IN ENGLISH LEARNING AT THE VOCATIONAL SCHOOL
A THESIS
Presented as a Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements to Obtain the Degree of Magister Humaniora (M. Hum.)
in English Language Studies
by Sigit Hartanto
056332017
THE GRADUATE PROGRAM IN ENGLISH LANGUAGE STUDIES SANATA DHARMA UNIVERSITY
YOGYAKARTA 2010
vi Words from me to teachers,…
Sorrow and happiness accompany your life Inevitable consequences of your profession Greatly impact upon your students
It is important for you To be proud of your job
Here you can transfer your knowledge And attitudes to your students by Recognizing their needs
Teaching is the work of a teacher Award will come later
vii Praise the Lord God Almighty for blessing me with health and chance to accomplish this study.
I would like to express my deepest thanks to my advisor Dra. Novita Dewi, M.S., M.A (Hons)., Ph.D. for the invaluable support, guidance, and timely encouragement she gave me while I was doing this research. I am truly grateful to her for her advice and suggestions right from the beginning when this study I was only in its formative stage. Many thanks are also addressed to F.X. Mukarto, Ph.D., Dr. J. Bismoko, Dr. B.B. Dwijatmoko, M.A. in two years of lecturing as well as in always encouraging me to finish this thesis, and to Dr. Fr. B. Alip, M.Pd., M.A. for his suggestion to improve this thesis.
. Lots of thankfulness is also addressed to Mbak Lely, the administrative staff of the English Language Studies for giving me the information I needed to know concerning the schedules and other arrangements.
My special thanks go to Drs. Aruji Siswanto, the school principal of SMK Negeri 3 Yogyakarta for allowing me to do this research in the institution and his willingness to participate in doing direct interviews. I would like also to send my sincere thanks to Dra. Sri Hartayani and her students in Class 3EL4, especially Susilo, Wahyu Triasih, and Yohanes. Their help in providing the time and allowing me to observe her class during her teaching-learning practices, and answering the interviews mean a great deal to me.
I owe a great depth of gratitude to my wife, Murni, my son, Harel, and my daughter, Ria, who have given me freedom to spend the time to finish this study.
I would like to express my great honor and thankfulness to LPMP DIY and
Pemerintah Kota Yogyakarta for giving me the scholarship to take the graduate program in the English Language Studies in Sanata Dharma. I was lucky to be one of the thirty vocational school English teachers to achieve this great opportunity of which I have never dreamt before.
Last, but by no means least, I wish to thank my readers for their interests in and comments on this thesis.
May God bless us always!
viii
TITLE PAGE ………..i
APROVAL PAGE ………..ii
ACCEPTANCE ……….iii
STATEMENT OF ORIGINALITY ………...iv
LEMBAR PERNYATAAN PERSETUJUAN PUBLIKASI KARYA ILMIAH UNTUK KEPENTINGAN AKADEMIS ………...v
WORDS FROM ME TO TEACHERS ………..vi
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ………..vii
TABLE OF CONTENTS ……… viii
LIST OF TABLES ………xii
LIST OF FIGURES ……….xiii
LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS ………..xiv
ABSTRACT ………..xv
ABSTRAK ………...xvi
CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION A. Background of the Study ………1
B. Problem Identification ………1
C. Problem Limitation ……….2
D. Research Question ………..4
E. Research Goal ...4
F. Research Benefits ………5
1. Theoretical Benefits ………..5
2. Practical Benefits ………..6
CHAPTER II LITERATURE REVIEW A. Theoretical Review ………7
1. Perception ………..7
2. Classroom, Classroom Talk, and Teacher Talk ………..12
3. Learning, English Learning, and Acquisition………..17
ix
a. Features of Progressive Qualitative Research ……….24
b. Meaningful Understanding ………..26
B. Related Studies ……….27
C. Theoretical Framework ………29
CHAPTER III RESEARCH METHODOLOGY A. Nature of Data ………. 33
B. Research Method ………. 35
C. Data Sources ……… 35
1. Setting ……… 36
2. Participants ……… 36
3. Instruments, Data Gathering, and Data Presentation ……… 37
D. Data Interpretation ………... 42
E. Data Triangulation ………44
CHAPTER IV DESCRIPTION AND INTERPRETATION A. Source of Text Data ………..45
1. The Vocational and Classroom Setting ………..45
2. English learning in Class 3EL4 ………46
3. Participants of the Study ………..46
B. Instrumentation ……….47
1. Instrument Building ……….47
2. Instrument Trustworthiness ……….48
C. Text Data Acquisition ………...49
1. Interview and Observation ………...49
2. Presentation of Text Data ………52
a. The Result of the Interview ………52
b. The Result of the Observation ………55
x
2. Teacher’s Intention in Using Her Talk in the Classroom ……..59
3. Teacher’s Action in the Classroom ……….60
4. Students’ Understanding about Classroom Talk ………63
5. Students’ Experience with the Teacher in the Classroom …….63
6. School Principal’s Understanding about Classroom Talk …….64
7. School Principal’s Expectation ………...65
8. School Principal’s Experience in Mastering English ………….66
CHAPTER V CONCLUSION, IMPLICATION, AND RECOMMENDATION A. Conclusion ………69
B. Implication ………70
C. Recommendation ………..71
REFERENCES ………. 72
INTERNET SOURCES ………74
APPENDICES ……….. 75
Appendix 1 Blueprint for Interview Guide ….………75
Appendix 2 Observation Guide ………...76
Appendix 3 Questionnaire ………...81
Appendix 4 Interview Report Sheet 1 ………...82
Appendix 5 Interview Report Sheet 2 ………...84
Appendix 6 Interview Report Sheet 3………..88
Appendix 7 Interview Report Sheet 4………..90
Appendix 8 Interview Report Sheet 5………..93
Appendix 9 Interview Report Sheet 6………..97
Appendix 10 Interview Report Sheet 7..………100
Appendix 11 Interview Report Sheet 8 ………103
Appendix 12 Interview Report Sheet 9 ………106
Appendix 13 Observation Report Sheet 1………..109
xi Appendix 16 Summary of the Interview with Students ………...127 Appendix 17 Summary of the Interview with the School Principal ………...128 Appendix 18 Classroom Talk Categorization Showing Teacher Talk
on the Observation ………130 Appendix 19 Classroom Talk Categorization Showing Student Talk
xii
Table 2.1.a. FLINTSystem Concerning Teacher Talk………..………14
Table 2.1.b. FLINTSystem Concerning Student Talk ……….…………15
Table 2.2 Research Construct Mapping ………30
Table 3.1 Type of Data and Source of Data ………..34
Table 3.2 Observation Guide Modified from FLINT Model ……….39
Table 4.1 Sample of Blueprint Interview for Interview with the Teacher ..……..47
Table 4.2 Sample of Blueprint Interview for Interview with the Students .……..48
Table 4.3 Sample of Preliminary Interview 1 ………....………...49
Table 4.4 Sample of First Observation Text Data ………50
Table 4.5 Sample of Data Gained from a Questionnaire ………..51
Table 4.6 Sample of the Summary of the Interview with the Teacher ………….53
Table 4.7 Sample of the Summary of the Interview with the Students ………….53
Table 4.8 Sample of the Summary of the Interview with the School Principal …54 Table 4.9 Sample of Classroom Talk Categorization Showing Teacher Talk on the Observation ………56
xiv 3EL4 : Class of Third Year Students of Electric Study Program
IRF : Initiate Response Feedback
xv Sigit Hartanto. 2010. Teacher Perception of Classroom Talk in English Learning at the Vocational School. Yogyakarta: English Language Studies, Graduate Program, Sanata Dharma University.
