THE USE OF “FIRE COMING OUT OF A MONKEY’S HEAD” SONG AS A MEDIUM TO IMPROVE STUDENTS’ MOTIVATION
IN LEARNING VOCABULARY ITEMS OF NARRATIVE TEXT
a final project
submitted as partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree ofSarjana Pendidikan
in English
by
Yosie Syahfitra A. 2201409043
ENGLISH DEPARTMENT
FACULTY OF LANGUAGES AND ARTS SEMARANG STATE UNIVERSITY
iii Dengan ini saya:
Nama : YOSIE SYAHFITRA ABIRAMA
NIM : 2201409043
Prodi/ Jurusan : Pendidikan Bahasa Inggris / Bahasa dan Sastra Inggris
Fakultas Bahasa dan Seni Universitas Negeri Semarang menyatakan dengan ini sesungguhnya bahwa skripsi / tugas akhir /final project yang berjudul:
THE USE OF“FIRE COMING OUT OF A MONKEY’S HEAD”SONG AS A
MEDIUM FOR TEACHING ENGLISH VOCABULARY ITEMS OF NARRATIVE TEXT
Yang saya tulis dalam rangka memenuhi salah satu syarat memperoleh gelar sarjana ini benar-benar merupakan karya saya sendiri, yang saya hasilkan setelah melalui penelitian, bimbingan, diskusi, dan pemaparan / ujian. Semua kutipan baik langsung maupun tidak langsung, baik yang diperoleh dari sumber kepustakaan, wahana elektronik, maupun sumber lainnya, telah disertai keterangan mengenai identitas sumbernya dengan cara sebagaimana yang lazim dalam penelitian karya ilmiah. Dengan demikian, walaupun tim penguji dan pembimbing penulisan skripsi / tugas akhir / final project ini membubuhkan tanda tangan keabsahannya, seluruh karya ilmiah ini tetap menjadi tanggung jawab saya sendiri. Jika kemudian ditemukan pelanggaran terhadap konvensi tata tulis ilmiah yang berlaku, saya bersedia menerima akibatnya.
Demikian harap pernyataan ini dapat digunakan seperlunya.
Semarang, Februari 2014
iv
Making mistakes is a lot better than not doing anything.
Billie Joe Armstrong
I know where I'm going and I know the truth, and I don't have to be
what you want me to be. I'm free to be what I want.
Muhammad Ali
To
Sri Wahyuni
Mintoyo
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First and foremost, I would like to express my deepest gratitude to Allah SWT for the blessing that has been given to me doing this final project.
Second, my deep salutation to my first and second advisors, Rohani, S.Pd, M.A, and Novia Trisanti, S.Pd, M.Pd for their supports, comments, and advice in completing and finishing this final project.
Third, I give my deepest gratitude to my wonderful family; my parents Sri Wahyuni and Mintoyo, my brother Tatag and my sister Siwi for their endless love. My regards are addressed to all my amazing friends of English Department 2009 who always cheer up my days.
Finally, I realize that my final project is not perfect. Therefore I hope for suggestions for the improvement. I hope the final project will be useful for the readers.
Semarang, February 2014
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ABSTRACT
Abirama, Yosie Syahfitra. 2013.The Useof “Fire Coming Out of a Monkey’s Head” Song as A Medium to Improve Students’ Motivation in Learning Vocabulary Items of Narrative Text.A Final Project. English Department. Faculty of Languages and Arts, Semarang State University. First Advisor: Rohani, S.Pd, M.A, Second Advisor: Novia Trisanti, S.Pd, M.Pd
Keyword:Motivation, Vocabulary, “Fire Coming Out of a Monkey’s Head” Song, Narrative Text, Medium.
The objectives of the study are to find out the profile of student’ performance on vocabulary items related to a narrative text and to find out whether “Fire Coming Out of A Monkey’s Head”song can be useful to improvestudents’motivation in learning vocabulary of a narrative text or not. The subject of this study was the 8th grade students of SMP Negeri
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Pg.
APPROVAL ... ii
PERNYATAAN... iii
MOTTO AND DEDICATION... iv
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT... v
ABSTRACT ... vi
TABLE OF CONTENTS... vii
CHAPTER I. INTRODUCTION ...1
1.1 Background of the Topic...1
1.2 Reasons for Choosing the Topic ...3
1.3 Research Problems ...4
1.4 Purpose of the Study ...4
1.5 Significance of the Study ...5
1.5.1 Practical Significance...5
1.5.2 Pedagogical Significance ...5
1.6 Outline of the Report...6
II. REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE ...8
2.1 Review of the Previous Studies...8
2.2 Review of Theoretical Studies ...10
2.2.1 General Concept of Motivation... ...10
2.2.2 General Concept of Learning Language ...12
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2.2.3 General Concept of Vocabulary...15
2.2.3.1 Learning Vocabulary for Older Children...15
2.2.3.2 Teaching Vocabulary ...16
2.2.4 General Concept of Narrative Text ...18
2.2.5 General Concept of Media ...19
2.2.5.1 Song as Audio Medium in Teaching...21
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IV. RESULT OF THE STUDY...39
4.1 General Data Analysis...39
4.2 The Result of Students’ Previous Profile on Vocabulary Items Understanding in Narrative Text ...40
4.2.1 Students’ Motivation before the Treatment... ...41
4.2.2 Description of the Pre-Cycle 1Test ...42
4.3 Students’ Improvement on Their Performance in Understanding Vocabulary Items of Narrative Text ...44
4.3.1 Cycle 1 ...44
4.3.2 Description of the Cycle 1 Test...46
4.3.3 Students’ Motivation in Cycle 1...47
4.3.4 Cycle 2 ...49
4.3.5 Description of the Final Cycle 2 Test ...50
4.3.6 Students Motivation in Cycle 2...53
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CHAPTER I
INTRODUCTION
Chapter 1 consists of six parts. They are background of the study, reason for choosing the topic, research problem, purpose of the study, significance of the study, outline of the report.
1.1 Background of the Study
We use something to interact; we use something to communicate, and we use something to know each others. That is why language was born in this world. It is something which is created by human to survive, to understand, and to reveal their feeling. By using language, people will know almost everything. It is the most human powerful tool that they ever made. If we talk about language, it means that we talk about something which is related to our daily life. It is something that influences our life so much. Since people were born in this world, they would try to make interaction and communication with others. In doing interaction, people need a powerful tool to facilitate “that” kind of activity. That is why language exists as the tool to interact and communicate.
are different between one and another. It is hard to imagine when people have no languages to be used and have no tool to interact and communicate. It will be difficult if they are not using the most important form of human communication: language.
