




































____________________

November

Oktober

September

1 

 

 ELT FORUM 2 (2) (2013) 

 

Journal of English Language Teaching 
 

http://journal.unnes.ac.id/sju/index.php/elt 

 

 

THE USE OF MANUAL SUPER TEXT TWIST 

GAME TO IMPROVE STUDENTS’  

ENGLISH VOCABULARY MASTERY 

 

Nurul Saofa Aulia 

 

Department of English, Faculty Language and Arts, Semarang State University, Indonesia 

 

Info Artikel 

________________ 
Sejarah Artikel: 

Diterima  2013 

Disetujui  2013  

Dipublikasikan   

2013 

________________ 
Keywords: 

Super Text Twist game, 

vocabulary mastery, and 

action 

research

 

 

Abstract 
___________________________________________________________________ 

This study concerns about the use of manual Super Text Twist game to improve the students’ 

vocabulary mastery. Therefore, the objective of this study is to obtain how well the game 

contributes for solving vocabulary problems of Junior High School students. This study was 

conducted by using classroom action research design. The subjects of this study were VIIIB 

students chosen by using purposive sampling technique. There were two cycles in this study. The 

treatment was given in each cycle. In order to get data, she used several instruments. They were 

tests, questionnaires, and observation checklists. She gave several pre-tests and post-tests to obtain 

the improvement of the subjects’ vocabulary mastery. In order to carry out the subjects’ opinion 

and interest toward the learning process, she used the questionnaires. She also recorded the 

subjects’ behavior in an observation checklist. The result of this study showed that there was a 

significant improvement of the subjects’ vocabulary mastery. It was proved by the high increase 

between the subjects’ score of initial pre-test and final post-test. The average of the initial pre-test 

scores was 64, while the average of the final post-test was 80. In addition, the subjects gave positive 

perception, opinion, and interest toward the learning process by using the game. This fact was 

supported by the result of the questionnaires. Moreover, participation of the subjects increased after 

the treatment was given. The subjects were more enthusiastic in participating the learning process. 

This condition was based on result of the observation checklist. According to the results above, it 

can be concluded that game gives positive contribution to the improvement of the subjects’ 

vocabulary mastery. The use of the game is recommended for English teachers as an alternative 

technique for teaching vocabulary. Through this technique, teachers are able to enhance students’ 

interest and motivation in the learning English. 

 

© 2013 Universitas Negeri Semarang 

 
 Alamat korespondensi:  

   Gedung B3  Lantai 3  FBS Unnes  

   Kampus Sekaran, Gunungpati, Semarang, 50229 

   E-mail: uness_english@yahoo.com 

 

 

 

ISSN 2252-6706 

 

 

 

 

 



Review of Related Literature

 

Nurul Saofa Aulia   / Journal of English Language Teaching 2 (2) (2013) 

2 

 

INTRODUCTION 

 

Mastering vocabulary is the most 

important thing in mastering English. English 

learning process faced many problems because 

students lacked vocabulary. Vocabulary cases 

happened in English learning process in 

Indonesian Junior High School students. For 

instance, in the learning process in the 

classrooms, the meanings of common words 

were often asked by teacher to students, but they 

could not answer the questions correctly. 

Moreover, there were still many spelling 

mistakes in students‟ writing. Furthermore, if the 

students were asked about their opinions about 

moral value of a text, they were unable to 

express their ideas properly. Those problems 

made the students unable to understand the 

material maximally. Therefore, they still had to 

find out the meanings of the words in the 

dictionary whereas for students, it is a boring 

activity to always look up words in the 

dictionary. According to the English teacher in 

the school, the students were often lazy to look 

the words up in the dictionary so their 

vocabulary mastery improvement was very slow. 

After knowing the conditions above some 

possibilities of causal factors of those problems 

were drawn. The first is students‟ character. The 

students‟ laziness to find out the meanings of 

words in the dictionary can be a causal factor of 

lack of vocabulary mastery. The second is that 

students especially adolescents, like fun learning. 

They always want to learn vocabulary by doing 

interesting activities which are almost similar to 

playing games. The next is language teaching 

method. Teachers always use traditional 

method. The last factor is that vocabulary 

teaching and learning does not have certain time 

allocation in learning process in the classrooms.  