The process of English language teaching and learning in the classroom is very complicated. Teachers play decisive roles in the process of teaching-learning practices. Classroom talk, as the main aspect of teachers and students’ behavior, has a great impact on the students’ language learning.
The study attempts to describe and interpret the role of classroom talk obtained from reflection. It attempts to address the research question ‘What is the teacher perception of classroom talk in English learning process at the vocational school?’ It describes to what extent the role of classroom talk plays in the classroom situation based on the teacher reflection. To answer the research question, this study describes the content or message in the classroom talk, who articulated the content, or the message, how the content or message was articulated, and why such expression was articulated by the participants. In conducting the study, the researcher used progressive qualitative approach. The data collected were in the form of texts. In collecting the texts, field notes, observations, and open-ended interviews were done. One English teacher was chosen as a participant in this study. To ensure the trustworthiness of the text data, interviews were also conducted to three students of the same class. To verify the data school principal was also interviewed. To dig data out from the students, a questionnaire was done to the class. To construct classroom talk in English learning, the teacher-participant of the study was observed prior to and during their teaching-learning practices. She was also interviewed to follow the observations. The observations were focused on the classroom talk articulated during the English teaching-learning process in the classroom. Since it is a qualitative study, the data are presented in the descriptive and narrative form.
xvi Sigit Hartanto. 2010. Teacher Perception ofClassroom Talk in English
Learning at the Vocational School. Yogyakarta: English Language Studies, Graduate Program, Sanata Dharma University.
Proses pengajaran dan pembelajaran bahasa Inggris di dalam kelas sangat kompleks. Guru mempunyai peran yang sangat penting dalam kegiatan belajar-mengajar. Percakapan kelas, sebagai perilaku utama guru dan siswa, mempunyai kekuatan yang besar pada pembelajaran bahasa.
Penelitian ini berusaha untuk menjelaskan dan menginterpretasikan peran percakapan kelas yang diperoleh dari refleksi. Penelitian ini berusaha untuk menjawab pertanyaan ‘Apakah persepsi guru tentang percakapan kelas di dalam proses pembelajaran bahasa Inggris di sekolah menengah kejuruan?’. Penelitian ini akan menjelaskan sampai sejauh mana percakapan kelas berperan di dalam kelas berdasarkan refleksi guru. Untuk mendapatkan jawaban pertanyaan penelitian tersebut, studi ini akan menjelaskan isi atau pesan yang terdapat di dalam percakapan kelas, siapa yang berbicara , bagaimana pesan itu disampaikan, dan mengapa ungkapan itu diucapkan oleh partisipan. Dalam melakukan penelitian ini, peneliti menggunakan pendekatan kualitatif progresif. Data yang dikumpulkan berupa teks. Untuk mengumpulkan teks dilakukan pencatatan di lapangan, observasi, dan wawancara. Satu orang guru bahasa Inggris dipilih sebagai partisipan di dalam penelitian ini. Untuk memperoleh validasi teks, juga dilakukan wawancara terhadap tiga orang siswa di kelas yang sama. Untuk menggali data dari seluruh siswa dalam kelas tersebut juga dilakukan kuesioner. Untuk mengetahui bentuk percakapan kelas dalam pembelajaran bahasa Inggris, partisipan-guru penelitian ini diobservasi sebelum dan selama proses belajar-mengajar berlangsung. Partisipan tersebut juga diwawancarai setelah diadakan observasi. Observasi difokuskan pada percakapan kelas yang diucapkan selama proses belajar-mengajar di dalam kelas. Sebagaimana penelitian kualitatif, maka data dipaparkan dalam bentuk deskripsi dan narasi.
1
CHAPTER I
INTRODUCTION
The aim of this chapter is to define a case of classroom talk in the English
teaching-learning processes at the vocational school. In this chapter the researcher
tries to describe the orientation of the study and by so doing, attempt to orient the
reader about it.
A. Background of the study
It has been noticed that teachers often talk about their teaching-learning
practice and their students in particular, whenever they meet their colleagues, for
example about problematic classroom situation, negative attitudes or some
difficulties students have in their learning process. Some teachers often regard
their students‘ motivation is low while students feel bored with the way their
teacher is teaching. Classroom talk is considered to be one of the matters causing
the problematic classroom situation.
B. Problem Identification
Classroom talk in English learning is considered to be a problematic area
for language teachers. On the one hand, teachers should not talk too much when
conducting teaching-learning in class, since the more teacher talk therein, it will
deprive the students from having the opportunities to speak. Besides, the quality
should be considered to be more important than the quantity of teacher talk. The
quality of teacher talk here means the effectiveness of the teacher talk. It should be
able to facilitate the teaching-learning process as well as to promote communicative
interaction is therefore called communicative. The teacher talk includes, for
example, the kind of questions they ask, the speech, modifications they make
when talking to learners, and the way they react to students‘ errors.