Elizabeth (2003:15) states “to know language means that you can both create communication that has meaning that you choose and interpret the meaning of others when they communicate.” Based on that statement, we can conclude that we need a language to make a communication with others. However, in doing the communication we need to know the meaning.
In learning language, especially English, we need to consider the fundamental thing before learners learn more about English. The essential thing in learning language is learning vocabulary. We can’t make any progress in learning listening, speaking, writing,
and reading without any help in our vocabulary mastery. We will not understand the foreign language if we don’t know about its vocabulary. Thornbury (2002:13) also stated “ you can
say very little with grammar but you can say almost anything with words.” Based on that statement, it means that vocabulary is a fundamental thing to be mastered first before we make communication with others.
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By using song as the medium, the students get more motivated in learning English. The greatest goal by using this kind of medium is the improvement in students’ motivation and achievement during teaching and learning process.
In this chance, the writer presents one of the medium that can be used for English teacher to improve students’ motivation in learning vocabulary, which is English song, in this case, by using“Fire Coming Out of a Monkey’s Head”song as a medium.
1.2 Reasons for Choosing the Topic
The topic is chosen because learning English is very important for the student to improve their language skill and to enrich their knowledge about the world (because English is International language). English can also be used as the tool to communicate with the International community and learning vocabulary is the fundamental part in learning the foreign language, especially English. The writer believes that by learning vocabulary, the student can improve other skills as well.
song. So, this medium is not the strange one for them. Song can also bring joy and fun when it comes to teach a language.
“Fire Coming Out of a Monkey’s Head”is used as the treatment instrument for them.
This song is a narrative song. Therefore narrative text is one of the popular genre texts in English.This song has also good moral value; it reflects social critic about human attitude and behavior. That is why this kind of medium not only teaches them about grammar, vocabulary and etc, but also teaches them about moral lesson to improve their character and motivation.
1.3 Research Problems
The problems that need to be answered in this discussion:
1. What is the previousprofile of students’ performancein learning vocabulary items of a narrative text?
2. To what extent does “Fire Coming Out of A Monkey’s Head” Song improve the students’motivation in learning vocabulary of a narrative text?
1.4 Purpose Of The Study
The objectives of this study are as follows:
(1) To find out the previous profile of students’ performancerelated to vocabulary items understanding in a narrative text.
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1.5 Significance of the Study
The writer hopes that this final project has some significances:
1.5.1 Practical Significance
The result from this study by using song entitled “Fire Coming Out from Monkey’s Head” can improve, enrich, and enhance students’ vocabulary understanding in English. It is very good for the students who want to improve their vocabulary. It is very useful for the teachers too, if they want to improve their students motivation in learning vocabulary. Teacher who don’t know how to improve students’ motivation in learning vocabulary properly, they can use this kind of treatment to treat their students. This medium is very appropriate for those who have time to improve the vocabulary understanding in fun way. We can find song everywhere. We can hear the song every time and every occasion. So, you can learn English everyday. No class, no teacher, and no obstruction. We just hear the song, find the difficult words, take note that difficult words in your notebook, and find them in your dictionary. Today, we can use dictionary everywhere too. So, we can find the difficult word anytime if we want.
1.5.2 Pedagogical Significance
students. It is because students in junior high school need to know so many vocabularies for their own good. If teachers don’t enrich students’ vocabulary in junior high school, their English learning life will be doomed. They will think that learning English is difficult. It also affect to their motivation too.They will not understand with the teacher’s explanation in senior high or vocational school. Those kinds of effects will be stayed for their entire life. This statement is based on the experience in teaching senior high school and vocational school students. So, learning vocabulary for children is very important. By using this medium, the learning method in teaching vocabulary will be more colourful. They can learn English with a lot of happiness and fun. It is because a song can brings joy to people. By using song,the students will be more motivated in learning English because they will think that learning English is not that difficult to understand.
1.6 Outline of the Report
Here is the outline of this final project:
Chapter I is the introduction which gives the readers some explanation about background of the study, reasons for choosing the topic, statement of the problem, objective of the study, significance of the study, and outline of the report.
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Chapter III is the method of investigation. The readers can see how the arrangement the research. Those are the research design, subject of the study, type of data, procedures of collecting the data, and procedure of analyzing the data.
Chapter IV is the analysis of this study.
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REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE
Chapter 2 consists of three parts. First is review of the previous studies (it presents some projects with the same topic). Second is review of theoretical studies (it presents the general concept of theories used in this final project). The third is theoretical framework (it contains of a plan for the next research as the fundamental thing).
2.1 Review of the Previous Studies
Learning vocabulary is like learning the very basic of English language. It is the fundamental thing for students to learn before they learn more about English. If they know more about vocabulary, they will understand everything which related to this language. Campillo (1995) in her article entitled“Teaching and Learning Vocabulary: an Introduction for English Students” stated that vocabulary is an essential element in English. She concluded that in teaching vocabulary, teachers should conduct and prepare different strategies in teaching it. Teacher should also develop different system to speed up and facilitate the students’ retrieval words. That is why song chosen as the medium in teaching vocabulary to improve their understanding and to develop othertechniques in teaching it.
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students’ vocabulary mastery by using the universal medium (song). Cahyana (2007) in his
paper entitled “The Role of “Timeless Rock Ballads” Songs to Teach English Vocabulary at
the Senior High Schoolstated that listening to English songs is very effective to increase and develop students’ vocabulary mastery. He also suggested to listen English song more and
more to improve students’ vocabulary mastery. In his final project, the data showed some slight improvements between pre-test, first post-test, and his final post-test. It means that he successfully improved their students vocabulary by using song as the medium in teaching vocabulary.
Song can also improve students’ motivation in learning vocabulary. Susanto (2010) in his paper entitled “ Students’ Motivation to Improve Their English Vocabulary Mastery Through Listening to English Songs (The Case of Eleventh Grade Students of SMAN 2 Temanggung) in Academic Year of 2010/2011, he concluded that the students mostly had strong motivation to improve their vocabulary mastery if it was combined with song as the medium in teaching it.
