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English Language Teaching Educational Journal (ELTEJ) 
Vol. 2, No. 1, 2019, pp. 32-38 
E-ISSN: 2621-6485  

  

Using Pictures for Teaching Vocabulary to the Junior High 

School Students 

 
Khafidhoh, Anita Carolina 

Universitas Ahmad Dahlan 

khafidhoh@pbi.uad.ac.id 

  
Abstract 

This research aimed at investigating the impact of using pictures for teaching vocabulary. There are 

various kinds of teaching media. Pictures in the form of both picture series and pairs can be chosen as the 

media in the instructional process. Related to the teaching vocabulary, different kinds of vocabulary 

require different media for teaching, including the different kinds of pictures if the teacher chooses the 

pictures as the teaching materials. Moreover, the impact of the pictures as the teaching media is affected 

by several factors. Thus, it is interesting to conduct further investigation through a research. The research 

belonged to the experimental study. The population was seventh-grade students of SMP N 2 Imogiri 

while the research groups involved the experimental and control groups. The data collection technique 

used was pre-test and post-test. The research data were the pre-test and post-test scores. There were 

several findings of this research. First, using pictures can improve the students' achievement. Besides, it 

can also attract the students' attention so that the students really wanted to participate in the instructional 

process. 

Keywords: impact, picture, vocabulary, experiment. 
 

 

How to Cite: Khafidhoh & Carolina, A. (2019). Using Pictures for Teaching Vocabulary to the Junior 

High School Students. English Language Teaching Educational Journal, 2(1), 32-38.  

  

 

INTRODUCTION 

Vocabulary is one of the important aspects to students for mastering a certain language. 

It becomes the microskills in learning the language. Ur (1996) stated that vocabulary is the 

words taught to people when they learnt a foreign language. It means that vocabulary is 

used to convey the aims of people and without them people cannot say or write what they 

want. Moreover, Wilkins in Thornburry (2002) says that people can improve their English 

language more with words and expressions without concern of grammar. It means that 

besides mastering the grammar, mastering vocabulary is another way to master English.  

The fact, nowadays, is that students have low mastery of vocabulary. It can be caused 

by many reasons. Based on the preliminary study, one of the reasons might be caused by the 

absence used of media in the teaching-learning process. Moreover, the used of media might  

help a teacher to teach or deliver vocabulary to students. It also helps the teacher and 

students to achieve the goal of the learning process. According to Murcia (2001) in Silviana 

(2013), “media are tools or physical things used by the teacher to motivate the students by 

bringing a slice of real-life into the classroom and by presenting language in its more 

complete communication complex.” So, media have an important role in the instructional 

process. One of the media commonly used is the picture. A picture is a part of visual media. 

Visual media are everything which can be seen by the human eyes. Then, a picture can be 

defined as an image that is designing or describing by many sense (Merriam Webster). 

While according to Shing (1981) as cited in Aldhionita (2015) pictures are kinds of visual 

instruction material. Wright (1989) stated some kinds of pictures, they are; pictures of 

single item, pictures of one individual, pictures of popular individuals, photos of a few 

people, pictures of individuals activity, pictures of spots, pictures from origin, pictures with 



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Khafidhoh & Carolina 

33 

a lot of data, photos of the news, pictures of fictions, pictures of maps and symbol, sets of 

pictures, pictures and scrips, single stimulating photos, bizarre photos, and explanatory 

photos. Then, Wright (1989) stated that pictures contribute to interest and motivation. 

Moreover, pictures can be an illustration of the objects (thing, people, animal, etc.) that the 

teachers cannot take the real object into the class directly. Pictures help students 

understanding the unfamiliar word. They help students to illustrate or understand the 

meaning of words. Thus, pictures can be good visual media in the instructional process.   

From the previos studies, most of the finding of using picture showed a positive result. 

Based on Astuti (2014) and on Soviyah and Purwaningtias (2018), pictures can improve 

students' score of the test. However, there is also the result variation of using pictures for 

teaching vocabulary based on students' background in the learning process. In line with the 

statement, the context which is mostly related to the setting of the research plays the keyrole 

in conducting the research. In this case, the researchers choose a certain junior high school 

as the setting of this research. This is what makes this study different from the previous one.       

As this research focused on the impact of using the pictures in the instructional process, 

there would be two probabilities to happen as the research findings. The first would be the 

fact that the pictures is effective to use in the instructional process. The second, the fact 

might be the use of pictures isn’t effective to apply in the instructional process. 

 

Teaching English for Young Learners 

In  the  learning  process,  students  become  one  of  the  important elements. 