This research focuses on the classroom talk that occurs in the English
classroom at the vocational school. What is the narrative of the teacher in using
her classroom talk based on her lived-experience in the English teaching-learning
practices in the classroom? What are the teacher‘s personal reasons in using her
classroom talk during her teaching-learning practices? How does the teacher
actualize classroom talk in her classroom?
Four main sources, e.g.; class observations, interviews, a questionnaire, and
research documentation were done to gain the information concerning the
classroom talk in the English classroom at the vocational school. Since this study
conveys the qualitative research, it uses natural series of activities including
observations and interviews. Hopefully, it will be able to help teachers to
contextualize their understanding in using classroom talk effectively in the
English learning at the vocational school. Teachers of English at vocational schools
are hoped to be able to contextualize the goals and objectives in teaching English.
Eventually, they are capable as to how to choose, organize, sequence and use
classroom talk effectively to support their teaching-learning process.
C. Problem Limitation
Conventionally, a teacher is usually regarded as an organizer as well as a
controller over the implementation of classroom activities, and an evaluator of
students‘ performances of the activities. So, a teacher plays a dominant role over
the expert who would transfer his or her knowledge or expertise to the unknowing
students, who in turn would be assessed by evaluation instruments intended to
measure the amount of ―transferred knowledge‖ or ―transferred expertise.‖
Recently, students cannot be regarded as passive recipients but they have
to play a much more active role in the learning process. In actualizing such a
learning process, the classroom talk is considered to play an important role.
Classroom talk should be dominantly expressed to increase student talk and
decrease teacher talk. Thus, the students have the opportunity to use the new
language in simulated real-life situations.
On the discussion of the background of the study and the problem
identification, it has been mentioned that classroom talk in the English
teaching-learning process is considered to be a problematic area for language teachers. The
delimitation is based on both the conceptual considerations and the practical
considerations. Classroom talk conveys some probable coverage, as some of them
are mentioned in the previous problem limitation. The discussion of classroom talk
will become the dynamic lived-experience for teachers and students as well. As
decision makers in conducting the English teaching-learning process at the
vocational school, the teacher‘s belief and their action will become rich sources of
this study. The limitation of the study is expected to open the other possibilities of
any further studies conducting on the issue and other aspects of classroom talk.
The research is limited only to focus on the discussion of classroom talk in
one vocational school with one teacher, three students as participants, and to
support trustworthiness the school principal is involved. It is expected to be
collected in this research can interpret the teacher‘s perception of classroom talk at
the vocational school. The limitation of the study, the size and nature of the
samples, is hoped to draw more attention for the next studies concerning classroom
talk and any factors concerning with the teacher‘s actual involvement in
conducting teaching-learning process for the betterment of the further English
education.
Being a teacher with hectic schedule and a multitude of responsibilities, I
found a lot of difficulties in managing the time to conduct this research. There
are fourteen English teachers teaching at the vocational school. This study is
limited only to one English language teacher, three students, and the school
principal of the vocational school as participants.
D. Research Question
The research question is formulated as follows:
What is the teacher perception of classroom talk in English learning process at the
vocational school?
E. Research Goal
Referring to the research question, the goal of this study is:
To discover the teacher perception of classroom talk in the context of
English teaching-learning process at the vocational school.
By exploring how the teacher contextualizes her classroom talk, self
actualization, belief and intention in uttering their teacher talk in the English
classroom at the vocational school; the following processes show the procedural
1. To describe the narrative of the teacher participant in using her classroom talk
based on her lived-experience in the English teaching-learning process in a
classroom setting.
2. To interpret the English teacher‘s personal reasons in using her talk during
teaching-learning practices.
3. To identify the ways the teacher uses her talk in conducting teaching-learning
process at the vocational school.
F. Research Benefits
. When the research goal is obtained, it is expected that this research can
contribute theoretically and practically as to how classroom teacher talk can be
used effectively in the teaching-learning process in the English classroom. Thus,
the research benefits of the study cover the theoretical benefit to add to the
literature on the area of classroom talk and the practical benefits presented as
follows:
1.Theoretical Benefits
Theoretically, the study attempts to provide scientific information in
education in general, especially in encouraging teachers to make effective use of
their classroom talk to focus on the topics they are delivering in class and situation
most relevant to the students‘ needs. It may function as comprehensible input in
developing education in general, and especially in English learning at the vocational
2.Practical Benefits
Practically, the study will be useful for the researcher, teacher participant,
and the English teachers of vocational schools. The better understanding of
classroom talk can help them to be more empowered, autonomous, and
self-fulfilling. What is meant by empowered is that they understand about classroom
talk in English learning, and know how to use effectively in their
teaching-learning practices in classrooms. Autonomous here means that they can decide
whether the classroom talk is effective or not in their classroom situation by their
own right. While self-fulfilling means they can do their own best to meet the
needs of their students. It is also hoped that English teaching-learning practices
using classroom talk effectively can increase the students‘ interest and motivation
with which eventually they will learn better.
7
CHAPTER II
LITERATURE REVIEW
In this chapter, the researcher attempts to take the discussion in the
previous chapter further forward, exploring some theoretical review and
framework of thinking. It focuses on the issues related to classroom talk and the
factors involved in teachers‘ function at the vocational school especially in the
important role of teachers in creating dynamic activities during teaching
learning process in English classes. Furthermore in this chapter, the researcher
tries to build up the theoretical framework of the study to explain the construct
and concepts used in this research to answer of the research question.
A. Theoretical Review
The theoretical review in this section discusses relevant theories in
accordance with the research. The current literature on related topics in this
section covers the review on (1) perception, (2) classroom, classroom talk, and
teacher talk, (3) learning, and English learning, (3) vocational school, and (5)
lived- experience in progressive qualitative research.
1. Perception
This study explored the teacher perception on classroom talk used in class
during their teaching-learning practice. Before coming to the ‗field‘, it is
important for the researcher to understand the meaning of perception viewed from
different sources.
