PENGGUNAAN STRATEGI ASOSIASI KATA UNTUK MENINGKATKAN PENGUASAAN KOSAKATA SISWA KELAS DELAPAN SMP NEGERI 4 PALU

This study was conducted to examine the effectiveness of the Word Association
Strategy in improving vocabulary mastery of eight-grade students at SMP Negeri 4
Palu. Vocabulary learning in the classroom was found to be dominated by
conventional techniques that provided limited opportunities for students to develop
meaningful word understanding and usage. To address this issue, the study
employed a quantitative method using a quasi-experimental design with pre-test
and post-test control groups. The population consisted of all eight-grade students in
the academic year 2025/2026, from which two classes (VIII CEMPEDAK and VIII
MANGGIS) were selected through cluster random sampling. Class VIII
CEMPEDAK as the experimental group (n=32) was taught using the Word
Association Strategy, while Class VIII MANGGIS as the control group (n=30) was
taught using conventional methods. The study focused on students’ vocabulary
mastery of word meaning and usage, particularly common nouns, action verbs, and
descriptive adjectives. Data were collected through vocabulary tests and analyzed
using descriptive statistics and an independent sample t-test at the 0.05 level of
significance. The results showed that the experimental group’s mean score
increased from 53.46 in the pre-test to 81.85 in the post-test, while the control group
improved from 55.04 to 69.29. The t-test result revealed that the t-count (5.50) was
higher than the t-table value (1.671), indicating a significant difference between the
two groups. These findings demonstrate that the Word Association Strategy
effectively enhances students’ vocabulary mastery by facilitating meaningful word
connections and can be recommended as an alternative strategy in junior high
school English instruction.