i
STUDENTS’ PERCEPTION ON THE IMPLEMENTATION OF INDEPENDENT LEARNING IN KUMON ENGLISH COURSE
JATIMULYO YOGYAKARTA
A SARJANAPENDIDIKAN THESIS
Presented as Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements to Obtain the Sarjana Pendidikan Degree
in English Language Education
By
Agatha Wikandhita Prawestri Student Number: 071214041
English Language Education Study Program
Department of Language and Arts Education
Teachers Training and Education Faculty
Sanata Dharma University
vii ABSTRACT
Prawestri, Agatha Wikandhita. 2012. Students’ Perception on the Implementation of Independent Learning in Kumon English Course Jatimulyo Yogyakarta. Yogyakarta: English Education Study Program, Sanata Dharma University.
Among typical instructors or teachers-based English course, there is an English course that uses independent learning for young learners. That English course is Kumon English Course. In Kumon English Course, students are not permitted to ask the instructor how to work with the problems on the worksheets. The researcher wanted to find out whether independent learning in Kumon English Course could develop children’s English skills or not. There were three problems presented in this research: (1) how far is independent learning applied in Kumon English Course? (2) what are the students’ perceptions on the implementation of independent learning in Kumon English Course? (3) how could the teaching-learning process of the implementation of independent teaching-learning in Kumon English Course be improved?
According to Rousseau, autonomy is a precondition for effective learning. When learners succeed in developing autonomy, they do not only become better language learners but they also develop into more responsible and critical members of the communities in which they live (as cited in Benson, 2001, p. 1). “Independent learning in Kumon English Course is intended to help children to develop their learning skills through learning the materials by CD-Textbook and doing the exercises by worksheets.” (Kumon Educational, 2011)
The researcher conducted a survey study by employing interview and questionnaire. The researcher interviewed 4 instructors and distributed questionnaires to 30 students to answer the research problems. The researcher also conducted library study to give some suggestions for the improvement of the teaching-learning process in Kumon English Course.
The first finding of the research is about the implementation of independent learning which comes from the experience of Toru Kumon. He did not apply the methods of learning from any theories. His mission is to help children acquire basic academic skills and become independent learners. Secondly, most of the students had a positive perception on the implementation of independent learning in Kumon English Course to develop students’ English skills. It was shown from the responses given in the questionnaires and interviews that 100% participants feel that Kumon has helped them to learn English. The last findings that the instructors should not permit students to move on to the next level if they have not mastered the current level’s materials, parents or instructors can help students to arrange their time management, and the instructor should use English in classroom’s conversations; with both the other instructors and students. Overall, it can be concluded that indepedent learning is considered as an effective way to develop students’ English skills.
viii
ABSTRAK
Prawestri, Agatha Wikandhita. 2012. Students’ Perception on the Implementation
of Independent Learning in Kumon English Course Jatimulyo Yogyakarta. Yogyakarta: Program Studi Pendidikan Bahasa Inggris, Universitas Sanata Dharma.
Di antara lembaga bimbingan belajar Bahasa Inggris lain yang umumnya bertumpu pada peran instrukturnya atau guru dalam proses pembelajaran, ada sebuah lembaga Bahasa Inggris yang berbeda dari lembaga Bahasa Inggris lain karena menggunakan metode pembelajaran mandiri bagi para siswanya, yang merupakan pelajar usia dini. Lembaga Bahasa Inggris tersebut adalah Kumon English Course. Dengan menggunakan metode ini, siswa tidak diperkenankan untuk bertanya kepada instruktur bagaimana cara mengerjakan soal / memecahkan masalah pada Lembar Kerja Siswa yang tersedia, Peneliti ingin mengetahui apakah belajar mandiri di Kumon English Course dapat mengembangkan kemampuan Bahasa Inggris anak. Peneliti menyajikan tiga masalah dalam penelitian ini: (1) bagaimanakah konsep belajar mandiri yang diaplikasikan di
Kumon English Course? (2) apa persepsi murid tentang pelaksanaan belajar mandiri di Kumon English Course? (3) bagaimanakah upaya-upaya yang dapat ditempuh guna meningkatkan proses belajar mengajar di Kumon Kursus Bahasa Inggris?
Menurut Benson (2001), kemandirian merupakan sebuah prasyarat bagi pembelajaran yang efektif. Ketika siswa berhasil mengembangkan kemandirian mereka, mereka tidak hanya meningkatkan kemampuan berbahasa mereka, namun juga mengembangkan tanggung jawab dan menjadi anggota yang kritis dari sebuah komunitas dimana mereka tinggal (p. 1). “Pembelajaran mandiri di Kumon English Course bertujuan untuk membantu anak-anak dalam mengembangkan kemampuan belajarnya melalui pendalaman materi dengan menggunakan Buku Teks yang dilengkapi CD, serta pengerjaan latihan soal / pemecahan masalah dalam Lembar Kerja Siswa.” (Kumon Educational, 2011)
Peneliti mengadakan survei menggunakan wawancara dan angket terhadap para siswa dan instruktur di Kumon English Course untuk menjawab pertanyaan-pertanyaan yang disajikan dalam penelitian ini. Peneliti juga melakukan studi pustaka untuk memberi beberapa masukan untuk peningkatan proses mengajar dan belajar di Kumon English Course.
ix
terakhir adalah masukan-masukan untuk Kumon English Course tersebut yakni: instruktur sebaiknya tidak memperbolehkan siswa untuk melanjutkan ke level pembelajaran yang lebih tinggi apabila belum menguasai materi di level yang tengah ditempuh, orangtua atau instruktur perlu membantu siswa dalam mengatur jadwal mereka, instruktur harus membiasakan diri untuk bercakap-cakap menggunakan Bahasa Inggris di dalam kelas, baik dengan murid maupun instuktur lain. Secara keseluruhan, dapat disimpulkan bahwa pembelajaran mandiri merupakan cara yang efektif untuk mengembangkan kemampuan Bahasa Inggris siswa.
x
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
The whole process in conducting the research and writing the thesis was one of greatest parts in my life. I could obtain this great opportunity to write my gratitude to everyone behind me in finishing this research because I could not do this alone. I would like to deliver the greatest gratitude to Jesus Christ because I have finally finished writing my thesis after striving until my last sweat to do the biggest part of my study.
