, and they are getting used to their own language since
they were children. Since childhood a foreign learner has been speaking his
mother tongue, which is deeply implanted in him as part of his/her
habits.(Ramelan, 1984: 6)
For Indonesian learners, another difficulty in learning English is learning
English phrasal verbs. It is necessary to master phrasal verbs because they are
frequently used in both oral and written material. Since English is a foreign
language, it is understandable why most students face difficulties in understanding
words meaning, especially dealing with phrasal verbs.
For learners of all ages, the comprehension of idiomatic expressions is
facilitated by contextual support. (Cacciari and Levorato, 1989; Nippold and
Martin, 1989). One important to be put in mind is that idiomatic expression such
as phrasal verbs depend on their context. It helps to grasp their meaning.
Therefore, the context in which a phrasal verb is used will determine the intended
meaning of that phrasal verb.

Phrasal verbs are admitted to be very important as a part of daily

conversation. Phrasal verbs make conversation sounds interesting and convenient
to use. Without good achievement of phrasal verb, one will find difficulties in
speaking English smoothly and fluently. In learning English, the Indonesian
learners have difficulties during their learning process since each element of
English skills and components has a certain area of difficulties for the learners.
Lado (in Littlewood, 1989: 17-18) sums up the learners problem in a well-known
formulation: those elements that are different will be difficult. Although it may
be different for each of the learners, generally the area and the degree of
difficulties they encounter are almost similar.
Like other English material, phrasal verbs also have certain area of
difficulties. Phrasal verbs are part of English materials, which learners of English
should master. The mastery of phrasal verb is very important because they are
frequently used in daily communication. Besides, there are many written materials
such as text books, novels, news papers, magazines, etc using phrasal verbs. Good
mastery of phrasal verbs is very helpful for us to get the message the material
conveys. On the contrary, poor mastery on them can cause a hindrance for us to
get the message of the given material.
It is the fact that English students still find difficulties in understanding
and using phrasal verbs. They sometimes do not know their meaning or synonym.
The two following sentences, for example, have the same meaning, but the one
uses phrasal verb while the other one does not.
(1) Mother asked me to put out the fire.

(2) Mother asked me to extinguish the fire.

From the two sentences, learners are usually more familiar with the second
sentence than the first one because the first contains a phrasal verb, which is
considered to be difficult for them.
Besides, learners also find difficulties in doing exercises dealing with
structure of phrasal verb in sentences. For example, we often hear learners say
The radio is a bit loud. Can you turn down it? Instead of saying The radio is a
bit loud. Can you turn it down?
Considering that students mastery of phrasal verbs is very important and
its mastery of the students is still unsatisfactory, therefore the writer is interested
in conducting a research in order to overcome or at least to minimize the problem
of phrasal verbs faced by the students.
1.2 Reason for Choosing the Topic
The reasons for choosing the topic can be stated as follows:
First, it is very important for advanced students to master phrasal verbs to
develop their skills of speaking, listening, and writing. Moreover, it is very useful
for them; especially it can be used in daily conversation in communication.
Second, the mastery of phrasal verbs is very useful for students to bridge
them to understand scientific books written in English to get important
information and knowledge.
Third, students who have scanty vocabulary especially dealing with
phrasal verbs, they may face difficulties in learning English. Therefore,

vocabulary is very important for them in learning any foreign language, without
knowing or learning vocabulary, they cannot use the language they learn.
1.3 Statement of the Problems
The problems whether the students can comprehend phrasal verbs by using their
mastery of vocabulary can be stated as follows:
(1) To what extent do the fourth semester students of regular education class
of English department of UNNES master the phrasal verbs?
(2) What problems do the students encounter in mastering phrasal verbs?
1.4 Purposes of the Study
The purposes of the study can be stated as follows:
(1) To measure how far the students mastery of phrasal verbs.
(2) To find out the problems encountered by the students.
1.5 Significance of the Study
The result of the study is expected to give some benefits. The benefits of the study
can be stated as follows:
(1) For the lecturers of English Department.
The lecturers can find out the level of the students mastery of phrasal
verbs, so they can prepare the proper teaching material. Besides, they can
find out the specific difficulties faced by students in mastering phrasal
verbs and anticipate the way of overcoming them.
(2) For students of English Department.
The result of this study can be used as an additional knowledge to improve
the students mastery of vocabulary of phrasal verbs.

With the mastery of the phrasal verbs, students can implement them in
daily conversation.
They can also develop their mastery of phrasal verbs in speaking,
listening, reading and writing.
By using more than one expression, they can say one idea in various ways.
(3) The result of the study can be used as stimulant information to conduct
further research on phrasal verbs since this research discusses phrasal
verbs only.
1.6 Limitation of the Study
The limitations given in this study are:
(1) The forms of phrasal verbs discussed in this study are separable and
inseparable phrasal verbs.
(2) Phrasal verbs, which are discussed in this study, are mostly two-word
verbs and three -word verbs.
1.7 Outline of the Report
The first chapter, the introduction, introduces the study by giving a description of
the background of the study, reason for choosing the topic, statement of the
problems, the purposes of the study, the significance of the study, limitation of the
study, and the outline of the study.
In the second chapter, the theory underlying the writing of the final project
is discussed.
The third chapter contains the description of the methods and the
procedures of investigation.

The fourth chapter deals with the analysis of the data collected and the
discussion of the result. It consists of both statistical and non-statistical analysis.
The last chapter, that is chapter five, contains the conclusion and
suggestion.

