A STUDY ON DIGITAL NATIVE’S LEARNING STYLE IN
LEARNING ENGLISH OF 8
THGRADE STUDENTS OF
SMP NEGERI 1 MALANG
THESIS
by
NOVI DWI PRATISTA ARIFIANA
201010100311284
ENGLISH DEPARTMENT
FACULTY OF TEACHER TRAINING AND EDUCATION
UNIVERSITY OF MUHAMMADIYAH MALANG
ii
A STUDY ON DIGITAL NATIVE’S LEARNING STYLE IN
LEARNING ENGLISH OF 8
THGRADE STUDENTS OF
SMP NEGERI 1 MALANG
THESIS
This thesis is submitted to meet one of the requirements to achieve
Bachelor Degree in English Education
by
NOVI DWI PRATISTA ARIFIANA
201010100311284
ENGLISH DEPARTMENT
FACULTY OF TEACHER TRAINING AND EDUCATION
UNIVERSITY OF MUHAMMADIYAH MALANG
iii
This thesis written by Novi Dwi Pratista Arifiana was approved on February 4, 2015
Advisor II
Advisor I
iv
This thesis was defended in front of examiners of Faculty of Teacher Training and Education of University of Muhammadiyah Malang
and accepted as one of the requirements to achieve Sarjana Degree in English Education
on February 4, 2015
Approved by:
Faculty of Teacher Training and Education University of Muhammadiyah Malang
Dean,
Dr. Poncojari Wahyono, M.Kes
Examiners: Signature:
1. Bayu Hendro Wicaksono, M.Ed, Ph.D 1. ………
2. Adityo, S.S, M.A 2. ………
3. Drs. Soeparto, M.Pd 3. ………
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MOTTO AND DEDICATION
“If you do not believe in your own ability to accomplish your goals, believe in
Allah’s ability to help you”
I dedicated this thesis to:
My beloved father and mother
My beloved sister and brother
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A STUDY ON DIGITAL NATIVE’S LEARNING STYLE IN LEARNING ENGLISH OF 8TH GRADE STUDENTS OF SMP NEGERI 1 MALANG
ABSTRACT
This research was based on the fact that today’s students are different with the previous era students. Today’s students are called Digital Native. According to Prensky (2001), digital native is a generation who are born in technology development. This generation has different characteristics which are affected their learning style. Learning style is a way of people to remember or understand something in learning that will help the student to achieve the learning goal (Prithchard, 2008). This research tried to find out the kinds of learning style used by the 8th grade students of SMP Negeri 1 Malang in learning English and learning style that is preferable to be used by the 8th grade students of SMP Negeri 1 Malang in learning English.
This research is a descriptive research that describe a state of the affair as it
exists at present” (Kothari, 2004:37). The population of this research was the second year or the 8th grade digital native students of SMP Negeri 1 Malang. The writer took
10 students from 2 classes and used purposive sampling technique. The instrument that used to get the data was interview.
From the interview that had been conducted, the writer found 5 kinds of learning styles used by the 8th grade digital native students at SMP Negeri 1 Malang, they are visual, aural, verbal, social and solitary. Also, the learning style that preferable used by the 8th grade digital native students at SMP Negeri 1 Malang is social learning style.
Keywords: digital native, learning style
The Advisor I, The Writer,
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ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
Alhamdulillah and all praise to the Almighty, Allah SWT, the Lord of this
universe, who gives the writer his guidance and blessing to write this thesis as the
requirement to achieve undergraduate degree in English Education at University of
Muhammadiyah Malang.
The writer would like to express her appreciation and sincere gratitude to
Drs.Soeparto, M.Pd. (Advisor I) and Rahmawati Khadijah Maro, S.Pd M.PEd.
(Advisor II) for their guidance, suggestion, advice and comment during the
completion of this thesis.
Her sincere gratitude and respect are also extended to the teacher and
headmaster of SMP Negeri 1 Malang who had given her the opportunity to conduct
research.
Finally, a special thank and gratitude goes to her beloved parent (Syamsul
Arifin and Tri Wahyu Agustini), her beloved brother (Fendy), her beloved sister
Betie, also her best friends (Ika, Cicik, Kiki, Fery, Bayu) for their encouragement,
love, prayers, sacrifice, and support in a good and a bad time of her life.
