Using flashcards to teach vocabulary in a primary school in thanh hoa province

MINISTRY OF EDUCATION AND TRAINING
VINH UNIVERSITY

NGUYEN THI BE

USING FLASHCARDS TO TEACH VOCABULARY
EFFECTIVELY IN A PRIMARY SCHOOL

MASTER ’S THESIS IN EDUCATION.

Vinh , 2017


MINISTRY OF EDUCATION AND TRAINING
VINH UNIVERSITY

NGUYEN THI BE

USING FLASHCARDS TO TEACH VOCABULARY
EFFECTIVELY IN A PRIMARY SCHOOL

Major: Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages (TESOL)
Code: 60140111

MASTER ’S THESIS IN EDUCATION.

Supervisor : Assoc. Prof , Ngo Dinh Phuong

Vinh , 2017

STATEMENT OF AUTHORSHIP
I hereby acknowledge that this study is my own work. The data and
findings discussed in the thesis are true, used with permission, and have not
been published elsewhere.

Author
Nguyen Thi Be

i


ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
For the accomplishment of this study, I have been fortunate to receive
a great deal of helpful assistance from many people.
First of all, I would like to express my deepest gratitude to my
supervisor, Assoc.Prof, Ngo Dinh Phuong for his valuable guidance, excellent
suggestions and critical feedback throughout the research.
In addition, I am greatly indebted to the students of the classes I
taught in order to experiment adaptation and gather information for my
survey questionnaire and interview.
I would also like to extend my sincere thanks to my friends, my
classmates, as well as my colleagues for their invaluable comments and
encouragement.
Last but not least, I am all too aware that despite all the advice and
assistance, I feel that the project is far from perfect; it is, therefore, my sole
responsibility for any inadequacies and shortcomings that the study may be
considered to have.
Vinh , 2017
Author
Nguyen Thi Be

ii


ABSTRACT
The student’s vocabulary mastery is still low because the student’s
are difficult in determining the meaning of words. Also, the students have
difficulties differentiating the form of speech: noun, verb, adjective and
adverb. Meanwhile, the implementation of flashcard learning technique is
important to help student’s vocabulary mastery. The aims of this classroom
action research are to know the process of learning vocabulary using
flashcards, and to know student’s vocabulary improvement of using
flashcards.
This research was conducted at Ly Tu Trong primary school in Thanh
Hoa city as the subjects of the research. This research consisted of 30
students of class 3B of Ly Tu Trong primary school.
The method used in this study was the experiment with questionnaire
survey and the interview. Vocabulary is central to English teaching and
learning. These days, many English have altered their teaching vocabulary
methods. They are focusing more on communicative approach instead of
grammar or translation one. However, in some areas, especially in the rural,
students have still experienced the old teaching methods which leads to the
act that student feel bored with learning English. For examples, as teaching
and learning vocabulary reading and vocabulary, teacher lists the words on
the blackboard and translates into Vietnamese; students rewrite on paper
and then try to learn by heart. This method causes a situation where
students lack interest in learning vocabulary. Therefore, there is a need to
enhance students’ motivation in learning vocabulary.

Being aware of the

importance vocabulary, the researcher chooses the topic “Using flashcards
in teaching vocabulary in a primary school in Thanh Hoa province . With

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this topic, the researcher would like to examine the current situation of
teaching and learning vocabulary in at a high school and find out the benefits
of flashcards in teaching and learning vocabulary.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Page
STATEMENT OF AUTHORSHIP............................................................................................i
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ......................................................................................................... ii
ABSTRACT ................................................................................................................................... iii
TABLE OF CONTENTS ............................................................................................................ iv
LIST OF TABLES ....................................................................................................................... vii
LIST OF FINGERS ................................................................................................................... viii
CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION. .......................................................................................... 1
1.1. Rationale of the study .................................................................................................. 1
1.2. Aims of the study ............................................................................................................ 2
1.3 Scope of the study. .......................................................................................................... 2
1.4 Methods of the study ..................................................................................................... 3
1.5 Design of the study ......................................................................................................... 3
1.6. Research question ......................................................................................................... 4
CHAPTER 2: THEORETICAL BACKGROUND .............................................................. 4
2.1 The Nature of Vocabulary .......................................................................................... 4
2.1.1. What is vocabulary? .................................................................................................. 4
2.1.2. Types of vocabulary .................................................................................................. 5
2.1.3 Reception vocabulary ................................................................................................ 7