CHAPTER II
REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE
2.1 General Concept of Phrasal Verbs
One of the characteristics of most English verbs is that they can be combined with
a preposition or an adverbial particle to generate a new meaning. The common
name for such combinations is phrasal verbs, although we often find that among
English grammarians, they give different names and definitions of such
combinations.
Frank (1972: 1730) says that: A preposition may combine with a verb to
form a new vocabulary item. This preposition may combine with a verb to form
a new vocabulary item. This verb-preposition combination goes by several names
two part verbs, composite verbs, and phrasal verbs. The prepositional form
used with the verb may be referred to as an adverb, a prepositional adverb (or
prepositional adverb) or by the more general term particle.
The verbs in such situations are mostly one syllable words; over the most
common preposition are those denoting places in, of, out, off, over, up, down,
away, through, etc.
Listed bellow are some of the most common verb-preposition combination
taken from Frank(1972:173-176):
For example:
Bring:
Bring about cause
I wonder what brought about his strange behavior.

Bring on - result in
His long exposure in the rain brought on a bad cold.
Bring up raise a subject
He brings up that subject at every opportunity.
Bring up rear
They brought up their children to behave well.
Do:
Do over redo, redecorate
We plan to do over our entire apartment.
Do without (non separable) sacrifice, no need
No one can do without sleep.
In addition, Crowell (1964: 401) states that a two-word verb is a
combination of a verb and a particle, which together have a meaning different
from the customary meanings of the two words. For example, in the sentence
The man will call up the stairs the verb call has its customary meaning of
speak loudly, up has its customary meaning of from below to a higher
meaning. However, in the sentence The man will call up his friends the words
call and up have the meaning of the verb telephone. Therefore, in the second
sentence the combination of call and up is classified as two-word verb, but in the
first sentence is not.
In line with the statement above, Redman (1997: 36) states that a phrasal
verb is a verb combined with an adverb or preposition, and occasionally with an
adverb and preposition. The followings are some of the definition of phrasal verb:

10

(1) A phrasal verb is a combination of a verb and a preposition to form a new

vocabulary item (Frank, 1972:173).
(2) The term phrasal verb refers to a verb and preposition, which together have a
special meaning (Azar, 1989:

26).

(3) Phrasal verbs are basic verbs, which can combine with different preposition
(or articles) to make verbs with completely new and often un-guessable
meaning (McCarthy and ODell, 1996:170).
(4) Phrasal verb is (abbreviated as phrase verb) a simple verb combined with an
adverb or a preposition or sometimes both, to make a new verb with a
meaning that is different from that of simple verbs e.g. go in for, win over,
blow up (Hornby, 1995: 869).
Here are some examples:
- The price of petrol may go up (= increase) again next week.
- He fell over (= fell to the ground) when he was jumping the fence.
- She tries to find out (= learn/discover) the name of that new company.
Speakers of English tend to use phrasal verbs and idioms (especially in
informal English conversations) instead of one word since sometimes there is no
other precise word to say it. For instance, it sounds funny to say enter to
substitute come in in response to the door knocked. It is more precise to say
the tank blew up instead of saying the tank exploded.
The combination of verb + particle has syntactic features. Before the
writer discusses further such combinations, it is better for us to know the
definition of verb and particle.

11

Verb is a word or phrase indicating what somebody or something does,

what state of somebody or something is in, what is becoming of something or
somebody (Hornby, 1974: 953).
Particle is minor part of speech e.g. an article (a, an, the), a preposition, or
adverb (up, in, out), a conjunction (or) an affix (un-, in-, -ness, -ly) (Hornby,
1974: 612).
In other words, we can conclude that phrasal verbs are combinations,
which consist of a verb and followed by an adverb particle. Many words belong to
particle but those that combine with verb to phrasal verbs are only some
prepositions and adverbs.
2.2 Characteristic of Phrasal Verbs
Alwasilah (1993: 200) gives restrictions of phrasal verbs as follows:
(1) The combination is limited to certain particle such as down, on, off, in, out, up.
Although there is no restriction on the verbs, however, the most common
verbs are those simple and short ones such as put, take, get, and make.
(2) The combination is not freely formed. It is a collocation restriction. The
restriction is clearly seen when we substitute the particle with its antonym. We
can say put up with it, but we cannot say put down with it. The words
give out and carry off are not the antonym of give in and carry on.
(3) Combination usually can be substituted with one-word verb. However, their
meaning is not exactly the same, carry on means continue, put up with means
tolerate, put off means postpone, etc.
2.3 Types of Phrasal Verbs

12

Gethin (1989:170) classifies phrasal verbs into two types, namely adverbial
phrasal verbs and prepositional phrasal verbs.
(1) Adverbial phrasal verbs
An adverbial phrasal verb is a verb, which combines with an adverbial
particle to form a new vocabulary item. Followings are the rules of adverbial
phrasal verbs:
1. The particle may come either before or after a noun object, although it precedes
a noun object when it has a long modification such as a phrasal or a clause.
For example:
Please turn on the lights OR Please turn the lights on.
She called up the nurse who takes care of her sister NOT she called the nurse who
takes care of her sister up.
2. The particles always come after the object when it is a personal pronoun such
as me, it, them or indefinite pronoun one, standing for a noun used with a/an.
For example:
Please throw it away NOT Please throw away it.
There was 10,000 rupiahs lying on the pavement, so I pick it up.
I subscribe a magazine. Every Monday the magazine boy brings one round for
me.
3. Although it precedes nouns, all directly follows personal pronouns and so must
also precede an adverbial particle.
For example:
The government has started bringing in in a new regulation.