Based on the statement above, we can conclude that using medium is very appropriate if we want to teach vocabulary for our students. By using song as the medium, we not only improve their achievement in vocabulary mastery but also improve their motivation in learning English itself.
Intani (2012) in her paper entitled“ Developing Indonesian Children Song Lyrics to Teach Vocabulary to Elementary School Third Graders” also found as same as Susanto’s
stated that by using song as the medium, the teaching and learning process would be more fun.
Song is the universal medium which is loved by people around the world. Song contains lyric, structure, and of course, it contains words. Some people think that learning vocabulary is always boring and not funny at all. We just remember words by words and do something which is repeated from time to time. By using song, learning vocabulary will be more fun. It provides a lot of advantages for improving motivation in learning vocabulary, especially for children. Children love to sing, they want to learn everything if the material is interesting for them to follow.
I am going to explain the use of song which has narrative lyrics to improve students’ motivation in learning vocabulary for junior high school.
2.2 Review of Theoretical Studies
This part consists of five points. First is General Concept of Learning. Second is General Concept of Vocabulary. Third is General Concept of Narrative Text. Fourth General Concept of Audio Media. Fifth is Fire Coming Out of A Monkey’s Head” song profile and the last is General Concept of Action Research.
2.2.1 General Concept of Motivation
Uno (2009:3) states that motivation comes from the word “motive” which can be defined as
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According to Volet and Jarvela (2001:136), “motivation is an individual process that
cannot be understood separately from the environment in which it emerges and develops.”
Based on that statement, it means that if we talk about motivation, we need to understand all aspects which are related to the motivation itself. We need to know and make a good environment for certain people to improve their motivation and keep their motivation in high level, because without a proper environment, people lose their motivation drastically. They think that learning something with no motivation is like learning without knowing anything. They pretend to like the thing that they learn, but in the end, they get nothing from it because they lose the motivation in the first place.
It also happens in learning language. In learning language, motivation is very important for students in teaching and learning process. The students who have a good motivation in learning language (especially English) can achieve a lot of things. They feel that learning English is fun. So, they can understand the teacher explanation and teacher guidance during the process.
In understanding students’ motivation, we need to be more careful with the students’
behavior during the process. According to Volet and Jarvela (2001:136) “Motivation is a fluctuating state that changes continually according to the particular situation.” It means to
improve students’ motivation, we also need to improve the method and strategy for teaching.
We need to keep students’ motivation in high level. So, they can improve the other skills
such as vocabulary understanding well.
There are a lot of factors that influence students’ motivation. Anni (2007:158) states
behavior, need, stimulus, affection, competence, and reinforcement. Based on the statement, we can conclude that there are some factors that can be used to measure students’ motivation
in learning. By using those factors, we can maintain a good environment for students in learning process. We can also make the teaching and learning process be more colorful and highly motivated.
In teaching and learning process, the use of motivation is needed to improve students’ activity, initiative, and students’ perseverance in learning process. That is why by
improving the students’ vocabulary understanding, it can improve the students’ motivation
in learning English too.
2.2.2 General Concept of Learning Language
As stated by Cameron (2001:28) “Language Learning for individual can be seen similarly as
a repeated process of stretching resources slightly beyond the current limit into the ZPD or space for growth, consolidating new skills, and the moving on the next challenge.”Based on that statement, the writer knows that learning language is not as simple as people think. Teachers must be able to stretch the resources beyond the current limit to balance between demands and support.
According to Cameron (2001:24) “language demands are those related to using the
foreign language, and to use of mother tongue in connection with learning the foreign language.”
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why the support from teacher is needed to balance the demands, to keep the attention from students and maintain the students' interest in learning language.
2.2.2.1 Demands and Support to Improve Students’ Motivation in Learning Language for Children
In junior high school, students also have those kinds of demands. Even though they study in higher grade, these students are still in children stage. It is said that children in that kind of stage have a lot advantages and disadvantages in learning language.
Children are spirited. We can recognize their spirit from their activeness, their courage, and they are also lively. Students who are still in children stage are very enthusiastic and active learners. They want to be praised by others. They want to understand and want to know others doing. Children will easily adapt to the environment and gain a lot of experiences by their doing and their action. They often seem less embarrassed than the adults when talking in a new language. So, their demands are also very high. Their curiosity is beyond our imagination, that is why the use of supporting aids is very important to improve and maintain their motivation in learning language.
very effective because song is not about lyric, it has also meaning, tone, and most people in this world always hearing song everyday.
A song that has a lot of strange words is used to improve their motivation in learning language and to broader their language experience through the fun activity. It is said that younger children (7-8 years) are more pay attention to the sound, and the older children (12-14 years) are more attentive to cues of word order (Harley et al. 1995 as cited from Cameron). So, the use of the English song is very useful for them who have passed their children’ early stage (7-8 years) and it is because they still in children’ older stage (12-14
years) that will be more understand to cues of word orders. So, those two things are combined (between using song with word orders) to support the demand. It can also make the learning activity will be more attractive because the word orders are needed to explain and to instruct about what should they do, and what should they prohibited to do. As stated by Bowman et al. (1989) “when we want to do things, we use instruction. Instructions can
be given in different ways spoken instruction can be very direct.”
Bowmanet al. also stated (1989) “there has been a growing realization thatpeople learn in different ways, and that approaches which suit one person may not suit another." It means that if this song as the medium in teaching language to the children is used; some methods are needed in order to balance students’ demands with the teacher’s support. That is why the
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2.2.3 General Concept of Vocabulary
2.2.3.1 Learning Vocabulary for Older Children
Language was built from the ideas, emotions, and needs to produce symbols. The symbol itself can be defined into a lot of things. It can be the things that can make communication, interaction or cooperation with others. Thornburry (2002:1) states “language emerges first
as words, both historically, and in terms of the way each of us learned our first and any subsequent languages.”That is why learning words is the first step to improve our language, even it is our first language in our life.
