THE USE OF PUZZLE IN TEACHING ENGLISH FOR YOUNG LEARNERS

Ammetyas Kunthi, Arlasdi Setyawan Yudha Perkasa, Ferusta Nova Adi Pratama
English Education Department FKIP UNS
ammetyasrachma@yahoo.co.id
Abstract
Vocabulary has important role in language. It is the basis
component in language. It supports language skills such as reading,
writing, listening and speaking. In this case learning vocabulary is
important for learners. Without having rich vocabulary, the learners
may be difficult to master the language skills. Meanwhile, learning
vocabulary has been recognized as a difficult thing. Learners have to
list words and try to memorize the meaning. Studying lists of words and
realizing that it will not work well makes them not interested in
learning new vocabulary. It seems to be bored activity to do in learning.
Moreover, this kind of way is not suitable for young learners. The easy
and interesting teaching technique and media are needed. Teachers
should create the teaching learning activity become interesting and
meaningful. In this case, the writers suggest that puzzle is the one of the
interesting ways in teaching vocabulary. There are some kinds of puzzle
that can be applied. Puzzle is task which can help the learners enlarge
their vocabulary. Some research studies have proven that puzzle offers
the potential and solution for the problem of learning vocabulary. This
paper focuses on the use of puzzle in teaching vocabulary for young
learners.
Key words: young learners, puzzle, teaching vocabulary
A. Introduction
Language plays one of the most important roles in transferring our wants and
our thinking to another. Thus, it is necessary for the students to learn language from
the lowest grade of education to make them understand how to deliver their mind
communicatively to the others. Every language has its own elements, such us:

grammar, vocabulary, and pronunciation. In learning a language, vocabulary plays a

fundamental part. It definitely builds a language become meaningful and more
understandable. Phillips (1996: 74) states Both vocabulary and grammar need to be
taught in context and the children should always to be given plenty of opportunities
to use the language that they have learned in class. This means that they do not just
learn the rules superficially, but put them into practice in order to communicate..
For each level of students grade, vocabulary is the basic element that needs to be
learned first, despite grammar, especially when they are at the lower degrees of
school and age. The earlier the students learn vocabulary, the more they become good
in building languages up, though they cannot arrange the vocabulary with the proper
grammar yet.
Indonesian students need to focus their learning of English as a subject of
foreign language beginning from their earlier stage, as if they were at the Elementary
School. In line, the teacher should emphasize the way of teaching English by using
communicative methods and approaches that are easily learned by the students. The
teacher, the one who holds responsibility of teaching them vocabulary should be
carefully recognize this condition. Therefore, the teacher should be given much of
considerations and explorations in deciding the best techniques in teaching his/her
students vocabulary.
Teaching language to young learners, it is necessary for the teacher to think of
many considerations regarding to their characteristics. One of the considerations is
the teaching technique and media for teaching. Besides, the language the adults use
must be clear and concrete and have to be understandable for young learners.
However, teaching English to young learners is not simple thing for teacher. It
is because young learners, not like adult learners, have different characteristics in
learning. Their development is different each other, including in their language
acquisition. Some children develop gradually, some others develop early. So, teacher
needs to be able to adapt his/her teaching styles to accommodate needs and

motivations of young learners to suit their level as well (Scott and Ytreberg, 1995).
Whitebread and Coltman in Teaching and Learning in Early Years wrote:
Piaget first argued, and it is now widely accepted, that children learn by a
process of actively constructing their own understandings. All the evidence
suggests that a learning environment that helps children to do this, Such an
environment will provide new experiences, embedded in meaningful
contexts, opportunities for active styles of learning, involving children in
problem-solving, investigations and opportunities for self-expression, and,
perhaps most crucially of all, opportunities for learning through play.
(Whitebread & Coltman, 2008, para 2)
Thus, teacher should create learning vocabulary not be the boring thing as it is
often described and use the most suitable media and technique depending on their
students level. To explain how puzzle can help teachers in young learners
vocabulary learning, then the writers wrote the paper entitled The Use of Puzzle in
Teaching Vocabulary for Young Learners.
B. Puzzle
Puzzles are question or problems difficult to understand or answer or problem
designed to test a persons knowledge, skill, patience, or temper. (Hornby, 1986).
Simply can be said that puzzle is a game which need solution and or to be solved.
There are some types of puzzle. Keshta and Al-Faleet (2013) in their study stated
that there are some types of puzzle, they are:
Picture Puzzles
Spot the difference is a type of puzzle where players must find a set number of
differences between two otherwise similar images, whether they are illustrations or
photographs that have been altered with photo manipulation. Spot the difference
games are also known as photo hunt games, and are commonly found in activity
books for children or in newspapers.