I would like to convey my respect and gratidute to my sponsor, Carla Sih Prabandari, S.Pd., M.Hum. for her patience, guidance, and suggestions during the process of doing this research, and also her willingness to spend her busy time reading and correcting my thesis. Furthermore, I sincerely appreciate the kindness and assistance of the lecturers and administrative staff of the English Education Study Program. This would not be easy without them.
I am also thankful to the owner of Kumon English Course Jatimulyo, Yogyakarta, Ms. Shienny Leo, the instructors; Lucia Anggraeni, Lia Hariningtyas, Yosefina Nitsae, Savitri Wikansari and the students of Kumon English Course Jatimulyo Yogyakarta for supporting me in doing and completing the data needed for this research.
xi
love, laugh, prayer, and support that never end to give me strength to reach my dreams although I always do many wrong things to them.
My great thankfulness also goes to Bagus Perwira Laksmana, for his patience, guidance, and help from the process of doing this research, and Aegidia Pravitasari for the support. My greatest supporters, Thekla Ragam Reko Satiti, Yosephine Novitasari Suyoto, Prasetyani Dwijayati, Ernawati Sriningsih and all PBI ’07 for the laugh, cry, and time that we spent together in these four years.
My sincere thanks are addressed to Ria Hapsari, Dwi Nugroho Yulianto, and Alfonsus Rinardi who are always willing to share their knowledge and give suggestion for my thesis,Stefani Dwi Astuti for the support and suggestion, then for giving the laugh and entertainment when I start getting frustration in writing this thesis, and for the time we spent while doing this thesis in the library.
At last, my deepest appreciation also goes to many other names which cannot be mentioned one by one. I thank them for helping and supporting me in the process of doing this research for accomplishing my thesis. God bless every step of our lives.
xii
PERNYATAAN PERSETUJUAN PUBLIKASI ... vi
ABSTRACT ... vii
xiii
CHAPTER III. RESEARCH METHODOLOGY ... 22
A. Research Methods ... 22
B. Research Participants ... 23
C. Research Instruments ... 23
1. Interview ... 23
2. Questionnaire ... 25
D. Data Gathering Technique ... 26
E. Data Analysis Technique ... 26
F. Research Procedure ... 28
CHAPTER IV. RESEARCH FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION ... 30
A. The Implementation of Independent Learning in Kumon English Course ... 30
1. Teaching-Learning Process and Material ... 31
2. The Instructors’ Roles ... 32
3. The Parents’ Roles ... 33
4. Advantages and Disadvantages for Implementing this Method 33 5. The Children’s Responses on Independent Learning ... 34
B. Students’ Perception on the Implementation of Independent Learning in Kumon English Course ... 35
1. The Students’ Background Knowledge of English ... 35
2. The Students’ Learning Process inKumon English Course ... 37
3. The Students’ Result of Using Independent Learning ... 40
C. The Improvements of the Teaching Learning Process ... 42
1. Students’ Confidence and Motivation ... 43
2. Studets’ Self-esteem ... 44
CHAPTER V. CONCLUSIONS AND SUGGESTIONS. ... 46
A. Conclusions ... 46
xiv
REFERENCES ... 49
xv
LIST OF TABLES
Table Page
2.1 Kumon Programmes ... 17
3.1 Blueprint of Interview Form ... 25
3.2 Blueprint of Questionnaire Form ... 26
4.1.1 Kumon’s Curriculum...…... 32
4.2.1 The Result of the Students’ Background of Knowledge (Close-ended) ... 38
4.2.2 The Result of the Students’ Background of Knowledge (Close-ended) ………... 38
4.2.3 The Summary of the Students’ Background of Knowledge (Interview) ... 39
4.2.4 The Result of the Students’ Learning Process (Close-ended)... 41
4.2.5 The Result of Students’ Learning Process (Close-ended)... 42
4.2.6 The Summary of the Students’ Learning Process (Interview)... 42
4.2.7 The Result of the Students’ Result of Using Independent Learning (Close-ended) ... 46
4.2.8 The Result of the Students’ Result of Using Independent Learning (Close-ended) ... 47
xvi
LIST OF FIGURES
Figure Page
xvii
LIST OF APPENDICES
Page Appendix 1: The Result of Interviewing 4 Instructors….……….... 51 Appendix 2: The Questionnaire ...……….. 61 Appendix 3: Students’ Final Scores of Close-ended Statements ……… 64 Appendix 4: Raw Data from Open-ended Questionnaire Questions ……….. 65 Appendix 5: The Results of Interviewing 5 Students .……….... 70 Appendix 6:Permission Letter to Conduct Research ... 72
1 CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION
This research intends to figure out students’ perception on the implementation of independent learning in Kumon English Course. In this chapter, the researcher presents six parts namely research background, research problem, problem limitation, research objectives, research benefits, and definition of terms.
A.Research Background
Nowadays, learning English starts from the early ages. Some playgroup include English as one of the subjects. Since English is a foreign language in Indonesia, teachers have to teach the basics of English by interactive ways to make the children grasp the meaning. Philips (1993) explains that the kinds of activities that work well for children are games and songs with actions, total physical response activities, simple and repetitive speaking activities that have an obvious communicative value (p. 5). Those activities will make the children are enthusiastic and interested to the material. Whereas there is an English course that uses independent learning to develop children’s learning skills. Independent
learning in Kumon English Course means that the students do everything individually, such as listening to the CD-textbook and doing the worksheet. Kumon Asian (2011) explains that:
The starting point for each Kumon’s student is determined individually.
studying on their own. The worksheets have been designed in a way that allows students to figure out how to solve problems on their own.
It means the students are not permitted to ask to the instructors how to solve the problem on the worksheet. The instructors do not teach students in front of the class. They just accompany the students when students are doing the worksheet.