Based on the facts above, implementing one of 

alternative techniques for teaching vocabulary 

should be done. It is game technique. The 

application of game technique in learning 

process may make better learning process.  

 

 

 

Many researchers said that vocabulary is very 

important in language learning. According to 

Camerron (2001:73), “word is the key unit in 

building up skills and knowledge.” In addition, 

here are some quotations from several 

researchers about vocabulary. 

“No matter how well the student learn 

grammar, no matter how successfully the sounds 

of second language are mastered, without words 

to express a wider range of meanings, 

communication in an second language just 

cannot happen in any meaningful way” 

(McCarthy, 1990:viii). 

“Vocabulary knowledge enables language 

use, language use enables the increase of 

vocabulary knowledge, knowledge of the world 

enables the increase of vocabulary knowledge 

and language use and so on” (Nation, 1993). 

In order to make vocabulary learning process 

better at junior high school, the teacher also has 

to follow particular principles in teaching 

vocabulary. According to Wallace (1982:27-30), 

they are as follows: 

(1). Aims  

“The aims have to be clear for the teacher: 

how many of the things listed does the teacher 

expect the learner to be able to achieve the 

vocabulary? What kinds of words?” (page 27). 

(2). Quantity 

“The teacher may have to decide on the 

number of vocabulary items to be learned” (page 

28). 

(3). Need  

“The students are put in a situation where 

they have to communicate and get the words 

they need, as they need them, using the teacher 

as an informant” (page 28). 

(4). Frequent exposure and repetition 

“It is seldom, however, that we remember 

a new word simply by hearing at the first time. 

There has to be certain amount of repetition 

until there is evidence that students have learned 

the target word” (page 29). 

(5). Meaningful presentation 

“The learner must have a clear and 

specific understanding of what it denotes or 

refers to. The word is presented in such a way 



 

Nurul Saofa Aulia   / Journal of English Language Teaching 2 (2) (2013) 

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that its denotation or reference is perfectly clear 

and ambiguous” (page 29). 

(6). Situation of presentation 

“The choice of words can be very varied 

according to the situation in which we are 

speaking and according to how well we know 

the person, to whom we are speaking (from 

informal to formal)” (page 30).  

In fact, those purposes of language teaching 

cannot be reached if the students lack 

vocabulary. Therefore, the teacher has to find 

out the most suitable teaching and learning 

technique for her students to solve those 

problems. 

According to Nation (1990), there are three 

strategies in teaching vocabulary. They are 

presentation strategies, strategy training, practice 

strategies. Moreover, Wallace (1982:38) 

categorized application of the techniques in 

some ways. One of them is group-to-group 

competitive playing games which are enjoyable 

for students.  

Games are fun and useful. People whether are 

young or not like to play games. By playing 

game, they not only attain fun but also some 

benefits. According to Lewis and Bedson 

(2010:5), games ensure that players interact with 

each other, and this interaction is usually played 

out in language. They involve both of 

cooperation and competition, rules, and       

unpredictability, enjoyment, and serious 

commitment. By playing games, people can 

employ their language skills strategically in 

cooperative way, where a group works together 

to achieve certain goals. 

One example of language games is Super Text 

Twist game. The way of playing this game is by 

arranging some letters which are given by the 

teacher in order to form as many English words 

as possible within a certain period of time. The 

game is played in groups. The group which can 

arrange the most letters into English words, will 

be the winner. By doing this game, 

unconsciously the students will recall, write, and 

discuss to find out English words. Moreover, the 

students will be more familiar with English 

words. In addition, they will unconsciously be 

motivated to look words up in dictionary.  

This study used an action research. According to 

Anne Burns (2010:2), “action research involves 

taking a self-reflective, critical, and systematic 

approach to exploring a teacher‟s own teaching 

contexts.” In action research, the teacher 

becomes an „investigator‟ or „explorer‟ of his or 

her personal teaching context, while at the same 

time she will be a participant in it.  

According to Kemmis and McTaggart (1988:11), 

steps in doing action research are planning, 

action, observation, and  reflection. 

