88 ELTALL (English language teaching, applied linguistics and Literature) Vol. 4 No. 02, 2023 Available online at https://jurnal.iainponorogo.ac.id/index.php/eltall THE EFFECTIVENESS OF TABOO GAME TO IMPROVE STUDENTS’ VOCABULARY MASTERY Santika Dewi Nila Sari Institut Agama Islam Negeri (IAIN) Ponorogo, Indonesia santikadewinila08@gmail.com Winantu Kurnianingtyas Sri Agung Institut Agama Islam Negeri (IAIN) Ponorogo, Indonesia winantu@iainponorogo.ac.id Abstract This article aims to investigate whether there was a significant difference between the vocabulary mastery of the seventh grade students who were taught by taboo games and those who were not at MTs. Ma’arif Balong, Ponorogo. Quantitative research within experimental design was applied in conducting the research. Experimental class and control class were chosen as research subject. In collecting the data, test and documentation were used. Then, they were analysed using t-test with SPSS 25. The results of this research showed that the mean of post-test in the experimental was 80,19 while the mean of the post-tests in the control class was 67,78. Based on the compilation, a t-test showed that the t-count was 6.114 with a significance of 0.000. It means the t-value was significant (0.000 < 0.005). In conclusion, it can be stated that the Taboo game was effective in improving students’ vocabulary mastery at seventh-grade MTs. Ma’arif Balong. The appropriate media are able to attract the students’ interest in learning for instance Taboo games. Keywords: Taboo Game; Vocabulary Mastery; Teaching Vocabulary INTRODUCTION Vocabulary is essential in language because it affects English skills such as speaking, listening, reading, and writing. Vocabulary can be defined a list or collection of words in a particular language or words used by speakers of that language themselves which may be used. To improve those skills, the first step is to learn vocabulary. Learning vocabulary can be done self-taught or in school. Students must have good vocabulary mastery as a first step to communicating using English in this modern era. In English class, vocabulary is very important to be mastered as a first step in learning English. When learning a foreign language, the students have to learn its vocabulary absolutely. Indeed, vocabulary is an important part of language mailto:santikadewinila08@gmail.c mailto:winantu@iainponorogo.ac.id 89 ELTALL (English language teaching, applied linguistics and Literature) Vol. 4 No. 02, 2023 Available online at https://jurnal.iainponorogo.ac.id/index.php/eltall proficiency since it determines how well students talk, listen, read, and write. It means that when students want to speak, students arrange several words so that they become good and easy-to-understand sentences. Furthermore, students also need a collection of vocabulary to compose sentences if they write sentences. In other word, vocabulary is an important component to learn at the beginning when learning English. As a result if students are proficient in mastering various aspects of English, the first thing that must be learned in English is vocabulary. In fact, many students still have not mastered vocabulary well. The lack of vocabulary mastery makes it difficult for students to learn English. This condition is also defined at MTs Ma'arif Balong. In this case, the researchers found some difficulties for students in remembering vocabulary. Many of the students need help mastering and clarification about vocabulary, especially in the mention of adjectives. Students experience difficulties in writing descriptive text, which is carried out to develop students' writing skills. It is just that based on the reality in the field, it shows that not all students can write descriptive text well. Moreover, descriptive text is a text that describes a particular object or event in clear and detailed words that the reader seems to feel or experience directly what the author describes. In line with this opinion, descriptive text is a text that has a social purpose to describe an object individually based on its physical characteristics. Based on some of the opinions above, the writer can conclude that descriptive text is a paragraph that describes an object that makes the reader feel as if he feels and experiences what is described. The reason for choosing descriptive text as the object of the research is because the descriptive text is taught at the beginning of learning to seventh-grade students, which has an essential role in teaching writing. Besides that, descriptive text helps students describe something like a place, a situation around it, and so forth. So, the researchers chose descriptive text as the material for the study. In descriptive text, there are a generic structure and language features such as specific participant use simple present tense, use adjective, and use action verb. The researchers focus on language features especially adjectives, in the material taken. Adjectives can describe feelings or qualities, give nationality or origin, talk more about a thing's characteristics, talk about age, talk about size and colour, talk about shape, and express a judgment or a value measurement. Furthermore, by studying adjectives, students can more precisely describe something or someone by mastering adjectives. It will be easier for children to communicate if they can more accurately describe objects and people. So, if students master adjectives, it will increase their ability to communicate with others. Based on the results of interviews with students, the low ability to write descriptive text is caused by the lack of students' ability to find ideas and convey the main ideas of a story to build a descriptive text. They tend to write a short descriptive text for a story they write or more than two main ideas in a story. 