According to Heat (2003), ordinary perception is passive. In this situation
his/her attention to something, this switch is the act. The passive observation
leads to the interest in the situation, which then leads to the act of attention, etc.
For example, two people, Jim and Tom, walk down the high street in town. They
see a mother slap a child and make it cry. The first part of perception can be seen
in this sequence:
a) Passive observation Interest Act of close attention
Jim takes the child‘s side and mentally criticizes the mother for her
violence; the incident arouses the feeling of displeasure in him. Tom sides with
the mother, and mentally criticizes the child; he feels pleasure at the correction of
unruly behavior. So, there is one image, and two different interpretations, two
different feelings. The second part of perception makes this sequence:
b) Act of close attention Foreground content or image
Heat then says that the close observation of the foreground image is
followed by a judgment on that image. Then the judgment allows the person to
generate the requisite feeling towards the image. The third part of perception
makes this sequence:
c) Foreground content Judgment Feeling
He continues arguing that having arrived at feeling, there is the loop of
projection and introjections.
Feeling
Desire Belief
Will
What is meant by projection is an image built by the feeling, while introjection is
the insertion of attitude or idea into oneself unconsciously.
The act of perception has led us to this loop. Therefore the complete
sequence of perception is as given in figure 2.2. The arrows indicate the change
from one stage to the next one. The sequence ends in the loop of projection and
introjections.
Passive observation Interest Act Content Judgment
Feeling
Desire Belief
Will
Figure 2.2 Complete sequence of perception
The sequence in Figure 2.2 is the psychological view of perception
because it involves a judgment which then leads to psychological states of desire
and emotion. However, if one stops short of making any judgment, then the
sequence of perception ends with the foreground content. Therefore, the process
of perception has two parts to it. The sequence from passive observation to
foreground content is the unconscious part. Then the continuation, from judgment
to the loop of projection and introjections, is the subconscious part since it deals
with the hidden intentions and expectations of the person. Within this process, the
most important section is part (c), the links between foreground content, judgment
Russell (2006) defines a perception as a process of collecting together all
those that are aspects of on things. What a person can perceive is associated with
what s/he does.
Vernon (1987) points out three dimensions of perception. They are the
understanding about the object, the view and the action toward the object. While,
Sadli (1986) defines perception as active processes in which an individual views
some stimuli together with her/his experiences, motivation and attitude. The
knowledge of the identity of objects and features in the environment is obviously
valuable. In the process of viewing the objects of stimuli, needless to say, an
individual always tries to compare with what s/he has in his prior knowledge.
The concern of this study is an attempt to capture the English teacher‘s
understanding, opinions, and experience based on the practical use of classroom
talk in teaching-learning practice at vocational school.
Perception of course 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, a process that
mixes memory including understanding, desire, intention or expectation,
anticipation, relations with others, cultural patterns, feelings, belief or sights,
behaviors, smells, sounds, etc. (Murphy, 1960, p.13 in Bradley, 2002).
Based on the elaboration above, the researcher can see that perception
is what people notice, understand, intend, and act through out their own life.
It is the interpretation or the responses of people toward the phenomenon occur in
their lived-experience. It is reflected on their past experience, understanding,
As stated in the limitation of the problems this study focuses only on the
three aspects of the teacher perception based on experience, namely beliefs, action
and intention toward the classroom talk. Therefore, the operational definition of
the teacher perception based on the experience becomes what the teacher believes
about, does with and intends to use the classroom talk in her teaching learning
practices at school. The classroom talk, as explained in the limitation of the
problems, refers to the goal, process and resources. It is reflected on the teacher‘s
teaching-learning practices in the classroom.
Each person has a unique set of experiences which are treated as truth and
which determine the behavior of individual. In this sense, truth (and associate
behavior) is totally unique to each individual (Van Manen, 1990 in Patton, 2001).
In line with this, personal perception refers to the perception of an individual
which is considered as unique from one individual to another. The teacher‘s
personal perception of the classroom talk means the perception of each teacher
participant toward the talk used in class during teaching-learning processes which
is seen individually, without being compared with the perception of the other
teacher participants. While the shared perception means the perception of teacher
participant toward the talk used in class during teaching-learning processes which
is compared with the perception of the other teacher participants. This study only
discusses the former one.
Reflection is based on the perception. The teacher reflected her teaching
learning process based on her own perception which was broadened by students‘
perception and also the principal‘s one. Teacher‘s reflection of the classroom talk
used in class during teaching-learning processes.
In this study, teacher perception on classroom talk can mean how a
teacher notices, understands, intends, and acts through out the practical use
of classroom talk in her English teaching-learning practice.
So the aspects of perception here were included into three, namely
understanding, intention, and action.
2. Classroom, Classroom Talk, and Teacher Talk
Classrooms provide the interactive and physical context for student
learning. All classrooms share one thing in common - they are unique social sites
in that the distinctive nature of the classroom situation demands that teaching and
learning happen whilst simultaneously constructing roles and relationships
between teachers and students, and between students and their classmates.
Teachers and students create, through talk, the social classroom context on which
they rely to support instructional talk. They use their knowledge of that context to
generate appropriate behavior, and the appropriateness of that behavior, in turn,
serves to define the context in which they interact (Edwards and Furlong, 1979).
Students learn the way their teacher utters the talk in class by participating in it.
According to Brown (1994: 81) interactive classes will most be found:
doing a significant amount of pair work and group work, receiving authentic
language input in real contexts, producing language for genuine, meaningful
communication, performing classroom tasks and prepare them for actual language
use ―out there‖, practicing oral communication through the give and take and
spontaneity of actual conversations, and writing to and for real audiences, not
Classroom talk is the styles of communication and language and socio-
linguistic codes used by teachers and taught. The ―underlying semantic of
communication‖ and types of communicative competence required for the
satisfactory performance of what Bernstein (1977) describes as restricted and
elaborated language codes in oral and written pedagogic traditions. Restricted codes
are used when there is a shared understanding of the topic and tight specificity of
description; elaborated codes such as that used by teachers, involve abstract
descriptions that are generalizable and understandable by those not in the
community. Stern (1986) urges that language is speech, not writing. Furthermore,
he says that a language is what its native speakers say not what someone thinks
they ought to say. A language is a set of habits. The understanding of
communication is the best way any teacher can be equipped. Good
communication leads to effective learning, whatever the subject (Barrow et al:
2002).
