i TEACHERS’ PERCEPTIONS
OF ENGLISH LANGUAGE TEACHING MEDIA
A THESIS
Presented as a Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements to Obtain the Magister Humaniora (M. Hum.) Degree
in English Language Studies
by
Hyasintha Lusia Soko Student Number: 116332028
THE GRADUATE PROGRAM IN ENGLISH LANGUAGE STUDIES SANATA DHARMA UNIVERSITY
vi ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
As I am completing the final stage of my graduate study, I would like to express my gratitude to those who shared their care, love and compassion to me with their own ways so I can responsibly finish this particular chapter of my life.
I initially would like to express my gratitude to Dr. B. B. Dwijatmoko, M.A., my supervisor, for patiently supporting and guiding me during the completion of this thesis. I am also thankful for the valuable knowledge and information shared, which enlightened me during the consultation process.
My deepest appreciation goes to Drs. F. X. Mukarto, Ph.D. and Dr. Emanuel Sunarto, M.Hum., my thesis reviewers, for sparing their time to give feedback for the improvement of this thesis.
I also would like to thank all faculty members of the graduate program of English Language Studies, Sanata Dharma University. To all the lecturers, for sharing valuable knowledge and giving positive input during my time in this study program. Also to mbak Marni and pak Mul for every single information given whenever I needed it. My gratitude is also addressed to Drs. Tarsisius Sarkim, M.Ed, Ph.D., for wisely giving me chance to prove that I was able to finish what I have already started.
I am also thankful for the togetherness I have with all my ELS colleagues, especially to mbak Ayu, mbak Ina and Deasy who continuously encouraged each other to have faith and be optimistic that we all could possibly finish our thesis writing.
vii me whenever I need them, encourage me that I am able to handle all the difficulties and problems faced so far. Also to Jacob Alackal, for the continuous scolding as well as enticement that motivated me to finish my study.
I thank also many who are not mentioned here, for I do believe that everyone whom I meet every day of my life, one way or another, has an important role in shaping me as a better person.
viii
LEMBAR PERNYATAAN PERSETUJUAN PUBLIKASI KARYA ILMIAH ... v
ix
1. Teachers’ understanding and View of Media ... 59
a. Classification of perception based on each respondent ... 59
b. Classification of perception based on each statement ... 60
2. Teachers’ action toward Software Media ... 60
a. Classification of perception based on each respondent ... 61
b. Classification of perception based on each medium ... 62
3. Teachers’ action toward Hardware Media ... 62
4. Teacher’s Reflection of ELT Media Usage ... 63
CHAPTER IV RESULTS AND DISCUSSIONS ... 64
x
B.Teachers’ understanding of ELT media ... 65
1. Data from the Questionnaire ... 65
2. Data from the Interview ... 70
3. Discussion ... 72
C.Teachers’ views of ELT media ... 74
1. Data from the Questionnaire ... 75
2. Data from the Interview ... 77
3. Discussion ... 80
D.Teachers’ action toward ELT media ... 82
1. Data from the Questionnaire ... 82
a. Software Media ... 82
1) Listening ... 83
2) Speaking ... 84
3) Reading ... 85
4) Writing ... 86
b. Hardware ... 87
1) Audio ... 88
2) Visual ... 89
3) Audio-visual ... 90
2. Data from the Interview ... 90
3. Discussion ... 92
E. Other findings ... 97
CHAPTER V CONCLUSIONS ... 99
A.Conclusions ... 99
B.Suggestions ... 100
BIBLIOGRAPHY ... 101
xi LIST OF TABLES
Table 3.1 : Rank Input Value ... 61
Table 3.2 : Maximum & Minimum Score of Hardware Media ... 63
Table 4.1 : Overall Result ... 65
Table 4.2 : Teachers’ understanding of ELT media ... 66
Table 4.3 : Teachers’ views of ELT media ... 75
Table 4.4 : Software Media Usage for Listening Skill ... 83
Table 4.5 : Software Media Usage for Speaking Skill ... 84
Table 4.6 : Software Media Usage for Reading Skill ... 85
Table 4.7 : Software Media Usage for Writing Skill ... 86
Table 4.8 : Hardware Media Usage for Audio Software Media ... 88
Table 4.9 : Hardware Media Usage for Visual Software Media ... 89
xii LIST OF APPENDICES
Appendix 1. Questionnaire ... 105
Appendix 2. Interview Lists ... 111
Appendix 3. Data of Teachers’ understanding and Views of ELT Media ... 112
Appendix 4. Teachers’ action toward ELT Media (Listening) ... 113
Appendix 5. Teachers’ action toward ELT Media (Speaking) ... 114
Appendix 6. Teachers’ action toward ELT Media (Reading) ... 115
Appendix 7. Teachers’ action toward ELT Media (Writing) ... 116
Appendix 8. Hardware Media Usage (Audio) ... 117
Appendix 9. Hardware Media Usage (Visual) ... 118
Appendix 10. Hardware Media Usage (Audio-Visual) ... 119
xii ABSTRACT
Soko, Hyasintha Lusia. 2017. Teachers’ Perceptions of English Language Teaching Media. Yogyakarta: The Graduate Program in English Language Studies, Sanata Dharma University.
As the demand of English mastery becomes rapidly higher nowadays, a teacher, as one of the main input in English language teaching and learning plays important role in maximizing the students’ learning achievement. What is meant by achievement here is not simply a rich knowledge or a good grade, but the most important thing is how the students use the knowledge they gained at school and contribute positively to the society. Thus, the teacher has a big responsibility in facilitating the students in learning. Meanwhile, media, for such a long period are applied in assisting teachers to deliver the teaching material in the classroom, as some researchers find that having ELT media is beneficial for both the teachers and students.
As for how the teachers view, experience and evaluate the ELT media are considered as crucial deals in media implementation, this study aims to investigate the teachers’ perceptions of ELT media. This study is classified into three main dimensions of perception proposed by Vernon (1987) namely understanding, view and action.
