Use of Rewards to Motivate Kindergarten Students in Learning English: A Case Study in a Kindergarten in Bandung.

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Universitas Kristen Maranatha v

ABSTRACT

Penelitian in dilatarbelakangi oleh permasalahan yang timbul pada saat para

murid mempelajari bahasa Inggris. Topik penelitian ini adalah pemberian reward yang digunakan untuk memotivasi murid-murid tingkat Taman Kanak-Kanak (TK)

dalam mempelajari bahasa Inggris. Tujuan dari penelitian ini adalah untuk mengetahui jenis-jenis reward yang digunakan oleh guru untuk memotivasi para murid di dalam kelas dan untuk mengidentifikasi efek-efek dari pemberian reward

terhadap motivasi murid dalam mempelajari bahasa Inggris. Teori yang digunakan dalam penelitian ini adalah Ryan et al. (2001) dan Pintrich & Schunk (2002).

Metode yang digunakan dalam penelitian ini adalah studi kasus. Pengambilan data yang digunakan adalah observasi yang dilakukan di dalam kelas

TK di Bandung dan wawancara dengan guru bahasa Inggris yang bersangkutan. Hasil penelitian yang didapatkan yaitu terdapat dua jenis reward yang guru gunakan di dalam kelas untuk memotivasi murid-murid yang memberikan efek

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1.2 Statement of the Problem... 2

1.3 Purpose of the Study... 3 2.1 English for Young Learners ... 5

2.2 The Characteristics of Very Young Learners ... 6

2.3 Rewards ... 6 3.1 Participants and Setting ... 12

3.2 Data Collection Techniques ... 12

3.3 Data Analysis ... 13

CHAPTER FOUR: DATA PRESENTATION AND DISCUSSION 4.1 Findings from Observation ... 14

4.1.1 Kinds of Rewards ... 15

4.1.2 Effects of Rewards... 18

4.2 Findings from Interviews ... 23

4.2.1 Kinds of Rewards ... 24

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CHAPTER FIVE: CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATION

5.1 Conclusion ... 26

5.2 Recommendation ... 27

BIBLIOGRAPHY ... 29

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Universitas Kristen Maranatha 1

CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

1.1Background of the Study

Most teachers use various ways to help students pay attention to the lessons. Students can easily get bored with the lesson that the teacher gives them. This is especially true for kindergarten students, who cannot concentrate on one thing for a

long period (Mustafa, 2010, p. 5). Consequently, they can easily get distracted because they are not interested in the lesson. In this situation, teachers need to have a

strategy to help the students focus on the lesson.

Nowadays, most kindergartens have accommodated the students with English for their learning. It is included in the lesson because based on Oxford Advanced

Learner’s Dictionary 8th

edition, English is “… used as a language of international

communication throughout the world…” (Hornby, 2010, p. 504). Therefore, teachers

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Teachers sometimes only focus on giving their students some activities and

assignments. Teachers think that the students will not get bored with the lesson by learning English through activities. However, the result is the students still get bored

with the lesson. Teachers have to find a solution to this problem.

Instead of giving a lot of activities, a teacher can give feedback or compliments to motivate the students when they are learning English. By getting

compliments, students can gain confidence in their English learning. The students will not feel embarrassed to give answer when the teacher asked them about something.

Teachers sometimes forget to give compliments or praise to all of the students. Using rewards such as stickers and drawing stars on their worksheet can

also be a way for students to get praise. Based on Oxford Advanced Learner’s

Dictionary 8th edition, reward is “a thing that you are given because you have done something good, work hard,…” (Hornby, 2010, p. 1313). Moreover, it can make the

students pay more attention to the teacher. The students answer the question that the teacher asks. Thus, rewards can make students motivated in learning. This study will

investigate the use of rewards to motivate kindergarten students to learn English.

1.2 Statement of the Problem

This study is guided by these research questions:

1. What kinds of rewards does the teacher use to motivate the kindergarten students in the classroom?

2. What are the effects of giving rewards on the kindergarten students’

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1.3 Purpose of the Study

The first purpose of this study aims at finding out the kinds of rewards that the teacher uses to motivate the kindergarten students in the classroom. The second

purpose of this study is to identify the effects of giving rewards on the kindergarten

students’ motivation in learning English.

1.4 Method of the Study

The research method used in this study is a case study. This method is chosen because it can illustrate the real people in the real situation that occurs in this study.

There are two types of data collection that this study will use: observation and

interview.

1.5 Significance of the Study

There are two significant points of the study. First, the teacher will be informed of the types of rewards that he or she can use in the classroom to motivate

his or her students in the future. Second, the teacher will find out the effects of using

rewards on kindergarten students.

1.6 Limitation of the Study

This study will focus on the use of reward to motivate the kindergarten

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as students’ learning goal and interest affect the students’ motivation in learning

English.

1.7 Organization of the Thesis

The first chapter is Introduction, which includes Background of the Study, Statement of the Problem, Purpose of the Study, Method of the Study, Significance of

the Study, Limitation of the Study, and Organization of the Thesis. The second chapter deals with theoretical framework and literature review related to the research.

Chapter Three covers the research methodology. Chapter Four presents the data analysis. Finally, Chapter Five contains conclusion and recommendation for this

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CHAPTER FIVE

CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATION

5.1 Conclusion

Based on the findings in Chapter Four, it can be seen that the teacher used two kinds of rewards, namely, verbal and tangible rewards. The verbal rewards

used were saying “good,” “thank you,” “good and thank you,” and “good job.” The teacher also gave tangible rewards, namely, stickers and drawing stars on the students’ worksheets. From the findings, it can be seen that the kinds of rewards

that the teacher used is consistent with the theory from Chapter Two, as Ryan et al. explains that there are two kinds of rewards, “verbal rewards and tangible

rewards” (2001, p. 3). From the results, the teacher used the rewards as the best tool in motivating the students.

Moreover, it can be seen that the teacher gave the rewards to the students because the teacher thought the children usually listened and studied better when they were promised to be rewarded. For example, some of the students changed

their behavior when they heard the teacher complimenting their friends. The students paid more attention to the teacher, tried to answer the teacher’s question,

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about their learning progress when the teacher praised them, for example, one girl

was praised by the teacher because she could answer the question correctly once. From the findings, it can be seen that the effects of giving rewards to kindergarten

students are consistent with the theory from Chapter Two: according to Pintrich and Schunk (2002, p. 265), rewards can control students’ behavior and give information to the students about their achievement in learning. Moreover, rewards

can increase extrinsic motivation that can lead to intrinsic motivation; for example, when the students were eager to learn more, paid more attention to the teacher, and

also tried to answer the teacher’s questions. Arends explains that intrinsic

Based on the findings, the teacher usually said “good”or “good job” to the students. There are a lot of verbal compliments that the teacher can use to praise

the students. The teacher can praise the students by saying “amazing,” “great,” and “incredible” so that the students can increase their intrinsic motivation more.

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2. For further research:

It is recommended that further researchers use this study as their references. All of the theories can be used as the references for a similar study. This study can

also be at other levels, such as elementary school, junior high school, and senior high school. There are more data collection instruments that can be used to get more information about the study such as interviewing students and students’

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Universitas Kristen Maranatha

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