90 ELTALL (English language teaching, applied linguistics and Literature) Vol. 4 No. 02, 2023 Available online at https://jurnal.iainponorogo.ac.id/index.php/eltall Students’ found the difficulties in creating short descriptive texts to describe people, animals, and objects because they did not understand adjectives. This problem occurs because students rarely practice the adjectives they had learn at school and apply them in their daily activities. They do not practice every adjective that they have learned in class, so students have difficulty remembering adjectives. To overcome this problem, the teacher can use a strategy to increase vocabulary by playing games. Games are an effective way to encourage students to be more active in the teaching and learning process. Many well-known games can be effectively used to reinforce essential element in the language. The use of games in learning makes the rest more fun. Students will be more enthusiastic if lessons are taught through fun educational games. One of the games that can be applied in vocabulary class is taboo games. Taboo Game is a word guessing game created by Parker Brothers. This game is similar to the game Catch Phrase where the player tries to help his teammates to guess the words using the instructions in the form say. This game is suitable for students who are still children or adults. Other students learn the vocabulary given; students also get pleasure in doing this. This game is so expected students can easily absorb knowledge about words. The Taboo Game has been used as a model for a general chemistry collaborative activity. Taboo is a word-guessing game commonly used at parties. This game could be integrated at any point in the curriculum and is an effective and entertaining way to teach and reinforce central chemistry concepts and review for exams. Indeed, Taboo games are effective in improving students' vocabulary mastery skills. However, in previous research, the use of taboo games only refers to the mention of words. In this study, the use of taboo games is slightly different from previous studies. In this study, the use of taboo games was added by mentioning synonyms and antonyms of words contained in taboo cards. This is done in an effort to make students master a lot of vocabulary more quickly. The researcher chose the games method because it was very fun and not monotonous. Besides that, the use of taboo games is also easy to use in teaching vocabulary because it only requires taboo card media. Therefore, the researchers took the title of the research “The Effectiveness Of Tabo Game To Improve Students’ Vocabulary Mastery At Seventh Grade Of MTs. Ma’arif Balong”. METHODS In this study, the researchers used a quantitative research design that proposed experimental research because it affects a dependent variable or an outcome in practice. The research used a quasi-experimental design because of several reasons. The first, the participant in this research were assigned according to specific criteria such the group was given a pretest before experimental 91 ELTALL (English language teaching, applied linguistics and Literature) Vol. 4 No. 02, 2023 Available online at https://jurnal.iainponorogo.ac.id/index.php/eltall treatment, and after that, the group was given a post-test to see the achievement. This research used two groups with pretest and post-test designs. The design typically involves two steps: giving a pretest to measure the dependent variable and giving the subject the experimental treatment. Then, the second reason is the availability of participants was limited, and the population in schools was following the number of samples expected by researchers. The researchers conducted this research at Mts. Ma’arif Balong. The population of this research was the students in seventh grade at MTs. Ma’arif Balong in the academic year of 2022/2023. The seventh grade consists of three classes totalling 80 students. The researchers took seventh grade as the research class because the seventh grade was the lowest level in junior high school, with minimal vocabulary mastery. The sampling procedure used in this study was non-probability with the purposive sampling technique. Purposive sampling was a non-probability selection method that includes individuals who were deemed to be typical of the community. According to this research, the sample taken by researchers in this study was from the seventh grade at MTs. Ma'arif Balong, namely students from class VII A as the control class who consisted of 27 students and students of class VII B as the experimental course consists of 27 students. The sample was based on the similar ability among the student in both classes. This research was conducted in February 2023 by holding four meetings in the experimental class and control