Classroom talk is a main tool for teaching, for thinking and for learning. It
is an entry into written language and the main way in which students encounter
and learn about the ways or the culture of the school (Baker & Freebody, 1989).
According to Richards (2000: 60) classroom talk is classified into: 1)
Direct instruction which consists of a presentation of grammatical explanations
and the attitude of the students toward teacher‘s explanations. 2) Error correction
feedback of which we can find in it in several activities, i.e. a) interrupting
students before they have completed their turns, b) waiting for the student to
finish speaking and then correct, c) providing the correct answer, d) giving a
student‘s utterance with a rising inflection, f) expanding on the student‘s
utterance, g) calling on another student to respond. 3) Teacher questions. 4)
Instructions. And 5) The use of first language. Wolf and Resnick (2005) say that
an effective classroom talk is linked to a high level of student‘s thinking and
active use of knowledge.
Meanwhile, Moskowitz 1971 (in Brown 2001: 170) proposes the Foreign
Language Interaction Analysis (FLINT) System as seen in Table 2.1.a and Table
2.1.b.
Table 2.1.a. Foreign Language Interaction Analysis (FLINT) System (adapted from Moskowitz 1971 in Brown 2001: 170) Concerning Teacher Talk
TEACHER TALK
DIRECT INFLUENCE INDIRECT INFLUENCE 1.Deals with feelings:
In a non-threatening way, accepting, discussing, referring to, or communicating understanding of past, present, or future feeling of students.
2.Praises or encourages:
Praising, complementing, telling students what they have said or done is valued. Encouraging students to continue, trying to give them confidence, confirming that answers are correct.
3.Uses idea of students:
Clarifying, using, interpreting, summarizing the ideas of students. The ideas must be rephrased by the teacher but still be recognized as being student Contributions.
3a. Repeats student response verbatim:
Repeating the exact words of students after they participate.
4.Asks questions:
Asking questions to which the answer is Anticipated. (Rhetorical questions are NOT included in this category.)
5.Gives information:
Giving information, facts, own opinion, or ideas: lecturing or asking rhetorical questions. Commands that students are expected to follow; directing various drill; facilitating whole-class and small- group activity.
7.Criticizes student behavior:
Rejecting behavior of students; trying to change the non-acceptable behavior; communicating anger, displeasure, annoyance, dissatisfaction with what students are doing.
7a. Criticizes student response:
Table 2.1.b. Foreign Language Interaction Analysis (FLINT) System (adapted from Moskowitz 1971 in Brown 2001: 170) Concerning Student Talk
STUDENT TALK 8.Student response, specific:
Responding to the teacher within a specific and limited range of available or previously practiced answers. Reading aloud, dictation, drills.
9.Student response, open-ended or student-initiated:
Responding to the teacher with students‘ own ideas, opinions, reactions, feelings. Giving one from among many possible answers that have been previously practiced But from which students must now make a selection. Initiating the participation.
10.Silence:
Pauses in the interaction. Periods of quiet during which there is no verbal interaction.
10a. Silence—AV:
Silence in the interaction during which a piece of audiovisual equipment, e.g., a tape recorder, filmstrip projector, record player, etc. is being used to communicate.
11.Confusion, work-oriented:
More than one person at a time talking, so the interaction cannot be recorded. Students calling out excitedly, eager to participate or respond, concerned with the task at hand..
11a. Confusion, non-work-oriented:
More than one person at a time talking, so the interaction cannot be recorded. Students out of order, not behaving as the teacher wishes, not concerned with the task at hand.
12.Laughter:
Laughing and giggling by the class, individuals, and/or the teacher.
13.Uses the native language:
Use of the native language by the teacher or the student.
This category is always combined with one of the categories from 1 to 9. categories
14.Nonverbal:
Gestures or facial expressions by the teacher or the student that communicate without the use of words. This category is always combined with one of the categories of teacher or student behavior.
Teacher talk has attracted attention because of its potential effect on
learners‘ comprehension, which has been hypothesized to be important for second
language acquisition ( Ellis, 2003: 583).
Teacher talk is a special variety or register of language especially marked
by a special set of vocabulary associated with a profession or occupation. It is the
Teacher talk is use in class when teachers are teaching students linguistic
knowledge, cultivating their intellectual ability and managing classroom activities.
According to Ellis (1985), teacher talk means the language teachers
address language learners that are different from the way they address other kinds
of classroom activities. They make adjustment to both language form and
language function in order to facilitate classroom communication. These
adjustments are referred to as ―teacher talk‖. Cook (1989) thinks that teacher talk
refers to the amount of speech supplied by the teacher rather than students.
Sometimes teacher talk can be called teachers‘ language, teachers‘ speech or
teachers‘ utterances. In spite of these different shapes, they share the same
characteristic, that is, they are all the words spoken by the teacher in class.
Classroom talk is a kind of interaction used in a classroom setting during
teaching-learning processes. It is a reciprocal and meaningful talk between the
teacher and student(s), and between student(s) and student(s) that happens in the
classroom. Through their talk, students develop their language ability. Students
can join a discussion, problem solving tasks, or dialogue journals using their talk.
The form of activities can be pair works or group works. The teacher and students
have a reciprocal effect upon each other through which they do and say using their
talk. Meaningful talk with other in the target language in the classroom is much
more important in language learning. The description of classroom talk used by
teacher and students is seen from the teacher and student talk.
In this study the researcher uses the FLINT system as seen in Table 2.1.a
and Table 2.1.b. to describe and interpret classroom talk obtained from classroom
3. Learning, English Learning, and Acquisition
According to Brown (2000:7), teaching is often defined as showing or
helping someone to learn how to do something, providing with knowledge,
causing to know or understand. This definition is not complete. He further states
that the components of learning can be extracted into: (a) learning is acquisition or
―getting‖, (b) learning is retention of information and skill, (c) retention implies
storage systems, memory, cognitive organization, events inside or outside
organism, (d) learning involves active, conscious focus on and acting upon events
outside or inside the organism, (e) learning is relatively permanent but subject to
forgetting, (f) learning involves some form of practice, perhaps reinforced
practice, and (g) learning is a change of behavior. Teaching cannot be defined
apart from learning because teaching is guiding, facilitating learning, enabling the
learner to learn, setting the condition for learning. The understanding of how the
learner learns, determines one‘s philosophy of education.