In learning English as the foreign language, learners will face the difficulties in expressing their feelings, or maybe confessing their ideas. Those difficulties are happened because they didn’t know any words to produce the structure of English language. So, it also impacts the students’ motivation. Thornburry (2002 : 13) says, “if you spend most of your life studying grammar, your English will not improve very much. You will see most improvements if you learn more words and expression.” Based on Thornburry statement, it is known that if we want to understand the target language (in this case English), the learners need to enrich and enhance their vocabulary understanding. They need to enlarge their vocabulary if they want to master other skills as well, for the example: learning grammar. It is like Cameron statement (2001:72) “vocabulary learning can serve as a stepping stone to learning and using grammar.”
understand the English vocabulary, their motivation is also improved. It can affect their achievement in learning English too.
However, some people say that enhancing vocabulary understanding is not enough. We need to master it as well. Hiebert and Kamil (2005:2) state “vocabulary is not a developmental skill or one that can ever be seen as fully mastered." The writer thinks the same way that vocabulary is the fundamental element in learning the unknown language, but the words are very large. Everyday, the new words are appearing without any notification and mastering the whole vocabulary items are impossible. So, enhancement and enrichment are the best options in teaching vocabulary.
2.2.3.2 Teaching Vocabulary
Teaching English in Indonesia is not an easy task. It is very difficult because English is not the mother language in this country, because it is not the mother language, people will lose their motivation when it comes to learn this language. English has been taught as foreign language and some people in Indonesia know nothing about this language.The curriculum itself places this English subject as one of the subjects which is listed in national examination. That is why English teachers are demanded to bear fruit in teaching English to their students.
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Teaching vocabulary for older children can also bring its own difficulty to teacher. As we know that children (especially older children) are still in the stage which has great development in their lives. They are quick learners, and they can easily understand to the material which teacher gives to them.
As stated by Cameron (2001:74) “we can think of words as rather like growing flower
in the soil. All we can see above ground is the flower, but that flower is kept alive and growing by roots that spread underneath it.” It means that vocabulary learning is the
precious thing in building the knowledge to master the foreign language. Vocabulary is the root; vocabulary is the source, and understanding vocabulary is useful in learning new foreign language.
Teaching vocabulary to children is very important. Children are fragile in learning. When teachers teach them something, they will easily think that what teachers say and do are always right. They will imitate it without any hesitation. The problem arises if the teachers do some errors and mistakes, especially in teaching vocabulary, and they teach words to their students with inaccurate explanation, wrong meaning, wrong pronunciation, or maybe wrong intonation. It can be fossilized into their mind, hardly crafted into their head, and for their entire life they will do their teacher’s error/mistake repeatedly. According to Thornburry (2002:15), “knowing the meaning ofa word is not just knowing its dictionary meaning. It is also knowing the word commonly associated with it (its collocation) as well as its connotations, including its register and its cultural accretions.” Based on that, we can
conclude that if we want to teach vocabulary to our students, we need to be more careful and need more attentive with the words before we teach it to our students. Using good pronunciation, good meaning, and good intonation can help them in fossilizing the things in many positive ways.
2.2.4 General Concept of Narrative Text
Narrative text is a popular genre text in English language. Fable and folktale are the kinds of narrative text. Gerott and Wignell (1995:204) state “narrative deal with problematic events
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specific theme for the story, and generally the purpose of the narrative text is to amuse or entertain the reader/listener.
Gerott and Wignell (1995:204) also give some characteristics about narrative text. 1. Generic structure of narrative
a. Orientation : It sets the scene and introduces the participants b. Evaluation : a stepping back to evaluate the plight
c. Complication : a crisis arises
d. Resolution : the crisis is resolved, for better or for worse e. Re-orientation : optional
2. Significant lexicogrammatical features of narrative a. Focus on specific and usually individualized participants b. Use of material processes (behavioral and verbal processes) c. Use of relational processes and mental processes
d. Use of. Temporal conjunctions, and temporal circumstances
e. Use of past tense
2.2.5 General Concept of Media
In teaching, the roles of media are very vital. If we want to conduct teaching and learning process, at least we need one medium to support our teaching.
According to Locatis and Atkinson (1984:3) “media are the means (usually audiovisual or electronic) for transmitting or delivering messages.” Based on that statement, if we want
to deliver our messages (especially in teaching something), we can use media as the tools in delivering it.
criteria in our consideration. The four criteria are: level of sophistication, cost, availability, and technical quality.
Based on their statement, the use of media appropriateness is the factor that will influence student's improvement. We can use any media that can improve student's skill, but we can’t say that the media are appropriate enough if it is combined with our teaching
method and technique. It makes the media appropriateness is very important before we teach using it for our students.
Gerlach and Elly (1980:254) also say, “to select the appropriate media, the teacher must
consider the characteristics of the students who directly related in the learning process, such as verbal abilities, visual, and audio perceptional skill, experience, intelligence, motivation, personality, and social skills.” It means that we need to understand our students’
characteristic. The media appropriateness depends on our students’ general ability. If the
students’ characteristic is not included in our consideration, we can get lost and our students
will get bored and lost their attention to our material.
In the end, as stated by Locatis and Atkinson (1984:10) “media can be used in many
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2.2.5.1 Song as Audio Medium in Teaching
The use of audio media in teaching is very popular and many people (especially teachers) use these kinds of media from time to time. According to Locatis and Atkinson (1984: 198) “audio media are probably the oldest and most familiar of those used in education and
training, particularly if we include the live human voice.” It means that audio media are the best media in teaching, especially teaching language, because people in this world know and recognize these kinds of media, and every person used to it.
The reason why these kinds of media are very famous among people because these media are easy to use. According to Locatis and Atkinson (1984: 204) “because audio media are accessible, portable, and easy to operate, much information is available through this inexpensive medium that is not otherwise available.” It proves that audio media have a lot of advantages as the media in teaching. These kinds of media are also effective if it is used to teach vocabulary to children because if we want to teach something to children, we need to understand about the things which is related to children. The things that the writer mentions are: audio, visual, and psychomotor. So, the audio media can be more useful if it is used for children development in learning language.
Locatis and Atkinson (1984:199) also stated, “the range of available audio media
statement, there are a lot of varieties of audio media which attainable for teaching, but audio media are chosen for teaching English to older children. The writer chooses song as the audio medium in teaching, especially using narrative song.
Hiebert and Kamil state (2005:10) “the way of learning words also include technology and multimedia where students can interact with language orally, pictorially, and in writing.” In teaching words for children, teachers need to use the variety in their teaching.
Words in language, specifically in English are very large. If the teachers only use the usual or basic method for teaching, especially in teaching children, they will not understand what the teachers say, or what the teachers explain, because children will lose their motivation in learning if the methods which is used by the teachers are boring and have no improvement.