By conducting a survey study, the researcher collected, analysed, elaborated and eventually drew conclusion dealing with the teachers’ perceptions of ELT media. The main data of this study were collected with a questionnaire, which was distributed to 30 English teachers in the city of Yogyakarta, while the secondary data were gathered by distributing another questionnaire and conducting interview section with three of those 30 teachers.
The data from the questionnaire were elaborated by applying Riduan’s (2012) formula, so the finding of each of perception dimensions can be classified into certain categories whether very positive, positive, negative or very negative. These categories then led the researcher in drawing the conclusion to answer the question of this particular study. In addition, the secondary data were gathered to confirm and enrich the main data.
xiii ABSTRAK
Soko, Hyasintha Lusia. 2017. Teachers’ perceptions of ELT media. Yogyakarta: Program Pasca Sarjana Kajian Bahasa Inggris, Universitas Sanata Dharma.
Seiring tuntutan penguasaan bahasa Inggris menjadi semakin tinggi saat ini, seorang guru, sebagai salah satu masukan utama dalam pengajaran dan pembelajaran Bahasa Inggris memainkan peran penting dalam memaksimalkan prestasi belajar siswa. Yang dimaksud dengan prestasi di sini tidaklah sesederhana pengetahuan yang kaya dan nilai yang memuaskan, namun hal yang penting adalah bagaimana para siswa menggunakan pengetahuan yang diperoleh di sekolah dan memberikan kontribusi positif di masyarakat. Dengan demikian, guru diberi tanggung jawab besar dalam memfasilitasi siswa dalam belajar. Sementara itu, media untuk jangka waktu yang panjang diterapkan dalam membantu guru dalam menyampaikan materi pengajaran di kelas, seperti apa yang menjadi penemuan beberapa peneliti, mengikutsertakan media dalam pengajaran Bahasa Inggris membawa dampak positif baik bagi guru maupun siswa.
Karena bagaimana guru memandang, mengalami dan mengevaluasi media dalam pengajaran Bahasa Inggris dianggap sebagai aspek penting dalam implementasi media, penelitian ini bertujuan untuk mengetahui persepsi guru terhadap media dalam pengajaran Bahasa Inggris. Penelitian ini dijabarkan menjadi tiga dimensi utama persepsi sebagaimana dipaparkan oleh Vernon (1987), yaitu pemahaman, pandangan dan tindakan.
Dengan melakukan studi survei, penulis mengumpulkan, menganalisa, menguraikan dan pada akhirnya menarik kesimpulan yang berhubungan dengan persepsi guru terhadap media dalam pengajaran Bahasa Inggris. Data utama penelitian ini dikumpulkan dengan kuesioner, yang dibagikan kepada 30 guru Bahasa Inggris di kota Yogyakarta, sedangkan data sekunder dikumpulkan dengan membagikan kuesioner lain dan melakukan wawancara dengan tiga dari 30 guru tersebut.
Data dari kuesioner dijabarkan dengan menggunakan rumus yang dikemukakan oleh Riduan (2012) sehingga temuan masing-masing dimensi persepsi dapat diklasifikasikan ke dalam kategori tertentu baik itu sangat positif, positif, negatif, atau pun sangat negatif. Kategori ini kemudian mengarahkan penulis untuk menarik kesimpulan untuk menjawab pertanyaan dari penelitian ini. Selain itu data sekunder dikumpulkan untuk mengkonfirmasi dan memperkaya data utama.
1 CHAPTER I
INTRODUCTION
This chapter describes the rationale for conducting a study on teachers’ perceptions of English language teaching media. The description covers the background of the study, problem formulation, research goal and benefit of the study.
A. Background
Education in Indonesia is still trying to move into the best achievement that it can get. Many efforts including innovation and improvement are done time after time to solve the facing problems.
Generally, the problems that can be found in education are divided into three categories: input, process and output. In the first category which is input, the problem covers the aspects that undergo the teaching and learning process such as the teachers (competence, qualification), students (readiness, independence, learning interest) and other supporting aspects such as teaching model, instructional media, tools, and infrastructures. In the process category, we can find some problems when the teaching-learning activity is done in the classroom such as class management. While the third category which is output covers the problem of the learning achievement which is always the centre of attention so far. Then what happens with English Language Teaching in Indonesia? Do all the problems that explained above also occur in English language teaching?
2 relationship with other nations from now on. Harsono (2006) delivers some functions of English in Indonesia as a language that can help the development of the state and nation, build a relationship with other nations, and run foreign policy. Regarding this importance, it is expected that our young generation that is still having education at school will be able to apply what they have learned, in their daily life in the society where they are.
Based on the Regulation of Minister of National Education Number 22 the Year 2006, English is started to be taught officially in junior high school as a compulsory subject. But we can find that English is taught in elementary or even preschool as well. In some elementary schools, English is taught as a Local Content subject or also international subject like what happens in international or national plus schools.
Based on the standard of competence and basic of competence that designed by the National Education Standards Board (2006), we can notice how detail the government design an English teaching reference to be done by the teacher. An English language teaching is expected to be done in high school to gain some achievements that the student is able to communicate and argue about something in English in a certain literacy level.
3 Therefore, in this kind of situation, it can be concluded that the teacher, student and lesson plan are the input, English learning activity is the process, and student’s achievement is the output. It will bring us to another conclusion as well, that when a teacher is able to develop the standard and basic of competence into the teaching material and indicator of achievement well, the students will be attracted to English, and eventually he/ she will be able to get a good achievement in learning English as well.
That is how the researcher can visualize the English language teaching situation without any doubtful problem. But, what is happening now is not something like what already mentioned above. There are several problems that still can be found when the English language teaching is done. In this case, the researcher is interested in observing English in junior high school since English is being taught first in this particular level of education. The students are officially introduced to English in junior high school. Apparently, it is not an easy challenge to create an interesting learning that can make the learning process runs well, which eventually bring a good result as well.