class taken from February 14th 2023 to February 28th 2023. In the first meeting, whether control and experimental class were given pre-test that consisted of 20 exercises in the form of multiple choices. Then the second and the third meeting, experiment class was taught by Taboo Games meanwhile the control class was taught by using problem-based learning. Then, in the last meeting, both classes were given post-test that has similar level of difficulties. In this research, the researchers used test and documentation such attendance list, score of pre-test and post-test, photos during teaching and learning process as the instrument in collecting the data. After that, the collected data were analyzed through three steps. The first was measuring the normality using product moment. The basis for decision-making is if the value Lcount > Ltable, then H0 is rejected, and if the value of Lcount < Ltable, then H0 is accepted. The reason the researchers used SPSS 25 because it has more complete features. After The data were normal, the researchers perform a homogeneity test. Homogeneity test aims to find out whether, from several groups of data, studies have the same conflict or not. In other words, homogeneity means that the data sets we examine have the same characteristics. After carrying out the normality test and homogeneity test, the researchers tested the hypothesis to compare the 92 ELTALL (English language teaching, applied linguistics and Literature) Vol. 4 No. 02, 2023 Available online at https://jurnal.iainponorogo.ac.id/index.php/eltall experimental post-test scores and the control post-test values. The researchers does the hypothesis testing to determine the effectiveness of this study by looking at the two average student learning outcomes. Test the hypothesis made to find out whether the use taboo game in increasing vocabulary mastery was more effective in comparison with conventional learning without using media taboo game. FINDINGS In this study the researchers used pre-test and post-test to measure the students’ achievement in learning adjective using Taboo game. The result of pre- test and post test scores in experimental class and control class were shown at chart above. Figure 1.1 Chart of Pre- Test and Post-Test in Experimental Class Based on the chart above, it can be seen from the chart above that the mean of pre-test experimental score was 62.78, and the post-test was 80.19. From these data, it can be seen that the range pre-test and post-test scores for the experimental class after the taboo game treatment was 17.41. It means there was an increase in value after using the taboo game treatment. So, it indicates that there was a different of students’ score used taboo game media in teaching experimental class. The median of the experimental pre-test was 65, while the median of the experimental post-test was 80. Then, the experimental pre-test modus was 55, while the experimental post-test was 85. 0 20 40 60 80 100 Pre-test Experimental Post-test Experimental Mean Median Modus 93 ELTALL (English language teaching, applied linguistics and Literature) Vol. 4 No. 02, 2023 Available online at https://jurnal.iainponorogo.ac.id/index.php/eltall Figure 1.2 Chart of Pre- Test and Post-Test in Control Class Based on the chart above, it can be seen from the chart above that the average pre-test control class score was 58,33, and the post-test was 67,78. The median of the pre-test control was 60, while the median of the control post-test was 70. Then, the control pre-test modus was 50, while the control post-test was 75. After carrying out the pre-test and post-test, the researchers analyzes the results of pre-test and post-test using SPSS 25. First, the researchers performs a normality test. of the normality test performed can be seen in the table below. Table 1. 1 Test of Normality Kolmogorov-Smirnova Shapiro-Wilk Statistic Df Sig. Statistic Df Sig. Experimental Class .145 27 .150 .960 27 .364 Control Class .161 27 .070 .942 27 .138 Based on the results, the score of the normality test was 0,150 for the experimental class and 0.70 for the control class. The score of both the experimental and control classes were higher than α 0.150 > 0.05. It means the experimental and control classes' scores were normally distributed. Then after the data is normal, the researchers performs a homogeneity test. Homogeneity test results can be seen in the table below. 0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 pre-test control post-test control Mean Median Modus 94 ELTALL (English language teaching, applied linguistics and Literature) Vol. 4 No. 02, 2023 Available online at https://jurnal.iainponorogo.ac.id/index.php/eltall Table 1.2 Teat of Homogeneity Test of Homogeneity of Variance Levene Statistic df1 df2 Sig. Student’s Scores experimental and control class Based on Mean .287 1 52 .595 Based on Median .203 1 52 .654 Based on Median and with adjusted df .203 1 51.594 .654 Based on trimmed mean .274 1 52 .603 From the test homogeneity data above, it can be seen that the scores in both the experimental and control classes were based on the mean. Based on the Levene Statistic, the test score was 0.287. It indicates that the Lavene’s test value was > 0.05 (0.287 > 0.05). It can be concluded that the students’ score was homogeneous. After