13

I am glad it is not bringing them all in at once.

Unlike all of which can follow it; I am glad it is not bringing in all of them at
once.
(2) Prepositional phrasal verbs
A prepositional phrasal verb is a verb with a preposition, or with an adverb
and a preposition to form a phrase, which like man adverbial phrasal verbs, has a
meaning of its own, distinct from that of the separate words (Gethin, 1989: 170).
In prepositional verb, the preposition always comes before the object, whether or
not this is a pronoun and whether or not is combined with an adverbial particle in
three-word phrasal verb. For example:
My friend got over his cold.
He caught up with the others.
2.4 Word Order of Phrasal Verbs
Related to the example presented above, Azar (1989: A 26 ) classifies phrasal verbs
as follows:

(1) Separable phrasal verbs

With a separable phrasal verb, a noun may come either between the verb
and the preposition or after the preposition. For example:
I handed my paper in yesterday.
I handed in my paper yesterday.
A pronoun comes between the verb and the preposition if the phrasal verb
is separable. For example:

14

I handed it in yesterday.
(2) Non - Separable phrasal verbs
With a non - separable phrasal verb, a noun or pronouns must follow the
preposition. For example:
I ran into an old friend yesterday.
I ran into her yesterday.
2.5 Differences between the Phrasal Verbs and Prepositional Verbs
There are some combinations of verb such as combinations of verbs and
preposition or verb and adverb. However, we cannot name all phrasal verbs since
there are verb-preposition combinations that look like phrasal verbs, but in fact
they are not. We call such situations as prepositional verbs.
Leech et.al. (1990: 357-59) distinguishes phrasal verbs from prepositional
verbs as follows:
(1) Prepositional verb
Verb + preposition + noun phrase
e.g. Listen to radio
The purpose of preposition is to link the noun phrase to the verb.
(2) Phrasal verb
Verb + adverb
e.g. Carry on
The purpose of the adverb is to change the meaning of the verb.

15

Moreover, phrasal verb often looks like prepositional verb that is verb +
preposition. But we can see they are different when we use a pronoun as an object.
For example:
Phrasal verb: I look up the word OR I look the word up OR I look it up.
Prepositional verb: I looked at the painting OR I looked at it NOT I looked it at.
2.6 Multiple Meaning
Redman (1997:36) states that many phrasal verbs have more than one meaning. In
the examples marked italic, the phrasal verb is much more natural than the
explanation in brackets.
It was so hot so I decided to take off (= remove) my jacket.
Im always nervous when the plane takes off (leaves the ground).
I think she will get through the exam (= pass).
My alarm clock didnt go off (= ring) this morning.
Besides, Praninskas (1980: 216) says that many two-word verbs express
different meanings in different contexts, and thus the grammatical patterns they
follow is also different. One example is the unit of take off; which is listed below
as either transitive or intransitive but not as both. In the context of clothes, take off
means to remove and as intransitive; in the context of travel, it means to leave and
it is intransitive.
2.7. General Concept of Vocabulary
Learning language cannot be separated from learning vocabulary. Vocabulary
supports the speaker to express their opinions, ideas, and feelings in
communication.

16

To know what vocabulary is, the following are definitions about

vocabulary according to the linguists:
Hornby (1974:959) defines vocabulary as the range of words known to, or
used by, a person in a trade, profession, etc.
Preece (1986:1852) says vocabulary means a list of words with their
meaning, glossary of words used in a language or a particular books or branch of
science.
According to The New International Websters Comprehensive Dictionary
of The English Language (Webster, 2003: 1407) vocabulary is a sum or aggregate
of the words used or understood by a particular person, class, etc., or employed in
some specialized field of knowledge.
According to Merriam - Websters Collegiate Dictionary (Webster,
2004:1400) vocabulary is a sum or stock of words employed by a language, group
or individual or work or in a field of language.
Finocchiaro (1974:73) explains that the students vocabulary can be
divided into two kinds, active vocabulary and passive vocabulary. Active /
productive vocabulary is the vocabulary which he knows and uses actively to
express his ideas, opinions, and feelings in communication. Whereas passive /
receptive vocabulary is the vocabulary which one knows its meaning and usage in
a certain context.
From those definitions above, the writer comes to the conclusion that
vocabulary is a list of words with their meanings, which is employed in a
language, by group or individual.

17

2.8 Teaching of Vocabulary

Vocabulary teaching also invites notable reaction. Some people believe that the
teaching of vocabulary is a waste of time since it is of an unlimited number. They
think that grammar and pronunciation are the right things to be taught in teaching
a foreign language and vocabulary can be gained in communication.
Specialists in methodology fear that students will make a lot of mistakes in
sentence construction if too many words are learned before the basic grammar had
been mastered. Consequently, teachers are led to believe it is best not to teach
vocabulary much. Besides, they think that words meaning can be learned through
experience, without attending vocabulary classes the students will master a
number of words when they become familiar with the situation where the words
frequently occur. In addition to that several specialists in methodology at that time
seemed to believe that the meanings of words couldnt be adequately taught so
that it was better not to teach them (Allen, 1983:12).
The opinion of neglecting vocabulary teaching is right only if the students
really have spent enough time for vocabulary. However, in fact, the result is still
unsatisfactory. This will be much worse for classes in which vocabulary is put
aside as most of the time is spent on the teaching of grammar for examination. It
is especially right in countries where English is not the main language for
communication.
The mastery of vocabulary, including how to pronounce and how to spell
it, then it will be very much help the students learn the other components of the
language such as structure, fluency, and vocabulary itself.

