i AN ATTITUDE ANALYSIS OF ENGLISH LANGUAGE LEARNING: A
CASE STUDY OF SECOND-GRADE STUDENTS OF NATURAL SCIENCE
PROGRAM AT SMA 4 BINJAI
A THESIS
BY
NOVA KRISTINA OP. S
REG. NO. 110705027
DEPARTMENT OF ENGLISH
FACULTY OF CULTURAL STUDIES
UNIVERSITY OF SUMATERA UTARA
ii AN ATTITUDE ANALYSIS OF ENGLISH LANGUAGE LEARNING: A
CASE STUDY OF SECOND-GRADE STUDENTS OF NATURAL SCIENCE
PROGRAM AT SMA 4 BINJAI
A THESIS
BY
NOVA KRISTINA OP. S
REG. NO. 110705027
SUPERVISOR, CO-SUPERVISOR,
Drs. H. Chairul Husni, M.Ed. TESOL Drs. Yulianus Harefa, M.Ed. TESOL
NIP. 19570803 198404 1 004 NIP. 19610703 198601 1 001
Submitted to Faculty of Cultural Studies University of Sumatera Utara Medan
in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Sarjana Sastra from
Department of English
DEPARTMENT OF ENGLISH
FACULTY OF CULTURAL STUDIES
UNIVERSITY OF SUMATERA UTARA
iii Approved by the Department of English, Faculty of Cultural Studies University
of Sumatera Utara (USU) Medan as thesis for The Sarjana Sastra Examination.
Head, Secretary,
Dr. H. Muhizar Muchtar, MS. Rahmadsyah Rangkuti, MA. Ph.D
iv Accepted by the Board of Examiners in partial fulfillment of requirements for
the degree of Sarjana Sastra from the Department of English, Faculty of
Cultural Studies University of Sumatera Utara, Medan.
The examination is held in Department of English Faculty of Cultural Studies
University of Sumatera Utara on Wednesday, 29th July 2015
Dean of Faculty of Cultural Studies
University of Sumatera Utara
Dr. H. Syahron Lubis, MA
NIP. 19511013 197603 1 001
Board of examiners
Dr. H. Muhizar Muchtar, MS. _____________
Rahmadsyah Rangkuti, MA. Ph.D _____________
Dr. H. Syahron Lubis, MA _____________
Drs. H. Chairul Husni, M.Ed. TESOL _____________
v AUTHOR’S DECLARATION
I, NOVA KRISTINA OP. S., DECLARE THAT I AM THE SOLE AUTHOR OF THIS THESIS EXCEPT WHERE REFERENCE IS MADE IN THE TEXT OF THIS THESIS. THIS THESIS CONTAINS NO MATERIAL PUBLISHED ELSEWHERE OR EXTRACTED IN WHOLE OR IN PART FROM A THESIS BY WHICH I HAVE QUALIFIED FOR OR AWARDED ANOTHER DEGREE. NO OTHER PERSON’S WORK HAS BEEN USED WITHOUT DUE ACKNOWLEDGMENTS IN THE MAIN TEXT OF THIS THESIS. THIS THESIS HAS NOT BEEN SUBMITTED FOR THE AWARD OF ANOTHER DEGREE IN ANY TERTIARY EDUCATION.
Signed :
vi COPYRIGHT DECLARATION
NAME : NOVA KRISTINA OP. S
TITLE OF THESIS : AN ATTITUDE ANALYSIS OF ENGLISH
LANGUAGE LEARNING: A CASE STUDY OF SECOND-GRADE STUDENTS OF NATURAL SCIENCE PROGRAM AT SMA 4 BINJAI
QUALIFICATION : S-1/ SARJANA SASTRA
DEPARTMENT : ENGLISH
I AM WILLING THAT MY THESIS SHOULD BE AVAILABLE FOR REPRODUCTION AT THE DISCRETION OF THE LIBRARIAN OF DEPARTMENT OF ENGLISH, FACULTY OF CULTURAL STUDIES, UNIVERSITY OF SUMATERA UTARA ON THE UNDERSTANDING THAT USERS ARE MADE AWARE OF THEIR OBLIGATION UNDER THE LAW OF THE REPUBLIC OF INDONESIA.
Signed :
vii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
First of all, I would like to express my deep and sincere gratitude to the only
Saviour of mine, Jesus Christ, for He always blesses me abundantly. Even,
blessings in disguise create an unpredictable strength for me during the time of doing and finishing this thesis of mine. I do not only realize but also truly and honestly admit that I am nothing without God. Naturally, I can do nothing without Him.
At the time of finishing this thesis, there are many people taking parts. Therefore, I would like to deliver my great thanks to them as follow:
1. To my beloved daddy, St. Anggiat Op. Sunggu, and mommy, Rosnihati br.
Nainggolan, I thank God for being given a chance to be your daughter. You
always teach me how to be a good and strong girl. You guide me in the dark. You always advice and remind me to do things for the sake of others. I specially thank you for strengthening me as long as I did and finished my thesis. I could do it because of your love, kindness, motivation, and patience, my dear daddy and mommy. Thank you very much for all things.
2. To my only younger sister, Desi Op. Sunggu, I thank God for your existence in my life. With a grateful heart, I thank you, dear, for your kindness and patience to do things at home thus I could concentrate in doing my thesis in time.
3. To my supervisor, Drs. H. Chairul Husni, M.Ed. TESOL, and my co-supervisor, Drs. Yulianus Harefa, M.Ed. TESOL, I would like to say thanks too for your guidance, motivation and patience during the time I did my thesis. 4. To the Head of English Department, Dr. H. Muhizar Muchtar, MS., and the
Secretary of English Department, Rahmadsyah Rangkuti, MA. Ph.D, I also thank you for your kindness and patience especially when I did my thesis.