Word Game
As photo hunt games, and are commonly found in activity books for children or
in newspapers. Word game includes crossword puzzle.
Anagram
Anagram is a type of word play, the result of rearranging the letters of a word or
phrase to produce a new word or phrase, using all the original letters exactly once; for
example orchestra can be rearranged into carthorse. Someone who creates anagrams
may be called an "anagrammatist". The original word or phrase is known as the
subject of the anagram.
The one of type of puzzle is crossword puzzle. The study conducted by Harahap
(2013) entitled Improving Students Vocabulary Achievement by Using Crossword
Puzzle proved that the use of this kind of puzzle can help students vocabulary
enlargement. She stated that puzzle is not only a game but also a teaching technique
which can provide the best exercise for confirming the meaning of words in the
students mind.
Study conducted by Keshta and Al-Faleet entitled The effectiveness of using
puzzles in developing Palestinian tenth graders' vocabulary achievement and
retention resulted a recommendation that the necessity of implementing puzzles in
teaching English language to make better outcomes in students' achievement and to
shed light on techniques that emphasize organizing information for long learning
(retention).
Another research study conducted by Wiwat Crossword Puzzle as A Learning
Tool for Vocabulary Development has a result that crossword puzzle can help
students improve their vocabulary knowledge, meanwhile increase their learning
motivation.

From the discussions above, it can be concluded that puzzles have some
advantages for teaching vocabulary. It can be used for young learners since it is
interesting and it is like problem-solving task that can facilitate learners learning
vocabulary.
C. Teaching Vocabulary
Hatch and Brown (1995) stated that vocabulary is list or set of words for
particular language or a list of words that individual speakers of language might use.
Vocabulary mastery means the ability to recognize individual words and to associate
meaning with the particular combination of letters that form a word. In other word,
vocabulary is the competence or skill in recognizing words and their meaning.
Thornbury (2002) said that at the most basic level, knowing a word involves
knowing its form and meaning. However, knowing the meaning of word is not just
knowing its dictionary meaning it is also knowing the words commonly associated
with it (its collocation) as well as its connotations, including its register and its
cultural accretions. Teachers should teach not only the form and meaning but also the
other aspects needed. Thus, teacher should use appropriate and or interesting media
which facilitates students learning vocabulary and the aspects of knowing it.
D. Young Learners
Young learners can be distinguished from their level of attention, interest,
motivation, learning styles, types of intelligences, physiological and psychological
needs, speed, maturity, world knowledge, knowledge of and about English and in
many other features. Different level has different characteristics. According to Philips
(1996), young learners are children from the first year formal schooling (five or six
years old) to eleven or twelve years age. Scott and Ytreberg (1995) mentioned that
there are two main groups of children. They are five to seven years old and the eight
to ten years old. Both of them are assumed as the beginner stage.

Scott and Ytreberg (1995) stated that five to seven year olds can already use
logical reasoning and imagination. They sometimes have difficulty in recognizing
whether thing is fact or fiction. The real world and the world of their imaginations are
nearly close. Their understanding comes through their senses: through hands, eyes
and ears.
Scott and Ytreberg (1995) also stated that young learners seem to love to play
and learn best when they are enjoying themselves most popular activities are games,
songs, simple, repetitive stories, coloring, cutting and sticking. They are usually ready
to enjoy the activities the teacher has prepared for them.
Eight to ten year olds have both adult and childish side. They understand the
difference between fact and fiction and have views about what they like or dislike
doing. They have acquired many social skills and have wider knowledge of the world.
They can use their mother tongue and are aware of the main syntactic rules in their
own language. They start to understand abstracts and symbols (first of all symbolic
meaning of words). They are able to solve tasks in which they discover for
themselves simple grammatical rules. (Scott and Ytreberg, 1991: 3-5)
E. Puzzle in Teaching Vocabulary
Puzzle is most likely perceived as a game.Games are, by definition, fun, and
nearly everyone would agree that if learning can be made enjoyable, then students
will learn more(Celce-Murcia and Macintosh, (1979) cited in Keshta, 2013). Chen
(2005) mentioned the benefits of using games in language-learning. They can be
summed up in nine points. Games....

