THE EFFECT OF USING ROSETTA STONE APPLICATION TO IMPROVE EIGHTH GRADE STUDENTS’ VOCABULARY MASTERY

Vocabulary is a basic aspect in learning English, and is an important aspect
because it helps us communicate effectively. Sometimes many students still have
difficulty practicing and enriching their knowledge in learning English, especially
vocabulary mastery. One of the most appropriate ways to overcome this is to use
digital technology. This research aims to determine the effect of using the Rosetta
Stone application on eighth-grade students' vocabulary mastery compared to
conventional teaching methods. The study used a quasi-experiment design with a
nonequivalent control group pretest-posttest approach. The participants were 60
students from SMP PGRI Jatiuwung and divided into two classes by 30 students
in class VIII A (control group) and 30 students in class VIII C (experiment group).
Data was collected using a multiple-choice test with 20 questions on antonyms,
synonyms, and fill in the blanks. The Mann-Whitney U test was used to analyze
the pretest and posttest results. The pretest results showed no significant
difference between the control and experiment groups (Asymp. Sig 0.131 > α
0.05). However, the posttest results indicated a significant difference (Asymp. Sig
0.030 < α 0.05), suggesting that students using the Rosetta Stone application had
better vocabulary mastery than those using conventional methods.