As stated by Finocchiaro (1974:108) “there are all kinds of language games and songs ranging from very simple to difficult one, which help give practice in language while keeping the class lively and interesting.” According to Finocchiaro statement, song and game can keep the class more lively and interesting. It can motivate the students to learn English more and more. It also indicates that practice in language is not about using strict and boring methods. We can use game or song to keep the practice activity and keep the interesting “thing” in the same time. That is why the writer uses song as the medium to teach
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Department of Education stated (2011:43) that song education needs to be enjoyable, challenging, and also achieveable. It needs to be supportive and provide a lot of spaces for children to be creative, and includes group activity to help build social skills. Therefore, some methods are created for teaching song as the medium for improving vocabulary understanding to children. The methods not only improve vocabulary alone, but also improves other skills as well.
2.2.5.2 The Advantages in Using Song
When we use a media in teaching, we need to know the advantages of using the media if it is implemented to our teaching and learning process. According to Department for Education (2011:42-43) :
1. Music (Song) can make a powerful contribution to the education and
development of children, having benefit which range for those that
are largely academic to the growth of social skills and contribution of
overall development.
2. Research has shown a direct link between music and improved
reading ability in children. It shown that pupils that were given
certain types of music instruction had improved reading
comprehension compared to those who did not.
3. A number of studies have demonstrated the positive impact music can
have on personal and social development, including increased
self-reliance, confidence, self-esteem, sense of achievement, and ability to
relate to others.
4. Music can also improve discipline, teamwork, cooperation,
Based on the statement, there are a lot of advantages in using song as the medium in teaching. These advantages can be achieved if the teachers optimize this medium to its full potential. That is why English teachers should understand how to use the medium for the students and how to find the appropriate medium in teaching something. We can’t achieve
those kinds of advantages if our teaching methods and strategies are not combined with the medium that we want to use.
Song is excellent medium for teaching vocabulary and improving students’ motivation.
It is because song has various strange words in the lyric and it is very good because usually people who listen to the song without knowing the lyric will try to find the lyric automatically. They will try to understand the meaning of the song and it improves their motivation. It also a good medium because based on the statement, song gives a positive impact in personal and social development, including increased self-reliance, confidence, self-esteem, sense of achievement, and ability to relate to others.
2.2.6 General Concept of Action Research
Cohen and Manion (2007: 316) say, “action research is a powerful tool for change and
improvement at the local level.” According to them, the reason why action research is chosen as the research design In my final project because action research is one of the best methods to see the improvement at the local level. Local level means that it has its own limitation in doing the research (only just for particular area or certain people).
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lot of information about the students’activity before and after the treatment (their
achievement, their motivation, etc.).
Cohen and Manion (2007: 316) also state that action research can be used in a variety of areas, for example:
• Teaching method: replacing the traditional method with discovery method
• Learning strategies: adopting an integrated approach to learning in preference to single-subject style of teaching and learning
• Evaluative procedure: improving one’s method of continuous assessment
• Attitude and values: encouraging more positive attitudes to work, or modifying pupils’ value system with regard to some aspect of life • Continuing professional development of teachers: improving
teaching skills, developing new method of learning, increasing power of analysis, or heightening self-awareness
• Management and control: gradually, introduction of the techniques of behavior modification
• Administration: increasing the efficiency of some aspect of the administrative side of school life
In doing the action research, the writer needs to know the fundamental in the action research process. According to Mcniff et al. (2010),the basic action research process can be described as:
1. We review our current practice
2. Identify and aspect we want to improve 3. Imagine a way forward
8. And so on until we are satisfied with that aspect of our work.
prepared to get the improvement in students' motivation and achievement, of course the methods need to be revised following the students’ need.
2.3 Theoretical Framework
This study concerns in howimprovement takes place in students’ vocabulary understanding. This analysis deals with the effects of using “Fire Coming Out of a Monkey’s Head” song as the medium to improve students’ motivation in learning vocabulary of narrative text. In order to analyze the improvement, the action research is used, especially classroom action research as the principal thing in doing the research and observation.
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CHAPTER III
METHOD OF INVESTIGATION
Chapter III consists of eight parts. The eight parts in this chapter are: research design, subject of the study, role of the writer, type of data, instrument for collecting data, method for collecting data, method for analyzing data.
3.1 Research Design
In this study, the research was done by conducting classroom action research. The students were taught with the main treatment : listening to“Fire Coming Out of A Monkey’s Head”song as a medium to improve students’ motivation in learning vocabulary. Before the
treatment began, the students were given a pre-cycle 1 test to understand their profile related to the narrative text, and at the end of the treatment, final cycle 2 test was given to understand the treatment development which the writer implemented and used to improve the motivation and their vocabulary understanding.
3.2 Subject of The Study
The subject of this research was VIII A students of SMP N 22 Semarang in the academic year of2012/2013. The total of the students was 30 students.
3.3 Role of The writer
everything that related to the research were observed. As the data collector, all the data which had been found from observation, pre-cycle 1 test, final cycle 2 test, and questionaire were collected. The last, as the data analyzer, the writer analyzed all of obtained data, and made the data became more readable and understandable by using some formula and methods.
3.4 Type of Data
In this research, there were two kinds of data. The first one was quantitative data and the second was qualitative data. Pre-cycle 1 test, cycle 1 test, and final cycle 2 test were used as the quantitative data, and for the qualitative data, the writer used motivation rubric as the main qualitative data. Field notes and questionnaire were also used to support the main data and the result from the quantitative data.
3.5 Instrument for Collecting Data
The writer used four kinds of instruments to gather the data. Those four instruments were:
3.5.1 Motivation Rubric
In this research, the writer provided a simple motivation rubric to observe students’ behavior during the research. This data was also used to understand students’ motivation before and
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3.5.2 Field Notes
Anderson and Arsenault (1998:136 ) described “field notes are the the writer’s detailed and descriptive record of the the writer’s experience, including observations, a reconstruction of
dialogue, personal reflections; a physical description of the setting, and decision made that alter or direct the research process.” It means that by using field notes, the writer can enhance the quantitative record with some data from the qualitative record because field notes contain the record from the writer’s experience in teaching and learning process.