18

Vocabulary selection must be adjusted to the goal of teaching or learning a

foreign language. For example, the function words necessary for the structural
patterns should be selected in relation to the teaching of those patterns. On other
occasion, when the student wants to lean communication in English, the teacher
can use the textbook with a communicative approach in teaching his student to
practice guided conversation. The words are selected for dialogues and other
communicative purposes. Therefore, teachers who teach vocabulary must be able
to make their teaching successful.
Wallace (1982:27-30) explains the following principles in teaching
vocabulary:
(1) Aims
In teaching learning process the teacher has to be clear about his aims. He
also has to decide the words that should be mastered by his students.
(2) Quantity
The teacher has to decide on the quantity of vocabulary to be learned. The
decision of the number of new words in a lesson is very important. The
actual number of factors still depends on varying from class to class and
learner. If there are too many new words, the learners may become
confused, discouraged, and frustrated.
(3) Need
In teaching vocabulary, the teacher has to choose the words really needed
by his students in communication. The students should be put in situation
where they have to communicate and get the words they need.

19

(4) Frequent exposure and repetition

It means that the teacher should give so much practice and repetition so
that the students master the target words well. He also should give
opportunity to the students to use the words in writing or in speaking.
(5) Meaningful presentation
In teaching vocabulary, the teacher should present the target words in such
a way that their meanings are perfectly clear and unambiguous. Therefore,
the new words should be presented in contexts not in isolation.
(6) Situation for presentation
The teacher should tell the students that they have to use the words
appropriately. The use of words depends on the situation in which they are
speaking and depends on the person to whom they are speaking.
Those principles of teaching vocabulary are to reach the target language.
However, the teacher should consider vocabulary selection when they
teach vocabulary.
According to Haycraft (1983:18) vocabulary selection should be based on
the following considerations:
(1) Commonest word
They are the words, which are commonly used, or words that the students
need. It means that the vocabulary choice is according to its frequency.
Therefore, in teaching vocabulary, a teacher should choose vocabulary that
has high frequency in use, either in the written or in spoken form. The

20

students should master the vocabulary of high frequency first, before

mastering the vocabulary of low frequency.
(2) Students need
The words that are needed by the student are usually worth to be taught to
the students. It means that an English teacher should give more emphasis
on vocabulary that is very useful for the students both in writing and
speaking. In other words, they have to master vocabulary that I really need
in communication.
In addition to that, Finnochiaro (1974: 73-74) adds some comments related
to the teaching of vocabulary as follows: (1) Vocabulary should be taught in
normal speech utterances. (2) New vocabulary items should be introduced in
known structures. (3) If possible, the vocabulary items should be centered about
one topic. (4) If a familiar word is met in a new context, it should be taught again
and practiced. A review or mention of the known meaning of the word should be
made so that the students will understand the contrast whenever possible, only one
context should be made so that the students will understand the contrast whenever
possible, only one context should be taught at one time. (5) Vocabulary items
should be taught in the same way that the teacher teaches every thing else. She/he
gives the students an understanding of the meaning in many ways. She /he
dramatizes, illustrates using her/him and the students show pictures, and uses any
appropriate media and methods.
Finally, the writer comes to the conclusion that the teachers can apply the
guidelines of teaching vocabulary to teach vocabulary well so that the students

21

will receive what they really need in learning vocabulary. In addition, teachers
should make an interesting situation in teaching vocabulary so that the learners do
not feel bored and they will be interested and have a motivation in learning
vocabulary.

CHAPTER III
METHOD OF INVESTIGATION
In doing his final project, the writer collected the required data and information
from the two main sources: library research and field research. Library research
refers to the activity of gathering data from library facilities such as references of
fundamental theories, which support the writers effort in doing the research. Field
research refers to the research conducted at English Department of UNNES. I
chose the fourth semester students of English department as the subject of the
research because in the writers opinion, they had known enough vocabularies on
lexical studies I and II.
This chapter deals with the population, sample, and the instruments used
in this research as well as the scoring technique. The administration of the test and
the method of analyzing the data will also be presented in this chapter.
3.1 Population
Population is the most significant factor in conducting a research. Gay (1987: 02)
says that the population is the group of the interest to the researcher, the group to
which he or she would like the result of the study to be generalized. The
population that the writer used in this study was the fourth semester students of
regular education classes of the English department of UNNES in the academic
year of 2006/2007.

22

23

The total population of this study is 82 students. They were grouped into
class IV A to IV C. The following table describes the classes of the students.
Class

Number of students

IV A

27

IV B

28

IV C

27

Total

82

3.2 Sample
As stated by Gay (1987:101) that sampling is a process of selecting a number of
individuals represent the larger group from which they were selected.
Consequently, the degree to which the selected samples represent the population
is the degree to which the results are generalized.
Related to this case, the writer conducted a population research (a one
hundred percent sample of the population) because the number of population
was less than 100 (Arikunto, 1996:120).
On the average, each class had almost the same number of students, that
was 27 students. All of the classes were given the same English materials and
treatment from the lecturers. Thus, those classes were considered parallels and had
the same opportunity to be used as sample. It also meant that each of the student
as the member of the population had equal chance of being included in the
sample.

