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 ELT FORUM 4 (1) (2015) 

 

Journal of English Language Teaching 
 

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

 

 

IMPROVING STUDENTS’ MASTERY OF ENGLISH SYNONYMS AND 

ANTONYMS USING BINGO AND DOMINO GAMES 

(A Classroom Action Research on the Eighth Grade Students of SMP Negeri 3 

Maos in the Academic Year 2013/2014) 

 

Bitha Pracandra Ramadhani Susanto  

 

English Department. Faculty of Languages and Arts. State University of Semarang 

 

Aticle Info 

________________ 
Article History: 

Received in Juni 2015 

Approved in Juli 2015 

Published in Agustus 

2015 

________________ 
Keywords: 

Synonym, Antonym, 

Games, Bingo, Domino. 

____________________ 

Abstract 
___________________________________________________________________ 
This final project is concerned with the use of bingo and domino games in improving students’ mastery of 

synonyms and antonyms. The objective of this research is to investigate to what extent bingo and domino games 

give their influence in teaching synonyms and antonyms to the junior high school students. This study used 

action research design. There were two cycles of action in this study. This research was started with an initial 

pre-test and ended with a final post-test. In each cycle there were pre-test, treatment, and post-test. Tests were 

used to collect the quantitative data. Meanwhile, observation checklist and questionnaire were used to gather the 

qualitative data. The students of class VIIIA of SMP Negeri 3 Maos were chosen as the subjects of this study. 

The study showed that the games could give a great help to the students in improving their mastery of synonyms 

and antonyms. By comparing the mean score of initial pre-test and final post-test, a significant improvement 

could be seen. The students’ mean score of the final post-test (86.95) was higher than that of the initial pre-test 

(33.09). This improvement was also supported by the results of observation checklists and questionnaire. Based 

on the observation checklists, the students’ attitude improved. The students’ participation in Cycle 2 was better 

than that of Cycle 1. Moreover, the result of questionnaire showed that the students gave positive perception 

towards the use of bingo domino games. By referring to the results, it can be concluded that bingo domino games 

gave good contribution to the improvement of the students’ ability in mastering English synonym and antonym. 

Therefore, the use of those games as an alternative way to teach synonyms and antonyms is recommended. 

Through this technique, teachers are expected to be able to increase students’ interest and motivation in learning 

synonym and antonym. 

 

© 2015 Universitas Negeri Semarang 

 
 Correspondent Address:  

   B3 Building  FBS Unnes  

   Sekaran, Gunungpati, Semarang, 50229 

   E-mail: bitha.susanto@gmail.com 

 

 

ISSN 2252-6706 



 

Bitha Pracandra Ramadhani Susanto / Journal of English Language Teaching 4 (1) (2015) 

 

2 

INTRODUCTION 

 

When we talk about vocabulary, we usually 

mean words. However, there are multiple aspects 

of vocabulary knowledge that learners must 

master. Two of them are synonym and antonym. 

More specifically talking about two aspects 

of vocabulary; synonym and antonym, they 

become one of the most favorite subjects in 

reading comprehension test in Indonesia. 

However, based on my experiences, teachers 

tended to teach vocabulary in general. They did 

not teach its parts such as synonym and antonym 

specifically. Commonly, they only gave their 

students the translation of a difficult word. They 

slightly gave the synonym or antonym of a word 

after it appeared in the test. Moreover, they did 

not use any special medium or technique to teach 

synonym and antonym. In line with this, Webb 

(2007: 120) states,  

. . . students tend to learn the majority of 

synonyms in the later stages of vocabulary 

learning, and researchers are more focused on the 

earlier stages of vocabulary learning, which are 

critical to language acquisition. Moreover, in the 

classroom, teachers and learners might be more 

motivated to teach and learn words that convey 

new information rather than teaching and 

learning forms that convey information similar to 

what learners already know. 

Based on the statement above, there is a 

consideration that vocabulary is more important 

than synonym and antonym. Therefore, it is not 

surprising if the media and techniques in teaching 

synonym and antonym are not as many as those 

in teaching vocabulary. Whereas, effective 

techniques and media are also needed in teaching 

synonym and antonym since they are parts of 

vocabulary. 

Therefore, I would like to find out an 

alternative and interesting way to teach synonym 

and antonym to students by conducting a 

research. In this research, I choose bingo domino 

games as the techniques.  Games can become 

initial learning and reinforcement of materials. By 

using games, students are expected to get 

immersed in a lesson without realizing they are 

learning something.  

In brief, I intend to conduct a classroom 

action research in order to prove that bingo 

domino games can improve students’ mastery of 

English synonym and antonym. I hope bingo 

domino games will give positive effect to students’ 

mastery of English synonym and antonym. 