In this research, field notes were used to understand and record students’ behaviour
during the lesson. The field notes were also used as the personal reflection to maintain and improve the research for the better result.
The content of the field notes was divided into six behaviour checklists which were done in class VIII A SMPN 22 Semarang. Each checklist represented the students’
behaviour to be recorded as the supportive data for this research.
3.5.3 Tests
teaching and learning result from the beginning until the end. To know the improvement before and after treatment, these three tests result were compared.
3.5.4 Questionnaire
Anderson and Arsenault (1998:179) stated “if well constructed, questionnaire permits the
data collection of reliable and reasonable valid data in a simple, cheap, and timely manner.” Based on that statement, we can conclude that well constructed questionnaire gives a lot of advantages in the data collection. It is reliable, simple, cheap, and timely manner. It proves that by using questionnaire, it simplifies the writer’s work in doing the data collection for the research.
In this research, close-ended questionnaire was used to get fixed data from the students. The questionnaire was used to gather data about students’ responses to the use of
treatment, English subject, and learning vocabulary. It was also used to know whether this research was useful or not.
The writer distributed the questionnaire to students after conducting post-test. The questionnaire was in the form of multiple choice (consisted of fifteen questions). Students were requested to check one of the provided answers to answers the questions.
3.6 Procedure of Collecting Data
The writer collected the data from four sources. First source was motivation rubric, second was field notes, third was tests, and the last was questionnaire. Motivation rubric was used to understand the students’ motivation before and after the treatment. Field notes were used
to observe students’ behaviour during teaching and learning process. These data were
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first part was pre-cycle 1 test, the second part was cycle 1 test, and the three part was final cycle 2 test. Those tests were used to measure students’ achievement before and after
treatment. Pre-cycle 1 test was conducted in the first meeting. Cycle 1 test was conducted after cycle 1 was done. The final cycle 2 test was given after cycle 2 was finished. Questionnaire was used to gather students’ responses toward teaching and learning process, the technique of the treatment, and also about English subject itself.
In addition, this research was divided into two cycles. Each cycle consisted of four phases. As stated by Sukardi (2009:212) “ action research method consists of four main
phases: plan, act, observe, and reflect.” According to that statement, each phase was
described as follows:
3.6.1 Pre-cycle 1 test
This test was given in the first meeting of teaching and learning process. Pre-cycle 1 test was conducted before the writer gave treatment to students. The form of pre-cycle 1 test was multiple choice test, match making and fill in the blank test. Students were asked to answers the questions with given times. The purpose of this test was to know students’ vocabulary
understanding before the treatment was conducted.
3.6.2 Cycle 1
Cycle 1 was conducted for two meetings. In this cycle, the writer applied treatment with some teaching techniques to keep students’ motivation in high level. The writer gave some
1. Planning
Based on Anderson and Arsenault (1998: 35) “the other major benefit of planning your
researchis that it forces you to think through the entire process while factoring the vital information about resources and time-lines.” It means that planning our research is very important before we observe and do some experiments to the subject of our research. By planning something, we can avoid major problems in doing our research. We can measure the resources that we have and our research will be organized properly.
In this phase, the writer did some activities. The activities were:
a. Planning the pre-cycle 1 test design
In this step, pre-cycle 1 test design was planned and made carefully.
b. Planning the research design
In this step, the research steps were planned (lesson plan, schedule, etc)
c. Planning teaching materials
The writer plannedmaterials for supporting the treatment. Those materials were lyric paper + piece of blank paper as the worksheet for the students, and power point slide (optional)
d. Preparing the measurement tools for teaching and learning process
Field notes were prepared for the usage in cycle 1. The writer also prepared cycle 1 test and evaluation score. Cycle 1 test was designed in the form of multiple choice. The rubric of score was also prepared to analyze the result.
2. Action
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In the first meeting, the writer provided 40 questions for students as the pre-cycle 1 test and lesson preparation. Students were asked to check one of the answers which provided by the writer.
After they finished their work, the writer collected the pre-cycle 1 test items, the writer discussed the test with the students and gave some suggestions about the problem/s.
In the second meeting of cycle 1, the writer gave ‘text’ papers to students. The text contained the lyric of the song which the writer would use for the treatment.
After the lyric paper was distributed, students were asked to read and find the difficult words from the lyric paper. After they found some difficult words from the text, the writer asked them to make some groups to discuss the difficult words and did some guessing session. The writer also gave a piece of paper about synonym words that can be found in the lyric paper. After that, the students were asked to find the difficult words in their dictionary and find the synonym of the words which had been listed by the teacher in a piece of paper before.Then, teacher played the song and asked the students to listen to the song and read the lyric carefully. In the end of the second meeting, each group sent their delegation to deliver their finding about the synonym words and after each group sent their delegation, the writer did some discussions about what they had learned that day.
3. Observation
In this phase, field notes were used to record students’ behaviour and also to understand the problems which the writer found during the lesson. It was used to improve the writer’s
teaching method for the next cycle.
4. Reflection
The last phase of action research was the reflection. “Reflection is used to reflect our action
toward researchsubject and have been recorded in observation” (Prastowo, 2011:246). The writer collected pre-cycle 1 test, the observation and cycle 1 test results to find out the weaknesses in cycle 1. After the weaknesses were found, the writer planned some new actions and made some improvements for cycle 2.
3.6.3 Cycle 2
Cycle 2 was done from the third meeting until the fifth meeting. Cycle 2 was the improvement cycle from cycle 1. So, the steps were almost the same. This cycle was conducted as the fix cycle to cover the weaknesses found from cycle 1.
1. Planning
a. Planning the post-test design
In this step, pre-cycle 1 test design was planned and made carefully.
b. Planning the research design
In this step, the research steps were planned (lesson plan, schedule, etc)
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The writer planned materials for supporting the treatment. Those materials were lyric paper (optional for the worst condition) + piece of blank paper as the worksheet for the students, power point slide (optional), and the song (treatment tool) itself.
d. Preparing the aids
The writer prepared a notebook and audio system as the main aids for the treatment. LCD was used for alternative aid.
e. Preparing the measurement tools for teaching and learning process
Field notes were prepared for the usage in cycle 2. The writer also prepared the rubric of score to analyze the result of post-test.
2. Action
Cycle 2 was done from the third meeting until the fifth meeting of the research. The writer did some revisions to improve students’ understanding and motivation in learning vocabulary.