4 class activity. It is now moving to a more active learning where the students also actively take part in gaining knowledge through the running activity.
What about the instructional media? By decreasing the old way of teaching method where the teachers dominate the learning activity with lecturing and any other teacher-centered method, the use of instructional media becomes increasingly exist nowadays. It is truly expected that by using various media (input) in English language teaching, learning activity (process) will be more active and fun and eventually the greatest result (output) will be achieved.
Instructional media are those media that used in order to assist teachers in delivering a message to the students in teaching and learning process. They can be classified into some taxonomies such as based on the learning stimuli which is proposed by Edling 1966, based on the learning function which proposed by Gagne 1965, based on the hierarchy use for education which proposed by Duncan and the last one, based on the sensory channels involved which proposed by Ohm 2010 (Munadi, 2010). In the further explanation, the researcher will only focus on discussing instructional media based on what proposed by Ohm which covers audio, visual, and audio-visual media. Most of us are familiar with the following statement “I hear, I forget; I see, I remember; I do, I understand” it means more the senses involved in a learning process, better the achievement at the end.
5 construction, engage students in a certain topic, or as the basis of the whole activity (Harmer, 2001)
Some studies are done in order to examine the advantage of using certain instructional media in supporting English learning. In this digital era, undoubtedly technology based devices also take part as instructional media that utilized by English teachers in teaching and learning process. Silcha & Ivone (2015) conduct a research about using Facebook as a medium which is used outside the classroom with process writing strategy to enhance the teaching of recount text. Pun (2013) in his/ her journal about a global perspective of using multimedia technology in English language teaching proposed various advantages that can be gained for both teacher and student by the existence of the media.
Surprisingly, there are also some studies done that deal with the use of traditional ELT media. As the result, traditional media are still having “special position” in English language teaching. As what Amelia (2015) states in her journal that maximizing the use of pictures can assist the teacher to catch the student’s attention and also give information about certain topics especially in reading comprehension activities. Her research is supported by the conclusions of some studies on the same topic which are accomplished by Cahill and Gregory in 2011, Cunnins and Quiroa in 2012 and O’Neil in 2011.
Whatever the studies are, all of them prove that instructional media are able to assist the teacher and student in gaining better achievement in English language teaching.
6 achievement. Teaching and learning method is the one which influences the learning result of the student. He/she likens the media as vehicles contain food that people eat that undoubtedly do not affect to people’s nutrition at all. Indeed the food here represents the teaching and learning method. He has an opinion that a learning method which is run by using various media will give the same learning result eventually.
Two different views with strong arguments toward one thing that is learning. So, where is the English teacher place him/ herself? Is it important to use ELT media? In this case, one thing for sure, English teacher indeed plays an important role in succeeding and active and fun English learning.
An English teacher with whatever qualification that he/she may have, plays a role as both mentor and facilitator of his/ her students in the learning activity. Differently from what did happen in the past, where a teacher tends to be “a knowledge source”, in this information and technology era, every single thing around as can be our knowledge source which is fun and interesting to be known. We can learn anything from everything around us. This situation then influences the demand of English language teaching. The teacher’s capability is really required in order to facilitate the students with various media which also can be found outside the school so that the learning activity can be enjoyable or even entertaining.
7 Thus, what do the English teachers understand about instructional media, what do they believe about media and how do they apply the ELT media will be the main focus of this research. All these three aspects are classified in one position namely perception. Perception is something that one knows what they are, what they do and what they can do with it (Vernon, 1987) In this case, the English teachers’ perceptions toward instructional media covers, what is the teachers’ perceptions about instructional media? Does he/ she think that it is important to use ELT media? And what kind of instructional media do the teacher use in supporting their class activity? These questions are the fundamental points that make the researcher interested in conducting this research.
The researcher is curious about the teachers’ perceptions of media used in English language teaching since how the teachers view, understand and eventually apply certain media become really important to facilitate the students in the classroom which come from different background (learning style, learning enthusiasm) The researcher truly believes that when there is a good perception, there will be also a good learning achievement.
8 process, start from the preparation, process which refers to the execution and eventually the result.
B. Problem Formulation
The researcher formulates the problem of the study as follows:
What is the English teachers’ perceptions of English language teaching media?
The scope of perceptions here are understanding, view and action of the English teachers toward ELT media. To what extend the English teachers understand about ELT media, whether the role or advantage in English language teaching? What is the English teachers’ views about ELT media, whether they are helpful or not in teaching and learning process? In addition, how do the English teachers act toward ELT media? And also have the English teachers moved from using a traditional medium to the digital one?
C. Research Goal
What makes the researcher decided to conduct a research about teachers’ perceptions of ELT media is the fact that they can be counted as crucial issues in learning process since it is able to lead the learning process into an effective way. Here, the researcher investigated the teachers’ perceptions of using ELT media in order to gain knowledge about the teachers’ views about the importance of using media in the class activity as well as the implementation in the classroom.
9 D. Benefit of the Study
Two benefits can be gained by doing this study, theoretical and practical benefit.
The theoretical benefit of this study is the researcher hopes that this study will provide scientific information in education in general. The result of this study especially is expected to be valuable information for the teachers to make use of the ELT media effective in the classroom activity.
10 CHAPTER II
THEORETICAL REVIEW
In this chapter, the researcher provides theories related to the research
problem. This chapter is divided into the parts; they are theoretical review, related
studies and theoretical framework. The first part talks about theories which relate
to this study. In the second part, the researcher provides some studies which are
done in the same interest with what the researcher did, while the last part talks
about the limitation which will be used in discussing the findings.
A. Theoretical Review
In this particular section, the researcher focuses on the elaboration of
literature on related topics. It covers English teacher, perception, ELT media,
language learning and related studies on ELT media in language learning.