According to experts, the age range of young learners is varied.  Pinter (2011) classifies 

three groups of young learners. The first group is children who have the age range about 3-5 

years old and they at pre-school, the second group is children at primary school and the age 

about 6-12 years old and they finish primary school at about 11 or 12 years old, but in some 

other countries they graduate at 13 or 14 years old. Pinter mentions that early teenagers are 

children who have an age of 13 years old onwards. Pinter (2011) in Puskás (2016) claimed 

that in Slovakia, children at the age of 6 or 7 years old begin their primary school and 

graduate  at  around  15  years  old,  while  the  elementary  school  is usually divided into 

lower and upper primary ages. It means that children at 13 years old are still in elementary 

school and do not continue to secondary school yet. 

Then, every person has his/her characteristics. Young learners have different characters 

from adults. Generally, young learners are easy to learn something new and they prefer to 

do the action or learn from real  things. According to Pinter (2006)  cited in  Juhana (2014), 

the curiosity that young learners have to try and explore new things is very high.   

Scrivener (2011) explains the characteristics of young learners. He stated  that  young  

learners  are  keen,  noisy,  curious,  have low attention, like to experiment, have a sense of 

humor and like to have fun. They can't concentrate for very long time span and always want 

to learn new things. However, in learning English children don’t prosper to respond and 

work on language components like grammar, vocabulary, and pronunciation. Children may 

not understand English as a whole, but they may understand by doing interesting activities, 

games, and tasks.  

Scrivener  (2011)  also  explains  how  to  consider  when teaching young learners 

(middle and higher primary). The first, teaching English to young learners, teachers not 

only just talk, but they should use pictures, models, short videos, drawing on the board, and 

toys. The second keeps the focus of the children's and use things that they understand rather 

than abstract things. The third, don't expect immediate (or even long-term) student use of 

English. Just keep using English. The fourth, find tasks and activities that are exciting and 

motivating them. 

 



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Teaching Vocabulary 

The important aspect of learning English is vocabulary. Everything that people want to 

say and write needs words or vocabulary. The description of vocabulary by Hornby (1995) 

in Sholihah  (2009)  is  that  vocabulary  is  the  list  of  words  in  a language. While Ur 

(1996) says vocabulary as the words taught to  people  when  they  learn  a  foreign  

language.  Vocabulary  has  an important function in English because it will be the basic 

skills before getting other skills such as listening, speaking, reading, and writing. 

Vocabulary is used to convey the meaning, the opinion, and the aim of someone. Wilkins in 

Thornbury (2002) says that people just can say little with grammar but they almost can say 

anything with word. If people just spend their time to learn grammar, their English will not 

improve, they will see the progress if they learn about words and expressions. 

 

Pictures as Instructional Media 

Media  is  a  tool  in  teaching  and  learning. Media help the teachers to convey 

materials to students. Learning media can be a hard file or soft file. Moreover, picture is a 

part of visual media. Visual media are everything that can be seen by eyes. Then, according 

to Merriam Webster, "a picture is a design or representation made by various means (such 

as painting, drawing, or photography). While according to Shing (1981) cited in Aldhionita 

(2015) pictures are kinds of visual instruction material. According to Wright (1989), there 

are some types of pictures; pictures of single objects, pictures of one person, pictures of 

several people, pictures of famous people, pictures of people in action, pictures of places, 

pictures  from history, pictures with  a lot of information, pictures of the news, pictures of 

fantasies, pictures of maps and symbol, pairs of pictures, pictures and texts, single 

stimulating pictures, bizarre pictures, and explanatory pictures.  

Media have important roles in the teaching-learning process. The use of media can help 

teacher and students to achieve the aims of teaching and learning. Meanwhile, media 

support teachers' explanation and help students to understand the materials or the lesson. A 

picture is one type of media that have important roles in the teaching-learning process. It's 

beneficial to the teacher, especially in learning English. According to Werff (2019) pictures 

have many functions, with  pictures  teachers  and  students  can  practice  structures  of 

grammatical,  practice  comprehension  of  listening,  do  activities  of writing,  do  the  free  

practice  of  speaking  (likes  problem-solving activities, role plays, discussions, etc.), do 

guided practice (drills), and teach, practice, or review new vocabulary. Wright  (1989) also 

states  that pictures play  a role in  interest  and motivation, a sense of language context, and 

a specific reference point or stimulus. Furthermore, Wright (1989) also states some roles of 

pictures in speaking and writing skills. First, they can motivate students, and make students 

want to participate and give their attention. Second, pictures contribute to the use of 

language context. Pictures bring the world into the classroom (such as a specific object like 

a train). Third, pictures can be used to describe the object in an objective way (this is a 

train) or interpreted (it’s probably a local train) or respond subjectively  (I  like  traveling  

by  train).  Fourth,  pictures  can  give responses to questions or substitutions through 

controlled practice. The last, pictures can stimulate and give information to be referred in 

conversation, storytelling, and discussion. 