 

METHODS OF INVESTIGATION 

 

The subjects of the study are the students 

were students of VIIIB class in academic year 

2012/ 2013. This class had 39 students. In 

choosing the class as the subject of this study, I 

used purposive sampling technique. I chose the 

class which had the most vocabulary problems. 

This choice was based on the suggestion of an 

English teacher of the school. This fact was 

proved by the average of their English final test 

scores, low midterm test, and daily scores.  

Based on the observation, there were several 

possible reasons of those conditions above. First, 

the schedule of English subject of the class was 

not in favorable time. Second, most of their 

parents are farmers. Therefore, awareness of the 

importance of education was very low. The third 

is language teaching method which was always 

used by their teachers. 

Since the purpose of this study was to solve 

vocabulary problems, its object was the subjects‟ 

vocabulary improvement. In this study, I only 

focused on vocabulary in writing skill.  

Vocabulary was used as data in this study. It was 

taken from the subjects‟ handout for one 

semester. There were 1424 words in the 

handout. Since the number of the words was 

very big, the study only used a sample of the 

words. The number of the sampled words was 

70 words. Those sampled words were presented 

for two meetings. After the words as data was 

administered, the data began to be collected.  

The data would be collected in four ways. They 

are by using observation checklist, 

questionnaires, tests, and interview. The 



 

Nurul Saofa Aulia   / Journal of English Language Teaching 2 (2) (2013) 

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questionnaires and the tests would be analyzed 

quantitatively. The behavior checklist and the 

interview would be analyzed qualitatively. 

There were five aspects which were observed in 

this study. There were (1) subjects‟ enthusiasm, 

(2) subjects‟ attention to teacher‟s explanation, 

(3) subjects‟ interest in playing the game, (4) 

subjects‟ participation and confidence in all 

learning process, and (5) subjects‟ seriousness in 

doing vocabulary task in group. 

In this study, I gave the questionnaires to the 

subjects in order to obtain their opinions, beliefs, 

and interest after giving the treatment. In 

addition, the interview was in the form of guided 

or semi-structured interview.  

The tests contained the words which were taken 

randomly from the sampled words. The tests 

were in the form of a gap-fill.  

Analysis should be done after the results were 

caught. In this study, the analysis was done 

quantitatively and qualitatively. 

The quantitative data were taken from the tests 

and the questionnaires. She used descriptive 

statistics in analyzing the data. Measuring 

central tendency was used to analyze the tests. 

Meanwhile, measuring dispersion was used to 

analyze the questionnaires.  

In analyzing results of the questionnaires, she 

used a range of the means. The results of the 

questionnaires can be classified into the range of 

the means.  

In this study, the qualitative data were obtained 

from the observation checklist and the interview. 

Analyzing result of the observation checklist and 

the interview used categorizing technique. The 

results of the observation checklist for each cycle 

were compared to those of other cycles in order 

to obtain the improvement of the subjects‟ 

attitudes toward the learning process.  

Since this study was an action research, this 

study was done based on the following steps. 

 

A. Giving the Initial Pre-Test 

Before conducting the cycles, in order to 

know how far the subjects had mastered 

vocabulary which was supposed to learn, I gave 

the initial pre-test (IPT). Furthermore, it was 

followed by two cycles.  

B. First Cycle  

The steps of the first cycle were stated 

below. 

 

1. Planning 

In this step, some preparations for 

conducting the study were done. Firstly, i made 

scenario of teaching learning process. Secondly, 

I constructed a lesson plan. Thirdly, after 

preparing learning material, I constructed the 

instruments of this study. Finally, I prepared 

media for teaching learning process. After all of 

preparations were done, I began the action.  

 

2. Action  

Before doing the action, I gave the 1st 

cycle pre-test. In beginning of the action, I 

reviewed narrative and recount texts material. 

After that, I asked the subjects to identify 

difficult words from the texts with their partner. 

Then, the treatment was given. The treatment 

was playing super text twist game technique. 

The steps in giving the treatment were described 

as follows: 

(1) the subjects were divided into some 

groups; 

(2) the media of the game was distributed 

to the groups; each group got one 

media;  

(3) they were asked to fill in empty boxes 

on the media by using English words. 

(4) they should write as many English 

words as possible on the boxes; the 

number of letters for each word must be 

the same as numbers of the boxes on the 

media; and 

(5) vocabulary drill was done by checking 

the subjects‟ answers to the game.  