1. English Teacher
Changes are continually made in education. The government for instance,
in this case, the Ministry of Education still try to find a better solution for
education improvement by proposing some curriculum development than can be
implemented in teaching and learning activities, including English. For a long
time, a teacher is probably considered as the one and only person in the classroom
who knows everything. He/she is viewed as the content expert and source for all
(Newby et. at., 1996). The teacher is the one who controls every single activity in
the classroom, asks a question and gives direction to the student along the lesson.
But yet, it is all shifted to students-centred learning approach where the teacher
and students “responsibilities” are viewed differently. If students passively wait
11 actively participate in digging out information related to what will they learn in
the classroom. The teacher has to know how to put him/herself in a proper
position that rather be the one who gives direction and keeps the students on track
than the one who acts as a knowledge supplier for the students.
However, a teacher should be better known as instructional expert as what
is proposed by Woolfolk 1990 than a knowledge source. An instructional expert is
the one who has responsibilities in planning, implementing and evaluating the
running instruction. As a planner, a teacher should pay more attention to some
considerations like the objective of the instruction, the students’ needs and
characteristics-which influence instructional method and strategy selection- and
instructional material and media which will be used. As an implementer, a teacher
implements what he/she has planned before. There is a possibility for the teacher
to discuss or ask some opinion from his/her colleagues or even curriculum expert
to revise or improve the instructional material that he/she has been prepared. It
aims to create an instructional plan which can produce high quality outcome that
represented by those students who indeed experience the learning process. The
last role as an instructional expert is evaluator. A teacher eventually has to
appraise the success of his/ her design. It will be reflected by the result of the
students’ achievement as well as his/her note along the process about its
effectiveness and efficiency through strength and weakness description.
By the changing or teacher’s role, then how can we define a good teacher?
Is there any criterion of a good teacher? Each of us perhaps has our way to
determine what a good teacher is. Some factors that might influence how we
12 interesting things to say, his/her care toward his/her students’ progress, or simply
because of his/her charm. But above all, it would be great if a teacher really
understands his/her duty and responsibility as a professional, whether dealing with
his/her role or what kind of skill and knowledge that he/she should hold as a
teacher. (Harmer, 2007)
a. Teacher role
A teacher has many different roles in teaching; it depends on in what situation he/she is. A teacher has roles as a controller, prompter, participant, resources as well as a tutor.
13 teacher only be as a resource of reference that will be the one who can really answer their needs. Moreover, as a tutor which is a combination of prompter and source, the teacher existence is really needed when the activity is dealing with a very small group that perhaps is preparing debate material or writing project.
b. Teacher task
Similarly to what is stated by Woolfolk (1998), teacher’s task here mostly deals with his/her responsibility in running the instructional activity.
An effective teacher should be well-prepared. He/ she knows what kind of activity that will be done in the classroom, what kind of objective that has to be achieved at the end of activity as well what to do in anticipating something that out of his/ her plan. A teacher should also be in order in the context of administration, mainly when it deals with planning design and evaluation. It will ease the teacher in assessing the students’ achievement. It also helps the teacher as one of the references in determining what kind of plan that will be designed forward. In addition, a teacher should be reliable especially in the context of time and homework.
c. Teacher skill
Some skills should be held by a teacher such as managing class, matching
task and group, varying activities and appearing destination.
What is meant by managing class here related to the ability to keep the
students ‘on track’ in any order that the teacher asks the students to. It will be
easier when the teacher really understands every single student’s character and
ability. Sometimes it is found that not all of the classroom enjoying or participate
14 situation by creating some fun activities that attract the whole class participation is
needed. However, a variation of activities and topic is required in the classroom.
As the best activity also becomes not that best if it is done for several of times. As
every single activity will lead us to an end, it is expected for the teacher to be able
to show what kind of destination the students will reach later.
d. Teacher knowledge
Beside understanding his/her role and task as well as having certain
abilities, a teacher is also expected to have certain knowledge in teaching English.
He/she has to really understand about the subject that will be taught, the material
and any other learning resources that will be used, and also always being updated
with instructional technique and method.
The first basic knowledge that a teacher should have is language system. A
language teacher should aware with grammar and lexical system as well as
pronunciation features. The students need a teacher who can direct them in
answering their curiosity and interest toward English. Therefore, a teacher should
also have a good comprehension toward various resources that can be useful in
solving the students’ problems. The students will also appreciate their teacher who
can master all of the material while teaching. It will be more effective when the
teacher is supported with the ability to utilize various learning equipment. A
teacher is free to use every single equipment around him/her as long as the
equipment is helpful in reaching the achievement and he/she really knows well
how to operate them. Last but not least, a teacher should always keep updating
15 approaches and media are still being developed and improving. They massively
help as a reference in having a better teaching and learning.
2. English Language Teaching
The term teaching can be defined generally as a process of knowledge
transferring from one to another. Teaching is defined as showing of helping
someone to learn how to do something, providing with knowledge, causing to
know or understand (Brown, 2000). In the case of English, the English language
teaching has been running for a very long time, started at the end of middle ages
up to present day. Different time and place are the main factors that cause English
plays a different role all around the world. Indeed, people who live in a particular
time and place use English for particular need which may be different with those
people who live in the other time and place. Based on this condition Kacru (1992)
formulates the three-circle model of World Englishes. The three circles of English
consist of the “Inner Circle”, the “Outer Circle”, and the “Expanding Circle”
countries. The inner circle refers to the “traditional bases” of English: the UK,
USA, Ireland, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand. The outer circle which is also
known as extended circle. It refers to those non-native countries where English
has become an important institution of the countries and plays a role as an
important second language. It includes Singapore, Malaysia, India, and over fifty
others territories. The expanding or extending circle refers to those countries
where English plays the role as an international language and have not given
English any special official status. English is taught as a foreign language in these
16 As mentioned, in the field of education in Indonesia, English is taught as a
foreign language. English is one of the compulsory courses which is taught from
the junior high school up to the senior high and the vocational school level. Over
the last decade, however, The English language becomes a compulsory local
course of the elementary school in several provinces in Indonesia (Kasihani,
2000).
