The Use of Paraphrasing Strategy to Improve Students’ Vocabulary Mastery (An Experimental Study at the Second Grade of Accounting Department Students of SMKN 1 Ciamis)

Vocabulary is the basic element of learning language. Without mastery of vocabulary, it is not easy to master all English skills: Listening, Speaking, Reading, and Writing. There are many strategies, tools, and methods to motivate students to master vocabulary. Paraphrasing from the text is one of the alternative strategies to make students easier and more enjoyable in learning vocabulary. This becomes the reason to undertake this study. The purposes of this study are to identify the use of paraphrasing strategy to improve students’ vocabulary mastery and without paraphrasing strategy; to analyze the significance difference between students’ mastery of vocabulary by using paraphrasing strategy and without paraphrasing strategy. This research uses experimental approach that involves experimental class (teaching vocabulary by using paraphrasing strategy) and control class (teaching vocabulary without paraphrasing strategy). This research uses quantitative method and the data is analyzed by using statistical analysis. The population and the sample of this study are 60 students from XI Accounting Class 2 and XI Accounting Class 3 SMK N 1 Ciamis. Data were collected by using observation and test: pre-test and post-test. The results of this research show that the students’ mastery of vocabulary by using paraphrasing strategy is better than the students’ mastery of vocabulary without paraphrasing strategy. The average score of post-test among students taught by using paraphrasing strategy is 76.1, while the average score of post-test for students who are taught without paraphrasing strategy is 66.17. There are significant differences between the students’ mastery of vocabulary by using paraphrasing strategy and without paraphrasing strategy. This is proven by calculating post-test in experimental and control classes which show that t count is 13.07 and t table with significant level 1% is 2.40. This means that this research has proved that the use of paraphrasing strategy can better improve students’ mastery of vocabulary than without paraphrasing strategy. Therefore it is suggested that English teachers use paraphrasing strategy to improve students’ mastery of vocabulary