 

METHOD OF INVESTIGATION 

 

The subjects of this study were the students 

of class VIIIA of SMP Negeri 3 Maos in the 

academic year 2013/2014. Class VIIIA is one of 

the six first grade classes in SMP Negeri 3 Maos. 

It consists of 22 female and 18 male students. 

Therefore, there are 40 students in this class.  

The purpose of this research is to measure 

students’ mastery of synonyms and antonyms by 

using bingo and domino games in the teaching 

and learning process. Therefore, the object of this 

study was English words. Specifically, the words 

which were used were those that have synonym 

and antonym pairs. 

To collect those data, three instruments 

were used. The first was tests; they were be used 

to record the students’ mastery of synonyms and 

antonyms. The second was observation checklists; 

they were used to record the students’ 

participation during the treatments. The last 

instrument was questionnaire; it was used to 

record the students’ opinion toward the 

treatments. 

The first step before conducting a research 

was identifying a problem. There were four main 

activities which were conducted in this study; 

initial pre-test, cycle 1, cycle 2, and final post-test. 

In addition, based on Burns (2010: 8) there were 

also four steps in this study. Those activities and 

steps are explained as follows: 

 

Problem Identification 

 

The students’ behavior in their English 

class was observed to find their synonym and 

antonym problem. Their English teacher was also 

interviewed and some additional information 



 

Bitha Pracandra Ramadhani Susanto / Journal of English Language Teaching 4 (1) (2015) 

 

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about them such as their previous English scores 

was collected. 

 To find out whether the students really 

had problem in synonym and antonym mastery, 

initial pre-test was given to them. The findings of 

the observation and IPT were the foundation in 

conducting the treatment. 

 

Initial Pre-Test (IPT) 

 

The first activity in this action research was 

giving the students IPT. This test was conducted 

before starting any cycle. In this test, the students 

had to give the appropriate synonym and 

antonym of the 32 selected words. 

 

Cycle 1 

 

Planning 

 

At this stage, all the preparations of 

teaching activities, such as organizing the 

material, preparing the games, making the 

instruments, and making the lesson plan, were 

planned and arranged. 

 

Acting 

 

After the planning was done, the next 

activity was acting. It consisted of three steps. 

They were pre-test, treatment, and post-test. 

Those steps are described in the next sub-chapter 

below: 

Giving Cycle 1 Pre-Test 

The pre-test was given at the beginning of 

each cycle. The students were asked to answer a 

half of questions in the IPT. The aim of this test 

was to measure students’ initial ability mastering 

synonym and antonym.  

Giving Treatment 

A treatment was conducted after the pre-

test was given. The treatment followed these steps:  

(1) the students were given a text in order to 

make them aware of synonym and 

antonym; 

(2) some words were taken from the text, 

then the students were asked to mention 

the synonym or the antonym of the 

words; 

(3) the students paid attention to the 

teacher’s explanation about the synonym 

and antonym; 

(4) the teacher gave more examples of 

synonym and antonym; 

(5) the students were introduced to the bingo 

domino games; 

(6) the rules of bingo domino games were 

explained; and 

(7) the teacher conducted the games. 

Giving Cycle 1 Post-test 

The post-test was held after the treatment 

was given. It was used to find out the students’ 

improvement after they experienced the 

treatment. The students were asked to answer the 

same questions as those in the pre-test. 

 

Observing 

 

At the observing stage, students’ attitudes 

during the teaching and learning process were 

observed by giving the check mark () in the 

prepared checklist. 

 

Reflecting 

 

Reflecting was the last stage in Cycle 1. At 

this stage, the students’ achievement was 

evaluated by analyzing the pre-test, the post-test, 

and the observation checklist. The next cycle 

would not be conducted if the result of this cycle 

was satisfying and no additional treatment was 

needed. 

 

 Cycle 2 

 

Cycle 1 and Cycle 2 were almost similar. 

Cycle 2 would have four stages as the Cycle 1 had. 

The difference between them was in the material. 

The material which was taught and tested in the 

Cycle 2 was the other half of the total words in the 

IPT. In addition, at the observation stage of the 

Cycle 2, the questionnaire would be given in order 

to find out the students’ opinions towards the 

learning process.   



 

Bitha Pracandra Ramadhani Susanto / Journal of English Language Teaching 4 (1) (2015) 

 

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Final Post-Test (FPT) 

 

FPT was given after the first and the second 

cycle were done. All the materials that were given 

in both cycles were being tested. The result of FPT 

and IPT were compared in order to observe 

students’ improvement. Then, the tests 

comparison, and the observation of the students’ 

attitude were considered as the complementary 

evaluation of the research. 

 

DISCUSSION 

 

Initial Pre-test (IPT) 

 

The students’ mean of IPT was 33.09. 