2.1.4 Productive vocabulary .............................................................................................. 8
2.1.5 The importance of vocabulary .............................................................................. 8
2.2 Psychology features of primary students ............................................................ 9
2.2.1. Social and emotional development .................................................................... 9
2.2.2. Intellectual development ......................................................................................10
2.3 The nature of Flashcards ...........................................................................................11
2.3.1 The understanding of Flashcards.......................................................................11
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2.3.2 The kinds of Flashcards ..........................................................................................12
2.3.3 Advantages of using Flashcards..........................................................................14
2.3.4 Disadvantages of using Flashcards ...............................................................14
2.3.5 Overview of using flashcard in teaching vocabulary.................................15
2.4 How to teach vocabulary to primary students ................................................17
2.5 Related studies ...............................................................................................................18
2.5.1 Improving students’ vocabulary mastery using flashcards ...................18
2.5.2 The effect of using vocabulary flash cards on primary students’
vocabulary knowledge. ......................................................................................................21
CHAPTER 3 METHODOLOGY...........................................................................................24
3.1 Reality ................................................................................................................................24
3.2 Participants. .....................................................................................................................25
3.3. Materials ..........................................................................................................................26
3.3.1 Criteria of flashcards in teaching .......................................................................26
3.3.2 English textbook ........................................................................................................26
3.3.3. Observation .................................................................................................................28
3.3.4. Questionnaire Survey .............................................................................................29
3.5.5. Interview ......................................................................................................................30
3.3.6. Post-class mini-test .................................................................................................31
CHAPTER 4: FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION .................................................................32

4.1 The General English test ............................................................................................32
4.2 Data analysis ...................................................................................................................33
4.2.1 Current situation of teaching and learning English vocabulary of the
3rd form students .................................................................................................................33
4.2.2 Attitude towards the importance of vocabulary in teaching and
learning English .....................................................................................................................34
4.2.3 Frequency of using flashcards to teach vocabulary ...................................35
4.2.4 The use of flashcards at different stages of a vocabulary lesson .........36
4.2.5 Opinion of students and teachers on the effect of using flashcards
to teach vocabulary .........................................................................................................36

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4.2.6 Benefits of using flashcards in teaching vocabulary perceived by
students and teachers.........................................................................................................37
4.2.7 Difficulties of using flashcards to teach vocabulary perceived by
students and teachers.........................................................................................................39
vocabulary perceived by students ................................................................................39
4.2.8 The desire for using flashcards in teaching vocabulary ..........................40
4.3 Results of post-class mini-tests of Control Group(A) and Experimental
Group(B) ...................................................................................................................................41
4.2.2 Data analysis from interview ...............................................................................43
4.2.2.1 Interview with teachers .................................................................................43
4.2.2.3 Interview with students .................................................................................44
4.3 Discussion .........................................................................................................................45
4.3.1 The effect of the flashcards on memorizing the word meaning ..........46
4.3.2 The effect of the flashcards on memorizing the word spelling ...........46
4.3.3 The effect of the flashcards on memorizing the word pronunciation
.......................................................................................................................................................47

CHAPTER 5: CONCLUSION .................................................................................................47
5.1 Summary of the study .................................................................................................48
5.2 Limitation of the study ...............................................................................................49
5.3 Suggestions for further research ...........................................................................50
REFERENCE .................................................................................................................................51
APPENDICES .................................................................................................................................. I
APPENDICES 1 ............................................................................................................................. II
APPENDICES 2 ........................................................................................................................... III
APPENDICES 3A ........................................................................................................................ IV
APPENDICES 3B .......................................................................................................................... V
APPENDICES 4A ........................................................................................................................ VI
APPENDICES 4B ....................................................................................................................... VII
APPENDICES 5 ....................................................................................................................... VIII
APPENDICES 6 ............................................................................................................................IX

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LIST OF TABLES

Page
Table 4.1 The experimental and control group’s Score in general English test .........32
Table 4.2 The average total scores and standard deviations of general
English ...........................................................................................................................................33
Table 4.3 Benefits of using flashcards in teaching vocabulary perceived
by students...................................................................................................................................37
Table 4.4 Benefits of using flashcards in teaching vocabulary perceived
by teachers ...................................................................................................................................38
Table 4.5 Difficulties of using flashcards in teaching vocabulary
perceived by students .............................................................................................................39