Next, I gave the 1st cycle post-test. The post-test 

examined the first half of the sampled words 

which were taught in this cycle. At the end of 

the first cycle, I gave first cycle questionnaire to 

the subjects. 

 

3. Observing  

During the teaching and learning process, 

I observed the subjects‟ responses and attitude. 



 

Nurul Saofa Aulia   / Journal of English Language Teaching 2 (2) (2013) 

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Those things were observed by using the 

observation checklist.  

 

4. Reflecting and Assessment 

In this step, she assessed and analyzed 

results from the instruments. The results of all of 

the instruments were cross-check each other. 

This was done to know how far the goal had 

been achieved and what I should do in the next 

cycle.  

 

C. Second Cycle 

Basically, the steps of the second cycle 

were similar to those in first cycle. Although the 

steps were similar to those in the first cycle, 

there were several modified steps in the second 

cycle. The steps were elaborated below.  

 

1. Planning 

In this step, I prepared several things for 

conducting the second cycle. The first was 

teaching learning scenario. Since there was a 

problem about time management in the first 

cycle, I changed the activities of teaching 

learning process. In order to minimize time for 

discussion, I applied think pair share technique. 

In addition, I tried to use cooperative learning 

technique with an award to the winner to make 

the learning process better. The second was a 

lesson plan. The lesson plan for the second cycle 

was constructed based on the second cycle 

scenario. The third was learning material and 

instruments. They were about narrative and 

recount texts which contained the second half of 

the sampled words. In the second cycle, she 

prepared two kinds of media. They were media 

for think pair share activity and media for super 

text twist game.  

 

2. Action  

In the beginning of the second cycle, I 

gave the 2nd cycle pre-test. In order to minimize 

time, I reviewed the previous material only for a 

while. After that, I .explained the role of think 

pair share technique. The subjects were asked to 

identify difficult words from the texts by using 

think pair share technique.  

Then, the treatment was given. The treatment 

was the same as the first cycle. Before giving the 

treatment, I said that there would be an award 

for the winner of the game.  

Next, I gave the 2nd cycle post-test. The post-test 

examined the second half of the sampled words 

which were taught in this cycle. At the end of 

the second cycle, I gave the 2nd cycle 

questionnaire to the subjects. 

 

3. Observing  

In this step, I observed the subjects‟ 

responses and attitude toward the learning 

process of that day.  

 

4. Reflecting and Assessment 

In this step, I assessed and analyzed 

results from the instruments. Analysis of this 

cycle would be compared to the results from the 

first cycle. This comparison would show the 

result of this study, especially about the subjects‟ 

attitude. 

 

D. Giving the Final Post-Test 

At the end of this study, the FPT was 

given. This test obtained the improvement of the 

subjects‟ score in vocabulary test. The result of 

this test would be compared with the result of 

the IPT. This comparison was supposed to show 

significant improvement of the subjects‟ 

vocabulary mastery.  

 

 

DATA ANALYSIS AND DISCUSSION 

 

A. Result of Initial pre-test 

In this study, the initial pre-test (IPT) was 

given on Friday, June 7th 2013. This IPT 

consisted of 50 test items. The subjects had to 

finish this test in 40 minutes.  

The average of the subjects‟ score of the test was 

64, whereas the criterion of mastery learning 

was 72. It showed that the average was lower 

than the criterion of mastery learning. It seems 

that the subjects were not familiar with the 

words which were frequently used in their 

handout. Therefore, I concluded that the 

subjects really lacked vocabulary mastery. 



 

Nurul Saofa Aulia   / Journal of English Language Teaching 2 (2) (2013) 

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Therefore, there should be a treatment to 

improve the subjects‟ achievement in vocabulary 

mastery. Then, I continued the study by 

conducting the first cycle of this study. 

 

B. Analysis of the First Cycle 

The 1st cycle was conducted on Saturday, 

8th June 2013. Before starting the learning 

process, I gave the 1st cycle pre-test. This was 

done to obtain how far the subjects have 

mastered the first half of the sampled words. The 

first half of the sampled words would be learned 

in this cycle. The average of scores of this test 

was 66.  

