Developing Speaking Materials Based On Traditional Javanese Games For
The Students Of Senior High School In Indonesia
MENTARI SEKAR DEWI Email: mentarisekardewi@gmail.com
Abstract:
The research aims at developing speaking materials based on traditional Javanese games for the students of Fun English Club in MAN 2 Gresik. The main purpose of this study is to help the English teachers to create fun activities in teaching English by introducing traditional Javanese games as speaking instructional games to the students. To reach the purpose of the study, the researcher employed Research and Development
method (R&D) and adapted Hylands’ model. The researcher used three instruments to
obtain the data such as interview, questionnaires and observation checklist. The obtained data will be classified based on the instrument used. To show the results, the researcher explained them in quantitative and qualitative approach. The results show that most of FEC students give a good response toward the developed games. In addition, the experts gave an excellent judgment to the developed materials. After finishing all the stages, the researcher finally provided a handbook for the teachers to teach speaking. The book entitled “Javanese Games for ELT” which comprises of 10 chapters and 26 traditional Javanese games which have been modified in order to be applicable in teaching speaking.
Keywords: Speaking, Games, Traditional Javanese Games, English Club
Introduction
In teaching and learning language process, the ability to speak is considered as the main goal for EFL learners since it is the basic for communication with English-speaking people. Furthermore, the EFL learners are not exposed to English language environment which allow them to be accustomed to speak English. Khamkhein (2010:184) defines that of all four language skills, speaking is regarded to be the most important in learning a second or foreign language. In line with
the statement, Rahman (2009:4) also states that in many situations ones’ aptitude in a language is considered to the basis on how well the learners improve their speaking skill.
expressing their thought and idea in English. After more than twelve years studying English at school, the students still think that speaking English is difficult. The obstacles faced by the Indonesian learners are actually coming from their communication habit. They also do not get support from their environment to get used to speaking English.
It also happens to the students of Fun English Club (FEC). Although the program has 5 semesters to reveal English instruction and the activities mostly focused on ability of speaking, most of them still lack of confident to speak English with the tutors or even their friends. They are often getting tired and bored when the class is running. On the other hand, energizing the students is also one of the problems got by the teachers. Those problems happen because the class is begun after the formal school schedule. The teachers should work harder to build a fun situation during the learning process.
One solution that can help the teachers to awake the students’ motivation in teaching-learning process, especially speaking activities, is through games. Studying while playing always becomes a technique which may get the students’ interest. They are able to get a joyful atmosphere when they are in teaching-learning activities. Sanchez et al (2007:50) state that a game is considered a valuable technique, which includes three principle elements: competition, rule(s) and enjoyment, which should be well established by a teaching-learning objective. Students usually get bored in doing tasks from the teachers which only
prefer at monotonous activity. In this case, games are added as technique which is not only served as amusing activities but also as a technique to overcome the students’ boredom in doing tasks. Introducing games in language-learning class may create fun activities which can help students to have an interaction with their friends. Kiryk (2010:4) states that games are considered as fun activities that promote interaction, thinking, learning, and problem solving. Everyone believes that the main goal of teaching language is to get the students have good
communicative skill. Good
communicative skill is proven when students are able to express their thought and ideas. Al-Nafisah (2012:22) defines that games are activities which can increase students-talk and promote interaction among students for commu-nicative purpose. From the statements stated by some expert, the researcher concludes that games are considered as activities which are able to apply in language-learning classroom and decrease the students’ boredom during teaching and learning activity.
with the National Education System objective in Indonesia that the goals of national education are to create a person who is faithful and fears of God, is noble, healthy, knowledgeable, skilled, creative, independent, and a democratic and responsible citizen of Indonesia (UU
No.20/2003). Implementing the
traditional Javanese games in the instructional materials can be one of the best ways taken by the teachers to reach the objective of National Education System.