This research will gain the information whether the independent learning in Kumon English Course is useful to develop children’s English skills or not. It can be found out from the perception of people who experience in that independent learning process. “Perception is a pattern-recognition process coupled with some functional consequences for the system which performance such pattern-recognition. Learning is also a process. When we learn something in our process of learning, we can assess it is a good or not for ourselves and other people” (Moreno, Merelo, Etxeberria, p. 67). Perception and learning are intertwined in a simultaneous process. Therefore, the researcher can identify the perception on the learning process. From the students’ perception, the researcher will find whether the implementation of independent learning in Kumon English Course can develop children’s English skills.
The researcher tries to figure out whether CD-textbook and worksheet given by Kumon English Course help the students to learn English individually and can develop children’s English skill. The researcher also finds out the learning result
in Kumon English Course. Therefore, this research will enhance the teaching-learning process and develop the students’ learning-process in Kumon English Course.
B.Research Problem
Considering the preceding explanation, the problems of this research can be formulated as follows:
1. How far is independent learning applied in KumonEnglish Course?
2. What is the students’ perception of the implementation on independent learning in Kumon English Course?
3. How could the teaching-learning process of the implementation of independent learning in Kumon English Course be improved?
C.Problem Limitation
Kumon focuses on vital subjects such as Math and English. In this research, the researcher focuses only in English class. This research focuses on independent learning method in Kumon English Course. The researcher will investigate students who are studying by using Kumon’s method which is independent learning. There are four Kumon English Courses in Yogyakarta; Kumon Jati Mulyo, Kumon Griya Indah, Kumon Ungaran, and Kumon Wulung. The researcher conducted this research in Kumon Jati Mulyo. The researcher chose
Kumon Jati Mulyo because it had more students in English class than the others.
Since students in Kumon English Class do not learn English in a class with the instructor who will teach them about the lesson that day, therefore the researcher took 30 students from 60 students as samples in different level of study. Those 30 students were in the range of age 6 to 12 years old.
D.Research Objectives
Related to the problem formulation, there are three objectives that have to be accomplished in this study. They are stated as follows.
1. To describe independent learning method applied in Kumon English Course.
2. To identify students’ perception of the implementation on independent learning in Kumon English Course.
3. To give some suggestions of the teaching-learning process of the implementation of independent learning in Kumon English Course.
E.Research Benefits
The researcher expects that the findings of the research may give contribution for further education development. Besides, there are some benefits aimed to Kumon English Course, instructors, students and future researchers. 1. Kumon English Course
research can give input to the Kumon English Course about what things that should be developed or reduced toward the teaching-learning process.
2. Instructors of Kumon English Course
The instructors can know whether this independent learning in Kumon English Course develops students’ English skill. The researcher hopes this research can give input to the instructors about what things that should be developed or reduced about their roles in order to develop students’ self-learning. 3. Students of Kumon English Course
This research will be useful for students who are studying in Kumon English Course because they will know how far the independent learning that is given in
Kumon English Course can develop their English skills. They will know that independent learning is valuable to enhance student’s understanding in English, such as children are expected to be autonomous, discipline and having responsibility from what they must do.
4. Future Researchers
F. Definition of Terms
To gain clearer understanding in this study and to avoid misunderstanding, the researcher limits some definitions of important terms, namely:
1. Perception
According to Robbins (2005), “Perception is a process by which individuals organize and interpret their sensory impressions in order to give meaning to their environment”(p. 134). Therefore, they can interpret the information they gain by measuring and reflecting. In this research, perception refers to the way children interpret their experiences toward the implementation on independent learning when they are learning English in Kumon English Course.
2. Independent Learning
Independent learning is also called autonomy. According to Rousseau, autonomy is a precondition for effective learning. When learners succeed in developing autonomy, they do not only become better language learners but they also develop into more responsible and critical members of the communities in which they live (as cited in Benson, 2001, p. 1). In this research, independent learning refers to a learning method implemented in Kumon English Course. 3. Kumon English Course
Kumon English Course is an English course which employs independent learning as the learning method. Kumon uses this kind of method because Kumon
8 CHAPTER II
REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE
In this chapter, the researcher discusses the related literatures which become the basic of the study. This chapter is divided into two parts. The first part is theoretical description; which involves some important theories related to the research. The second part is theoretical framework; which provides the summary of the specific theories which are used as the guideline to answer the problems.
A. Theoretical Description
There are four points to be discussed in the theoretical description. Those are perception, independent learning, young English learners, and Kumon English Course.
1. Perception
According to Robbins (2005), perception is a process by which individuals organize and interpret their sensory impressions in order to give meaning to their environment (p. 143). As Altman, Valenzi, and Hodgetts (1985) point out, “Perception is the way stimuli are selected and grouped by a person so that they
obtain recently with the information that they obtained in the past. From those definitions, perception is viewed as the responses to a stimulus or to surroundings. However, perception will create behavioral responses. For example, when a child has positive perception of independent learning method in the place that he or she is studying, he or she will create a positive behavioral response toward that activity. A figure 2.1.1 figure out the perceptional process from a person gets the stimuli until he or she can response it in a behavioral.
Figure 2.1.1 The Perceptual Process
(Altman et al., 1985:86)
People have different ways to select and group the stimuli. It is different because there are several factors. Altman et al., (1985) explains that the way we interpret the information depends on several factors, including clarify and familiarity of the stimuli, our physical characteristics, our needs and values, knowledge, feelings, and past experience. McShane and Glinow (2005) explain that the attention from the environmental stimuli is based on our senses. (p. 76) Therefore, there are various factors that influence people’s perception although they have a similar stimulus.
Stimuli
Sensory’ selection of stimuli
Perception, organization, and interpretation of stimuli
“There are four vital factors which can influence someone to have
perception towards something.” (Altman, et al., 1985, p.86). They are: 1. Selectivity
A person cannot catch all the stimuli in his environment. Each person selects certain stimuli. The selection of stimuli will be different from one person to another. The different selection of stimuli because different interest towards something. It is supported by Gibson, Ivancevich, and Donnelly (1997) that people tend to ignore information or cues that make them feel discomfort. People will take the stimuli based on what they want and most of that stimulus is usually the positive one.