carrying out the normality test and homogeneity test, the researchers tested the hypothesis to compare the experimental post-test scores and the control post-test values. The researchers does the hypothesis testing to determine the effectiveness of this study by looking at the two average student learning outcomes. The hypothesis testing made to find out whether the use taboo game in increasing vocabulary mastery was more effective in comparison with conventional learning without using media taboo game. The answer to the research hypothesis was based on the value of the t-test conducted at SPSS 25. The result of the T-test can be seen on the table above. Table 1.3 Independent Sample T-Test Levene's Test for Equality of Variance s T-Test for Equality of Means F Sig. T Df Sig. (2- taile d) Mean Diffe rence Std. Error Diffe rence 95% Confidenc e Interval of the Difference Low er Uppe r 95 ELTALL (English language teaching, applied linguistics and Literature) Vol. 4 No. 02, 2023 Available online at https://jurnal.iainponorogo.ac.id/index.php/eltall Student’s Score post-test experimen tal and control class Equal variance s assume d .287 .595 6.114 52 .000 12.40 7 2.029 8.33 5 16.47 9 Equal variance s not assume d 6.114 51.87 4 .000 12.40 7 2.029 8.33 5 16.48 0 The t count was 6.114 with a significance of 0.000. It means the t-value was significant (0.000 < 0.005). It can be interpreted as the null hypothesis (H0) being rejected and the alternative hypothesis (H1) being accepted. According to Hasbro in Annisa Journal, taboo game was one of various media in teaching vocabulary mastery. This research was related to previous research Nastiti, Maria Graciela entitled “Using Taboo Game to Improve Vocabulary of Grade VIII Students of SMP Negeri 1 Semin Gunungkidul.” Beside that this research also related with the previous study entitled The Effectiveness of Using Taboo Game to Increase Students’ Speaking Skills by nuraida sallo. Although related to this research, but the previous study and current study have differences in dependent variable. In previous study used speaking skill as dependent variable meanwhile in current study used vocabulary mastery as dependent variable. In conclusion, it showed the t count was 6.114 with a significance of 0.000. It means the t-value was significant (0.000 < 0.005). It can be interpreted as the null hypothesis (H0) being rejected and the alternative hypothesis (H1) being accepted. It means there was a significant difference between students with vocabulary mastery taught by taboo games at seventh-grade MTs. Ma'arif Balong in the academic year 2022/2023. DISCUSSION The researchers answer the hypothesis related to the effectiveness of taboo games in improving vocabulary mastery at seventh-grade MTs Ma'arif Balong. Taboo game was a guessing game words, students must be able to guess the word hidden. Taboo is a word guessing game that created by Parker Brothers in 1989. This game was suitable for students who are still children or adults. Other students learn the vocabulary given students also get pleasure in doing it. The researchers tried to answer the hypothesis related the effectiveness of taboo game to improve students’ vocabulary mastery at seventh grade Mts. Ma’arif Balong. Taboo Game provide with the media is effective to apply for teaching vocabulary. 96 ELTALL (English language teaching, applied linguistics and Literature) Vol. 4 No. 02, 2023 Available online at https://jurnal.iainponorogo.ac.id/index.php/eltall It makes easier for students to learn vocabulary and enhances the students to memorize vocabulary. Based on the results, the score of the normality test was 0,150 for the experimental class and 0.70 for the control class. The score of both the experimental and control classes were higher than α 0.150 > 0.05. It means the experimental and control classes' scores were normally distributed. Then, the score of the homogeneity test showed 0,287. It was more significant than 0.05 (0.287 > 0.05). So, the value of the homogeneity test was homogenous. After analyzing the normality t-test and homogeneity test, the researchers. The researchers does hypothesis testing to determine the effectiveness of this study by looking at the two average student learning outcomes. The hypothesis test was to determine whether taboo games' use in increasing vocabulary mastery was more effective than conventional learning without using media taboo games. The answer to the research hypothesis was based on the value of the t-test conducted at SPSS 25. Nuryadi stated, in processing with SPSS, if the significance value was less than 0.05 (p < 0.05), the t-value was significant, which means that the scores of the two groups are significantly different. Conversely, if the significance value is greater than 0.05 (p > 0.05), the calculated t-value was significant, meaning there was no significant difference in scores between the two groups. The t count was 6.114 with a significance of 0.000. It means the t-value was significant (0.000 < 0.005). It can be interpreted as the null hypothesis (H0) being rejected and the alternative hypothesis (H1) being accepted In conclusion, it showed the t count was 6.114 with a significance of 0.000. It means the t-value was significant (0.000 < 0.005). It can be interpreted as the null hypothesis (H0) being