Meanwhile, the English mastery learning score in 

the school was 70. It means that there was no 

student who achieved the passing grade. This 

result answers the first research question which 

was ‘Do students have difficulty in finding 

synonym and antonym of a word?’ The students 

have difficulty in finding synonym and antonym 

of a word. Therefore, an action research was 

needed to improve the students’ mastery in 

synonyms and antonyms. 

 

Cycle 1 Pre-test 

 

Cycle 1 Post-test recorded the ability of the 

students in mastering the synonyms and 

antonyms of the first half of IPT. The result of this 

test was not satisfying. Their mean score (40.55) 

was low. The low result of Cycle 1 Pre-test 

supported the finding in IPT. The students’ 

mastery of synonym and antonym was poor. 

Because of that, the first treatment was given to 

the students.  

 

Cycle 1 Post-test 

 

The mean score after the first treatment was 

86.09. If we compare this result with that of Cycle 

1 Pre-test, we can see a significant improvement. 

The mean score in Cycle 1 Post-test (86.09) is 

higher than that of Cycle 1 Pre-test (40.55). 

 However, although the result was quite 

good and 85% of the students passed the passing 

grade, there were six students who failed in this 

test. They were S-9, S-10, S-18, S-23, S-28, and S-

40. Because of their failure, they were given an 

additional treatment before Cycle 2 was 

conducted. In the additional treatment, those 

students were divided into two groups and 

conducted the games once again. After the 

additional treatment was given, the remedial test 

was held by re-testing the Cycle 1 Post-test. The 

samples of students’ worksheets and their scoring 

table are provided in Appendix 15 and 16. 

Meanwhile, the comparison of their scores before 

and after the additional treatment is presented in 

the following table: 

 

The Comparison of the Students’ Score

Students’ 

Code 

Cycle 1 Post-Test Remedial Test 

Achieved Point Score Achieved Point Score 

S-9 21 65.63 30 93.75 

S-10 19 59.38 28 87.50 

S-18 20 62.50 29 90.63 

S-23 20 62.50 32 100.00 

S-28 18 56.25 32 100.00 

S-40 22 68.75 30 93.75 

Total 98 375.00 181 565.63 

Mean 62.50 94.27 



 

Bitha Pracandra Ramadhani Susanto / Journal of English Language Teaching 4 (1) (2015) 

 

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The average score of those six students in 

Cycle 1 Post-test was 62.50. Meanwhile in the 

remedial test, their mean score increased to 94.27. 

None of their scores was lower than 70. By 

referring to the result, all of the students were 

considered to have mastered the synonym and 

antonym of the words in Cycle 1. Therefore, the 

next cycle could be conducted.  

 

Cycle 2 Pre-test 

 

The mean score of this test was 25.63. It 

means that the students’ initial ability in mastering 

the synonym and antonym of the words in Cycle 

2 did not meet the mastery learning score. This 

result was even lower than that of Cycle 1 Pre-test 

(33.09). It might be because the material in the 

Cycle 2 was considered more difficult that that of 

Cycle 1. Based on this result, the second treatment 

was needed to be conducted. 

 

Cycle 2 Post-test 

 

There was an improvement after the second 

treatment was given. The students’ mean score 

increased from 25.63 in pre-test to 87.34 in the 

post-test. The mean score in Cycle 2 Post-test 

indicates that there was no student who got lower 

than 70. Therefore, the additional treatment was 

not needed to be conducted because all students 

had passed the mastery learning score.  

 

Final Post-test (FPT) 

 

Because all students were considered 

successful in the Cycle 2 Post-test, I decided to end 

the cycles and conduct the Final Post-test (FPT). 

In FPT, their mean score was 86.95. This mean 

score was higher than that of IPT (33.09). The 

result proved that all of the students successfully 

passed the test since their scores were above the 

mastery learning score. 

 

Cycle 1 Observation Checklist 

 

The results of Cycle 1 Observation 

Checklist will be discussed in the following 

paragraphs. The first aspect of the checklist 

showed that all of the students attended the class. 

Thus, the mean of this aspect was one and 

categorized into very high.  

 Then, in the second aspect, there were 

more than a half of the students who were 

motivated in the teaching and learning process. 

Therefore, that aspect was categorized into high.  

 The next three aspects were categorized 

into low. They were students’ activeness, 

obedience, and attention. Those results might be 

because the students were still at the adaptation 

stage of the new teaching and learning process.  

 However, in the sixth aspect, they 

showed high interest towards the games. The 

mean of this aspect was 0.75. It was quite normal 

since children basically love games.  

 Lastly, in the seventh aspect, they 

showed that they could cooperate well with their 

friends in group activities. It was proven by the 

mean of the seventh aspect which was 0.55. 