There are four skills which should be developed by the students learn
English from primary level up to high school level, they are listening, speaking,
reading, and writing. Those basic skills then can be classified into two main skills;
receptive skill which covers listening and reading and productive skill which
covers speaking and writing. Each of them will be developed based on the
syllabus in every level of education. Through English, the students are intended to
develop four skills so they can communicate in English for a certain literacy level.
The literacy level includes performative, functional, informational and epistemic.
In the performative level, the students are expected to be able to read, write, listen
and speak by using symbols. In the functional level, the students are expected to
be able to use language for their daily life like reading newspaper, manual or
direction. In the informational level, the students are expected to be able to access
knowledge. However, in the level of epistemic, the students are expected to be
able to express their knowledge by using target language (Wells, 1987).
3. Perception
As mentioned before, this study aimed at exploring the teachers’
17 real study, it is important for the researcher to have a good knowledge of the
meaning of perception viewed from different sources.
Perception can be basically defined as a belief or opinion that held by
people based on how thing seems. It means that there is a possibility of having
different perception about the same thing among people, based on how they look
that particular thing. According to Chaplin (1968), perception is a process to
know something through human sense, which involves awareness of people’s
belief about something. Similarly, Gibson (1985) proposes the term perception as
the cognitive process that individuals use to interpret and understand the world
around them. He adds that perception is a conscious mental process of observing,
comprehending, and responding a particular thing, in which a person tries to
translate the signals that he or she receives. Perception is also defined as the
process of organizing and interpreting some stimulus toward some phenomena in
the environment, it involves memory as a part of a cognitive process, and it more
than an activity of simply seeing something (Atkinson et. al., 1999). From these
theories, it can be said that perception is an understanding of some stimuli that
appear around us.
Perception involves experience which does not only refer to sets of past
events but also refers to what human beings are constantly at work trying to make
meaning of what is going on around and ‘within’ them (Murphy 1960 in Bradley
2002). Boore (2002) also argues that after getting events (or what is previously
said stimuli) from the world, people, in turn give those events meaning by
interpreting and acting upon them. Referring to the study which will be
18 English teachers and become what they are working with every day. Thus, the
perception here (indeed what each teachers has) plays a role as a standard of
measuring the efficiency of the implementation of instructional media in language
learning. In other words, we can say that English teachers’ perceptions are needed
to judge whether the instructional media is worth or worse in English language
teaching process.
As mentioned before, perception involves experience in it, and according
to Vernon (1987), there are three dimensions of perception based on one’s
experience. They are the understanding about the object, the view and the action
toward the object. It means that when we want to explore someone’s perception,
those three dimensions are the basic components to deal with.
a. Understanding
Understanding can be simply defined as knowledge about something and
how it works. It is the flexibility of thinking and acting based on what one knows
(Perkins, 1988). Understanding involves a process of selecting and organizing
information. This particular information is integrated with prior knowledge (Ip,
2003). In addition, Gardner in Wigginss (1998) formulates understanding as a
sufficient grasp of concepts, principles or skills so that one can bring them to bear
on new problems and situations, deciding in which ways one’s present
competencies can suffice and which ways one may require new skills or
knowledge. Wiggins himself states that understanding is not a sudden “Aha!”
whereby we go from ignorance to deep understanding.
Based on those definitions, it can be assumed that understanding is the
19 Understanding allows knowledge to be put to use. It represents a deeper level of
knowledge than the simple one. If we understand the idea, we grasp its
significance, its implicit connection with other important idea and its meaning.
Understanding helps people to judge possible responses that come to their
mind. When the English teachers understand the concept of instructional media
and English language teaching, they can grasp and judge which component of
instructional media that can be applied in English language teaching.
b. View
The word view refers to the way of thinking about something. Ramsey
(1986) defines view as a judgment based on fact. It is an honest attempt to draw a
reasonable conclusion from the factual evidence. Ramsey argues that view is
potentially changeable depending on how the evidence is interpreted. A view also
can be regarded as an opinion. Nick (2006) states that opinion is a belief or
conclusion held with confidence. It is applicable to any conclusion to which one
adheres without ruling out the possibility of debate. It can be concluded that view
or opinion is a statement as the result of interpretation of facts. It is changeable
depending on how the evidence is interpreted.
In a particular case, a view or opinion is not always necessary supported
by evidence, and this kind of view is known as a subjective statement. Some
factors that influence subjectivity are emotion and individual interpretation of a
fact (Platts, 1999)
The English teachers may judge the components of instructional media
which are in line with the components of English language teaching based on their
20 English language teaching in this case related to the design, approach and
procedure. In other words, how the teachers view on instructional media can meet
the English language teaching components.
c. Action
Action can be simply defined as something that we do. It involves the use
of five senses and bodily movement, like the acts of seeing, hearing, touching,
tasting, and smelling. According to Dretske (1988) action is a causal process that
begins with intentions that actualized in a form of bodily motions that eventually
influence the environment. Action involves the subject of motion, the target of
action, and the causality that connects them (Kuniyoshi, 1997). In addition,
Davidson in Wilson (2007) action is something an agent does that was intentional
under some description. Action only deals with something done by a person, not
happens to the person. Thus, we may say that when the English teachers
implement instructional media in their teaching-learning process, it is regarded as
an action, since they have intentions to do so.
Based on the description above, it can be concluded that perception refers
to the understanding, view and action. Related to the English teachers’
perceptions of ELT media, it refers to the teachers’ understanding of the media,
their view on the media and their action toward the media.
4. ELT Media
The term “media” is a plural form of “medium”. McLuhan in Akhsin 1986
says that media are also known as channels since they deliver information from
the information source to the receiver. Another opinion comes from Hamidjojo (in
21 form of things that used by people to give or spread an idea or opinion so that the
particular idea can reach the receiver. So we might need media when we are going
to have kind of communication with others.