2. Organization of Stimuli
According to Gibson et al., (1997), individuals tend to perceive data as organized wholes. Stimuli that people perceived will influence people’s perception when organize them. “The selected stimuli should be organized in order to be meaningful.” (Altman et al., p. 87). The arrangement of stimuli affects the people’s perception.
3. The Situation
of situation.” (Altman et al., p. 89). People cannot perceive something that they have not experience about it.
4. Self-Concept
“Self-concept is the way someone perceives his or herself. The way people
feel and see themselves will affect their perception of surrounding.” (Altman et al., p. 90). Self-concept is very important because it will determine what a person perceives and does. For example, a student who feels that he or she is an independent person, he or she will enjoy and like to be in the environment which requires his or her independence, as in the implementation of independent learning which requires the children’ independent in learning the material. Children’s self-concepts can shape their like or dislike towards the implementation of independent learning.
Based on the explanation above, it can be concluded that everyone has his or her own point of view on something. The same object or event can be perceived differently by different person then leads to different behavioral response or attitudes. Related to this research, perception is the way how the students feel or think about and consider something, this case is the implementation of independent learning in Kumon English Course.
2. Independent Learning
lifelong learning, learning to learn, and thinking skills. According to Rousseau, autonomy is a precondition for effective learning. When learners succeed in developing autonomy, they do not only become better language learners but they also develop into more responsible and critical members of the communities in which they live (as cited in Benson, 2001, p. 1). From that statement, it is clear that being responsible on something has an interrelation in autonomy.
Besides, when the learners are being autonomies, they are not only developing their language skills but they are also learning how to be responsible on something. Learning English is about how people learn and practice by themself. Scharle and Szabo state that the best way to prepare them for successful language learning is to help them to become autonomous (as cited in Benson, 2001, p. 55). Therefore, when people are learning English, they need to become autonomous. Although independent learning is done by the learners, people around them also have the important role. The most important role is to be the motivator for them.
3. Young English Learners
Halliwell (1992), children have a well-established set of instincts, skills and characteristics which help them to learn another language. (p. 3)
It has long been hypothesized that children learn a foreign language better than adults. This is often used to support the earlier introduction of foreign language teaching. This idea is that because children’s brain is still able to use the
mechanisms that help the first language acquisition. However, Lightebown and Spada (as cited in Cameron, 2001) state that where native-like proficiency in a second language is the goal, then learning benefits from an early start, but when the goal is communicative ability in a foreign language the benefit of an early starts are much less clear. From that statement , it can be concluded that the main point of the benefit of an early starts learning English is such less clear because of the different needs, motivations, and context from children and adults when learn a foreign language. Beside all the main points, children have basic characteristics to learn a foreign language. These characteristics are more help them to learn a foreign language.
limited language resources which comes from children will produce their mother language in a foreign accent unconsciously when they do not know the word or the grammatical structure of the foreign language. It usually occurs in a classroom when learners need to communicate in an unpredictable occasion.
The third is children’s capacity for indirect learning can be an advantage for teachers. This skill is used by teachers to develop their self-learning. According to Halliwell (1992), children usually focus on guessing phrases and after passing a long process of guessing, children will have confirmed words and structure they only half knew at the beginning (p. 5). From that statement, it indicates teacher can give a motivation for children to learn the meaning of the phrases. Since children have good capacity in indirect learning, Halliwell (1992) also states that they will be interested to do real task in the language classroom (p. 6). Real tasks here mean the meaningful and interesting things to do which are not just language exercises. It is good to provide the children with an occasion for real language use and let their subconscious mind work on the processing of language while their conscious mind is focused on the task. For example, while the instructors are correcting the student’s worksheet, the students listen to the recording and try to
find the meaning of vocabulary.
(p.6-7). At the first range age, it can be used to introduce children with independent learning and at the second range age, this time can be used to develop their self-centered learning.
From all of the basic skills, it is clear that children can learn a foreign language from their basics skills individually. They have a strong basic skill to learn a new language independently.
4. Kumon English Course
Kumon is a course which uses independent learning for the teaching-learning process. Kumon is from a name of Toru Kumon from Japan. When Toru Kumon helped his son Takeshi studied Math, he made some worksheets to be done by Takeshi everyday at that time. This way made Takeshi had best score in Math. From that experience, Kumon method was born. It grew in the other subjects of study, such as English, Japanese and Mandarin. The description about
Kumon is explained as follow:
Kumon is a unique method of study which aims to give every child skills that last a lifetime. Kumon helps children to develop their learning skills and exceed expectations with worksheet and study centre-based programmed. Children are expected to do worksheet by themself. (Kumon Educational, 2011)
Therefore, to get progressing through the Kumon’s program, children will do a little piece of work every day. They will work with worksheets that have been prepared by Kumon. Kumon aims to improve students’ reading comprehension
Stage Level Content
Critique Block Stage V
L Figurative Language, Interpretation, Tragedy,
Critical Writing
I Persuasion, Argument, Description, Precise
HI/ HII
Reading Perspectives, Paragraph Connections, Character Variations, Summary Method Level H, Summarizing over Paragraph
GI/ GII
Reading Impressions, Identifying Paragraph
Elements, Identifying Sentiment, Summary Method Level G, Summarizing a Single Paragraph
Paragraph Building Block Stage III
FI/ FII Referring Words, Interpreting Text, requirement of Questions, Unraveling Text, Recounting Story Events, Concision
EI/ EII Links within Sentences, Diagramming Paragraphs, Scene Transition, Underlining Reason and Result DI/
DII
Complex Sentence Analysis, Statement from
Paragraphs, Topic, Main Idea, paragraph
Development Sentence Construction, Elements of Statements, Organizing Information, Synthesizing Ideas
BI/ BII
Subject and Predicate, Expressions in the Past, Modifiers, Making Statements, Defining Words, Identifying Ideas, Comparing and Contrasting AI/
AII
Simple Sentences, Basic Expressions, Making Short Sentences, Writing from Memory, Sentence Topics, Thought Sequence
Word Building Block Stage I
2A Word Puzzle, Function of Words, Oral Reading
3A Spelling Patterns, Take the Tail, Syllables, Sentence
Copying
4A Familiar Letter Combinations, Rhyming Skills,
Sentence Tracing
5A Letter Tracing, Sound Parts, Word Tracing
6A Simple Phrases, Familiar Sentence Structures
7A Familiar Words, Word Stories
Table 2.1.4 Kumon Programmes
(Kumon Educational, 2011)
paragraph building summarization and critical reading.” (Kumon Educational,
2011). From table 2.1.4, it shows the stages of Kumon’s curriculum. Kumon has six stages. One stage has some levels of study. For example, stage I has some levels, they are 7A until 2A. Each level has different content.
