Handing My Difficulty in Motivating Fourteen Sixth Grade Students to Learn English at SDK Baptis.

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ABSTRACT

Pokok bahasan dalam penulisan Tugas Akhir ini diambil berdasarkan pengalaman saya sewaktu mengikuti program magang untuk mengajar bahasa Inggris di Sekolah Dasar Kristen Baptis Bandung, yaitu penelitian dalam menangani empat belas siswa kelas enam yang kurang termotivasi dalam belajar bahasa Inggris. Metode penelitian dilakukan berdasarkan studi pustaka dengan analisis kuantitatif, yaitu pengumpulan data dan teori yang menunjang pokok bahasan dari kepustakaan yang kemudian dikelompokkan menjadi data primer dan sekunder.

Penelitian ini bertujuan memperoleh solusi yang efektif untuk menyelesaikan masalah saya dalam menghadapi siswa-siswa yang kurang termotivasi dalam belajar bahasa Inggris. Penyebab masalah ini ialah: saya tidak mempunyai pengalaman mengajar di kelas sebelumnya, siswa tidak memperhatikan pelajaran Bahasa Inggris di kelas karena mereka lebih mencurahkan perhatian pada tiga mata pelajaran yang diuji di Ujian Nasional, dan terbatasnya waktu pelajaran Bahasa Inggris di kelas yang mempunyai alokasi waktu hanya 30 menit untuk sekali

pertemuan. Masalah ini menyebabkan saya berada dalam tekanan ketika sedang mengajar di kelas dan saya tidak dapat mempergunakan waktu mengajar dengan efisien di kelas. Masalah ini juga berdampak pada siswa dimana siswa tidak dapat mengerjakan tugas dan ulangan dengan baik. Oleh sebab itu perlu sejumlah solusi untuk membantu saya dalam meningkatkan motivasi siswa dalam belajar bahasa Inggris. Solusi tersebut adalah mempergunakan permainan ("games") di kelas, memberikan penghargaan kepada siswa, dan memberikan pelajaran tambahan Bahasa Inggris kepada siswa sesudah jam sekolah.

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CHAPTER I

INTRODUCTION

A. Background of the Study

Having motivation for studying is important for learners because it can

influence both learners' participation and achievement in the classroom.

As stated by Sirvent, "the definition of motivation is to give reason,

incentive, enthusiasm, or interest that causes a specific action or certain

behaviour" (par. 1). This statement indicates that motivating students is an

encouragement to do learning activities in order to achieve their goal.

Furthermore, Sirvent states that

there are two main kinds of motivation: intrinsic and extrinsic. Intrinsic

motivation is internal. It occurs when people are compelled to do

something out of pleasure, importance, or desire. Extrinsic motivation

occurs when external factors compel the person to do something (1).

This statement implies that both types of motivation influence the learning

behaviour of learners. Without having motivation, the students might have

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needed by students to increase their learning, because lack of giving

motivation is perhaps the biggest obstacle faced by teachers and parents.

I have found a similar situation when doing my internship at SDK Baptis

from July 16, 2013 until August 28, 2013. When I was teaching English to

thirty sixth grade students, I had difficulty in handling fourteen of them who

had low motivation in learning English in the classroom. It could be seen

from their negative behaviour during English lessons in the class. For

example, the students were not listening to the teacher and they did not

obey the teacher's instructions. They were uninterested in class activity

and they refused to do the assignments. They said to me that they had

more concern for three subjects to be tested at the national examination

namely, Mathematics, Indonesian Language, and Natural Science. They

had an extrinsic motivation to learn these three subjects, because they

wish to receive some external reward. Therefore, I had to help these

fourteen students through a series of effort to make them become

self-motivated students in learning English.

Based upon the above explanation, I choose "Handling my difficulty in

motivating fourteen sixth grade students to learn English at SDK Baptis"

as the topic of my term paper. The reason for choosing this topic is

because motivating students is one of the teacher's challenges to give a

positive influence on students' behaviour in learning. I find the topic quite

important to discuss due to the fact that motivation and learning are two

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B. Identification of the Problem

The problem to be analyzed is formulated into the following research

questions :

a. Why did I have difficulty in handling fourteen sixth grade students who

had low motivation in learning English in the classroom at SDK

Baptis?

b. How did my problem influence the students and me?

c. How should I solve this problem effectively?

C. Objectives and Benefits of the Study

Based on the background of the study above, the objectives of this

term paper are to investigate the causes of the problem of my difficulty in

handling unmotivated students in learning English at SDK Baptis, to find

out the effects of this problem on the English teaching-learning process for

both the teacher and the students in the class, and to present the best

solutions to overcome the problem.