Teaching and learning practices may also influence the way in which
learners perceive language learning. Language teachers should therefore bear in
mind that what they do in the language classroom--for example, the linguistic
input and the learning activities the teachers choose--might influence the
development of the students' beliefs about learning in general and language
learning in particular (Mori, 1999).
The North Central Regional Educational Laboratory discusses the new
definition of learning that has emerged from the various educational standards.
The different curriculum standards reveal a common spirit. Over and over again,
emphasizing memorization, and decry their push to cover content at the expense
of deep conceptual understanding. Instead, the reports regard learning as the
active, goal-directed construction of meaning. All emphasize in-depth learning;
learning oriented to problem solving and decision making; learning embedded in
real-life tasks and activities for thinking and communicating, and learning that
builds on students' prior knowledge and experiences.
According to Allwright (2005:18), pedagogy encompasses teaching and
learning. He puts forward the term 'managing learning' as another term for
`teaching' to differentiate it from learning which he calls as 'doing learning'.
Following his argument, 'managing learning' refers to all the things that
happen that determine the learning opportunities that become available to be
learned from; while 'doing learning' refers to the covert mental processes that
actually constitute learning, whatever we mean by that term (Allwright, 2005:18).
Further, he articulates that pedagogy overall (i.e., teaching and learning) is best
seen as consisting of two conceptually distinct things: managing learning and
doing learning. Managing learning covers both overt and covert processes
(visible classroom activities and audible classroom utterances, data in the
academic classroom research days, plus things going on consciously but
unobservably in people's brains); while doing learning only covers covert,
internal, non-conscious mental processing presumably of whatever has been
noticed about whatever has become available to be learned (Allwright, 2005:
19-21).
In the context of the current study, `learning and teaching' are two words
that represent pedagogy that are employed together and interchangeably to
their work. While they teach, they manage learning, and at the same time they
also learn or do learning.
Crandall (2001:533), especially talking about learning and teaching,
quotes an interesting statement of an experienced teacher serving as a Peace
Corps volunteer in Kiribati: 'That's the best part of teaching – the learning.'
She is impressed by this wise person's statement who says that teaching is a
lifelong learning. In her own words, Crandall (2001:533) is in agreement with
this opinion by saying that it is that learning (`the best part of teaching') which
motivates many English language professionals to keep teaching when the
benefits from other jobs would otherwise draw them away. What she tries to say
here confirms the notion that the action of teaching will cause learning. Teaching
is proving what one knows about something.
Further more, Crandall (2001:533) claims that in teaching, 'you know
how much more you learn when you can test out what you have been reading
and thinking about. That testing and learning will now become a part of your
daily routine.' In other words, learning may take place in teaching, and teaching
may facilitate the process of learning. Learning itself is a never-ending process.
What a teacher does, recalls, reflects, concludes and plans in the experiential cycle
will always happen in a lifetime. The learning process will go on and on
continuously and this is what makes a teacher can help develop themselves
professionally.
‗Acquisition‘ refers to the subconscious process of ‗picking up‘ a
language through exposure and ‗learning‘ to the conscious process of studying it
(Krashen, 1981 in Ellis, 2003: 14). Furthermore, second language acquisition
which that language is spoken (e.g., German speakers learning Japanese in Japan
or Punjabi speakers learning English in the United Kingdom). This may or may
not take place in a classroom setting. The important point is that learning in a
second language environment takes places with considerable access to speakers
of the language being learned, whereas learning in a foreign language does not
(Gass and Selinker, 2001: 5).
English learning is usually held at primary schools and/or secondary
school. It can also start or continue in adulthood. The ways of English learning
are sometimes through exposure but often by being taught specific language.
English learning may run with strong, little or even no motivation. It is done
through interaction with a teacher, sometimes with classmates, often by talking
about life outside the classroom, by needing to produce language soon after it
has been taught, and often by using language in controlled practice activities.
The context of English learning is that the learners are not exposed to the
language very much -- often not no more than about four hours per week.
Teachers usually simplify their language. They vary in the amount they praise or
encourage their learners. They generally correct learners a lot. The learner does
not receive individual attention from the teacher. It is not always easy to
describe English learning in the classroom because it happens in different ways
in different classrooms.
4.Vocational School
A vocational school is a learning institution offering educational programs
employment, or for additional preparation for a career requiring other than a
baccalaureate or advanced degree (
http://definitions.uslegal.com/v/vocational-school/).
According to Sutrisno (2005), vocational education is a subsystem of the
Indonesian national education system whose main goal is to prepare the students
so that they become competent to fulfill the need for middle level of labours.
Furthermore, he states that those who study at the vocational schools are hoped to
fulfill an aspect of long-life learning and a preparation for responsible citizenship
Formal education in Indonesia is graded into 4 levels, i.e. elementary
school, junior school, senior school, and university. Each of which has its own
characteristics, considering its curriculum and the cognitive growth or age of a
person.
A vocational school is one kind of senior school which has varieties of
study programs in it and has students at the average of 14 – 17 years old.
Students spend three years to finish their study. The vocational school has
some duties to prepare students to be capable of doing their future jobs. The
governments and businesses are now increasingly giving more attention to the
future of vocational education through publicly funded training organizations and
subsidized apprenticeship or traineeship for the vocational schools‘ stakeholders
to fulfill labour market demands which require specialized and higher levels of
skills.
Vocational education has developed to more specific area and now exists in
industries such as technology, information technology, business, tourism,
the system of a period of time working as an apprentice. In this system students
learn the ‗productive lessons‘ both at school and in certain industries. Students
spend at least six months learning at an industrial world when they are in the
XI grade (second year of schooling at the vocational school). Under the
apprenticeship system students have to attend their practical-training periods in
certain industries.