are learner centered.

promote communicative competence.

create a meaningful context for language use.

increase learning motivation.

reduce learning anxiety.

integrate various linguistic skills.

encourage creative and spontaneous use of language.

construct a cooperative learning environment.

foster participatory attitudes of the students

Young learners seem to be interested in learning since teacher uses this kind of
puzzle as technique and media for teaching vocabulary. When young learners solve
jigsaw or picture puzzle to make bigger picture, for example, they involve in activity
in which the language used. In this part, teacher can teach not only the content of
words/vocabulary related to the puzzle, but also communicate with the language
target that used in activity. Teacher may say link this picture, put this, place this
piece here, like this and so on. In this case, the way teacher deliver the instruction
is also vocabulary learning for students. Although the learners do not know the
meaning of words teacher saying, they will understand the instruction by looking the
teachers giving example, and learning by doing the activity with the teacher. After
they finished the puzzle, they may learn what objects are in the puzzle, mention the
name and the meaning of the pictures, and learn to communicate to other what they
have made. In crossword puzzle, students are asked to write words into a pattern of
numbered squares in answer to correspondingly numbered clues and in such a way
that the words read across and down. Students are asked to find out words relevant to
a certain topic whether vertically or horizontally. In this case they will use their
thinking to answer the clue given. Many kinds of puzzle also can be applied to
facilitate students learning and developing new vocabulary. It includes as one of
teaching strategy. (Handbook of Vocabulary teaching strategies, 1994).
F. Conclusion
Puzzle are thus a simple thing but helpful to improve students vocabulary. A
puzzle involves less stress. The learners attitude towards arranging the picture to find

the meaning of words may be more positive. Student will enjoy the learning because
they will have such responsibility after the game to memorize the vocabularies they
have learned and improve it.
Moreover, it is suitable and applicable for primary students level. It is no need to
do much effort to make the game, just find pictures related to theme/topic will be
taught, and modify by cutting it into pieces, or make crossword related to subject with
pictures to be solved by students one way or another. Its simplicity is what the writer
offers to any teacher to use this as one of many ways of teaching vocabulary.
Puzzle encourages the children to be more imaginative and make them are
motivated. The value of the puzzle is not only limited to improve the main teaching
technique, but also teach the children how to be patient and persistent and other
attitudes toward learning. When the children try to put each part of the puzzle into its
proper space as it has unique combination of form and shape, and it can make skills
of coordination improved.

References
Chen, I. J. (2005). Using games to promote communicative skills in language
learning. The Internet TESL Journal, Vol. XI, No. 2, February 2005. Retrieved
from http://iteslj.org/Techniques/Chen-Games.html
Cremin, Teresa. (2009). Teaching English creatively. Oxford: Routledge.
Crossword puzzle as a vocabulary learning strategy: A case of English as a second
language in Kenyan secondary schools. International Journal of Current
Research, 5(2), 313-321. Retrieved from www.journalcra.com
Harahap, Siti Rina. (2003). Improving the students vocabulary achievement by using
crossword puzzle. Journal Online. Retrieved from www.academia.edu
Keshta, Awad S., Kamel Al-Faleet. (2013). The effectiveness of using puzzle in
developing Palestinian tenth graders vocabulary achievement and retention.
Humanities and Social Sciences Vol. 1, No. 1, 2013, pp. 46-57. doi:
10.11648/j.hss.20130101.16
Molinsky, Steven J., Bill Bliss, Diane Terry. 1994. Handbook of Vocabulary teaching
strategies: Communication activities with the word by word picture
dictionary. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall.
Orawiwatnakul, Wiwat. (2013). Crossword puzzle as a learning tool for vocabulary
development. Electronic Journal of Research in Educational Psychology,
11(2), 413-428. ISSN: 1696-2095. 2013, no. 30
Pinuria, Y., Fitrina H., & Ernati. (2014). Teaching vocabulary by using crossword
puzzle. Retrieved from ejurnal.bunghatta.ac.id
Scott, Wendy A., and Lisbeth H. Ytreberg. (1995). Teaching English to children.
London: Longman.
Thornbury, Scott. (2002). How to teach vocabulary. Harlow: Pearson Education Ltd.
(3rd edition). New York: Addison Wesley Publishing Company.
Whitebread, David and Penny Coltman. (2008). Teaching and learning in the early

years. Oxford: Routledge.

10