Next, in order to know the subjects‟ feeling, 

interest, and opinion about the treatment and 

the learning process, I gave the 1st cycle 

questionnaire. Based on the result of matching 

the mean to the criterion, it can be concluded 

that: 

 the subjects‟ interest in learning 

vocabulary was low; 

  the game could help the subjects in 

mastering vocabulary; 

 the use of the game motivated the 

subjects to learn English; 

 the use of the game for learning 

vocabulary was effective; and 

 the game was beneficial so that they 

wanted it to be done continually. 

At the end of the first cycle, I gave the first 

cycle post-test. The average of the subjects‟ score 

of this test was 74.  

After that I observed the subjects‟ attitude. It 

was elaborated in an observation checklist. 

Based on the result of it, I knew several 

information of the subjects‟ behavior. Firstly, in 

this cycle, only half of the subjects came to the 

class on time. This might be happen because 

they did not know that at that day, there would 

be a research. Since that day was the first time 

for learning process of this study, almost all of 

the subjects showed their curiosity about the 

learning process. This condition was contrast 

with their spirit in learning process. At that day, 

only half of the subjects learned English with 

high spirit. Based on the fact above, I concluded 

that their enthusiasm toward the English 

learning was still needed to be improved. 

 Secondly, only half of the subjects really 

paid attention to teachers‟ explanation. When I 

explained the material, there were only several 

subjects who listened seriously. Moreover, when 

the learning process was being conducted, only 

several subjects who really understand role of 

each activity. Since the others still had to ask to 

their friends, the class was noisy. 

 Thirdly, since the game was an 

interesting activity, there were 28 subjects who 

were interested vocabulary learning by playing 

the game. This fact was proved by their 

behavior. When she explained the role of the 

game, they listened to the explanation seriously. 

They also played the game enthusiastically and 

seriously. There was not any subjects who did 

other activity when the game was played.  

 Fourthly, at that day, there were only 

half of the subjects who actively participated in 

learning process. The subjects who followed all 

of activities in the learning process well were 

only 23 subjects. The 23 subjects were attractive 

in the learning process, while the others were 

really passive. Moreover, there were only half of 

the subjects finished all of learning steps on time.  

 Fifthly, the subjects‟ seriousness toward 

learning process was only showed by 20 

subjects. Since the beginning of the learning 

process at that day, only half of the subjects who 

did and stay on vocabulary task by themselves. 

There were still many subjects who disturbed 

their friends in finishing the task. The noise of 

the unserious subjects disturbed the learning 

process. Therefore, the learning process did not 

run well.  

The last, I evaluated everything which 

related to the first cycle activities. Firstly, she 

evaluated the learning process. In the 1st cycle, 

she found a problem related to time 

management. Each step of the learning process 

was done in a rush. Secondly, I evaluated the 

results of the instruments. Based on the result of 

the 1st cycle observation checklist, there were 

some weaknesses. The subjects‟ seriousness, 

enthusiasm, attention, and participation were 

shown by half of the subjects. Moreover, from 



 

Nurul Saofa Aulia   / Journal of English Language Teaching 2 (2) (2013) 

7 

 

result of the 1st cycle questionnaire, she knew 

that the subjects‟ motivation and interest were 

very low. Therefore, the subjects‟ desire in 

learning process still needed to be improved. In 

addition, from the tests, the average of result of 

1st cycle pre-test was compared with the average 

of the 1st cycle post-test.  

From the comparison, I knew that there was an 

improvement of the subjects‟ vocabulary 

mastery after the treatment was given. This was 

due to the fact that the average of the post-test 

result was higher than that of the pre-test result. 

Yet, the improvement of the subjects‟ scores was 

not significant because the increasing score was 

not too high. Moreover, there were still several 

subjects whose scores were lower than the 

criterion of mastering learning. Therefore, there 

should be a special treatment for them. 

Consequently, for the second cycle, e made 

several modifications to solve those problems.  

 

C. Analysis of the Second Cycle 

The second cycle of this study was 

conducted on Monday, 17th June 2013. 