Table 4.6 Difficulties of using flashcards in teaching vocabulary
perceived by teachers .............................................................................................................40
Table 4.7 Results of post-class mini-tests of Experimental Group in
which flashcards were applied ...........................................................................................41
Table 4.8 Results of post-class mini-tests of Control Group in which
flashcards were not applied .................................................................................................42

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LIST OF FIGURES

Page
Figure 1 Flashcards of colors ...............................................................................................13
Figure 2 Flashcards of words ..............................................................................................13
Figure 3 Students concern about the importance of vocabulary ........................34
Figure 4 Teachers concern about the importance of vocabulary .......................34
Figure 5 Frequency of using flashcards to teach vocabulary ................................35
Figure 6 Opinion of students and teachers on the effect of using
flashcards to teach vocabulary ...........................................................................................36
Figure 7 The experimental group results ......................................................................41
Figure 8 The control group results ...................................................................................42

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CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION
Vocabulary is generally the total number of words that exist in a particular
language. More specifically, it functions as the foundation without which any
language is impossible to exist in this world. Learning a foreign language,

especially English as a language of international communication throughout the
world, has now become essential to grasp the opportunity to reach information.
Learning English vocabulary at an early age is the fundamental step to learn
English. It stands to reason, as stated by (Edward, 1997) in his book that
vocabulary is one of the important factors in all language teaching and learners
must continually be learning words as they learn structure and as they practice
sound system. Hence, English vocabulary is now introduced to learners from an
early education. Thus without vocabulary communication in a second or
foreign language is not possible in a meaningful way. Using visual
techniques have become effective ways in teaching vocabulary. Flashcards is
a common way that teachers use in vocabulary lessons.
1.1. Rationale of the study
It is obvious that English is one of the most popular languages in the
world. It is clear that English has become more and more dominant around
the world. Nowadays , in some countries English is used as the mother
tongue and other countries , as a second language in school.
Vocabulary represents one of most important skills necessary for
teaching and learning a foreign language. It is the basis for the development
of all the other skills: reading comprehension, listening comprehension,
speaking, writing, spelling and pronunciation. Vocabulary is the main tool
for the students in their attempt to use English effectively. It is true that the
vocabulary is the focus of language. It is in words that sound and meaning
interlock to allow us to communicate with one another, and it is word that
we arrange together to make sentences, conversation, and discourse of all
kinds. Besides, vocabulary really plays an important role because it appears

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in every language skill. Obviously, vocabulary is really important in any

language learning. However, it is not easy to study perfect English
vocabulary. Almost students often face up with some problems in learning
vocabulary at first, especially primary students. In fact, it is difficult to
memorize a new word with its meaning, spelling and pronunciation, many
primary students are often confused with knowing how they can apply
grammar into sentences, sometimes, they can not understand when being
opposed to video and audio. Moreover, techniques to teach English in
primary schools is traditional with similar activities days by days, which
makes students become fed up with learning English. Therefore, interesting
techniques to teach English are necessary to help students learn English
vocabulary better, they also attract students’ interest on English. From the
above reasons, I have the ambition of presenting some effective suggestions
to teach English vocabulary in primary schools with hope that students will
be interested in learning English. Due to my English knowledge limitation
and the frame of this thesis , I would like to choose the research title: “
using flashcards to teach vocabulary in primary school in Thanh Hoa ”.
1.2. Aims of the study
My research is to provide some suggested techniques in teaching
English vocabulary in primary school to make students more interested in
the lesson as well as to master learned knowledge of that lesson in an
effective way.
1. Find out the effectiveness of learning vocabulary using flashcards.
2. Determine the students’ attitude towards the use of flashcards.
3. Determine the teachers’ attitude towards the use of flashcards.

1.3 Scope of the study
In fact, there are lots of various techniques to teach English
vocabulary for primary students. It requires much time and effort.

