MY PRE-THESIS

IMPROVING VOCABULARY BY USING SCRABBLE GAMES

Function of language as a tool of communication makes a language has important role in human life. By using language, one’s opinion, idea and feeling can be revealed through collection of vocabularies be connected in a sentence.

According Barnhart, Vocabulary is “….. (1) Stock of words used by person, class of people, profession, etc. (2) a collection or list of words, usually in alphabetical order and defined (2008: 697)”. So the addition of one’s vocabulary is generally considered to be an important part especially for students in the process of learning a language to help them understand the material and master it.

To make an exciting process of learning vocabularies is by using a game. And game that suit for this is scrabble game. A scrabble games has another name, they are scramble and desk game or board game. Howard Warner and T Pascal Brown (2005: 47) state that a scrabble is a proprietary board game, which involves the building of words for point scores, and it was played by two or more students (or teams).

Scrabble game has many functions in learning vocabulary. One of from National School Scrabble® Championship U.S.A (2003) states that educators have praised the Scrabble game for helping to improve a wide range of skills, including vocabulary, spelling, dictionary skills, math (traditional and non-traditional), co-operative learning, conflict resolution and creative problem-solving. It is supported with The Baulkham Hills Scrabble Club (NSW) (2004) website’s statement that states the value of Scrabble in expanding vocabulary; making words ‘valuable’ so students will find ways to ‘collect’ them; propagating dictionary use; expanding critical thinking skills (including imagining, planning, evaluating options and decision-making); developing social and personal skills (team play, friendly competition); and growing self-esteem in an ‘atmosphere … of successful participation’.

Although studying English is very difficult because there are some differentiations especially in vocabularies between English language and Indonesia language, but to solve the problem is very easy. That is by using scramble game. The rule of game just arranges a word and it was played by two or more persons (team). In actual fact, scramble game can attract students’ interest to learn English vocabulary, so that the students can improve their vocabulary easily and faster.

REFERENCES

Barnhart, Cynthia A. 2008. The Facts on File Student’s Dictionary of American English. Facts on File, Inc.

Baulkham Hills Scrabble Club. (2004). School Scrabble clubs: The benefits. Retrieved

July 4th, 2005, from http://www.westernscrabblenetwork.org/public/public_schools/public_school_scrabble.html

National School Scrabble® Championship. (2003). Let’s play. Retrieved July 4, 2005, from http://school.scrabble-assoc.com/index.asp

Warner, Howard and T. Pascal Brown. 2005. Adult ESL students’ perceptions of Scrabble® as a classroom learning tool. New Zealand: Prospect