Although the prepared things for 2nd cycle were 

almost similar to those 1st cycle, their content 

was different. This was due to the modifications 

for the 2nd cycle. Because of the time 

management problem in the 1st cycle, she 

changed discussion technique to be Think Pair 

Share technique. This was done to minimize 

time in teaching process. Think Pair Share is one 

of cooperative learning types. The use of this 

cooperative learning technique was supposed to 

create more interesting learning process. For 

solving the subjects‟ lack of motivation and 

seriousness, I planned to give a present to the 

highest score and the winner of the game. After 

preparing the things for the 2nd cycle, I began the 

teaching process. 

The activities in these steps were to give the 2nd 

cycle pre-test, apply Think Pair Share, play the 

game technique, and give 2nd cycle questionnaire 

and post-test. The average result of the 2nd cycle 

pre-test was 68.  

After conducting the learning process, I gave the 

2nd cycle questionnaire (2nd CQ). In 2nd cycle 

CQ, I knew that the subjects‟ answers of all of 

the aspects of the questionnaires improved. 

There were many subjects changed their answers 

in the 2nd CQ. In the 2nd cycle, the subjects‟ 

interest and motivation increased significantly. 

Moreover, their opinion about the game also 

changed. In the 2nd CQ, they argued that the 

game was very effective for learning vocabulary 

because the game had many advantages. 

Therefore, they really suggested that the game 

would be used continually. The result of the 2nd 

CQ was noted in the following table.  

At the end of the learning process, the 2nd cycle 

post-test was given. The average of the result of 

the test was 83.  

Observation the subjects‟ attitude was reported 

in 2nd cycle observation checklist. Improvement 

of the subjects‟ attitude was seen in the 2nd cycle 

learning process. Almost all of the subjects were 

enthusiastic in 2nd cycle. In the 2nd cycle, they 

came to the class before the learning process 

begun. Therefore, the learning process began on 

time. They also showed their curiosity about the 

learning process. Their spirit for learning also 

improved. It was proved by their sound when 

they were asked by her. In addition, number of 

the subjects who paid attention to her 

explanation also increased. Almost all of the 

subjects understood role of activities so useless 

noise was not heard. In the 2nd cycle, before they 

played the game, almost all of the subjects 

listened the role of the game well. They played 

the game enthusiastically and seriously since 

they knew that there was a present for the 

winner. Moreover, the subjects‟ participation 

also improved. Although not all of the subjects 

were attractive, they followed all of activities 

well. They also finished each activity on time. 

Not only their participation, but also their 

seriousness increased. There were more than 

half of the subjects were serious in vocabulary 

learning at that day. They finished the 

vocabulary task by themselves. Although not all 

of the subjects did not stay on the task, they did 

not disturb their task individually. Since the 

learning process in the 2nd cycle well, I 

concluded that the atmosphere of the 2nd cycle 

was more interesting. The class was more alive.  



 

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In this cycle, the problems which arose in the 1st 

cycle did not arise anymore. In the learning 

process, each step was finished on time. In 

addition, based on the result of the 2nd cycle 

observation checklist and questionnaire, there 

were the improvement in the subjects‟ behavior, 

interest, participation, and enthusiasm in the 

learning process. Moreover, the subjects‟ 

vocabulary scores were also higher than before.  

In addition, there was a significant improvement 

of the subjects‟ vocabulary score. There was a 15 

point increase. There was not any subject whose 

score was lower than criterion of mastering 

level. Since the problems were solved, I ended 

this study.  

 

D.  Final Post-test and Interview 

I ended this study by giving the final post-

test (FPT) and an interview. They were done on 

Tuesday, 18th June 2013. 

The number, type, and time allocation of this 

test were the same as those in IPT. The average 

of the subjects‟ FPT scores was 80. Moreover, 

there was not any subject whose score was lower 

than criterion of mastery learning.  

In order to strengthen result of the study, I did 

informal interview to the subjects. From the 

interview, I got a lot of information. Firstly, 

almost all of the subjects did not like English 

subject. According to them, English subject is a 

boring subject since they must learn many texts 

in each meeting. In addition, since learning 

English cannot be done without mastering 

vocabulary, they feel difficult to learn it. 