2

Furthermore,

English

vocabulary

includes

meaning,

grammar,

pronunciation, and spelling. This research focuses on the effects of using
flashcards on teaching vocabulary. The study is to measure students’ ability
of remembering word meaning, word spelling and word pronunciation
when using flashcards. Other aspect of vocabulary such as: grammar,
collocation ... were not taken into consideration in the research. The course
book which the researcher used in the experimental course was 3rd Grade
English Textbook, published by Viet Nam Education Publishing House. The
study was conducted among secondary students who were 8 years old. They
were in grade 3.
1.4 Methods of the study
A lot of methods have been applied to complete this thesis : Collected
references, books and websites related to teaching English and document
were analyzed in details to form the theoretical background of this thesis . A
survey questionnaire and the interview were conducted for primary
students at some schools in Thanh Hoa with a point of view to find out their
recognition, attitudes, evaluation of the matter and the difficulties they

encounter as well as what activities they like doing in one lesson.
1.5 Design of the study
The study is divided into five chapters: Introduction, Theoretical
Background, Methodology , Results and Findings and Conclusion.
Chapter 1, Introduction, includes rationale for the study, the aims, methods,
scope, and design of the study. Chapter 2 comes the second, in which a
theoretical background was presented. Chapter 3, the study comes next with
the responsibility for specifying the factors for the researcher to collect and
process the study data. Chapter 4 consists of findings and discussion, in
which the data is described and discussed. Chapter 5 comes last. A
conclusion of the study, the limitations of the study, and suggestion for
further research are also mentioned in the last chapter.

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1.6. Research question
Based on the delimitation the problems above, the researcher formulated
the problems in this research as follow:
1. How does the use of flashcards affect the students vocabulary
acquisition ?
2. How does using flashcards motivate the primary student ?

CHAPTER 2 THEORETICAL BACKGROUND

2.1 The Nature of Vocabulary
One thing that differentiates human from animals is verbal language or
speaking beside mind to think. Humans can communicate with others
through verbal language, either to apply or to receive the information the
animal can not do. When we observe a child first acquiring speech, we talk of

this progress as a matter of learning new words, we are also likely to feel
that the adult speaker with largest vocabulary has the best command of
English.
2.1.1. What is vocabulary?
There are many definitions about vocabulary. A vocabulary is defined
as "all the words known and used by a particular person" and “all the words
which exist in a particular language or subject” (Cambridge Advanced
Learners Dictionary). However, according to Sebastian Wren, Ph.D , the
words known and used by a particular person do not constituteall the words
a person is exposed to. By definition, a vocabulary includes the last two
categories of this list:
• Never encountered the word.
•Heard the word, but cannot define it.
•Recognize the word due to context or tone of voice
•Able to use the word but cannot clearly explain it.

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•Fluent with the word – its use and definition.
Another definition of vocabulary: vocabulary is knowledge of words
and word meanings. However, vocabulary is more complex than this
definition suggests. First, words come in two forms: oral and print. Oral
vocabulary includes those words that we recognize and use in listening and
speaking . Print vocabulary includes those words that we recognize and use
in reading and writing. Second, word knowledge also comes in two forms,
receptive and productive. Receptive vocabulary includes words that we
recognize when we hear or see them. Productive vocabulary includes words
that we use when we speak or write. Receptive vocabulary is typically larger
than productive vocabulary, and may include many words to which we

assign some meaning, even if we don‟t know their full definitions and
connotations – or ever use them ourselves as we speak and write (Kamil &
Hiebert, in press).
Besides, according to Webster‟s Dictionary (1993:327) “ Vocabulary is
a list or group of words and phrase, usually in alphabetical order”. In
general, vocabulary is a component of language that maintains all of
information about meaning and using word in language (Harimurti
kridalaksana 1993:27).It is one of the important factors in learning English
besides sound system, grammar, and culture. A vocabulary usually grows
and evolves with age, and serves as a useful and fundamental tool for
communication and 18 acquiring knowledge. Therefore, a person's
vocabulary is the set of words they are familiar with in a language.
2.1.2. Types of vocabulary
According to Nation (2001), there are two kinds of vocabulary. They
are perceptive and productive vocabulary. Receptive vocabulary refers to
the words that native speakers and foreign learners recognize and
understand but hardly ever use, it is used passively in either listening or
reading. Productive vocabulary means that the students, which those are