 

RESEARCH METHOD  

The purpose of the research is to investigate the impacts of using pictures for teaching 

vocabulary to the seventh grade of Junior High School. So, this study is an experimental 

study. The goal of this method is to determine the cause and effect relation between one 

variable (independent variable) and another variable (dependent variable), in line with the 

theory proposed by Shadish William R., Cook Thomas D., Campbell, (2002), “an 



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experiment is a study in which an intervention is deliberately introduced to observe its 

effects.” 

The researchers used or applied two groups as the sample of this study. The first is the 

experimental group taught by using pictures and the second is the control group taught 

without using pictures. The research design can be followed: 

 

Table 1. The Design of the Research 

Group Pre-test Treatment Post-test 

Experimental    

Control  -  

 

Moreover, in giving the treatment, the only way used by the researchers is giving 

pictures to the students by using cards. The cards contain several vocabularies related to the 

students’ daily life. The vocabulary is also suitable with the basic competence that the 

teacher should teach to the students, such as about jobs. Related to the ‘job’ as the topic of 

the materials, the researchers give some cards mentioning kinds of job to the students, such 

as police, doctor, teacher, seller, etc.  

The population is total members of people, animal, phenomenon, or thing that stay 

together in one place (Sukardi, 2011), whereas the sample is a quantity or group of the 

population. This research population is the seventh-grade students of SMP N 2 Imogiri and 

the sample involves two classes of all the classses. Random sampling is used to determine 

the research sample. The population and samples are chosen based on the researcher’s 

experience during the internship program. 

Pre-test and post-test were used for collecting the data. The pre-test is the first step to 

gather the data. It was conducted before the students got the treatment. The second step is 

post-test. It was used to gather the data after students got treatment. The data from the pre 

and post tests are then analyzed in the next step. 

 

FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION 

From Table 2, the pre-test and post-test mean score of the experimental group are 63.04 

and 90.54. Then, the std.deviation is 21.872 and 6.714. While the pre-test and post-test 

mean score of the control group are 70 and 84.29. The std.deviation is 18.527 and 10.248.  

 

Table 2. Pre-test and Post-test Data Description 

Group Pre-test Post-test 

 Mean Score Standard Deviation Mean Score Standard Deviation 

Experimental Group 63.04 21.872 90.54 6.714 

Control Group 70 18.527 84.29 10.248 

 

From Table 3, the mean score of the experimental group increases 27.5 from 63.05 in 

pre-test up to 90.54 in post-test, while the mean score of the control group increases 14.29 

from 70 in pre-test up to 84.29 in post-test. There is a significant difference between both 

groups. The mean differences of pre-test between both groups is 6.96, and the post-test was 

6.25. The mean difference of the experimental group is higher than the one of the control 

group. 

Table 3. The Mean Difference between Pre-test and Post-test 

Group N Mean of Pre-test Mean of Post-test Mean Difference 

Experimental  28 63.04 90.54 27.5 

Control 28 70 84.29 14.29 

Mean Difference 6.96 6.25 13.21 



36    ◼ E-ISSN: 2621-6485   

 

 

 

From Table 4 on output "independent samples test" on the "equal variances 

assumed," the Sig. (2-tailed) is 0.009. It means that the Sig. is lower than 0.05 (0.009 < 

0.05). Moreover, according to the hypothesis test criterion that the Sig. (2-tailed) lower than 

0.05 means the Ho is rejected and Ha is accepted. So, it can be said that there is a 

significant difference in students’ vocabulary achievement between the experimental group 

and the control group. Thus, the hypothesis of this study was accepted. 

 

Table 4. The Result of the Hypothesis Test 

  t-test for equality of means 

  t Df Sig. (2-tailed) Mean difference Std. Error difference 

 

Post-

test 

Equal variances 

asssumed 

-2.699 54 .009 -6.250 2.315 

Equal variances 

not assumed 

-2.699 46.570 .010 -6.250 2.315 

 

The experimental group of this study was the seventh graders of class D. In this group 

the researcher taught using pictures. After getting the treatment, the students’ vocabulary 

achievement significantly improved. The pre-test mean score is 63.04 and the post-test 

mean score is 90.54, it means that their mean score increases 27.5. This fact is supported by 

Astuti (2014), in her research finding that picture can improve students’ scores of test and 

students’ achievement.  