In the first meeting of cycle 2, the writer did some discussions related to the song. After the discussion, the writer played the song for several times to improve their motivation in learning vocabulary. After they did that, the writer asked them to make some groups. Each group was requested to translate the lyric as fast as they can. The best group was the group which had the higher scores of their translation and the fastest one.
meaning of the difficult words from the song. The writer also opened question and answer session for them to improve their understanding about the vocabulary related to the material.
The last meeting of cycle 2 was used for the final cycle 2 test. After the post-test finished, students were asked to analyze their friends’ answer sheets. The writer gave a gift as the form of appreciation for the student who got the best score in this test.
3. Observation
4. As usual, the use of field notes for this phase was very vital, but, the writer also used
questionnaire in the end of session. The students were asked to fill the questionnaire as the last work for them.
5. Reflection
The last part of cycle 2 was reflection. Students’ improvement after given treatments were
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3.7 Procedure of Analyzing Data
3.7.1 Analyzing the Motivation Rubric
Motivation rubric was used to understand students’ motivation before and after the treatment. The writer observed students’ behavior from pre-cyle 1 to final cycle 2. The data
were compared to find out the students’ motivation improvement during the treatment. This
data proved whether there were any improvement in students’ motivation or not.
3.7.2 Analyzing the Field Notes
Field notes were used to observe and record students’ behaviour during the lesson and field
notes were obtained from the English the writer of the school. The writer collected the field notes from cycle 1 to cycle 2 and compared it to find out the students’ behaviour during the
treatment. Field notes checklists proved whether there were any positive improvement or not.
3.7.3 Analyzing the Tests
Students’ pre-cycle 1 test, cycle 1 test and post test results were analyzed with the proper
measurement. The formula of the measurement was: Total of the test was 40 questions
The formula:
3.7.4 Analyzing the Questionnaires
After questionnaires were collected from the students, the writer analyzed it to find the result. The questionnaires result indicated students’ responses to the use of treatment,
English subject, and learning vocabulary.
3.8 Technique of Reporting Data
All the data collected from the instruments (tests, questionnaires, and field notes) were used to provide the answers of the research questions. The technique of reporting the data was used two methods. The two methods were used both qualitative and quantitative data. For qualitative data, the use of questionnaires and field notes was very useful in providing students’ behavior and students’ responses during teaching learning process. It described the
students’ condition during treatment from cycle 1 until cycle 2. So, it was reported in a
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CHAPTER IV
RESULT OF THE STUDY
This chapter deals with the description of the treatmen tand interpretation of the data.So,the topics of this chapter will be divided into several categories.The topics are general data analysis, the description of the pre-cycle 1 test, first and final cycle 2 test, the comparison between pre-cycle 1 test, first and final cycle 2 test, the analysis of students’vocabulary understanding in the pre-cycle 1 test,the analysis of students' vocabulary understanding in the first and final cycle 2 test, interpretation and implication of the finding and discussion about the whole research.
4.1 General Data Analysis
In this chapter, the writer analyzed the data found from the research activities. The data obtained from the test which was taken based on“Fire Coming Out of a Monkey’s Head” song and the questionnaire.
In order to understand students’ motivation improvement, the motivation rubric was used. The range of the scores were poor, fair, and good. Here was the example of simple motivation rubric:
The Scoring Items Poor Fair Good
1. Able to work well with happiness whether it is a group ta
individual task.
2. Able to adapt with the changing material/s and activity/ies d
3. Has good confidence in performing the task/s.
4. Highly motivated for task/s with clear support
reinforcement for completion.
5. Not cheating with others when doing the task/s.
6. Stay focused during the lesson.
7. Has good interest in learning English, especially in le
vocabulary.
On the other hand, in order to measure students’ achievement in every test and to calculate the data after the treatments, the researcher used a simple formula as follow:
Average Students’ Achievement=
The complete analysis of the data from each test and treatmentare presented in the next discussion.
4.2 The Result of Students’ Previous Profile on Vocabulary Items Understanding in Narrative Text
The students’ profile on vocabulary items understanding performance can be seen from the
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4.2.1 Students’ Motivation before the Treatment
The writer observed the students’ motivation before the treatment began. By using motivation rubric, the students’ motivation was observed based on their behavior during the
lesson. Here was the description of the assessment: Table 4.2.1 Students’ Motivation before the Treatment
The Scoring Items Poor Fair Good
1. Able to work well with happiness whether it is a group task or
individual task.
v
2. Able to adapt with the changing material/s and activity/ies durin
lesson.
v
3. Has good confidence in performing the task/s. v
4. Highly motivated for task/s with clear support and/or reinforcem
for completion.
v
5. Not cheating with others when doing the task/s. v
6. Stay focused during the lesson. v
7. Has good interest in learning English, especially in learning
vocabulary.
v
Based on the data above, the writer concluded that the students’ motivation before
the treatment was not that good. In point 1, the students’ was not able to finish the task
demotivated with their current performance regarding with the vocabulary understanding. They tried to cheat during the test and didn’t focus to the test. The good news was some students were interested with English before the writer came to the school. So, it was a good chance for the writer to improve their likeness and happiness in learning English, in this case learning vocabulary.
4.2.2 Description of the Pre-Cycle 1 Test
Before the treatment, a pre-cycle 1 test was used to check the profile of students’ performance on vocabulary mastery of narrative text. It was also used to measure students’
vocabulary understanding in general. So, this test was conducted at the beginning of the research.
The pre-cycle 1 test was conducted on 24th September 2013 before the treatment
began. The subject of the test was VIII A students in the academic year of 2012/2013 of SMP Negeri 22 Semarang. There were 30 students who took the test. The test contained 40 items and all of them were taken from“Fire Coming Out of a Monkey’s Head”song.
The writer went to the class with the homeroom teacher at that time. The teacher introduced me to the students. After short introduction, the homeroom teacher left and asked me to do the pre-cycle 1 test. The students were asked to prepare everything and not to do the wrong things such as cheating and asking. After they prepared their tools for taking the test and felt comfortable, the papers of the test were distributed through the class leader.
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some of them got difficulties in doing pre-cycle 1 test. The writer walked and asked around about the test. Some of them said that they got difficulties in translating the words and find the meaning. Some of them also said that it was because they didn’t know the synonym or
the antonym of the words.