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familiar, produce the words well known and used frequently in writing a
sentence or essay and in speaking.
According to Montgomery (2007) vocabulary is divided into four types
those are listening vocabulary, speaking vocabulary, reading vocabulary,
and writing vocabulary. It defines that vocabulary types from their usage
during teaching. Listening vocabulary is the words students hear and
understand, speaking vocabulary is the words used when they speak,
reading vocabulary is the words students understand when they read texts,

through reading many words can be read and can improve understanding,
and writing vocabulary is the words that
students use when they try to express.
Meanwhile, Grigg (2012) categorize the type of vocabulary into active and
passive vocabulary. Passive vocabulary means, a person knows about the
words when he is listening to others people or understand a reading text
means, while active vocabulary is the ability to a person to produce the
words both in speaking and writing. It is related to the person ability.
In contrast to Montgomery (2007), Wollacott (2013) stated that the four
types of vocabulary (listening vocabulary, speaking vocabulary, reading
vocabulary, and writing vocabulary) are summarized just in active and
passive vocabulary.
In general, vocabulary is divided into four types: reading vocabulary,
listening vocabulary, writing vocabulary and speaking vocabulary.
2.1.2.1 Reading vocabulary
Reading vocabulary is made up of the words in print that we
recognize or can figure out. A person's reading vocabulary is all the words
he or she can recognize when reading. This is the largest type of vocabulary
simply because it includes the other three. The extent of students‟
vocabulary knowledge relates strongly to their reading comprehension and
overall academic success . This relationship seems logical; to get meaning

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from what they read, students need both a great many words in their
vocabularies and the ability to use various strategies to establish the
meanings of new words when they encounter them.
2.1.2.2 Listening vocabulary
Listening vocabulary refers to the words we need to know to

understand what we hear. A person's listening vocabulary is all the words he
or she can recognize when listening to speech. This vocabulary is aided in
size by context and tone of voice.
2.1.2.3 Writing vocabulary
Writing vocabulary consists of the words we use in writing. A person's
writing vocabulary is all the words he or she can employ in writing. Contrary to
the previous two vocabulary types, the writing vocabulary is stimulated by its
user.
2.1.2.4 Speaking vocabulary
Speaking vocabulary consists of the words we use in everyday speech.
A person's speaking vocabulary is all the words he or she can use in speech.
Due to the spontaneous nature of the speaking vocabulary, words are often
misused. This misuse – though slight and unintentional – may be
compensated by facial expressions, tone of voice, or hand gestures.
However, according to Nation (1990:29), vocabulary is divided in the
specific reference, such a word.
2.1.3 Receptive vocabulary
Knowing a word involves being able to recognize it when it is heard (
what is the sound like?) or when it seen ( what does it look like?) and having
an expectation of what grammatical pattern the word will occurrence. This
includes being able to distinguish it from word with similar form and being
able to judge if the word form sound right or look right.

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2.1.4 Productive vocabulary
Knowing a word involves being able to pronounce the word. How to
write and spell it, how to use it in grammatical pattern along with the word
in usually collocates with it, it also involves not using the word too often if it

typically a low frequency word and using it in a suitable situation using the
word to stand for the meaning it represents and being able to think of
suitable substitutes for the word if there any.
2.1.5 The importance of vocabulary
It can be said that vocabulary is comprised of four things: listening,
writing, reading, and speaking. All four of these elements are used to make
up a larger structure that is called literacy. While literacy has been
important ever since humans first discovered writing, it has become much
more important in the information age. More than ever before, information
has been allowed to flow freely. While much of this information is not very
valuable, some of it can enhance your career, make you more productive,
and even save your life. Your vocabulary is the element that will determine
your cultural literacy. When many people think of vocabulary, they think of
it as a tedious learning process. However, it is very vital to your success in
our world of today. It is no longer enough to just know what is happening in
your neighborhood, city, or country. It is equally important for you to
understand what is happening on a global scale. Improving your vocabulary
from an early age will allow you to become informed. It will allow you to
successfully convey your ideas to others, and it can also improve your career
outlook. Having said that, it is important for parents to focus on improving
the education of their children from an early age.
In general, vocabulary plays an important role in the development of each
language, its importance is concluded in this list:
• An extensive vocabulary aids expressions and communication
• Vocabulary size has been directly linked to reading comprehension.