On the basis of how some experts define media, it is obvious that
instructional media are those media used in order to support the run of certain
instruction in the class activity. Gagne 1987 says that instructional media cover
all components in students’ environment that can be used to stimulate the students
to learn. Heinich et. al. 1996 asserts that instructional media refer to a channel of
communication which includes film, television, diagram, printed materials,
computers, and instructors.
Education is about communication process. As the person who deliver a
message to the students, teachers, in fact should do their best to make the message
successfully reaches the students and then can give good understanding as well.
This good understanding eventually will be useful for the student in succeeding
his/her life in both short and long term of period. What is meant by the short term
of period is the achieved understanding will be useful for the student when he/she
still at school period, while the long term of period represent the time when the
students face their future. The time when they have to apply what they have
learned at school in the social environment.
Not every single message can be directly delivered by the teacher and if
the teacher forces to do so, lecturing method which is not really enjoyable to the
student. To create conducive communication process, indeed, the teacher has to
create conducive learning situation first. In this place, instructional media are able
22 Instructional media are used to assist the teacher in delivering the teaching
material to the student. There are some objectives that make consideration of
using instructional media in learning-teaching process such as to ease learning
process in the classroom, increase the efficiency of the learning process, to
maintain the relevancy between learning material and objectives, as well as help
the students to put more attention in the learning process (Sanaky, 2013). By
using media in teaching learning process, it is expected that the process of
delivering a message from the teacher to the students will be more effective and
efficient.
Since learning process can be carried out whenever and in whatever way,
the use of media is not only dealing with the learning process in the classroom. It
is even suggested to introduce early children with the media. The intense contact
with the media at an early age makes it possible for the students who begin
English curriculum later than their peers to reach the same level of proficiency but
in a shorter period of time (Königs, 1999). Media can bring some advantages for
both the teacher and the student which reflect the smoothness of teaching and
learning process in the classroom. According to Sanaky (2013) media are helpful
in facilitating teacher to reach the learning objectives, increasing confidence,
creating a better quality of teaching as well as teaching variation and creating fun
learning. Meanwhile, instructional media bring some advantages for the students
such as, to increase the student learning motivation, as well as variation, stimuli
the student for thinking analytically in fun situation, and instructional media are
23 Some considerations are needed to decide the use of instructional media in
teaching and learning process. Heinich et. al. 1982 proposed a guide in
determining which media are proper enough to be used. It is known as ASSURE
which cover analyse learners characteristics, state the objectives, select, modify or
design materials, utilize material, require learners response, evaluate.
A teacher has to understand what is really needed for the teaching which
will be done. It will be helpful by designing certain objectives that he/she hopes
will be reached by the student.
The second factor is state the objective. Every single teaching and learning
process indeed has its own goal which has to be achieved at the end of the
process. By using instructional media, it is expected that achieving the learning
objective will be easier.
Third, a teacher has to choose, modify and design the instructional media
which will be used. The teacher can whether use the media that already exist,
modify the media so they will adjust with the criteria that will facilitate both the
teacher and student needs, or even create new instructional media based on his/her
need. Fourth, before deciding to pick the media to be used, a teacher should
design the teaching material first, since the role of the media here is to help the
teacher in delivering the teaching material, so it can be easier to be accepted by
the student. Thus, the media which will be used should contain the teaching
material which will be delivered.
Fifth, generally media are used in education to create learning in a fun
way. A teacher is expected to use instructional media to trigger the student in
24 The last one is the evaluation. Evaluating the media which were used in
the class activity is really important. Were the using media effective enough?
Could the media assist the teacher in delivering information well? These
particular questions can be the guidelines for media use as well as development
consideration.
Various instructional media which indeed include those requirements
stated earlier can be used in English language teaching which covers listening,
speaking, reading and writing comprehensions. As mentioned before, the
researcher will only focus on discussing instructional media based on Ohm’s
classification, due to the notion that the more sensory channels get involved in
teaching learning process, the better result will be gained. In Ohm’s media
classification, instructional media are divided into three categories, they are audio,
visual, and audiovisual media (Chan et. al., 2011).
The creativity and innovation demand in educational field more or less
trigger an English teacher to use media as supportive items in teaching. It cannot
be imagined that an English class does not have any learning resource, only a
teacher and the number of students who are listening to the teacher talking about
English language theory.
Generally, Instructional media can be defined as all things that carry
information between a source and a receiver. In English language teaching
context, instructional media can be defined as means of communication which are
used to assist the teacher in delivering the information that he/she might not be
25 In this particular situation, instructional media play role to facilitate the
students’ needs in joining an enjoyable English class and be able to earn
information from various sources which are still provided by the teacher. It is
believed that making use of various equipment in teaching and learning process
can bring a good impact to the student’s achievement. Rao (2014) asserts that
media if utilized in the educational setting will complement the teaching and
learning process. They make the English Language Teaching better and more
effective, and also enhance the students’ abilities to understand and experiment
with the language.
For some reasons, using ELT media is also has the economical advantage.
Since English is an international language, instructional media will be useful for
instance in learning about word pronunciation or intonation without having a
native speaker.
As the world now moves to technology-based living life, education in
Indonesia more or less dealing with information and communication technology
(ICT) in the context of its daily implementation. Some teachers of a certain
amount of schools in Indonesia are now shifting to ICT based English language
teaching. They apply technology such as for in-class teaching, searching
additional material, developing computer-based material or communicating with
other teachers through e-mail (Dwijatmoko 2015). But, there are also still many
schools in this country that still rely on the traditional media or even simply use
the handbook as the one and only learning resource in class activity. Some factors
26 and teachers’ abilities in producing, developing or employing tools around them
to be instructional media.