Secondly, English teachers always teach English 

subject by using traditional method, such as 

Grammar Translation method. Moreover, the 

teachers also did not provide interesting media 

and teaching technique to make the subjects 

happy in learning English. Therefore, the 

subjects still feel bored and difficult in learning 

English. Thirdly, the subjects feel happy in 

learning English by using the game technique. It 

happened because they could play the game and 

learn English at the same time. Fourthly, if the 

learning process was done interestingly, they 

were motivated to participate in the learning 

process. Fifthly, according to them, the game 

technique should be used continually for 

teaching vocabulary.  

 

E. Discussion 

In this step, I evaluated the result of this 

study over all.  

 

1. Improvement of the Subjects’ 

Vocabulary Mastery 

In this study, there were three 

comparisons of the subjects‟ score in vocabulary 

test. The first was the comparison between the 

1st cycle pre-test and the post-test scores. There 

was an improvement of the subjects‟ scores of 

the 1st cycle tests. The improvement was not 

significant because the increasing score was not 

really high. This fact was caused by several 

problems in the learning process. In this case, 

the problems related to time management. 

When the subjects had the 1st cycle pre-test, they 

were less serious in finishing it. They did not 

finish it on time. Consequently, time allocation 

for the other activities in the 1st cycle was limited 

more. Since time for finishing the first cycle 

post-test was very limited, they answered the test 

in rush. As a result, there were many wrong 

answers in result of the 1st cycle post-test. Those 

facts caused several subjects got scores lower 

than criterion of mastering learning. Therefore, 

the improvement of the subjects‟ scores between 

the 1st cycle pre-test and post-test was not 

significant. 

The second was the comparison between the 2nd 

cycle pre-test and post-test scores. When I 

conducted the 2nd cycle, I made several 

modifications. Firstly, before starting the 

learning process, she explained role of the 

learning process clearly. This was done to make 

the subjects‟ understanding of the role of 

learning process clearer. Secondly, I really 

applied all of activities based on time allocation. 

When time allocation for finishing the test was 

over, I directly took all of the answer sheets from 

the subjects. Consequently, they had to finish 

the tests on time. Thirdly, she changed 

discussion technique to be cooperative learning 

technique. According to her opinion, 

cooperative learning technique was more 



 

Nurul Saofa Aulia   / Journal of English Language Teaching 2 (2) (2013) 

9 

 

effective in minimizing time for learning process. 

The result of this change really affected 

positively toward the learning process. In the 2nd 

cycle, all of learning steps run on time. Fourthly, 

in order to make the subjects more serious in 

finishing the tests, she told their scores of the 1st 

cycle tests. Because of knowing their low scores, 

they did the 2nd cycle tests more seriously. Since 

the modifications were used, I could make the 

learning process better. Therefore, in the 2nd 

cycle, the improvement of the score was 

significant. In addition, there was not any 

subject whose score was lower than criterion of 

mastering learning. 

The last was the comparison between the IPT 

and the FPT scores. In the IPT, the average of 

the subjects‟ score was 64 while the average of 

the FPT score was 80. These averages showed 

that there was a significant improvement 

between the subjects‟ score. Moreover, all of the 

subjects‟ score was higher than criterion of 

mastering learning.  

 

2. Improvement of the Subjects’ 

Behavior 

In the 1st cycle, the subjects‟ enthusiasm, 

attention, and interest were only shown by half 

of the subjects.  In the first cycle, there were still 

subjects who did not come to the class on time. 

Moreover, there were only half of the subjects 

who learned English with high spirit. Their high 

enthusiasm toward the learning process was 

shown only by several subjects. Those 

conditions contrasted to conditions in the second 

cycle. In the 2nd cycle, almost all of the subjects 

came to the class on time. Therefore, learning 

process could be started on time. In addition, 

their enthusiasm also improved because there 

was a present for the best participant in the 

learning process.  

 Starting the learning process was begun 

by explaining the material. In the first cycle, 

there were only half of the subjects who listened 

to it seriously. As a result, when the learning 

process was being conducted, there were many 

subjects who had to ask to their friends because 

there were only several subjects who really 

understood role of each activity. Therefore, the 

class was noisy. They also did not finish the task 

on time. There were only half of the subjects 

participated actively toward the learning process 

on that day. On the other hand, in the beginning 

of the lesson in the second cycle, I explained the 

material again. On that day, she did not start the 

explanation before all of the subjects really paid 

attention to her. Therefore, all of the subjects 

listened the explanation seriously so they really 

understood the material and role of the learning 

process. Consequently, in the 2nd cycle, the 

learning process ran better. They finished the 

task on time. Almost all of the subjects 

participated actively toward the learning 

process. Furthermore, there was not any subjects 

who made useless noisy. 