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• Linguistic vocabulary is synonymous with thinking vocabulary

• A person may be judged by others based on his or her vocabulary
2.2 Psychological features of primary students
The growth of six, seven and eight-year-old-children is slow but
steady. They have gained control of their major muscles. Most children have
a good sense of balance. They can stand on one foot and walk on a balance
beam. They enjoy performing physical tricks. They enjoy testing muscle
strength and skills. They like to skip, run, tumble, and dance to music. They
can catch small balls. They can manage buttons and zippers. They can learn
to tie their shoelaces. They can print their names. They can copy designs and
shapes including numbers and letters. They use utensils and tools correctly
with supervision. Older School-Age Children are very active with lots of
energy. Their fine motor and large motor skills have become much better.
2.2.1. Social and emotional development
They think of themselves more than others until about a seven or eight.
They play well in groups but may need some time to play alone. Many
children have a best friend and an enemy. They tend to prefer playmates of
the same sex. Children often tell on each other. This is done for two reasons:
to help them understand the rules and to get an adult's attention. They do
not like criticism or failure. It is best to have each child compete against
himself or herself not children. They can be helpful with small chores. They
have a strong need for love and attention from their parents. They are
beginning to care about the feelings and needs of others. They may enjoy
taking care of and playing with younger children. To them, "good" and "bad"
are what parents and teachers approve or disapprove of. They are starting
to develop a moral sense such as understanding honesty. They begin to
develop a sense of humor and may enjoy nonsense rhymes, songs, and
riddles. They become upset when their behavior or school work is criticized
or ignored. When children are nine or ten year old, they have a strong need

9

to feel accepted and worthwhile. They show their ability to be independent
by being disobedient, using back-talk and being rebellious. They prefer
individual achievements over competition. They like encouragement and
suggestions over competition. They still look to adults for approval. They
begin to take responsibility for their own actions. They like to join organized
groups. They prefer to be with members of their own sex. They look up to
and imitate older youth. They are beginning to build and understand
friendship. They want to be accepted by the peer group.
2.2.2. Intellectual development
They can tell left from right. Their ability to speak and express
themselves develops rapidly. This is important for success in school. They
talk to each other about themselves and their families. During play, they
practice using the words and language they learn in school. They start to
understand time and days of the week. They like silly rhymes, riddles, and
jokes. Their attention span is longer. They can follow more involved stories.
They are learning letters and words. By six, most can read words or
combinations of words. Like the social and emotional development, there
are some differences in children‟ intellectual development, they need
opportunities to share thoughts and reactions. They see things as either
"black or white." They have interests which change often. They are easily
motivated and eager to try new things. They usually do best when the work
is done in small pieces. They need guidance from adults to stay at a task to
achieve their best. In conclusion, being the 1st grade student is the most
important changes of children. With new environment they must
concentrate in a long time between 30- 35 minutes. They are not curious
children like three-age-boys, moreover, they are enjoy discovering and
understanding interesting things in life. Primary students gradually
dominate their curiosity in order to form the discipline and implement

learning regulations… All these above are children‟s challenges, the care and

10


assistance of families, schools and society depending on the understanding
of scientific knowledge will help children overcome these difficulties better.
2.3 The nature of Flashcards
Teaching techniques are the ways which are used by teachers to
present information to be learned. The teaching resources best suited to the
students, such as the latest technology, may not be available to teachers,
teachers must find the best techniques to teach the students using the
resources available to them.
2.3.1 The understanding of Flashcards
According to Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary, flashcard is a
card with a word and sometimes it has some colorful pictures inside.
flashcards are a simple, versatile and underexploited resource for teaching
young learners, states Admit (2009) Its versatility allows the teacher to use
their creativity to adapt different topics in images to teach vocabulary at low
cost and with recyclable value. Flashcards cards are a suitable media that
motivate children to learn vocabulary and later improve their English skills
Yogyakarta (2014) since flashcard uses colorful images that catch learners’
attention better than abstract concepts.
Flashcards are very helpful tools in presenting and drilling forms of
new words, since they draw learners‟ attention and make these often boring
activities more enjoyable. And that is exactly what teachers need when
presenting new language to catch their learners‟ full attention, to raise their
interest in the presented subject and hence also their motivation. The
picture is used in a more meaningful and real-life communicative‟ way than
being just displayed for pupils to say what they can actually see. This will

probably have a greater impact on the retention of a piece of vocabulary
again and also subsequently on the ability to use it in communication. The
teacher works with two antonymous pictures, or similarly, compares two
things very alike in their meaning, such as “hill” and “mountain”. Yet another