24

To get one class as the sample, each of the class was written in a piece of
paper. Then, the papers were dropped out of the slot until it reached one paper of
class name. This technique of sampling was considered easy to carry out and
didnt need to follow difficult procedures. One of the third classes that had been
chosen randomly to conduct the research was class IV B. So, there were 27
students all together as the sample.
3.3 Instrument
Test was used as the instrument to collect the data in this research. According to
Harris (1969:71) there are principally two kinds of test instruments, namely
objective and essay tests. The writer decided to take to use two objective type
tests. They are multiple choice and completion, considering that it is adaptable to
the measurement, at most important educational outcomes of knowledge,
understanding and ability. In addition, the writer can get directly as many of the
specific skills and learning which he wants to measure. Besides, it will be easily
administered. In this case, the multiple-choice test was used for vocabulary test.
3.4 Construction of the Test Instrument
The test materials were taken from the teaching material specifically taught at the
second and at the third semester of English department, emphasizing on the
vocabulary and understanding idiomatic expression. The vocabulary test given to
the students consisted of 60 numbers with a choice of distracters: A, B, C, and D.
Each item provides an appropriate context for the lexical problem in the lead.
Lado (1961:189) states that present day understanding of the nature of vocabulary

25

and of vocabulary problems do not sanction the use of words out of context in test
of vocabulary.
3.5 Arrangement of the Test Items
After classifying the test items, I then arranged the test items into the following
numbers:
(1) Multiple choice type tests:
Substituting single word with phrasal verb which has similar meaning,
number: 1, 3, 4, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 24, 25.
Substituting two or more words with phrasal verbs which have similar
meaning number: 2, 5,6,7, 13, 14, 23.
Placing a suitable phrasal verb in context; number: 26 35.
(2) The completion type test
Substituting phrasal verb with single word which has similar meaning number:
36, 37, 38, 39, 40, 43, 44, 45, 46, 47, 48, 49,50.
Substituting phrasal verb with two or more words that have similar meaning
number: 41, 42.
Filling a suitable particle(s) for phrasal verbs in context number: 51-60.
3.6 Administration of the Test
3.6.1 Try Out
To collect the data, I used a written test. The total students of class IV C was 27
students. Because two students were absent, so there were only 25 students all
together. The test was given to 25 students. The try-out was conducted at the
English Department of UNNES, on Monday, 5th of March 2007 in the academic

26

year of 2006 / 2007. I tried it out to the students of class IV C because more or
less the level of the students mastery was regarded homogenous.
To try out, I made 35 items of multiple choice with four options and 25
items of completion. The try - out test was carried out in 55 minutes. Five minutes
were used to distribute the test paper.
The goal of conducting the try out test is to measure the validity and
reliability of the test. The score of the try out test can be seen in appendix 3.
(1) Preparation of the Test
The writer prepared the test by designing the instrument and consulting it
to his advisor. After it was approved, he conducted the try-out.
(2) Try Out
The try-out was conducted on March 5th, 2007. The writer took one class
that was assumed as a representative one, to get the reliability of the test.
(3) Scoring the Test
The scoring of the result was done by the writer. It began from March 6th
up to March 7th, 2007.
Harris (1964: 114) states that the reliability and the validity of the test are
highly depend on the manner in which the instrument is employed. So, before the
test was used to collect the data, it was tried out to measure the validity, the
reliability, and the practicality of the test.
Arikunto (1992: 135) states that a try out can be carried out in either a
small scale or a large one.

27

The try out was carried out on March 5th 2007. Twenty five students took
the try out. They had to finish those two kinds of tests in 90 minutes.
3.6.2 Validity of the Test
The significant variables in judging the adequacy in measuring the instrument are
validity and reliability. It is quite crucial to determine that the test is appropriate to
measure or not. Harris (1969: 19 21) states that validity is usually distinguished
into three kinds: content validity, empirical validity, and face validity.
I used content validity since the test covered representative materials. To
find out whether the test had content validity, I arranged the test items dealing
with phrasal verbs.
To make sure that the phrasal verbs test in which I used in this study had
good face validity of a test, I had asked my advisor to check them up. A test is
said to have empirical validity if it can show the evidence that the test scores have
a high correlation to some criterion such as the mark the students got.
To measure the validity of each test item, I used Pearson Product Moment
formula. The formula is like this:
R XY =

N XY ( X )( Y )

{N X

}{

( X ) N Y 2 ( Y )
2

The detail computation of validity of test item can be seen in Appendix 4.

3.6.3 Reliability of the Test
Reliability of the test shows the stability of the scores when the test is used. In
other words, the test measures an examinees ability consistently. Harris (1994:
14) says that to have confidence in measuring instruments, the researcher needs to

28

make sure that approximately the same result will be obtained if the test is given
at different time.
Based on the point of views, I carried out a try-out to 25 students of the
fourth semester students of the English Department of UNNES in the academic
year of 2006/2007 to get the reliability of the test items. I did six steps to measure
the reliability of the test by the following Pearson Product Moment (Lado, 1975:
336).
First, I administered the test and marked each students test paper. The
score of the try-out test can be seen in appendix 3.
Then, I divided the test results into halves and recorded the scores made by
each student on each half. In this case, I divided the first thirty items as one half
and the second thirty items as the other half. In other words, I used the beginning
and end split system. Then, I listed the pairs of the scores into two columns:
labeling the column to the left, x, and to the right, y. Each score under x has a
corresponding score under y for the same student.
The third step was to calculate the following statistics:
(1)

X = The sum of the X scores (odd items)

(2)

Y = The sum of the Y scores (even items)

(3)

(4)

(5)

XY = The

= The sum of the square of the X scores

= The sum of the square of the Y scores; and

sum of the product of each X scores with its

corresponding Y scores for the same students.