Here is the result of the pre-cycle 1 test: The students’ average achievement
=
=
.=
36. 25%4.3 Students’ Improvement on Their Performance in Understanding Vocabulary Items
of Narrative Text
4.3.1 Cycle 1
On the first day, the students were asked about their understanding of narrative text in general. The writer also asked them about their previous post-test. They were asked about their difficulties that they had found in answering the questions. All the students were conveyed their problems to the writer. The writer tried to solve their problems with the treatment which was prepared before. A song was prepared as the treatment for the students. It was not a usual song; it was a narrative song which could improve students understanding toward narrative text. The tittle of the song was“Fire Coming Out of a Monkey’s Head”.
The lyric of the song was distributed through the class leader, and the song was played for several times to improve students understanding in narrative text. It was also used to improve students’ curiosity in learning new words. After they listened to the song,
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On the second day of cycle 1, the explanation about vocabulary was given to the students. It explained about the elements in vocabulary in general. After the explanation, the class leader was asked to distribute missing lyric papers to his friends. When all the students received it, the song was played and they were asked to listen to the song carefully, find the missing word, and write it to their missing lyric paper. The missing lyric paper was used to know the treatment process from the first day.
The writer also prepared a games for the students as the fun activity in learning vocabulary. The game was quite simple. It was just a matchmaking game related to the vocabulary (synonym and antonym) in the“Fire Coming Out of a Monkey’s Head”song.
The students were asked to form a group consisted of 4-5 person. Each group should choose the leader and the name of the group. When the group was formed, the leader should pick the material for matchmaking game from the writer. After the material was taken, the writer asked them to wait for the next instruction. The writer also gave the explanation about the rule of the game. The rule of the game was very simple; the correct group would be the winner.
The next instruction was given for the students to start the game. While the game was started, the writer observed their activeness and the participation in this game activity. The writer kept their activeness by cheering them to compete against other groups in a good way.
comments or correction when they found wrong answers. The writer noticed that they enjoyed the activity based on their faces, acts, and talks.
In this game, the writer not only observed their process in learning vocabulary but also determined the next activity for them to get a satisfactory improvement in learning this thing.
4.3.2 Description of the Cycle 1 test
At the end of cycle 1, the students were asked to do the cycle 1 test. This test was the same as the pre-cycle 1 test which was given in the first meeting, the only difference was the content of this test wassecretly kept. So, they didn’t know with the test similarity.
During the test, the writer observed the students activities and responses to the test. Some students tried to cheat other’s work. The writer tried to tell them not to do it. The
writer appreciated the result if they did the test by themselves. Here was the result of the cycle 1 test:
The students average achievement
=75%
=
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Based on the analysis above, the average of students’ achievement in learning vocabulary especially in narrative text had slight improvement. The students’ achievement percentage
improved from 36. 25 % to 75%. Almost all of them had little confident in answering the questions, but some of them seemed confused with the test. So, as the result, there were nine students who got bad scores. The writer concluded that this problem should be fixed in the next cycle.
4.3.3 Student’s Motivation in Cycle 1
In the cycle 1, the writer did the treatment for 3 meetings. In the first and second meetings, the students’ motivation during the lesson was observed to know their motivation in learning
the new material from the writer. Here was the motivation rubric from the meetings:
The Scoring Items
Meeting 1 Meeting 2 Cycle 1 Test
poor fair good poor fair good poor fair good
Highly motivated for task/s with clear support and/or reinforcement for completion.
v v v
Not cheating with others when doing the task/s.
v v v
Stay focused during the lesson. v v v
Has good interest in learning English, especially in learning vocabulary.
v v v
Based on the table above, the writer concluded that there were some improvements in students’ motivation in cycle 1 better than the pre-cycle 1. In the first meeting, the writer
introduced the song to the students. Some of them seemed surprised with the medium that the writer provided to them. They tried to understand with curiosity. After the writer gave some explanations, the students felt happy and wanted to know the use of this medium more than before. Their happiness was increased better than in the pre-cycle 1. However, it was the only thing which was improved in the first meeting of cycle 1, because some students seemed confused with the lesson. The use of song was the new medium for them in the school. The school itself hadn’t implemented the 2013 curriculum in its teaching and
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In the second meeting, students’ motivation had significant improvement. Their
happiness in doing the lesson was improved as well as their confidence in performing the task/s during the teaching and learning process. Their motivation was also improved when it came to perform the task/s with the support/reinforcement from the writer. The writer gave them some fun activities in the form of group and individual tasks. They could perform the task with great motivation, confidence, and their focus was in the fair level, but they couldn’t adapt in the changing environment (material and activity) yet. Maybe some developments and reflections could handle this problem in cycle 2.
There were also some improvements in their cycle 1 test behavior. The writer observed the students’ behavior during the test. Almost all of them had a good confidence in
finishing the test. They were not cheating each other. The focus was also in the fair level. The students were focused to the test and tried to remember what they had learnt in the cycle 1. In the end of the test, the writer asked them about the test. They said that it was very nice if they knew the vocabulary. It made them curious to know more about English vocabulary to support their understanding in learning English.
4.3.4 Cycle 2
level. They were very active in doing the translation activity with their friends. The result of the activity was also good. 80% of words from the total words in the lyric were translated. It proved that there was an improvement in translation elements of vocabulary.
The good result was also indicated in their second meeting of cycle 2. In this meeting, the writer did a question and answer session with the students. The activity was very simple. The writer only asked some questions related to the synonym, antonym, translation or usage to the students. However, the writer told them to listen and focus to the question and the answer. They were very excited to the activity because the writer provided some gifts for those who could answer the question.
At the end of cycle 2, the students were ordered to do the final cycle 2 test. In this activity, the writer also observed all the students’ activities and responses liked the writer
did in the last activity. As expected from the effect of the whole treatments, they were more confident in doing this final cycle 2 test. They could finish their work only 40 minutes. It meant that they could finish it 10 minutes earlier from a given time.
4.3.5 Description of the Final Cycle 2 Test
The final cycle 2 test was the last activity of this research. It was done after the writer giving some treatment from cycle one to cycle two in teaching and learning process. This test was held on 8th October 2013. The students were prepared for this test. This test was used to
measure students’ achievement from thepre-cycle 1 test until cycle 1 test. The writer wanted to know the improvement of their vocabulary understanding in narrative text.