rejected and the alternative hypothesis (H1) being accepted. It means there was a significant difference between students with vocabulary mastery taught by taboo games at seventh-grade MTs. Ma'arif Balong in the academic year 2022/2023. CONCLUSION AND SUGGESTION Based on the results of the t-test, there is a significant difference between the students who were taught vocabulary using taboo games and vice versa in seventh-grade at MTs. Ma'arif Balong in the academic year 2022/2023. The mean post-test score for the experimental class (80.19) was higher than the control class (67.78). It shows that the score of the experimental class is better than the control class. The t-test shows that the t-count was 6.114 with a significance of 0.000. It means the t-value was significant (0.000 < 0.005). It can be interpreted as the null hypothesis (H0) being rejected and the alternative hypothesis (H1) being accepted. It can be used to teach vocabulary because it helps makes easier for 97 ELTALL (English language teaching, applied linguistics and Literature) Vol. 4 No. 02, 2023 Available online at https://jurnal.iainponorogo.ac.id/index.php/eltall students to learn vocabulary and also it enhances the students to memorize vocabulary. This research is expected to provide an overview for schools to apply media-based learning such as using taboo games. The use of this media has the aim of increasing students' interest in learning and reducing boredom in learning. Beside that, this research was expected to provide input for English teachers to apply creative media when teaching students. Teachers can use taboo game media in guiding students' vocabulary because taboo game media has the effectiveness s to increase vocabulary mastery. REFERENCES Creswell, J. W. (2012). Educational Research: Planning, Conducting, and Evaluating Quantitatives and Qualitative Research. Peraon Education. Dalman. (2015). Keterampilan Menulis. PT Rajagrafindo. Hatch, Evelyn, Brown, & Cheryl. (1995). Vocabulary, Semantics, and Language Education. Cambridge University Press. Khasanah, A. U. (2017). Teaching Metod in Writing Descriptive Text (A Descriptive Study at the Seventh Grade Students of SMP Negeri 3 Klaten Academic Year 2016/2017). Juni, 4(2). Lumbangaol, R. R. (2021). The Effect Of Taboo Word Game In Improving Vocabulary Ability. Journal MELT (Medium for English Language Teaching), 4(2), 155. https://doi.org/10.22303/melt.4.2.2019.155-169 Muzammil, A. R. (2020). Kemampuan Menulis Teks Deskripsi Pada Siswa Kelas VII SMP Negeri 3 Teluk Keramat. 9(3). http://dx.doi.org/10.26418/jppk.v9i3.39721 Nastiti, M. G. W., & Veniranda, Y. (n.d.). Using Taboo Game to Improve Vocabulary of Grade VIII Students of SMP Negeri 1 Semin Gunungkidul. 1(2). http://repository.usd.ac.id/id/eprint/41017 Nurjanah, R. L., & Pratama, M. R. A. (2018). Efektivitas Permainan Taboo Words dalam Meningkatkan Kemampuan Kosakata Mahasiswa Sastra Inggris Universitas Ngudi Waluyo. PHILOSOPHICA Jurnal Bahasa, Sastra, dan Budaya, 1(1), 39. https://doi.org/10.35473/po.v1i1.129 Nuryadi, et al. (2017). Buku Ajar Dasar-Dasar Statistik. Sibuku media. Praningdhita, A. (2013). Efektivitas Media Permainan Taboo Untuk Meningkatkan Keterampilan Berbicara Bahasa Prancis Siswa Kelas XI SMAN 1 Cilacap. http://eprints.uny.ac.id/id/eprint/20067V Richard, J. C., & A Renandya, W. (2002). Methodology in Language Teaching: An Anthology of Current Practice. Cambridge University Press. Sallo, N. (2020). The Effectiveness Of Using Taboo Game To Increase Students’ Speaking Skills Thesis. http://eprints.umm.ac.id/id/eprint/69524 https://doi.org/10.22303/melt.4.2.2019.155-169 http://dx.doi.org/10.26418/jppk.v9i3.39721 http://repository.usd.ac.id/id/eprint/41017 https://doi.org/10.35473/po.v1i1.129 http://eprints.uny.ac.id/id/eprint/20067V http://eprints.umm.ac.id/id/eprint/69524 98 ELTALL (English language teaching, applied linguistics and Literature) Vol. 4 No. 02, 2023 Available online at https://jurnal.iainponorogo.ac.id/index.php/eltall Siregar, A. S. S. (2017). The Effect Of Applying Taboo Game Strategy On The Students’ Achievement In Writing Descriptive Text. http://repository.umsu.ac.id/handle/123456789/3896 Subekti, A. S. (2020). Self-Made Vocabulary Cards and Differentiated Assessments to Improve an Autistic Learner’s English Vocabulary Mastery. International Journal of Education, 13(1), 8–17. https://doi.org/10.17509/ije.v13i1.22587 Ulfa, N., Amir, J., & Daeng, K. (2010). Keterampilan Menulis Teks Deskripsi Bahasa Makassar Melalui Media Gambar Siswa Kelas VII SMP Negeri 1 Bajeng Barat Kabupaten Gowa. http://repository.um.ac.id/id/eprint/103320 http://repository.umsu.ac.id/handle/123456789/3896 https://doi.org/10.17509/ije.v13i1.22587 http://repository.um.ac.id/id/eprint/103320 THE EFFECTIVENESS OF TABOO GAME TO IMPROVE STUDENTS’ VOCABULARY MASTERY Based on the chart above, it can be seen from the chart above that the average pre-test control class score was 58,33, and the post-test was 67,78. The median of the pre-test control was 60, while the median of the control post-test was 70. Then, the ... After carrying out the pre-test and post-test, the researchers analyzes the results of pre-test and post-test using SPSS 25. First, the researchers performs a normality test. of the normality test performed can be seen in the table below.