29

These data were needed to compute the correlation between two sets of
half scores by means of the Pearson Product Moment formula. After that, I
applied the Pearson Product Moment formula as follows:
R XY =

N XY ( X )( Y )

{N X

}{

( X ) N Y 2 ( Y )
2

Where: R XY = the correlation of the scores on the halves of the test.

N = the number of the students.
The result of the computation for each set of scores for two groups of
answers is presented in appendix 5.
In the following step, I computed Pearson correlation of odd and even
value ( r1 / 21 / 2 ) by applying the Product Moment formula. By applying this
formula we get the computation below.
r1 / 21 / 2 =

24[6959] [375][390]

{24[6833] [375] }{24[7310] [390] }

2

= 0,889
The result of Pearson correlation of odd and even value ( r1 / 21 / 2 ) shows the
reliability of half of the test. In the last step, I used the Spearman Brown
Formula to estimate the reliability of the entire test. The formula goes like this:
r11 =

2 xr1 / 21 / 2
1 + r1 / 21 / 2

Where:
r11 = Reliability index (the obtained reliability coefficient of the entire

data)

30

r1 / 21 / 2 = Pearson correlation of odd and even value (the obtained reliability

of half of the test)

r11 =

2 x0,889
= 0,941
1 + 0,889

Since the result of the reliability index is 0,941 and categorized very high,
(where 0,941 > 0,404) and I used critical value 0, 404, it means that this
instrument test is very reliable.
3.6.4 Facility Value of the Test
The facility value of an item shows how easy or difficult the item test is. To
determine whether the test was easy or difficult, I collected all 25 test papers, and
then I arranged them from the highest score to the lowest score. Then, I counted
the facility value of the test items by using the formula like this:

P=

B
Js

Where: P = the facility value (index of difficulty)

B = the number of students who answered the items correctly and
Js = the total number of the students

By applying this formula, the computation of facility value goes like this:

P=

17
= 0,71
24

The followings are the criteria of P:

P 0, 3 is considered difficult
0, 3 < P 0, 7 is considered medium
P > 0, 7 is considered easy

31

An item is said to have good level of difficulty if it is not too difficult or

too easy and its level of difficulty value falls between 0, 3 and 0, 9. The level of
difficulty values of 60 items of the phrasal verb test I used in this study fell
between this criterion (0, 9). It means that the items can be accepted. The list of
the level of facility value of each item of the phrasal verb tests can be seen in
appendix 3.
3.6.5 Discriminating Power

It is also important to measure the discriminating power of an item test due to the
fact that it can discriminate the more from the less able students. Heaton states
that the discrimination index of an item indicates the extent to which the item
discriminates between the testers, separating the more from the less able
(1975:173).
To measure it, I counted the number of the students in the upper and lower
groups who answered the item correctly. Then I subtracted the number of correct
answers in the upper group. The calculation of the discriminating power can be
formulated as follows:
D=

B A BB

JA JB

Where:
D = The discrimination index of an item
B A = The number of the students in the upper group who answered the item

correctly

32

B B = The number of the students in the lower group who answered the item

correctly
J A = The number of all students in the upper group, and
J B = The number of all students in the lower group

By applying this formula, the computation of discrimination index of an

item goes like this:
D=

B A BB

JA JB

D=

11 6

12 12

D = 0,42
The followings are the criteria of D:
D are considered poor;
0, 2 < D 0, 4 are considered fair;
0, 4 < D 0, 7 are considered good; and
0, 7 < D are considered very good.
Based on the computation by using the above criteria, 6 of multiple choice
items are considered poor, 16 items are fair and 13 items are good. And 13
completion items are fair and 12 items are good. The result can be seen in
appendix 3.
3.7 Collecting the Data

The procedures of collecting the data of this study involve several steps. First was
designing the phrasal verb tests. Second was trying-out the phrasal verb test to

33

examine whether or not they needed improvement. It was conducted on 5th of

March, 2007. Third was analyzing the phrasal verbs test for its validity and
reliability (both on discriminating power and facility value). Fourth was
distributing the phrasal verb test to the sample and then collecting them. It was
conducted on 18th of June, 2007. In the next chapter, I will analyze the data using
statistical and non-statistical analysis.

CHAPTER IV
DATA ANALYSIS

After finishing the computation of the students achievement of phrasal verb, I

need to put the result in a form that is readily interpretable. Those data are useful
to describe the students level of vocabulary mastery of phrasal verbs.
4.1 Statistical Analysis

Statistical is concerned with the organization, analysis, and interpretation of the

test scores and other numerical data collected through measurement. The
function of statistical method is to enable us to make precise statement about
average, variability, and relationship(Tinambunan, 1988:100). In this study, I
dealt with entirely descriptive analysis in which I calculated through central
tendency and standard deviation.
4.1.1 Classification of the Test Items

After collecting the data, I then administered, analyzed, and interpreted them.
Statistical analysis is concerned with the organization and interpretation of the test
scores and on the numerical data collected through measurement.
Before I calculated the scores of the test, I started to make the
classification of the test items in terms of phrasal verbs:
a) Synonym of phrasal verb.
- Multiple choice numbers: 1 to 24.
- Completion numbers: 32 to 40.

b) Placing a suitable phrasal verb in context.