Before attending Kumon English Course, children will have a placement test. The placement test in Kumon is to help students to study at their own learning level. It is clear that Kumon English Course is made to help children to conceive their English skills based on their ability. Although Kumon just focuses on children’s interest in reading, Kumon also pays attention in the others English
skills. While doing worksheet (writing), children must be listening and speaking with CD-textbook. The implementation of independent learning in Kumon English Course is explained as follow:
Children will usually study two days a week in their local centre, and five days a week at home. At the centre, the instructor will select suitable work for the children and will monitor their progress, providing targeted support and feedback. The parents will need to mark and grade their child’s work on the days they study at home. This input is vital to success of the children’s study, and will mean they learn from corrections daily. Praise and
encouragement are also invaluable. (Kumon Educational, 2011)
Therefore, children are studying not only in that local centre (the building of
children have many times to study at home rather than in the local centre. Parents also have an important role for the successful result.
According to Kumon Educational (2011), the students succeed through their own efforts, but that success is made possible by a partnership between the student, instructors and parents. The parents’ roles are parents have to give
support and motivation for students in home, parents do not permit to teach or give correct answers to their children, and children must do their homework independently. At home, children have to also listen to CD-textbook independently. If parent roles do not work in this case, the independent learning would not work well.
The relation between parents, instructors, and students who are children is figured in figure 2.4.1 It figured that with the instructor's guidance and parents’ support, students have a framework for achievement. Students have to have support from their parents and parents have to give support to their children. The support could be a reinforcement or motivation to listen to the CD-textbook and do the worksheet. The students have to have guidance from the instructors and the instructors have to give guidance for the students. The guidance is used to monitor students’ development of study and to make sure that students understand what
they have learned. Since students learn English is not only at home but also in Local Centre (Kumon’s building), between parents and the instructors have to
Figure 2.4.1 Kumon Triangle (Kumon Educational, 2011)
The aim of Kumon’s method is not only to make the students smart in certain subject, but also to make they have a certain study habit, and to be autonomous. This research focuses in Kumon English Course. In Yogyakarta, there four Kumon English Courses, which are Kumon Ungaran, Kumon Jati Mulyo, Kumon Griya Indah and Kumon Wulung.
B.Theoretical Framework
This research focuses on students’ perception on the implementation of
independent learning in Kumon English Course. Therefore, in this research the researcher exposes four major parts of theories, namely perception, independent learning, and young English learners. Those theories are employed to provide a basis to gain students’ perception on the implementation of independent in Kumon English Course.
Students
Instructor
Learning methods used in Kumon English Course are independent learning, drilling, and study-habit. However, the researcher focuses on the independent learning. Independent learning is also known as autonomy. According to Rousseau, autonomy is a precondition for effective learning. When learners succeed in developing autonomy, they do not only become better language learners but they also develop into more responsible and critical members of the communities in which they live (as cited in Benson, 2001, p. 1) Those theories will help the researcher to have evaluation processes.
The discussion of the characteristics of young learners based on Halliwell (1992, p. 3-5) is also needed since this research deals with the activity of English language learning carried out for young learners. The understanding of the characteristics of young English language learners is needed by the researcher to understand the participants of this study. The participants of this study are children who are studying English at Kumon English Course. These characteristics help the researcher to understand the participants, their answers, and statements related to their perceptions and learning needs.
The stimuli which shape the learners’ perception is the English teaching
How do the students perceive the implementation of independent learning in
Kumon English Course? Do they perceive this teaching-learning process positively or negatively? According to Altman et al. (1985), the way the students perceive on something influences their behavioral responses. Students’ positive or
22
CHAPTER III
RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
The purpose of chapter III is to explain the method used to answer the three questions stated in chapter I. In this part, the researcher explains each part of the research methodology including what research method is used, how many participants are taken for this research, what research instruments are used and how the data are gathered and analyzed.
A.Research Method
In order to answer the problems stated in the research problem, the researcher employed a survey study. According to Ary, Jacobs, Sorensen, and Razavieh (2002), survey study is a study that permitted the researcher to summarize or measure the characteristics, attitudes, and opinions of several different groups toward some issues (p. 375). The survey study was used in this research because it could improve the assumption by providing timely and accurate information and the validity can also be checked. There were two instruments used in the survey research: interview and questionnaire. After interviewed some instructors, the researcher distributed questionnaire to the students. Then, the researcher interviewed some students to get deeper responses towards the independent learning implemented in Kumon English Course.
needed. Therefore, in this research, the researcher interpreted the data gathered from the participants in the form of number and verbal description.
B.Research Participants
The participants in this research were 4 instructors and 30 students in
Kumon English Course. Firstly, the researcher interviewed 4 instructors to find out how the independent learning method implemented. Then, to find out the students’ perception of the independent learning, the researcher distributed
questioners to 30 students who were 6 up to 12 years old. Because of the limitation of students in each Kumon English Course which had students who were in that range age, the research was conducted in Kumon Jatimulyo. It was because Kumon Jatimulyo had a lot of students in English class rather than other
Kumon English Course.
C.Research Instruments
In gathering the data, the researcher needed two types of instruments. The instruments helped the researcher to answer the problems in this research. The instruments were explained as follows:
1. Interview
to answer. In a closed question interview, the interviewer read the question and presented the participants with various alternative response options.