 Since the game was an interesting 

activity, the subjects played it enthusiastically. 

Before playing the game, they listened role of the 

game seriously. In the 1st cycle, almost all of the 

subjects actively participated in playing the 

game. In the second cycle, participation of the 

subjects improved because there was a present 

for the winner of the game. Therefore, in the 2nd 

cycle, all of the subjects contributed in playing 

the game. There was not any subjects who did 

another activity when the game was played. 

Based on the facts above, she concluded that by 

doing several modified steps in the 2nd cycle, the 

learning process run better. All of the aspects in 

2nd cycle observation checklist improved.  

 

C. Improvement of the Subjects Opinion 

and Interest 

The subjects‟ opinion and interest were 

known from result of the questionnaires and the 

interview. I compared results of 1st and 2nd CQ. 

Almost all of aspects in the questionnaires 

improved. The highest improvement was the 

improvement related to the subjects‟ interest 

toward vocabulary learning process. Subjects‟ 

interest toward the vocabulary learning process 

improved in the second cycle. In the 1st CQ, 

there was not any subject answered that they 

liked vocabulary learning process. According to 

them, learning vocabulary was difficult to be 

done because they had to remember thousands 

words. The subjects changed their mind after 



 

Nurul Saofa Aulia   / Journal of English Language Teaching 2 (2) (2013) 

10 

 

they had 2nd cycle learning process. Therefore, 

there were several subjects who changed their 

answer to be interested in vocabulary learning 

process. 

The other aspects also improved, such as the 

subjects‟ opinion about the advantages of the 

game, effectiveness of the game, their 

motivation in vocabulary learning process, and 

sustainability of the game. Their opinion and 

interest changed after conducting the 2nd cycle. 

In the first cycle, the subjects‟ interest and 

motivation in learning English were low. After 

having the 2nd cycle which was done by several 

modified activities, their interest and motivation 

improved. This fact was also supported by result 

of the interview. From the result of the 

instruments, it showed that teaching technique 

had a big influence in the success of a learning 

process. 

 

CONCLUSIONS AND SUGGESTIONS 

 

Based on the data analysis in previous 

chapter, conclusions and suggestions are offered. 

Based on the detailed data analysis in previous 

chapter, several conclusions can be derived as 

follows.  

Firstly, the subjects of this study really lacked 

vocabulary mastery. It was proved by their 

scores of the Initial Pre-test (IPT). The average 

of their IPT scores was 64.  

Secondly, in order to solve the problem, the 

manual Super Text Twist game technique was 

applied in the learning process. The game used 

the words which were learned in the learning 

process. As a result, the subjects could learn 

vocabulary and do an interesting activity at the 

same time. Therefore, by playing the game, their 

vocabulary mastery improved. 

Thirdly, the game technique was a good solution 

for improving vocabulary mastery. It was proved 

by the significant increase of the subjects‟ scores 

in vocabulary tests. The average of the Initial 

Pre-test score was 64, while the Final Post-test 

was 80. In addition, after learning vocabulary by 

using the technique, the subjects‟ interest and 

motivation were better. This fact supported by 

the answers from the questionnaires. Moreover, 

there was an improvement of the subjects‟ 

behavior in participating in all steps of the 

learning process.  

Referring to conclusions above, some 

suggestions are offered as follows. 

Firstly, since the students really lack vocabulary, 

she suggested that they should learn vocabulary 

intensively by learning vocabulary continually. 

They can do it individually or classically. 

Secondly, English teachers of Junior High 

School are expected to give some vocabulary 

drills in every teaching learning process so that 

the students will be more familiar with the 

English words. 

Thirdly, this study should inspire teachers to 

develop their teaching process. They should 

provide some interesting activities in order to 

increase the students‟ motivation and 

participation in the learning process. One of the 

interesting activities is playing the game. 

 

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