Related to the writing skill, some experts agree that the use of pictures can stimulate 

the writing skill of the students. Raimes (1983) stated that pairs of pictures or picture series 

provide for a variety of guided and free writing exercises. Picture series is helpful for 

teaching writing text which includes series of events or activities. For example, the teacher 

can use pictures series to teach narrative or recount text. In narrative text, there are several 

parts which are orientation, complication, resolution, and reorientation. The flow of the 

story in a narrative text can be represented by series of pictures showing the illustration of 

the story. Next, in recount text, it has orientation and series of events. The series of event 

can be represented by the series of pictures in the instructional process. In the other hand, 

paires of pictures can be used to teach the language aspect one by one in detail. For 

example, it can be used to teach some parts of speech. In teaching nouns, the teacher may 

give several pictures showing the illustration of the goods. Then, for teaching verbs, the 

pictures can show the illustration of the activities. Moreover, for teaching adjectives, the 

teacher can give some pictures related to the time, place, and so on. Next, for the adjectives, 

the pictures can show the illustration of the related adjectives. In this research, types of the 

picture used during the research are pairs of pictures and in fact it is helpful to teach some 

kinds of occupation. It means that there is interconnection between the theories and the fact 

found by the researchers through this research.  

Moreover, the use of pictures in the instructional process during this research is 

beneficial. It can be drawn the attention of students, students want to participate in the 

learning process, work in pairs, enjoy and have fun in the learning process. This statement 

is in line with Wright (1989) that pictures play a role in interest and motivation. Therefore, 

pictures have a good impact to teach vocabulary to the seventh-grade students of SMP N 2 

Imogiri.   

Then, the seventh graders of class F were the control group. In this group, they were 

taught without pictures. The mean scores of pre-test and post-test of this group also 

increase. The pre-test mean score was 70 and the post-test mean score was 84.29, it means 

the increase was 14.29. The situation or atmosphere in the learning process of the control 



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group is different from the one in the experimental group. During the research, students in 

this group are lazy and have low motivation in learning English. Only some students wanted 

to participate in the learning process.  

According to the explanation above, pictures have impacts on teaching vocabulary. It 

can be proved from the post-test mean differences of experimental group and control group. 

The post-test mean score of the experimental group is higher than the control group. The 

mean differences of post-test of both groups were 6.25. Hypothesis test also indicated that 

there is a significant difference in vocabulary achievement of students (Sig.>0.05 = 

0.009>0.05).   Moreover, it can be concluded that pictures are more effective and have a 

good impact to teach vocabulary. It can be proved from the students' achievement that the 

experimental group who accepted the treatment is higher than the control group who didn't 

receive the treatment. This is supported by Wright (1990) that pictures can motivate 

students to give their attention and to participate in the instructional process. 

 

CONCLUSION 

The research objective is to know the impact of using pictures for teaching vocabulary 

and to find out the difference in vocabulary achievement of students between both groups. 

In the experimental group taught with pictures, the mean score of pre-test was 63.04 and the 

mean score of post-test was 90.54. So, the increase in the mean score of the group is 27.5. 

While in the control group taught without pictures, the mean score increased 14.29 from 70 

in pre-test up to 84.29 in post-test. Then, the hypothesis testing or t-test [Sig. (2-tailed)<0.05 

= 0.009<0.05] indicated that there is a significant difference between both groups. This 

statement is supported by Sujarweni (2014; 99) who stated if the Sig. (2-tailed) < 0.05 the 

Ho is rejected and Ha is accepted, it means there is a significant difference between both 

groups. Thus, teaching vocabulary using pictures to the seventh-grade students of SMP N 2 

Imogiri is effective and pictures have good impacts. 

 

REFERENCES 

 

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Astuti, Desi Sri. 2014. Teaching vocabulary by using pictures to the second year students of 

SMP Negeri 1 Embaloh Hilir Kapuas Hulu in academic year 2007/2008. Jurnal 

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Juhana.  2014.  Teaching  English  to  young  learners:  Some  points  to  be considered. 

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Pinter,  A.  2011. Children  learning  second  languages.  London: Palgrave Macmillan 

 

Raimes, A. 1983. Techniques in teaching writing. New York: Oxford University Press. 

 

Scrivener,  J. 2011. Learning  teaching, The essential guide to English language teaching. 

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Sholihah, H. 2009. Teaching English vocabulary using pictures to the fifth grade students of 

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