In Indonesia, one of the social-cultural conditions of its people is reflected in traditional games. These games contain traditional ways of life of Indonesian society (Setyaningrum, 2012:1). In this case, English takes its position as the main language which must be mastered by everyone. In line with the statement, Mulyadi (in Yulianti, 2012:196) also states that character building and education through traditional games is the way to develop the students’ positive character such as honesty, respecting others and teamwork. Considering those statements, the researcher will take a challenge to involve traditional Javanese games in her final product in learning activities. In this study, the researcher wants to develop the instructional speaking materials based on traditional Javanese games for the students of Fun English Club in MAN 2 Gresik.
Method
The research was conducted on March – May 2016 at MAN 2 Gresik. The school is located in Jl. Raya Metatu, Ds. Metatu, Kec. Benjeng, Kab. Gresik. The
subject of this research is the students of Fun English Club in that school.
All the students of Fun English Club come from the excellent classes. They are divided into four classes. Each class contains of 20-30 students. In this research, the researcher determines the sample of this research is the XI graders which are in the second semester of academic year 2015/2016.
The research design used by the researcher is classified into Educational Research and Development (R&D) that is principally designed to develop English speaking materials based of traditional Javanese games for the students of Fun English Club (FEC) in MAN 2 Gresik. R&D is an educational research in which the researcher uses the findings to configure new products and procedures, which then are methodically field- experimented, assessed and selected until they have specific criteria of effectiveness, quality, or similar standards (Meredith, 2003:569). The researcher uses the statement as the theory which supports the conducted research.
The second stage is developing speaking materials. The result of need survey is used as the basis of the development product. In this stage, the researcher will follow the five ways of organizing materials subject to Graves’ model (2000:149). They are determining the organizing principle(s), identifying the course units based on the organizing principle, sequencing the units, determining the unit content and organizing the units content and developing materials. The third stage is validating the developed materials by giving the materials to the expert. The goal of this stage is checking the materials whether there are some parts of the developed materials need to be changed or revised to fill the specific needs. After getting revision, the next stage is implementing the revised materials. The
development materials will be
experimented to the students. During the trial of development materials, the researcher will take the observation field-note. The result of the researchers’ observation is used as the basis of the second revision until it becomes the specific product and applicable to the students of Fun English Club.
To collect the data, the researcher uses three instruments which will be distributed to the teachers and students of Fun English Club. The instruments are questionnaires, interview guidelines and observation checklist. The obtained data in needs analysis will be presented in different ways. The interview data will be clarified descriptively, and to analyze the questionnaires and checklist result, the researcher will calculate them in the form of percentage.
Result
The developed materials were formed in printed book call “Javanese Games for ELT”. The researcher listed 26 traditional Javanese games and modified them based on the chosen topics or materials. The researcher also sequenced the materials into ten chapters in one book. The division of the book is presented in Table 1;
Chap ter
Level Material
focus
Games
Chap
Table 1 : Division of Book Chapters
In every chapter, the researcher presented each game in procedural text which contained topic, level, duration of
the games, objectives,
materials/equipment and steps how to do the games. The researcher also put a picture below the topics. The appendices were also available in the last page of the book.
After designing the product, the researcher continued on delivering the first draft of the product to the expert. It was intended to obtain the experts’ justification about the product. Expert Validation was divided into two types, as they were instructional review and technical review design.
The instructional review was divided into three types, as they were instructional content appropriateness, instructional materials effectiveness and instructional materials feasibility. The first expert argued that the content appropriateness
was categorized in Very Good scale since the mean value was 3.8 from 3.1-4. The materials effectiveness also reached 3.6 and it was categorized in Very Good scale. The first expert also gave high scores for the materials feasibility. Thus, it got 4 and it was categorized in Excellent scale.
The second expert validated the technical design of the product. The expert argued that the product obtained 3.3 score and it was considered as Very Good scale. In addition, the two experts give some suggestions which made the product more applicable. They suggested making the visual design more interesting, correcting some ill sentences and adjusting the character size to content of the book.