11


possibility is to employ the sense of a collective idea or to present the word
as a part of a larger thing. As for the first case, the verb “to work” can be
accompanied by pictures of different people working in various jobs; in the
second case, the word „leaf‟ can be put into context as a part of “a tree”
(Wright 1990: 139-144; Wright and Haleem 1991: 51-52) .
2.3.2 Kinds of Flashcards
In Longman Dictionary (1985:107), in language teaching, flashcards is
a card with words, sentence, or pictures. It is used as an aid or cue in a
language lesson. It can be concluded from these definitions that flashcards
are cards with a word or words, or a sentence, or a picture on it used to
learn and memorize vocabulary. Flashcards are divided into two types:
picture flashcards and word flashcards.
2.3.2.1 Picture flashcards
According to Wright & Haleem (1991:50), picture flashcards are cards
with pictures printed or drawn on having 15×20 cm. They should be small
enough for the users to easily handle and big enough for the whole class to
see clearly. The teachers can prepare them in free time at home. Advantages
of picture flashcards are the attractiveness and colorfulness with details
which blackboard pictures do not have. Picture flashcards are useful for
presenting, practicing and revising vocabulary of lessons.

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Figure 1 Flashcards of colors

2.3.2.2 Word flashcards
In Bowen (1982), word flashcards which are cards with words
printed on can be held up rapidly or “flash” by the teacher before the class. A
word flashcard is about 8cm high and 10cm wide; and its length depends on
the size of class. They are useful for representing words or structure.
Figure 2 Word flashcards

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2.3.3 Advantages of using Flashcards
Wright (1976: 80) claimed that students will get clear understanding
about the vocabulary material delivered by the teacher when they cover
pronunciation, usage and illustration by picture of a word and they will not
feel bored when they are taught using flashcards thanks to the colorfulness
of pictures.
According to Inayah. S (2010) flashcards are easy for the teacher to
deliver; therefore, it is more convenient for them not to carry heavy books.
According to Haycraft (1978: 102) and Cross (1991: 120) there are some
advantages of using flashcards in teaching language: Firstly, flashcards can
be used for consolidating vocabulary and taken almost everywhere and
every when. Secondly, flashcards are eye-catching and effective for any level
students. Lastly, it is flashcard that provides learners with the link between
L1 and the target language.
2.3.4 Disadvantages of Flashcards
There are at least some disadvantages of flashcard offered by Wright

(1976: 82). Firstly, it is sometimes difficult for the teacher to find a suitable
card for each topic that is suitable with syllabus. Secondly, flashcards are not
big enough for the students sitting in behind to see clearly. Moreover,
Inayah. S (2010) stated other disadvantages of flashcards: Firstly, flashcards
are too expensive, and it takes teachers much time to make flashcards by
themselves. Secondly, it is likely that some students misunderstand about
teachers’ explanation when they see flashcards, so the goal cannot be
achieved.
In conclusion, flashcard is not only useful for representing vocabulary
but also attract students because of colorful pictures; however, the
expensive prices, limited size, off –topic cards are drawbacks of this teaching
aid. Hence, it is advisable for the teacher take consideration in the topic of
lesson and the size of class to decide how to use flashcard properly.

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2.3.5 Overview of using flashcard in teaching vocabulary
In Vocabulary learning: A critical analysis of techniques, Oxford and
Crokall claimed that using flashcards self-test vocabulary knowledge is a
popular with students in L2 learning strategies. It is a fact that learners
can take advantage of the availability of this learning technique in both
traditionally taught languages such as France, Spanish and ESL and less
common ones like Russian. They said “With creativity and thought on the
part of the learner, flashcards can indeed be employed to provide greater
context”.

For example, firstly, students can divide flashcards into

different groups of words such as part of speech; words that are already

learned vs. words still needing to be learned; past tense forms vs. present
tense forms. Secondly, learners might be provided visual contexts by
taping to flashcards to pictures of particular objects signified by the
words on the cards. Furthermore, learners can create a kind of semantic
map by arranging flashcards on the floor with related words closer
together and unrelated words further apart. Finally, flashcards give
students opportunities to add context by writing the new word sin
complete, meaningful sentences on the cards.
In Improving Students’ Vocabulary Mastery Using Flashcards
(Yosephus Setyo Nugroho*, Joko Nurkamto, Hefy Sulistyowati), flashcards
make students more familiar with certain words and memorize them more
easily because they can see, read and touch the object and raise their
motivation and interest in teaching learning process. They also gave some
suggestions for teachers and students about using flashcards. Firstly, the
teacher needs to identify the students’ behavior first before presenting the
lesson; use interesting technique and media, such as flashcards as well as
develop a good atmosphere in the class. Secondly, the students should
encourage themselves to learn more, to ask more, and to know more.

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