Instructional media whether they are operated digitally or traditionally can
be categorized into three forms namely: audio, visual and audio-visual. Each of
them has its own role in stimulating the sensory channels in order to process the
message delivered by the teachers during English language teaching.
a. Audio
Audio media undoubtedly deal with the listening experience. Audio is
used in order to stimulate the students’ sense of hearing. However, it does not
mean that in English language teaching, audio media are merely used in listening
comprehension activities. Information that is given by the teacher through audio
media to the students supposed to be useful whether in listening itself, as well as
speaking, reading and writing.
Barker et al. in 1981 conduct a research among undergraduate students and
find that they use 53% of their wake time for listening (Munadi, 2010). It means,
in their daily communication, the listening portion is bigger than other activities
such as speaking, reading or writing. It can be concluded that the students’ sense
of hearing are accustomed to listening to the given information. When it is applied
in English language teaching, it supposed to be easy for the English teacher to
simply lecture in front of the classroom to achieve the objective of his/her
teaching and learning activity. But why are the problems still exist?
Listening is not a simple process. In order to totally understand other’s
talking, someone has to get through some steps including hearing, listening,
27 course hear what the teacher says, but it is not guaranteed that all of them are
listening to him/her which then brings them into a process of understanding and
eventually memorizing what they just listened to in a long period of time.
In this case, a teacher has to give his/her best in getting the students’
attention to listening to his/her given information. Here, audio media can play
their role as helpful devices to assist the teacher to deliver information in
enjoyable ways.
Different audio media are made or probably be utilized by English teacher
whether in listening, speaking, reading or writing activities. The material can be in
the form of audio media such as instruction, narration, dialog, drama, interview,
news report or even a song.
1) Audio Recording
These are probably the most frequently used of audio ELT media. Audio
recording may cover instruction, narration and dialog. They are frequently
commercially produced, either as part of course book or as supplementary
material (Harmer, 2001). Yet, there is a possibility that the teacher stores his/ her
own audio recording that he/ she made. He/ she can record a certain dialog or
narration that discusses some current issues or characters that are happening in
his/ her students daily.
There might be some people who still think that the use of audio
recordings as supporting media in enhancing listening skills is simply to make the
students get used to listening activities that will bring them to succeed in finishing
28 to the best achievement, but there are a lot of advantages that can be gained from
the extracts whether instruction, monolog or dialog.
Audio recordings are reliable in practicing pronunciation, as the speaker
definitely has a good speaking ability, by listening, the students can improve their
speaking ability by repeating the words, phrases or sentences that they just
listened. The students are also introduced to some new words from the recording
which the meaning can be figured out as well as learn how to use the words in a
sentence.
Providing some questions to be answered after having listening section are also
helpful in leading students’ focus.
Traditionally audio recordings are stored in audio cassettes and played
through atape recorder. Yet, various audio recordings storage are relatively easy to
find, they can be stored in the form of a compact disc which is played through CD
player, or in a form of audio files that can be played through audio computer
programs or even mobile phone.
By utilizing audio recordings as the media, English teacher can monitor
the students’ attention since he/ she does not have to read the monolog, dialog or
instruction that is listened at the time. Anotther benefit of using audio recordings
is that audio recording can be paused, rewound and forwarded. It is sometimes
needed when the teacher has additional information when there is missing
information that the students cannot get or there is certain information that must
be skipped. Besides, most of the audio recording storages are resistant to damage,
so the teacher can keep the recordings for a long period of time. However, some
29 willing to have a high quality and various audio recordings, should provide high
budget as well. Besides, most of the recordings require electricity to be played.
2) Drama
Drama generally consists of narration and dialog. What makes it different
from the dialog and narration in audiotapes is that a drama has a more complex
plot, mostly has more than two characters and it has longer lines than the audio
recordings’ dialog. As it is an audio drama, there is no visualization available, it
might get the listener bored, but on the other hand, it is able to train the students’
imagination in visualizing the characters, plots, and the setting.
Some activities can be done with drama. The simplest one is providing
some questions related to the drama that has to be answered by the students after
the drama is played. The teacher can even make the students be more active by
assigning them to construct the question which will be answered by their partner.
Drama also provides the opportunity for the students to learn new words or
idioms. Since the students create their own imaginary world of the drama, the
teacher can ask them to visualize the drama in a group. It will help to increase
their speaking ability as well as their drama performative. Besides, they will also
learn how to make a good coordination and collaboration while discussing how to
perform the drama.
Audio drama is commonly a part of a radio program. It may become one
of the obstacles for the teacher due to the different schedule of the aired drama
and English class. Luckily, the drama can be recorded and replayed anytime later
by usina g tape recorder or any audio player in a computer or even in a smart
30 Using drama in English language teaching is basically helpful to the
teacher since he/she is allowed to employ the existed reference without recording
his/ her own narration or dialog. Unfortunately, it is not easy for the teacher to
find a drama that suits his/her teaching objectives.
3) News report
Another audio aid that can be functioned as instructional media is news
report. Indeed, news report gives worldwide information that becomes new
knowledge for the students, but there are many other advantages that can be
gained by the use of news report in the classroom. By listening to the news report,
the students obviously can enrich the vocabulary as well as improve their
speaking ability. Rao (2014) on his report journal toward the use of ELT media at
undergraduate level states that listening to the news on the radio is able to
stimulate the students’ awareness of their mother tongue influence to their spoken
English.
Some activities are possibly be done by utilizing this particular audio
media. The simplest one is answering questions based on the given information.
The teacher will get great chance to monitor the students’ attention at the time
since he/she is not the one who delivers the news. The teacher also can pick one
current issue that he/she thinks possible to be a debate topic. The students are
divided into two groups then they have to discuss the topic to defend their side.
Another possibility is redelivering the news whether in oral or written form. By
doing these certain activities, the students will improve their speaking and writing
31 News report is still available in the radio broadcasting at present. There are
some radio stations in Indonesia that include English news as of the programs.
Moreover, credit to technology that we are introduced to streaming channels
which help us to listen to myriad radio stations all around the world, through a
computer or smart phone. However, it is not impossible for the teacher to record
his/ her own news report to be played in the classroom.