This research conducted an interview twice; first, to answer the first research question, the researcher interviewed 4 instructors and second, to get detail information toward the implementation of independent learning in Kumon English Course, the researcher interviewed 5 students. The participants were free to answer. The researcher used simple to make the participants understand and then answer the questions. The questions were in Indonesian because the participants did not master in English.
The first interview, the researcher interviewed 4 instructors in Kumon Jati Mulyo to find out how independent learning was applied in Kumon English Course. In table 3.1, the researcher made a blueprint of interview. This blueprint was used to draw a line about what would researcher ask to the participants.
Table 3.1
Blueprint of Interview Form
Second interview was used to ensure and recheck students’ responses in the researcher employed open-ended questions. It was conducted after distributing questionnaires to verify the result of the questionnaire. In this section, the researcher interviewed 5 students who had answered the questionnaire.
No. Questions Descriptions
1. 1 to 6 These questions asked about how the implementation of independent learning in Kumon English Course
2. 7 to 8 These questions collected data about the instructors’ roles 3. 9 to 10 These questions collected data about parents’ roles 4. 11 to 12 These two questions asked about the advantages and
disadvantages of independent learning for students 5. 13 to 15 These questions asked about the responses of the students
2. Questionnaire
Accoring to Seliger and Shohamy (1998), questionnaire is a printed form of data collection, which contain questions or statements for subject to respond, often anonymously (p. 172). The advantage of questionnaire was its ability to obtain data from a large number of samples in a relatively quick and economical way. The researcher used two kinds of questionnaires, namely closed-ended questionnaire and open-ended questionnaire.
a. Closed-ended Questionnaire
According to Wiersma (1995), in closed-ended questionnaire, the participants can choose their answers by circling or crossing the answer from the provided options since closed-ended questionnaire provides the participants some alternatives of answers (p. 181). The researcher applied closed-ended questionnaire by alternatives answer to help the participants find their perception.
Table 3.2
Blueprint of Questionnaire Form
b. Open-ended Questionnaire
As Ary et al. (2002) point out, in open-ended questionnaire, the participants can share their opinions, beliefs, and suggestions more openly (p.389). Therefore,
No. Questions Desciptions
1. 1 to 2 These two questioned asked about the students’ background knowledge of English
2. 3 to 9 These questions gathered data about the students’ learning process in Kumon English Course
open-endedquestionnaire required participants’ background knowledge about the related research.
The researcher employed open-ended questionnaire in the several numbers. It aimed to give the participants a freedom to share their reasons and opinions.
D.Data Gathering Technique
The instruments were used in this research were interview and questionnaire. The researcher conducted the process of gathering data and information in sequence steps. Firstly, the researcher interviewed 4 instructors about how independent learning was applied in Kumon English Course. Then, after getting the information of independent learning implemented, the researcher made questionnaires for 30 students who were 6 to 12 years old in Kumon English Course. The questionnaires were in Indonesian and used simple language in order to make the students could catch the meaning of the statement easily. After getting the data from the questionnaires, the researcher could give the idea for the improvements of independent learning in Kumon English Course. Since the improvement was related with the theories, the researcher used library study.
E.Data Analysis Technique
The questionnaires involved 16 questions. The 10 questions were about closed-ended questions. Because the participants were children, the researcher provided 6 open-ended questions to gain their reasons and opinion toward their answers of closed-ended questions. Each statement of the questionnaire indicated certain meaning that would interpret the result of the research. The researcher classified the same answers of each statement. The researcher made a classification of students’ perception based on the total score of each
questionnaire result. By the scale, students’ perception on the implementation of
independent learning in Kumon English Course could be measured from the total score of each respondent.
1. The students had good perception if the total score was between 7-12 2. The students had negative perception if the total score was between 0-6
After the researcher finished in sorting the same answers to each statement, the researcher continued to calculate the percentage of students’ responses. The percentages of the students’ responses to the questionnaire results were presented in the table and discussed in the form of paragraphs. After the questionnaire data in the first part were all collected and analyzed, the researcher analyzed the second data that was the results of open-ended questions. The percentages of students’ answers were presented and discussed in the form of paragraphs.
After the questionnaire data were collected and analyzed, the researcher conducted interview. The researcher chose 5 students yet filled the all level of study. The categorization of level of study was explained as follow:
2. Level D up to F : intermediate level 3. Level G up to L : advance level
The recorded data from the interview were transcribed and the data results from the interview were compiled with the other data from the questionnaire results both close and open-ended questions to answer the research problems. After finishing the data of interview, the researcher conducted library study to find some improvements of the teaching-learning process of the implementation of independent learning in Kumon English Course.
F. Research Procedure
The researcher passed several steps in conducting a research. First, the research decided the topic and the subject of the study. The researcher formulated research problems related to the topic. Then, the researcher conducted survey by designing a set of questionnaire as the instrument for doing a descriptive research. The questionnaire consisted of several statements used for answering the research problems. The researcher conducted interview to gain the information about the implementation of independent learning in Kumon English Course. The researcher interviewed 4 instructors. From the result of interview, the researcher made a questionnaire.
The researcher distributed the questionnaire to 5 students in Kumon Jatimulyo as a trial first and after that the questionnaire was distributed to the ‘real’ participants that were the students of Kumon English Course in Kumon
questions on the questionnaire and to chose the questions that were not related to the research.
30 CHAPTER IV
RESEARCH FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION
This chapter presents and discusses the data acquired from the result of interview and questionnaire from participants; instructors and students. Besides, this chapter also discusses the result of library study that will be the improvement of Kumon English Course. This chapter answers three questions stated in the research questions. Therefore, there will be three discussions in this chapter. The first one is the discussion about how independent learningwas applied in Kumon English Course. The second part discusses students’ perception on the implementation of independent learning in Kumon English Course. The last one is the discussion of the improvement of teaching-learning process at Kumon English Course.
A.The Implementation of Independent Learning in Kumon English Course
This section answers the first question in the questions research. This section was divided into five main parts, teaching-learning process and material, advantages and disadvantages, instructors’ rules, parent’s roles, and the students’ responses on the implementation of independent learning in Kumon English Course.