The examples of the study programs at the vocational school are the
building-drawing, wood-working, electrical engineering, audio-video,
multi-media, information technology, computer networking technology,
machinery technology, light vehicle repair, food, beauty, clothing, travel,
accounting, mining and geography, arts, crafts, and many others. The
characteristics of the study programs influence English learning at vocational
schools. The curriculum in different groups of study programs have different
time allocations for English learning; for examples, the time allocated for
English in technology is four hours a week whereas in tourism eight ours a
week.
Recently, the government has been developing vocational schools into
nationally or internationally standardized ones (Sutrisno, 2005:3). The purpose is
that to produce quality output that can compete to gain jobs in domestic or
foreign countries.
At any vocational school in Indonesia, students learn English both for
academic and vocational purpose. In this case, students learn English for
immediate use in a study environment, and they also learn English for future use
with the objectives of English language education in Indonesia, as quoted from
the KTSP (Kurikulum Tingkat Satuan Pendidikan) 2006, i.e. (1) to make
students understand the basic skills of English to help them reach the vocational
competencies, (2) to make the students to apply their ability and skills in English
to communicate in spoken and written form.
In the KTSP document it is said that the language skills consist of
listening, speaking, reading, and writing.
The ability to use these four skills involves the context of situation.
People create texts or language within the context of situation. The context of
situation controls what language to use by whom and to whom in the vocational
world. In this respect, classroom talk can give a picture of situation that talking
in English in an English classroom is crucial at the vocational school to meet the
need of their future career.
Ideally, students of vocational schools need to learn ESP which varies in
accordance with their vocation and their need for English in their future career.
For an example, students of technical groups need technical English in the sense
that they need to learn English which include a number of technical lexical
grammar and vocabulary which their context of situation. Unfortunately, it does
not run as expected because the government tends to standardize the quality of
schools by holding the national examination program for vocational schools.
This forces the vocational school teachers to forget ESP since the examination is
designed on the basis of general English. The reason of the government to do
this is that it is difficult to prepare many kinds of measurement to meet the
teachers of English at vocational schools tend to teach general English instead of
ESP.
Eventually, after discussing what the vocational school is, and
understanding its roles and duties, I can draw a conclusion that learning English
at the vocational schools in Indonesia is to help the students gain the basic skills
of English in order for them to be able to learn their vocational skills better.
Learning English at the vocational schools should make the students able to use
English both spoken and written so that they can compete with people either
from the same or different countries to get a job or a better future life.
5. Lived- Experience in Progressive Qualitative Research
In progressive qualitative research, the researcher views research
participants‘ lived-experience. It was about how they perceived it, described it,
felt about it, judged it, remembered it, made sense of it, and talked about it with
others.
a. Features of Progressive Qualitative Research
The interesting point to use the progressive qualitative research as proposed
by Holliday (2002) provides scope for the researchers as the writers to use the
conventions to establish a strong personal presence in the genre as gateway and
social exploration.
It is clear that in a qualitative research the writing becomes an unfolding
story in which the writer gradually makes sense not only of her data but of the total
Qualitative research presents a statement about reality and social life that has to be continually argued and reaffirmed. It is the need for constant articulation that makes writing as important as other aspects of doing the research.
Using this research method, this study informs everyone with the importance of
teachers‘ role in creating classroom talk from the very beginning to the end of
classroom activities. The progressive qualitative research is used to reflect the
uniqueness of the qualitative research paradigm in particular, its concerns with
meaning, context and depth.
Qualitative research, according to Alvesson and Skoldberg (2000), has
its roots in social science and is more concerned with understanding why people
behave as they do: their knowledge, attitudes, beliefs, fears, etc. Alvesson and
Skoldberg say that qualitative research allows the subjects being studied to
give much ‗richer‘ answers to questions put to them by the researcher, and may
give valuable insights which might have been missed by any other method‘. In the
reflexive methodology Alvesson and Skoldberg discuss the qualitative method and
they stress it on the reflexive research. They explain that the research is started
on how the researcher interacts with empirical material and constructs the data. It
is continued by the researcher's interpretation and search for underlying meanings.
The next stage is about critical interpretation of the political and ideological
aspects of research. The last stage imposes the self-critical and linguistic
reflection of the researcher. Holliday (2002) affirms that in the qualitative
research the voice and person of researcher as writer not only becomes a major
ingredient of the written study; but also has to be evident for the meaning to
Qualitative research generates information that is very detailed. It tells the
story from the participant's viewpoint, providing the rich descriptive detail that
sets qualitative results into their human context. It enables the researcher to
describe the phenomena of interest in great detail, in the original language of the
research participants. The methods and techniques on the qualitative research
focus on the grounded theory and the interpretations of the meaningful interaction
between the researcher and the participants of the research.
The progressive qualitative research as proposed by Holliday enables the
researchers to understand participants‘ perspective on the way they assign
meaning to the English language education. Using this method of research the
participants share their lived-experiences to contextualize their perception of
classroom talk in English learning at vocational schools.
b. Meaningful Understanding
The qualitative research has special value for investigating complex and
sensitive issues which have been explained by the theorists. The researcher and the
participants need to achieve a deep understanding of the issues. The researcher
aims to become immersed in or become part of the population being studied, so that
they can develop a detailed understanding of the values and beliefs held by
members of the population. The meaningful understanding indicates the study of
theories and methods of the interpretation of all texts and systems of meaning
called as hermeneutics. Bismoko (2007: 25) says that:
Hermeneutics is very close to phenomenology. Hermeneutics is said to be the science of interpretation. Here you interpret world reality through the
The method for interpretation fits the characteristic of the progressive qualitative
research to result the study of the interpretation and understanding of the
phenomena. The ability to understand things from somebody else's point of view
and to appreciate the cultural and social forces that may have influenced the
participants‘ performance is essential in the process of data interpretation of the
progressive qualitative research. Hermeneutics interprets the phenomena of the
participants engaged in the research through understanding their perspective in
narrative discussion. The researcher and the participants share the point of view on
the process of applying the understanding to interpret the meaning of the life
experience.