 

Cycle 2 Observation Checklist 

 

The result of Cycle 2 Observation Checklist 

was better than that of Cycle 1 Observation 

Checklist. The improvement of each category in 

Cycle 2 Observation Checklist will be described in 

the following chart: 

 

 



 

Bitha Pracandra Ramadhani Susanto / Journal of English Language Teaching 4 (1) (2015) 

 

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The Comparison of Cycle 1 and Cycle 2 Observation Checklist 

0

0,25

0,5

0,75

1
1

0,63

0,38
0,45

0,5

0,75

0,55

1

0,83

0,65
0,73

0,6

0,88

0,68

M
ea

n
 S

co
re

Cycle 1

Cycle 2



 

Bitha Pracandra Ramadhani Susanto / Journal of English Language Teaching 4 (1) (2015) 

 

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From the chart above, we can see 

that in the first aspect, the students’ 

attendance was perfect. All students 

attended the class. Next, the students’ 

mean score in the motivation aspect 

increased from 0.63 to 0.83. In the 

activeness aspect, the mean score had 

increased to 0.65, while that of the 

attention aspect had increased to 0.73. 

Then, students’ obedience improved from 

0.5 to 0.6. For the students’ interest aspect, 

the mean score in Cycle 2 Observation 

Checklist (0.88) is higher than that of Cycle 

1 Observation Checklist (0.75). In the last 

aspect, students’ cooperation ability 

increased from 0.55 to 0.68. 

 Based on comparison of the 

students’ attitude in the two cycles, the 

students’ attitude improved positively. The 

results indicate that the use of bingo 

domino games was favorable in improving 

their mastery of English synonym and 

antonym. 

 

Questionnaire 

 

There were five questions that 

represented the indicators in the 

questionnaire. The discussion of each 

indicator is presented in the following 

paragraphs. The first indicator shows the 

very high level of students’ interest towards 

bingo domino games in teaching and 

learning process. It was proven by 11 

students who chose very like and 29 students 

who chose like. Moreover, there was no 

student who chose the option d and e which 

represent less like and did not like.  

 The second indicator was aimed to 

find out how often the students heard the 

words which were used in the material. 

Mostly, the students chose option c which 

represents ever. The mean of this indicator 

was 2.43. Thus, the relevancy of the 

material was high. 

 The students’ opinions towards 

the level of difficulty of the material were 

measured in the third indicator. According 

to the table, 1 student chose very difficult, 6 

students chose difficult, 26 students chose 

difficult enough, and 7 students chose not 

difficult at all. The average of this indicator 

is 2.03. It means that the material was 

difficult enough for the students. 

 The next indicator was intended to 

find out students’ responses of whether or 

not the use of bingo domino games could 

help their synonym and antonym mastery. 

From the table, we can see that half of the 

students chose very helpful, sixteen of them 

chose helpful, three of them chose rather 

helpful, and only one student who said not 

helpful at all. The mean of this indicator is 

3.38. It means that the games could give a 

great help to the students to improve their 

synonym and antonym mastery. 

The last indicator was to measure 

the sustainability of the technique. The 

students were asked whether or not this 

technique is needed to be applied in the 

future. In the result, 9 students chose very 

necessary, 28 students chose necessary, 2 

students chose less necessary, and 1 student 

chose not necessary. The mean of this 

indicator is 3.13. By referring to this result, 

it is necessary for the game to be applied in 

learning synonym and antonym. 

 

CONCLUSIONS AND 

SUGGESTIONS 

 

Conclusions 

 

The subjects of the study had 

problem in mastering English synonym 

and antonym. It was proven by their low 

results in the IPT. They could only answer 

847 words from the total 2560 words. Thus, 

their mean score was 33.09. 

After the study was conducted, the 

students showed significant improvement. 



 

Bitha Pracandra Ramadhani Susanto / Journal of English Language Teaching 4 (1) (2015) 

 

8 

The students mean score increased from 

33.09 in the IPT to 86.95 in the FPT.  

The use of bingo domino games was 

favorable in teaching synonym and 

antonym. Based on the observation 

checklist, the students’ attitude was 

positive. Moreover, as recorded in the 

questionnaire, the students expressed that 

the technique was helpful for them in 

mastering synonym and antonym and had 

high possibility to be conducted in the near 

future. 

 

Suggestions 

 

First, teachers are expected to give 

their students words in synonym and 

antonym relation during the teaching and 

learning process. The mastery of synonym 

and antonym will enrich their vocabulary 

and improve their language skills (listening, 

speaking, reading, and writing). Second, 

this study is expected to be an alternative 

and proper way for teachers to teach 

synonym and antonym. In this case, 

teachers may use bingo domino games so 

that the students will enjoy the learning 

process. Third, for the researchers, this 

study can be a good reference for those who 

want to conduct a similar kind of research. 

 

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