1. Teaching-Learning Process and Material
In this interview, the researcher gained more information about Kumon English Course from the some instructors, especially about learning method applied. From the interview result, the researcher gained the detail information that Kumon English Course was different with other English courses because of the learning method that was used. Kumon English Course used independent learning. From this method, Kumon English Course hoped students would have a certain study habit. Students were asked to learn the material with CD-textbook and worksheet.
As stated in the interview result, the first participant said that Kumon’s
materials were designed to help children to learn English not only to help them to master in final test in school, but also develop their English in general. Therefore,
Kumon’s curriculum was not same as Government curriculum.
Kumon’s program was started from introducing vocabulary and teaching basic reading skills. Kumon English Course used placement test to measure the students’ ability of English and to help them to study regularly at their own
learning level. From the placement test, KumonEnglish Course could understand the students’ development of learning. The achievement test was to measure the students’ understanding of what they have learned. The students would have a
remedial when they had bad scores. The explanation of placement and achievement test was shared as follow:
Saat anak ingin belajar di Kumon Kursus Bahasa Inggris, mereka harus mengikuti tes penempatan (TP) terlebih dahulu. Titik mula kelas adalah 7A, 4A, A, dan D. Setiap selesai menyelesaikan satu level, kami akan
memberikan tes penyelesaian pelajaran (TPP). Ini berguna untuk mengukur sejauh mana anak memahami apa yang sudah dia pelajari.
When children wanted to join Kumon English Course, they had to do the placement test which was called Tes Penempatan (TP). The starting point was in the level 7A, 4A, A, and D. Every level had an achievement test which was called Tes Penyelesaian Pelajaran (TPP). It was an assessment to assess how far children understood what they had learned. (Four
Participant, appendix 1) 2. The Instructors’ Roles
instructors had to motivate the students. The motivation like giving good comments such as “You are good.”, “You have done very well.”, “Keep studying.”, “You can do it.”. Then, the instructors had to monitor every student in the class in order to know his or her development in learning English in Kumon English Course. It was because the students’ characteristics were different and some of them had less motivation from family. The last role was the instructors had to communicate students’ development to their parents and parents also had to communicate students’ development at home while doing homework.
3. The Parents’ Roles
As stated in the interview result in appendix 1, all of the participants had the same answers toward the parents’ role. There was a relation between parents,
instructors and children. According to Kumon Educational (2011), the students succeed through their own efforts, but that success is made possible by a partnership between the students, instructors and parents. The parents’ roles were parents had to give support and motivation for students at home, parents did not permit to teach or give correct answers to their children, and the children must do their homework independently. At home, the students had to also listento CD-textbook independently. If parents’ roles did not work in this case, the independent learning would not work well.
4. Advantages and Disadvantages for Implementing the Method
habit and good pronunciation. Besides, they would be autonomous, responsible to do something and interest to try something new that was more challenging.
When the researcher asked about the disadvantages of independent learning in Kumon English Course, all of the instructors had their opinion. There were three of four participants said that since students had to do their worksheet independently, they were not confident enough to speak English in conversation. First instructor said that Kumon’s method was along-term program. If there were students who could not enjoy with this method at the first time, the aims of independent learning did not work.
5. The Children’s Responses on Independent Learning
Since independent learning implemented in Kumon English Course were something new for students and parents, therefore Kumon English Course had to introduce this program to students and parents. As stated on the result of the interview section in the appendix 1, the third instructor explained that:
Kumon mempunyai sebuah program bernama Coba Gratis, program ini digunakan untuk memperkenalkan metode yang kita gunakan kepada anak-anak. Selama program ini, instruktur akan mengamati sejauh mana
kemampuan anak dan kemauan mereka untuk belajar. Biasanya respon mereka sangat baik, mereka senang karena ini adalah hal baru bagi mereka.
Kumon has a program named Coba Gratis, this programis used to introduce Kumon’s method for students. During this program, the instructors will monitor students’ skills and willingness to learn. They are interested in this program because they like doing something new.
because it was different with the learning method that was used at school. The first instructor said that some of children complained about homework. However, homework would be a burden thing or not would depend on children’s environment. Forth instructor said that Kumon’s methods had good influences for the students, therefore they would be interested.
B.Students’ Perception on the Implementation of Independent Learning in
Kumon English Course
To answer the second question in the question research, the researcher distributed a questionnaire and interviewed students who were studying English in
Kumon English Course. This sectionwas divided into three main parts, namely the students’ background knowledge of English, the students’ learning-process in
Kumon English Course, and the students’ result of using independent learning in
Kumon English Course.
1. The Students’ Background Knowledge of English
The researcher found out the students’ background of knowledge of English by questionnaire and interview. The background knowledge of English was students’ interest in English. The students’ perception on teaching-learning
process at Kumon English Course was affected by their interests in English, because of the process of meaning of a stimuli was affected by our interest in the stimuli.
in English. There were 43,5% that had been studying English since they were in first grade Elementary School, 43,5% participants had been studying English since they were in Kindergarten, and 10% participants had been studying English since they were in Playgroup, and 3% participants had not got English in their school. The findings showed that most of the participants had enough background knowledge of English before they studied English in Kumon English Course.
Table 4.2.1 The Result of the Students’ Background Knowledge of English
(Close-ended Questionnaires)
Table 4.2.2 The Result of the Students’ Background Knowledge of English (Open-ended Questionnaires)
No. Statement Elementary Kindergarten Playgroup Not yet
The researcher chose 5 students to participate in the interview in order to get detail information related to their responses from the questionnaire. The students were chosen based on their level of study. On the interview section, the researcher asked the students to give more detail information about their background knowledge of English. The whole interviewed result showed in appendix 5.
English. My English teacher at school is so bad, I love Mandarin rather than English” (Participant 5, appendix 5). He thought that English was boring and a
difficult subject. He tend to like Mandarin because he thought that it was easier than English. All of those perceptions came from how they got English in school. 2. The Students’ Learning Process in Kumon English Course
In order to gain the information about the students’ perception in
independent learning in Kumon English Course, the researcher gathered information about the students’ learning process in Kumon English Course. The
researcher also gathered the information about the independent learning implemented.