The humanities are aimed to understand, explain, recognize and retained
what was relevant to the individual person: his life experiences, affections,
character, social and historical setting. By so doing we enlarge the horizon of our
understanding. Meaning emerges in interaction between the researcher and the
participants to draw meaningful understanding. The situation can be described as
placing oneself in somebody else‘s perspective to gain the emphatic
understanding in meaningful interaction. The flexibility in the communication
would reveal the true meaning of the interpretation.
B. Related Studies
In this part the researcher will review some related studies in the same
field concerning classroom talk. It can be studied in a variety of contexts across
the age range from pre-school to higher education, in a variety of subject learned,
A study conducted by Murtiningrum (2009) that described classroom
interaction that took place in English learning at a vocational school located in
Sleman , Yogyakarta Special District has the similar concern. The result of the
study shows that the interaction between the teachers and students was limited/
based on the activities in the textbook. Reciprocal interaction by using English for
communication did not happen.
Sinclair and Brazil (1982), in their pioneering study of teacher-learner
interaction, concluded that the learners ‗have restricted opportunities to participate
in the language of the classroom‘. In similar vein, Nunan (1987: 144) claimed that
there is growing evidence that, in communicative classes, interactions may, in
fact, not be very communicative after all‘. The growing evidence Nunan adduces
includes studies that characterize teacher-learner interaction as being almost
entirely teacher-led and dominated, and as consisting largely of IRF
(initiate-ersponse-follow up) sequence, of which the initiating element is always display
question (as opposed to a referential one). Nunan (1989: 26), for example, claims
‗it has been shown that teacher talk for up 89 per cent of the available time‘ while
Wells (1999) cites a figure of 70 per cent of all teacher-learner talk as being of the
IRF type. Similarly, Long and Sato (1983) found that 79 per cent of
teacher-learner questions were display questions. Teachers and their students don‘t ‗talk
language‘; they talk about language, and even so-called production activities are,
as Johnson (1996, citing Prabhu in Thornbury), points out, less production
activities. As Legutke and Thomas (1991: 8-9) observe: ‗Very little is actually
communicated in the second language classroom. The way it is structured does
they might have to say. [….] Learners do not find a room to speak as themselves,
to use language in communicative encounters, to create text, to stimulate
responses from fellow learners, or to find solutions to relevant problems.‘
Having reviewed the previous studies done by some researchers above,
this research can come to an account. The focus is describing and interpreting the
verbal behavior between a teacher and student(s), and between student(s) and
student(s) in the context of teaching-learning practices in class at a vocational
school. The non-verbal behavior emerged during the teaching-learning practices is
also described and interpreted in this study. In categorizing both the verbal and
non-verbal behavior of which termed as classroom talk in this study, the
researcher uses Foreign Language Interaction Analysis (FLINT) System adapted
from Moskowitz 1971 (Brown 2001: 170). This research describes and interprets
the teacher perception of classroom talk based on reflection. The understanding of
the meaning of classroom talk is the basis of perceiving of classroom talk uttered
in class whilst teaching-learning practices.
C. Theoretical Framework
The understanding the meaning of classroom talk can be reached from
some aspects. It can be seen from definition, the characteristics, the roles of the
language learners, and the categorization.
Classroom talk is a complex process in the class that is influenced by
many factors, i.e. the teacher, the students, or the classroom environment.
Effective classroom talk is needed in the foreign langue learning. It is related with
language actively in communication in the classroom. Both the teacher and the
students feel comfortable in expressing their information, knowledge, ideas,
opinion, or anything using the language. The teacher creates activities that engage
their students in meaningful interaction, in which their interaction is focused more
on what they are saying than on how they are saying it.
The research construct mapping is summarized in Table 2.2. It contains the
definition of the constructs of this research. They are classroom interaction,
learning, lived experience, and narrative research. It is followed by the conceptual
definition, category, sub category, item investigation, and research action plan.
Table 2.2 Research construct mapping
CONSTRUCT CONCEPTUAL
Accepts feeling Opens the
class
Asks questions Asks
questions Gives directions Gives
directions related to the
Observation
with deep
class activity subject or a skill which is a
Studying Observation
with deep
interpretation Experiencing Observation
with deep interpretation Instruction Observation
with deep interpretation
Lived experience What classroom
students and interview
Narrative research A research which uses the inquiry
Interpretive Participants‘ interpretation
Table 2.2 shows the interrelationship between the constructs of this research. The
column 4 shows the themes used in the discussion and interpretation.
Teacher-student(s), student(s)-teacher, and student-student(s) are considered as general
theses. Teacher-student(s) talk contains accepting feeling, praising or
encouraging, accepting or using ideas of students, asking questions, lecturing,
giving directions, and criticizing or justifying authority. In column 3,
student(s)-teacher contains student talk response, student initiation, and silence of confusion.
33
CHAPTER III
RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
In this chapter I attempt to elaborate the method in order to solve the
research question empirically. Since this study attempts to describe the teacher
perception of classroom talk for in English learning at the vocational school, so it
will be a narrative interpretive one.
This chapter will present the nature of data, research method, data sources,
data collection, and data description and interpretation.
A. Nature of Data
According to Cresswell (2003), in designing a research there are concepts
to be considered. They are knowledge claims, strategy inquiry and method data
collection analysis. In qualitative research, data is what happens in a particular
social setting. It can be in particular place or among particular group of people.
Holliday (2002) says that there are two broad categories of data. The first category
is what the researcher describes, i.e. description of behavior, description of event,
description of institution, description of appearance, and description of research
event. The second category is what participants say, write, or have about them. It
includes account, talk, behavior in setting, and document. Interviews are regarded
as the main data while the field notes taken from the observation are another type
of data in the observation notes, the description of behavior, event, institution,
appearance, account, talk, behavior in setting, and documents are expected to
The data were taken by interviewing the research participant. There are
several ways of interviewing people, but in qualitative research interviews can be
conducted face to face, by telephone, or focus group interviews with unstructured
and open ended questions. This gave more freedom for the research participants to
tell their stories, express their feelings, thoughts, perspectives, expectations,
despair, failure, and success (Cresswell, 2003).
The types of data and source of data of this research were summarized and
presented in the following table that was adapted from Holliday Model (Holliday,
2002).
Table 3.1 Type of data and source of data
Types of Data Definition Source of