The benefits of this term paper for the English teachers at SDK Baptis

is to improve their quality of teaching English to increase students'

motivation in studying English. For the readers, this term paper can give

contribution to the readers, especially for those who have difficulty in

handling the low motivated students to learn English in class and for me,

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teaching-learning process in the class to guide me in my future teaching

career.

D. Description of the Institution

Based on the information from Buku Peringatan HUT SD Kristen

Baptis, 2013, SDK Baptis at Jalan Wastukencana 40, Bandung , was

started on February 1, 1972, when the TK Baptis was established with a

total of 20 children. At the request of the parents of the students of the

Kindergarten, in 1973 the SDK Baptis was established, beginning with the

class of grade 1. The aim of establishing this school is to make the Baptist

School a place where students will get the best over-all education based

on Christian principles. In 1977, the school had classes from grade one to

six. On June 5, 1993, the Baptist Educational Foundation Bandung was

established and all levels of school, starting from the Kindergarten,

Elementary School and Junior High School was under this foundation

since then. This year, 2013, the SDK Baptis has reached its 41 years of

service with a number of achievements in the fields of Mathematics,

Natural Sciences, School Choir, and Handicraft during the past three

years. At the moment, the number of teachers is 11 and the number of

students enrolled from the first up to the sixth grade is 142 students.

Beginning from the academic year 2013-2014, SDK Baptis has applied a

bilingual system (Indonesian – English) for all subjects. (Buku Peringatan

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The Vision of SDK Baptis is to make Baptist School a professional

school, namely to educate every student to have a good personality,

responsibility, to love God, and others. The Mission is, it is through active,

creative and dynamic education based on Christ's love, every student will

be guided to become a person who is strong in Faith, Knowledge, and

Integrity in order to be able to face challenges of the age. The basic

principles of SDK Baptis are respecting authority, loving others, taking

care, and having self discipline (Buku Peringatan HUT SD Kristen Baptis –

2013).

E. Method of the Study

There are two types of methods of data collection for the research.

The first type is Primary Data Collection Method, which are observing the

responses or activities of the learners in the class and conducting an

interview with the teacher. The second type is Secondary Data Collection

Method, which is to do library research to get the data from books and

articles from the Internet.

F. Limitation of the Study

The study will focus on analyzing my problem in handling fourteen

students of sixth grade who had low motivation in learning English at

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aged about 12 years old and I. The research was done based on my

teaching experience during the one-and-half month internship at SDK

Baptis.

G. Organization of the Term Paper

This term paper starts with the Abstract, Declaration of Originality,

Acknowledgements, and Table of Contents. Next, this term paper consists

of four chapters: Chapter I is Introduction. This chapter explains the

Background of the Study, Objectives and Benefits of the Study,

Description of the Institution, Method and the Limitation of the Study, and

Organization of the Term Paper. Chapter II presents the review of the

Problem Analysis. It covers the description of how the causes brought

about the problem and how the problem produced effects. Chapter III

discusses the three Potential Solutions of the problem. This chapter also

explains the positive and negative effects of each potential solution.

Chapter IV contains the conclusion. It covers the summary of the previous

chapters , the chosen solutions, and some suggestions. The last term

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CHAPTER IV

CONCLUSION

Based on the research and analysis I have made during my internship

as an English teacher from July 16, 2013 until August 28, 2013, I found

that there were fourteen sixth grade students who had little motivation to

learn English language at SDK Baptis, and I had difficulty in handling

these students who had low motivation. The causes of the problem are I

did not have any experience in handling students before, the students did

not pay attention to the English lessons, and the limitation of time for

English lesson was only 30 minutes for one session. This problem clearly

had a negative impact on teaching and learning English, for both the

teacher and the students in the class. I was stressful when teaching the

students in the class, I could not use the teaching time efficiently and the

students could not do the English assignments, and tests well. To

overcome the situation, I have three potential solutions to deal with the

situation, each with its own positive and negative effects. The potential

solutions to motivate the students are using games in teaching English,

using a reward system, and giving English tutorials to the students after

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In order to get the best solution I would like to apply all the potential

solutions because they seem to be effective enough to solve the problem

in handling the low motivated students in SDK Baptis. When I see there

are fourteen students who show little interest in learning English, I will use

games that are fun for the learners. Once the students have shown

interest, I will apply the reward solution. Those who can answer the

questions and do the exercises well will get rewards in the hope that they

will enjoy the learning experience and become more motivated in learning

English. At the end of the class, I will offer them to attend a tutoring class

to give them opportunity to ask questions about things they still do not

understand.

Motivation plays an important role in supporting a successful teaching

and learning process in class. Without having motivation, the students

might have low academic performance. Therefore, I can suggest that the

English teachers in handling the unmotivated students should use games,

reward system, and give tutorials when teaching English to increase the

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