34

35

- Multiple choice numbers: 25 to 31

c) Filling a suitable particle (s) for phrasal verb in context.
- Completion numbers: 41 to 50.
The total number of the test items was 50.
This arrangement of the test items is based on the result of the try out
analysis.
4.1.2 Scoring of the Test

I made 31 items of multiple choice type and 19 items of completion. A student

would get 50 scores if all the answers were correct (I score for one correct
answer). The score can be seen in appendix 11.
4.1.3 Central Tendency

Dealing with the statistical analysis, I measured the central tendency. According
to Heaton(1975: 168-169), there are three kinds of measurement that should be
considered when talking about the central tendency: they are mean, median, and
mode.
4.1.3.1 Mode

The mode is the score that occurs most frequently in a distribution. Heaton (1975:
168) says that the mode refers to the score, which most candidates obtained. The
mode is determined by tallying up the scores occurring in a distribution and
selecting the score that occurs frequently. In appendix 8, the mode is 68 since the
largest numbers of the students scores are 80.
4.1.3.2 Median

36

The median is a score that splits a distribution in a half: 50 percent of the scores
lie above the median and 50 percent lie below the median. Thus, the median is
also known as the fiftieth percentile. Heaton (1975: 168) says that the median
refers to the score gained by the middle candidate in order of merit. There can
obviously be no middle person thus the score halfway between the lowest score,
in the top half and the highest score in the bottom half is taken as the median.
Since the data is even, the middle score 66 is as the median.
4.1.3.3 Mean

Heaton (1975: 169) states that the mean score of any test is the arithmetical
average that is the sum of the separate scores divided by the total number of the
testers. It is the most efficient measurement of central tendency, but it is not
always appropriate.
Thus, the mean is the average of the group scores. It is represented by X .
The computation is by adding a series of scores and then dividing this sum by the
number of the scores.
The formula used for computing the mean is as follows:
X =

X
N

Where:
x = the mean

X = the sum of the test scores, and

N = the number of scores in the distribution

37

By applying this formula, the computation of the average of the scores

goes like this:

X =

X =

1556
24

X = 64,83
Since the average score of the students is 64, 83, it means that the
students mastery of phrasal verbs is average.
4.1.3.4 Standard Deviation

The most useful of measure of variability of scores is the standard deviation. The
standard deviation is an average of the degree to which a set of scores is
measurement of variability of scores in the distribution.
Heaton (1975:170) says: The standard deviation or Sd is another way of
showing the spread of scores. It measures the degree to which the group of the scores
deviates from the mean. It shows how all the scores are spread out and thus gives a fuller
description of the test scores than the range which simply describes the gap between the
highest and the lowest marks and ignores the information provided by all the remaining
scores.
One simple method of calculating Sd is shown below:

(X X )

Sd =

Where:
Sd = standard deviation of each score from the mean.

N = number of scores within each distribution.

38

By applying this formula, the computation of the standard deviation goes

like this:
Sd =

1419.306
24

Sd = 59.13733
Sd = 7.91

The larger the standard deviation, the greater the range of the scores.
As indicated in figure1, 70,8% of the scores fall between the mean -1 SD
and + 1 SD, 16,7% of the scores fall between + 1 SD and + 2 SD, and 8,3% of the
scores fall between -1 SD and -2 SD and 4,2% of the scores fall between -2 SD
and -3 SD.
Figure 1
NORMAL CURVE

4,2%
-3
41

-2
49

8,3%

70,8%

-1

Mean

57

64, 83

16,7%

0%

+1

+2

+3

73

81

89

39

Based on the computation and explanation above, the fourth semester

students of regular education class of the English Departments scores of phrasal
verbs can be seen clearly. Their mode, median, and means as well as standard
deviation are useful to describe the students competence in phrasal verbs.
4.2 Non Statistical Analysis

After doing statistical analysis dealing with the students score, the next step is to
deal with a non statistical analysis. This non statistical analysis deals with
expressing various levels of achievement by the use of eight letters: A, AB, B,
BC, C, CD, D, and E.
Since the research was conducted at UNNES, I described the students
achievement in the mastery of phrasal verbs based on the grading criteria of
UNNES. It can be seen on the table 1.
Table 1
Interval
< 50
51-55
56-60
61-65
66-70
71-80
81-85
86-100
Total

Criteria
/ Grade
E
D
CD
C
BC
B
AB
A

Level of
achievement
failed
Insufficient
Below average
Average
Above average
Good
Very good
Excellent

Frequency
1
2
2
6
9
4
0
0
24

Percentage
4.2
8.3
8.3
25.0
37.5
16.7
0.0
0.0
100

(UNNES, 2004:72)

From the table 1 above, it shows clearly that 20, 8% of the students got
CD, D, and E score. It means that the students mastery of phrasal verbs of the

40

fourth semester students of regular education class is below average. To see the
extent of the students mastery of phrasal verbs, it can be shown by the diagram
below.
The Students' Mastery of Phrasal Verbs
B
16.7%

BC
37.5%

E
4.2%

D
8.3%
CD
8.3%

C
25.0%

From the diagram above, it can be seen clearly that most of the students
got BC (37, 5%). It means that based on the UNNES grading criteria, the
students mastery of phrasal verb is above average. As the result, the average
score 64, 83 has shown the ability of the students mastery of phrasal verbs.
The table 2 below shows the classification of the problems encountered by
the students based on the percentage of wrong answers:

41

Table 2
Test item number
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
31
32
33
34
35
36
37
38
39
40
41
42
43
44
45
46
47
48
49
50

Answer
5
10
12
4
14
10
5
2
6
5
8
8
8
10
6
7
12
10
2
3
5
11
10
14
11
10
11
11
5
11
12
10
7
13
8
5
9
4
6
9
9
14
4
8
16
10
10
3
9
10

False
Percentage (%)
21
42
50
17
58
42
21
8
25
21
33
33
33
42
25
24
50
42
8
12
21
46
42
58
46
42
46
46
21
46
50
42
29
54
33
21
37
17
25
37
37
58
17
33
67
42
42
12
37
42

Answer
19
14
12
20
10
14
19
22
18
19
16
16
16
14
18
17
12
14
22
21
19
13
14
10
13
14
13
13
19
13
12
14
17
11
16
19
15
20
18
15
15
10
20
16
8
14
14
21
15
14

True
Percentage (%)
79
58
50
83
42
58
79
92
75
79
67
67
67
58
75
71
50
58
92
88
79
54
58
42
54
58
54
54
79
54
50
58
71
46
67
79
63
83
75
63
63
42
83
67
33
58
58
88
63
58

42

It can be seen clearly that only 22 students or 92 % of them can answer

test items number 8 and 19 correctly and only 21 students or 88 % of them can
answer test items number 20 and 48 correctly. Meanwhile, above 46 % or more of
the students answered the test item numbers 3,5,17,22,24,25,27,28,30,31,34,42,
and 45 incorrectly. So, the test items should be taught more. Based on the table 2
above, it can be seen that some of the test items are difficult to be answered
correctly by the students.
For example, item number 5, 24, 34 and 45
5. Fire brigade was unable to extinguish the fire due to the difficult
location.
24. The soldiers ___________ the water supply of the enemy.
34. Some people are poor. They really look to reach people for help.
45. Now days we must try to do _________ with such foolish customs.
In item number 5, most of the students chose the wrong synonym, put off
than put out, the correct answer. Also, in item number 24, most of the students
chose the wrong phrasal verbs to complete the sentence. They tended to choose
cut down, the wrong answer than cut off, the correct answer. In addition to that, in
item number 34, most of the students replaced the phrasal verb with the wrong of
similar meaning, seek than rely on, the correct answer. And in item number 45
most of the students filled the blank with the wrong particle, out than away, the
correct answer.

43

From those test items analysis above, the writer has opinion that the
students have difficulty in particles. Mostly, the students choose the wrong answer
because of they are lack of vocabulary.
From the statistic and non statistic analysis above, I will come to a
conclusion that will be presented in the following chapter.

CHAPTER V
CONCLUSION AND SUGGESTION
5.1 Conclusion

Based on the data result, 5 students got the scores below the average. The data
showed that only16, 7% of the students got good grade. Other result indicated that
4 students got B, 9 students got BC, 6 students got C, 2 students got CD, 2
students got D, and 1 student got E. In other words, I could say that:
(1) Some of the students got low scores in phrasal verbs.
(2) Some of the students had difficulties in finding the meaning or synonym of
certain phrasal verbs.
(3) Some of the students had problems in particles after verb e.g. do away, make
out, look to, cut off, put out, etc.
(4) Students tended to master inseparable phrasal verbs than separable phrasal
verbs.
From the findings above, I come to the conclusion that the fourth semester
students of regular education class of the English Department of UNNES in the
academic year of 2006/2007 have enough capability and knowledge in using the
phrasal verbs.

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5.2 Suggestion

Since vocabulary is not taught discretely in the English Department of UNNES, I

would like to offer some teaching suggestions to be considered to improve the
students mastery of the phrasal verbs especially, and the vocabulary in general.
(1) In order to teach phrasal verbs more effectively, the lecturers need to know
which ones occur most frequently and in what contexts.
(2) The lecturers had better use dialog drills or short narratives centered on a
common theme.
For example clothes (put on, take off, wear out, try on, pick out)
John: This shirt is all worn out. What can I wear?
Jeny: Try this shirt on. Its new.
John: O.K. Ill put it on, but if it doesnt match my jacket, Ill have to take it
off and pick out something else.
or telephone (call up someone, pick up the receiver, hang up the receiver):
I decided to call up Ann. I picked up the receiver, dialed her number, and
waited. No one answered, so I hung up.

(3) In paragraphs or passages unified by a theme have students substitute phrasal

verbs for more lexically complex vocabulary items, for example:
When you finish a picnic, there are several things you should remember to do.
Be sure to (1)

(neatly rearange)

the picnic area you have been using, to (2)

46

(extinguish)

the fire before you (3)

belongings and (4)

( gather and arrange in vehicle)

(depart in vehicle)

all your

Possible answers: (1) clean up, straighten up, or tidy up; (2) put out; (3)

pack up; (4) drive off

(4) By teaching vocabulary as a subject matter, hopefully it will enlarge the

students stocks of vocabulary in order to facilitate them to get the meaning of
new words found in any written materials or conversation.
(5) In my opinion, vocabulary is not less important than other English
components so that it is necessary to teach vocabulary as a subject matter in
the English Department since other English components such as structure and
phonology are taught as subject matters in this department.

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