To know how the games worked for the students, the researcher employed the questionnaire about what games they liked and what games were helpful to improve their speaking skill. The researcher presents the result in table. The students were allowed to give checklist in every game they liked and every game which was helpful. The result can be inferred in Table 2;
No Name of Games
From Table, it could be inferred that the games theyliked most were Tek Dung, Cino Buto, Ular Tangga and Blind, Deaf and Dumb. Those games gained 17 points from all the students. Then, the games which got more point as dislike were Who Sits Behind and Maju Satu Langkah.
The researcher went on analyzing the students’ response by checking the highest point. She thought that all the games were helpful. It was true since the researcher found the students noticed that the games applied were very helpful. The games which were considered as the most helpful games were ABC Lima Dasar, Boi-Boian, Tek Dung and Who Sits Behind? It was supported by the high percentage obtained in Agree and Agree Strongly scale. 58.8% of FEC students strongly agreed and 42.1% agreed that the games were fun. The researcher also foun that most of FEC students wished to play the games again. It was supported by the high percentage given by the students. 53% of students wished to play the games again, 41.1% of students strongly agreed.
Discussion
As mentioned in introduction, the purpose of this research is to develop speaking materials based on traditional Javanese games for the students of Fun English Club in MAN 2 Gresik. The research produced a book entitled “Javanese Games for ELT” which was developed with Hylands’ model (2003). The games were submitted in line with the materials taught in Fun English Club. The researcher found 52.4% of FEC students agreed to have more games in their
speaking class. Therefore, traditional Javanese games were modified in order to be applicable as English instructional teaching. From the teachers’ interview result, traditional Javanese games are very suitable given to FEC students since most of them had already forgot their culture.
Traditional Javanese games had become a great culture which should be perpetuated. Applying the games in teaching-learning process is one of the ways. Some games probably need some equipment but over the try-out, the researcher didn’t find difficulties in providing them. Most of all the equipment was easy to find and make. From the observation checklist, some items were not available but most of FEC students like playing the games. They gave very positive response towards the games. It indicates that the games in book “Javanese Games for ELT” are able to awake their motivation in learning English especially in speaking class.
should be covered with a handkerchief. She/he should touch her/his friend and guess who. If he/she succeeds, the one who had been touched should give one word and the player should make a sentence based on the word mentioned. The researcher also found the very helpful game is ABC Lima Dasar which is in this game the students are able to mention some words which then should be spelled.
“Javanese Games for ELT” book is suggested for the teachers as a handbook to teach speaking since most of the games are developed to help the students improve their speaking skill. In addition, the book also contains some traditional Javanese Games which are already ignored by the young generation. Thus, the book acknowledges again the Javanese culture by adding some traditional games as the instructional materials to teach speaking for senior high school students in Indonesia.
Conclusion And Suggestion
After the entire of the research, the study produced a teachers’ handbook to teach speaking entitled “Javanese Games for ELT”. The researcher also concluded that all students enjoyed the games activity. The researcher believed that the developed materials and the games had been appropriate to the students. FEC students gave positive response to all the activities in “Javanese for ELT” book. They were appreciate and feeling helpful during playing traditional Javanese games in speaking class.
After experiencing the research, the researcher gave suggestions for the following object:
1. The teachers are recommended to be innovative in providing fun activities in English class. To create a joyful atmosphere, the teachers should find a way to motivate the students. One of the ways is using games. Since most of the students would rather to play games than read a textbook, the teachers may use “Javanese Games for ELT” as handbook to teach speaking. Through this book, the teachers are also expected to introduce again the original culture of Java to the students.
2. The researcher suggests to the students to always improve their speaking ability. They do not feel hesitant and afraid of speaking English anymore. There are many fun ways to practice their speaking and one of them is playing games. “Javanese Games for ELT” book contains some traditional Javanese games which have many advantages. Therefore, the students are expected to learn English more without ignoring their original culture.
3. The next researchers are
recommended to develop more traditional Javanese games and apply them in English class. Since the researcher had limited time to practice the games, the next researchers are expected to do a research in sufficient time in order to get the best result. In addition, the next researchers are also expected to keep their motivation in learning and creating fun way to teach English.
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