Make a Match Technique for Teaching Young Learners

1. Name of the technique.
Make a match technique

2. Definition of Make a match technique

Make a match technique is one of alternative technique that can be applied to the students. This is one of the cooperative learning techniques that can be applied in the classroom. This technique is started from the technique when the students asked to find their card partner. They have to find the partner before  the time limit, students who can find the partner will get point.


Make a match technique is developed by Lorna Curran in 1994. The superiority of this technique is the students find their partner while learn about a concept or a topic in a happy situation. One of the profits of this technique is the students look for their partner while learning a topic in interesting situation.

By using cooperative learning especially Make a Match technique, teacher has effort to motivate the student’s interest in English especially in speaking. Besides, make sure students enjoy with the lesson and they are able to be active in the classroom activity.

In the application of Make a Match technique, obtained some findings that make a match technique can foster cooperation in answering students' questions by matching the existing cards in their hand, the learning process more interesting and most students seemed more enthusiastic about taking the learning process, and students very enthusiast when the student looks at all the cards for each pair. This is a characteristic of cooperative learning as it is raised by Lie (2002:30) that, "Cooperative learning is learning that focuses on mutual cooperation and teamwork."

3. State of the level

Make a macth technique can be applied to junior high school students because this technique is interactive so it makes the students feel attrative to join the lesson.

4. Skills or component

Make a Match technique is done to make the students more confidence in speaking English because it is group work. Besides speaking it also involves vocabulary so it will improve the students’ vocabulary.

5. The Procedures of Make a Match Technique

a. The teacher prepares some cards that contain some concepts or a suitable topic for review session, a part is contains questions and the other is the answer.
b. Every student get a question or an answer card.
c. Every student thinks the answer or the question from the card that they hold.
d. Every student finds their partner that suitable with their card.
e. Every student who finds their suitable card before the time up is given a point.
f. The student who can not find the partner before the time up is given a punishment which is agreed together.
g. After a session, the cards mixed again so that the students get different card.
h. The students also able to gather with 2 or 3 students who hold suitable cards.
i. Teacher and students make the conclusion together.


6. The strengths an the weakness of Make a match technique

The strengths of this technique are:

a. The happy situation will grow during the learning process (let them move).
b. The corporation each students will happen dynamically.
c. The dynamical of students’ corporation happen in all of the students.
d. It can be increase student’s learning activity for their cognitive and physic.
e. it can create a joyful learning because it is like a game
f. it can increase student’s comprehension about the material,
g. it can increase student’s motivation in learning.
h. Students are directly involved in answering questions submitted to him through the card.
i. Avoid saturation of the students in the following teaching and learning activities.
j. Learning more fun because it involves learning media created by the teacher.


The weaknesses of this technique are:

a. When the class is big class (more than 30 students) must be careful. Because when the teacher is not wise enough, noisy situation will happen. This condition will disturb the other class of course. This condition can be anticipated by making some commitments with the students so that they do not make some noises. Basically the class depends on how the teacher motivating the students in the first step. The other weakness of this method is the teacher has to prepare the cards that will be used in the class before the lesson.
b. Difficult for teachers to prepare the cards well and good in accordance with the material.

c. Difficult to set the rhythm or the course of the learning process
d. Difficult to make students concentrate.

7. Conclusion

Make a macth technique is one of the models from cooperative learning. The result of the study indicated that the process of implementing Make a Match Technique can be run well because the class management is good. When the students working in groups are not big enough, all of them can participate equally because each of them has different responsibility towards the activities. It implies that the teacher should know the students’ characteristics so those activities can accommodate the students’ interest.

In conclusion, by using Make a Match technique, teacher has effort to motivate the student’s interest in English especially in speaking ability and it makes the students know more about vocabulary.