Malang, January 26, 2015
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CHAPTER IV: RESEARCH FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION………….. .. 22
4.1 Research Findings ... 22
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REFERENCES
Advanogy. 2014. Overview of Learning Styles. Learning-Styles-online.org Available at:
http://homeworkstipsabout.com/od/homeworkhelp/a/learningstyles. Accessed on May 10, 2014.
Arbuthnott, D.K, and Kraützig, P.G. 2006. ‘Perceptual Learning Style and Learning Proficiency: A Test of the Hypothesis’ Journal of Education Psychology, (98) 1, p. 238-246.
Available at:
http://medsci.indiana.edu/Kratzig_learningstyles_edpsych_2006. Accessed on June 27, 2014.
Ary, D., Jacobs. L.C., and Sorensen.C. 2010. Introduction to Research in Education 8th Edition. Belmont: Wadsworth Cengage Learning.
Bogdan, R.C and Biklen, S.K. 2003. Qualitative Research for Education: An Introduction to Theory and Methods 4th Edition. United States of America: Pearson Education Group.
Boyce,C and Neale, P. 2006. Conducting In-Depth Interviews: A Guide for Designing and Conducting In-Depth Interviews for Evaluation Input. Pathfinder International. Available at:
http://pathfinder.org/site/DocServer/m_e_tool_series_indepth_interview s.pdf Accessed on October 10,2014.
Creswell, J.W. 2012. Educational Research: Planning, Conducting, and Evaluating Quantitative and Qualitative Research. Boston: Pearson Education.
Davis, Sandra.E. 2007. ‘Learning Style and Memory’ Institutes for Learning Style Journal, (1) Fall, 46-51. Available at:
http://auburn.edu/Davis_ilsjr_fall2007.pdf Accessed on June 27, 2014.
Gravett, L and Throckmorton, R. 2007. Bridging The Generation Gap. Canada: Career Press.
Johnson, Ronnie. 2003. Memletics Memeletics Learning Styles Inventory.
http://www.ronniejohson.info/files/creativeteaching/memeletics-learning-styles-inventory.pdf Accessed on April 17, 2014.
Kothari, C.R. 2004. Research Methodolygy: Methods and Techniques 2nd Edition.
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Mahardikaningtyas, E. 2009. The Study Of The Students’ Learning Style In Listening Comprehension Of Second Year Student SMP 2 Blitar. Malang: Unpublished Thesis, University of Muhammadiyah Malang.
Oxford, R.L. 1992. Language Learning Strategies. Massachusetts: Heinle & Heinle Publishers.
Prensky, Marc. 2001. Digital Native, Digital Imigrant, Part I and Part II. From on the Horizon: NCB University Press, Vol 9 No 5. Available at: http://www.marcprensky.com//writing/prensky-digital. Accessed on May 15, 2014
Pritchard, Alan. 2009. Ways of Learning: Learning Theories and Learning Style in The Classroom 2nd Edition. New York: Routledge.
Rahman, Arif. 2011. A Study On Digital Natives’ Learning Style Of First Semester
Students Of University Of Muhammadiyah Malang. Malang:
Unpublished Thesis, University of Muhammadiyah Malang.
Santrock, John W. 2011. Educational Psychology. New York: McGraw-Hill Companies.
Syaro, R. M. 2012. A Study of Learning Styles Used by Digital Native Learners at
SMPN 2 Sukapura Probolinggo. Malang: Unpublished Thesis,
University of Muhammadiyah Malang.
1 CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION
This chapter provides the basic idea related to the study. It presents
background of the study, statement of problem, purpose of study, significance of the
study, scope and limitation, and definition of the key terms.
1.1Background of the Study
Learning can be defined as a relatively permanent change in behavior that
occurs through experience (Santrock, 2011: 217). It is a lifelong process that starts
before the school time and continues even after it rapidly. No matter a man or
woman, young or adult, everybody does learning. One of the basic learning in
someone’s life is language learning.