The easiness of having this particular media is one of the advantages of
using news report in the classroom. Furthermore, the duration which is relatively
short makes the students do not get bored. Unfortunately, the fact that there is no
picture, sometimes also make audio news report is not utilized.
4) Song
Song does exist in teaching and learning process for a long time. The fact
that song is a combination of music and language makes its presence does not
escape of our attention (Shen, 2009). Song is really helpful especially in imparting
a new concept such as science and math or language and culture for the young
learner. For example, three little monkeys for subtraction, four seasons for science
and head shoulders for language. This fact does not mean that will not be
applicable as one of the instructional media in junior high school.
Songs are mostly used to enrich the students’ vocabularies. Listening to a
certain song and fill in the blank words of the lyric, for instance, can be one of the
ways to introduce new vocabularies to the students. Moreover, Howse (1979)
suggests including song in the class activity such as listening to a song and later
making a discussion or report toward the song. This particular activity is possibly
32 make a personal report so the teacher will be able to evaluate the students’ writing
progress, whereas oral report can be done in a group. They will have a discussion
and eventually present the result of their discussion to the other groups. Here, the
teacher will have a chance to see the progress of the students’ speaking ability.
Song is available everywhere. The one which is stored in a cassette or
compact disc can be found in the music store. However, in this digital era, song
also transforms into its audio digital version called mp3. This kind of song can be
bought in official music site and it can be stored in computer or smartphone.
Whatever the song, and whenever it is stored, one thing that the teacher as
someone who is building the students’ good character as well should consider is
that he/she should utilize an original song as one of the instructional media in the
classroom.
Relatively easy to be found is one the main advantage of song as an
instructional media. Murpey (1992) claims that song provides a harmonious
classroom atmosphere. It will lead to the reduction of the students’ anxiety
especially when the song which is used is one of their favourite songs. That is
why it is suggested to the teacher to keep being updated with the song. Besides,
compared to other forms of texts, repetitions of songs are more motivating.
Unfortunately, for some reasons utilizing song in the classroom might disturb
adjacent classes (Murphey, 1992). This actually can be overcome by having a
good facility of the audio system, which consumes much money. Although song is
considerable to be used for its availability, it is not easy for a teacher to find a
33
b. Visual
Visual media are definitely dealing with the sense of sight. They can be
generally divided into two categories, whether they contain verbal or nonverbal
messages (Munadi, 2010). Verbal messages can be seen in meaningful words that
form certain writing. This might be the most common visual media that exist in
English language teaching. They exist in the form of books, magazine, newspaper,
etc. Whereas nonverbal messages can be seen in pictures, drawings, charts,
graphs, posters and cartoons (Smaldino et. al. 1996). They can be presented in the
form of printed visuals, presentation software, digital images, and overhead
projection.
Like other media, visual media are also utilizing to assist the teacher in
delivering information in the classroom. Along with delivering
contained-knowledge information to the students, visual media that used by English teacher
are also able to make concrete of abstract ideas, encourage students, and direct
attention. (Smaldino et. al 1996) Visual media, particularly that contain nonverbal
messages ones, can be objectively used to make English language teaching and
learning become more colourful.
1) Pictures
One of the undeniable roles of the picture is the ability in getting people’s
attention. That is why those who sell certain products try their best in creating the
finest picture whether for the package which represents the product itself or the
advertisement. The ability of a picture in representing the huge amount of
meaningful words is obviously applicable in English language teaching. As what
34 such as drill, communication, understanding, ornamentation, prediction, and
discussion.
Drilling by using pictures as the teaching aids is mostly done in English for lower level, especially for vocabulary mastery. As the students grow, they start to learn about ideas, pictures are in fact really helpful in learning how to
communicate their ideas to one another. Pictures have the ability to engage the
viewer as well, pictures sometimes used in some passages or writing as the
ornamentation to enhance them. However, pictures are sometimes needed in
English class to lead the students’ curiosity about what will be learned. When the
students are encouraged to predict what will be happened through the shown
pictures, it makes a kind of bonds between the students and the lesson. Besides,
there are many possibilities to dig various information from the pictures. Some
questions may arise and which can be the guideline of students’ discussion, such
as the situation, figure, meaning, or message that captured in the picture. There
are two out of six points proposed by Harmer which are suitable for English
language teaching in the junior high school context, they are communication and
discussion.
Pictures, whether in the form of drawing, cartoon or digital image can be
utilized to facilitate the students in communicating ideas in the classroom.
Fachrurrazy (2011) in more detail explains, that in writing, pictures can be used
for teaching some genres of texts such as descriptive text by using pictures or
images of objects, procedure text by using pictures or images of ingredients.
35 interpreting and explaining them in, for instance, a phrase, sentence, or short
story.
Pictures whether being displayed traditionally or digitally have their own
benefits and weaknesses. Traditional pictures like drawing or printed images are
relatively inexpensive. Unfortunately, the fact that not all of the teachers are
‘gifted’ to make their own drawing and the risk of breaking the printed image are
the reasons of some of the teachers who decide to use digital images cartoon.
Utilizing digital images in the classroom also has its own obstacle. Since digital
pictures need electricity to be displayed, they cannot be used in some condition.
However, there are three qualifications of pictures that should be put into
consideration by English teachers, such as the appropriateness, visibility and
durability (Harmer, 2001)
2) Word Cards/ Flash Cards
Flashcard can be simply defined as a card that flashily shown. Suyanto
(2007) states that flashcards are set of cards with colourful pictures, which are
flashed to the class by the teacher. What makes flashcard is classified differently
from picture is the presence of one or more words on it.
Most of the people may assume that flashcards can only be used for early
level of education. It is also affirmed by Bellani’s (2011) statement that learning
with flashcards is often used to the education of toddlers, as they are easy media
of instruction due to their childish appeal. However, flashcards are also applicable
in the high level of English education, but one thing for sure the appearance
obviously is not as simple as what is utilized for the lower level. The