For the third question, all of the participants (100%) felt that KumonEnglish Course helped them to study English. However, there were 93% participants were interested in Kumon’s method and 7% participants were not interested in Kumon’s
method. Furthermore, there were 70% participants who had no difficulty toward
For the next question, 80% participants could do their worksheet independently, and 20% could not do their worksheet independently. There were 50% participants were not accompanied by someone else while doing the exercises on the worksheet; 40% participants were accompanied by parents, 7% participants were accompanied by sisters or brothers, and 3% participants were accompanied by babysitter. Furthermore, 60% participants answered that homework was given by Kumon English Course did not disturb their playing time and 40% answered that homework was given by Kumon English Course disturbed their playing time. For the last question, 97% participants answered that homework was given by Kumon English Course helped them to study English in their home, and 3% participants answered that it did not help them.
Table 4.2.3 The Result of the Students’ Learning Process in Kumon English Course
(Close-ended Questionnaire) 8. If there is a wrong answer, students
work it out independently.
disturbs the students’ playing time.
12 (40%)
18 (60%) 11. Homework that is given by Kumon
helps the students to study at home.
29 (97%)
Table 4.2.4 The Result of the Students’ Learning Process in Kumon English Course
(Close-ended Questionnaire)
According to the first participant, “I got best mark in English at school since I joined Kumon. I am happy to study English independently” (Appendix 5). The other participant shared, “I like study English independently with Kumon English
Course because I can learn English through my own ability. I have joined the other course, but when I do not understand the material then my friends do, I will be left out” (Second participant, appendix 5). The other participants shared that they were interested with independent learning because help them to learn English independently and study listening with native speaker by CD-textbook.
Yet, some participants were not interested in independent learning in Kumon English Course. According to fifth participant, “I do not like independent learning in Kumon English Course. I am still 1st grade of elementary school and I am doing level G. I must do that difficult worksheet independently.” (Appendix 5) The researcher concluded that students who were in the higher level than their grade in school would have been less confident while doing the worksheet. The motivation from home such are parents, sisters or brothers or someone else would help them in this situation.
3. The Students’ Result of Using Independent Learning in Kumon English Course
This result was from what students had felt and got toward the implementation of independent learning in Kumon English Course. The result of using independent learning was related with the students’ English skills and the
increasing students’ score at school.
Table 4.2.5 The Effect on Implementing Independent Learning for Students in
Kumon English Course
(Close-ended Questionnaire)
No. Statements Yes No
12. In the table 4.8
13. Students’ vocabularies improve. 28
(93%) 15. Kumon helps the students study
grammar.
For example: After studying English in Kumon, students can understand Subject, Verb, Compliment,
Modifier, or Kumon helps students to learn Simple Present Tense and Simple Past Tense.
27 (90%)
3 (10%)
16. Students’ English score at school increase after joined Kumon.
speaking skills which were increasing, 13% felt that reading, speaking, and listening which were increasing, 3% felt that writing, reading, speaking were increasing, and the last were 3% felt that writing, speaking, and listening which were increasing. It was listed in table 4.2.6.
From the question number thirteen in table 4.2.5, 93% participants felt that their vocabulary was increasing since they joined Kumon English Course, but there were 7% participants felt that their vocabulary was not increasing. 23% participants were more confident to speak in English, and 77% participants were not confident enough. Furthermore, 90% participants felt that Kumon English Course helped them to understand grammar, but 10% felt that Kumon English Course did not help them. And last, 97% participants had a good mark in English at school since they joined Kumon English Course, 3% which was a participant who did not answer this question because he did not get English subject yet in his school.
The result of the interview showed that most of students in Kumon English Course had good impacts toward the implementation of independent learning. Some of them said that because of worksheet given by Kumon English Course, they had a certain study habit, that worksheet helped them to study in home, and they knew how to pronounce word based on the native speaker in CD. First participant said that he got best score in English test at school after he joined
Table 4.2.6 The Effect on Implementing Independent Learning for Students in study grammar. The forth participant shared, “Kumon helps me to study grammar, although I have not study about grammar at school. I have one up on than my friends.” (Appendix 5) The other participant shared, “Kumon helps me to
understand grammar even though it is so difficult. Kumon also helps me to become a though girl, because I must do the worksheet independently.” (Appendix 5) However, overall the participants said that they became good in speaking but not in conversation. All of the participants answered that by studying English in Kumon English Course, their English score in school increased.
C.The Improvements of the Teaching Learning Process in Kumon English Course
interview result. The researcher found three suggestions on the three problems that the researcher found from the questionnaire and interview result. Those showed from what children felt toward the implementation of independent learning in Kumon English Course.
1. Students’ Confidence and Motivation when in Advance Level
Since the researcher categorized the participants’ level of study, the researcher got the result that those participants who were studying in beginner and intermediate level enjoyed their lesson. They were confident when they were doing worksheet, and most of them had not found any difficulties yet. However, the researcher found there was less of motivation and confidence in students who were studying in advance level such as I, L, and K. Based on the interview, some of the students who were studying in high category level of study, they were bored with the worksheet because they found any difficulties.
cognitive skills, the instructors had to assure that students had mastered their lesson in their last level of study. The instructors could not permit students to do the next level if they had not mastered yet the materials of the last level.
The second possibility was less motivation from people around them. Luthans (2005) explained that motivation is a process that starts with a physiological or psychological deficiency or need that active a behavior or a drive that is aimed at a goal or incentive. For example, when students were getting bored with their assignments, the instructor or parents could help them with motivate them. The kind of motivation could be found from the students’ needs. When student was bored, the problem that usually occurred was students absent for a week or month or maybe they did not want to do their homework. Therefore, by helping students to manage their time management, it could help them to arrange their activities. Beside it could make they were more discipline, it also could encourage them to do the Kumon’s homework. The time management was to manage the time their playing, studying school subjects, going to any courses, and doing Kumon’s homework. Since people around them care about their
activity, children would feel comfortable to do their activity. 2. Students’ Self-esteem while having Conversation