Language is one of human’s basic needs. In Indonesia, English is still a foreign language, but it becomes an obligatory subject to study. In teaching and
learning English, the students at least have to master the four English skills.
Therefore, the teacher has to provide material and condition that can develop their
English skills.
In fact, the teaching and learning process is not always like what is
expected. The students will have various mark although they had been thought with
the same technique, material and condition. It happens because every students has
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language learning. Teachers often deliver instruction as though all students think
alike. In fact, students are different. They perceive and learn in different ways. The
way that student used in learning called learning style.
According to Pritchard (2009: 41) learning style is individual preference
in intellectual approach to think, process information, and demonstrate learning. It
can be categorized into seven types (Johnson, 2003). They are visual, aural, verbal,
physical, logical, social and solitary. By using learning style, students can develop
their English skill based on their interest, abilities and preferences.
Learning style determines the successfulness of teaching and learning
process. Thus, it is not only important for the students, but also the teacher. The
teacher has the role to know and understand his students’ learning style which is
related with the students’ characteristics. By knowing the students’ characteristics, the teacher can help the students to achieve the learning goal. As one of research
topics in education, there are many previous researches about learning style. The
writer found three studies related to learning style.
The first is Mahardikaningtyas’ study (2009). He studied on the students’
learning style in listening comprehension of second year student SMP 2 Blitar and
found seven types of learning style. Those were visual, aural, verbal, logical,
physical, social, and solitary. Also, the style mostly used by the students were social
and physical learning styles.
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characteristics. Today’s students are different with those of the previous generation According to Pernsky (2001), students who born in technology era are like spending
their time with internet, computer, cell phones and video games, they are called the
Digital Native. Prensky has stated this generation is really fast in receiving
information than the previous generation. It is because their thinking pattern is
already influenced with technology which is really fast and easy in searching
information. They are also multitasking and like doing parallel process. They can do
two or more activities at the same time because they used to do it when operating
more than one technology. Digital native likes to see graphic chart than text and
random access like hypertext which is influenced by the content in computer.
Moreover they are good in networking and prefer games than serious work. This is
because they like to interact with other and in games they can use all their skills and
abilities.
Based on the explanation above, there is necessity in studying the
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different characteristics that will cause different learning style. By knowing the
students’ learning style will help the teacher and students to avoid the discrepancy
between the teaching style and students learning style. Therefore, they can achieve
the learning goal.
Thus, the writer wants to study on the digital native students’ learning
style in learning English. The writer chose the 8th grade students of SMP Negeri 1
Malang to do this research because the students have their own learning style, but still
need guidance from the teacher. Also, this school is one of the favorite schools in
Malang that support the digital learning by providing Wi-Fi area around the school.
Therefore, SMP Negeri 1 Malang students are digital native students.
1.2Statement of Problem
Based on the background of the study above, the problems of this study
are:
1. What kinds of learning style are used by the 8th grade students of SMP Negeri
1 Malang in learning English?
2. What is the preferable learning style that used by the 8th grade students of
SMP Negeri 1 Malang in learning English?
1.3 Purpose of the Study
Based on the statement of problems above, the purposes of the study are:
1. To find out the kinds of learning style used by the 8th grade students of SMP
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2. To identify the preferable learning style used by the 8th grade students of SMP
Negeri 1 Malang in learning English.
1.4 Significance of the Study
The result of this study is expected could give some contributions. First,
the result of this study can be useful for the English teacher. The writer hopes that the
teacher can identify and know students’ learning style, so the teacher can teach with the suitable technique for the students’ learning style. For the students, the writer hopes that they will optimize their learning style. Thus, when they apply it, they can
learn comfortably and improve their English skill. The last, it is hoped, this study will
be useful for the academic reference for the next researchers.
1.5 Scope and Limitation
The scope of this study is the students’ learning style in learning English. This study is limited at the 10 students of the 8th grade students of SMP Negeri 1
Malang.
1.6 Definition of Key Terms
To avoid misunderstanding about some key terms used in this study the
writer gives the definition of key terms as follow:
Digital Native : is a person born in technology era and is familiar with
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Learning style : is an approach or way in learning that is different from
one person to others.
SMP Negeri 1 Malang : is one of senior high school in Malang that located at