5. To the Dean of Faculty of Cultural Studies, University of Sumatera Utara, Dr.
H. Syahron Lubis, MA, I also thank you for your motivation and advice given
at the end of my struggle in the board examination.
viii 7. To my best and closest friends in English Department, Rinova Simanungkalit,
Anna Simbolon, Mesrani Tumanggor, Dona P. Aritonang, Raja Guntar
Simamora, Ridho Vandi Ambarita, and Dani Saputra Tarigan, I thank God
for permitting me to know all of you, my dear. I am so grateful for all unforgottenable moments and experiences we could have as long as we are together thus I could do my thesis enthusiastically.
8. To my small Christian group, Joyful, with Marliana Manik as the leader, I thank God for your existence in my life. You taught me to be a humble person as what Jesus Christ always does. I know God more and more in this community. I always have hope, power and enthusiasm in doing my thesis. Thank you UKM
KMK USU and specially UKM KMK USU UP FIB.
9. To my friends Elisabeth, Igez, Cristine, Shinta, Elsa Glo, and the other names which I can’t mention one by one, all friends in IMSI 2011, I thank you for all support and help you gave thus I could also finish my thesis in time.
10.To my Christian community in Binjai, RN-HKBP Binjai and NH-Jalan
Medan 2, I also thank you very much for every second we spent together in
talking about God’s words thus I could be more patient in doing my thesis. 11.To my best English teacher at SMA 4 Binjai, Mr. Amir Alamsyah, SPd, thank
you for your motivation while educating me to know English. I was interested in English the most because of your integrity. Besides, I would like to thank all teachers at SMA Negeri 4 Binjai for all lessons taught to me, especially to Mrs.
Merry Simbolon and Mr. Muslim for helping me in doing my research there.
12.To my dear brother, Ardiso Tambunan, who motivated, inspired, advised, and guided me to be a strong and wise girl, especially to be more patient in doing my thesis, I would like to deliver my special gratitude to you for every second of your life dedicated to me. Thanks for being my motivator.
13.To my brother James Pangaribuan, I also thank you for helping me to do my field research at SMA 4 Binjai.
Medan, July 28th 2015
The Writer
Nova Kristina Op. S
ix ABSTRACT
This thesis entitled “An Attitude Analysis of English Language Learning: A Case Study of Second-Grade Students of Natural Science Program at SMA 4 Binjai” is designed to enrich the English teachers’ knowledge for what the second-grade students think and respond towards learning English as a foreign language. In finding more answers for the three things, it was expected that the teachers will get an idea of what to do and how to behave while teaching English in the classroom. To be able to overcome all problems faced by the English teachers and the students, the writer did an observation of the teaching and learning activities in the classroom and, of course, distributed questionnaires to the second-grade students of Natural Science Program in the following day when doing a field research in her former high school, that is SMA 4 Binjai. There were three classes of Natural Science Program at SMA 4 Binjai but the only class going to be the sample was XI IPA 1. As a result, the writer ultimately get an idea indicating that the second-grade students truly need English in supporting their lives in the future. Nevertheless, they still lack of vocabularies and understandings in English. English is a foreign language. For the students, it is quite difficult to understand and master it since there are too many patterns in that language. They hope that they will be able to master it someday if the teaching and learning activities in the classroom are fun and comfortable. They need homeworks, games, and extra hours in learning English. They also need a motivation given by the English teacher. They prefer working in a small groups and discussing a topic together to merely listening to the teachers’ explanation all the time of learning. They would rather get a same chance to practice communicating in English than focus on grammatical structures or memorize word lists deductively. In this way, it can be said that the second-grade students of Natural Science Program at SMA 4 Binjai have a positive attitude towards learning English as a foreign language as well as an international language.
x ABSTRAK
Skripsi yang berjudul “An Attitude Analysis of English Language Learning: A Case Study of Second-Grade Students of Natural Science Program at SMA 4 Binjai” ini dirancang untuk memperkaya pengetahuan para guru bahasa Inggris akan apa pendapat dan tanggapan para siswa kelas dua terhadap pelajaran bahasa Inggris sebagai mata pelajaran bahasa asing di sekolah. Jawaban yang akan didapatkan setelah penelitian berlangsung diharapkan dapat membantu para guru yaitu apa yang seharusnya mereka lakukan dan bagaimana mereka seharusnya melakukannya ketika mengajarkan bahasa asing tersebut. Agar mampu mengatasi permasalahan yang dihadapi para guru dan siswa, penulis melakukan observasi tindakan kelas dan tentu saja membagikan kuesioner kepada siswa/i IPA ketika melakukan penelitian di SMA Negeri 4 Binjai dimana penulis pernah bersekolah. Ada tiga kelas untuk jurusan IPA, namun kelas yang akan menjadi sampel di dalam penelitiannya adalah siswa/i yang ada di dalam kelas XI IPA 1. Alhasil, penulis akhirnya mendapatkan sebuah gagasan bahwasanya para siswa benar-benar membutuhkan bahasa Inggris di dalam kehidupan mereka pada masa yang akan datang. Akan tetapi, perbendaharaan kata mereka dalam bahasa Inggris masih sedikit/kurang. Bahasa Inggris adalah bahasa asing. Bagi mereka, cukup sulit untuk mengerti bahasa tersebut apalagi menguasainya yang juga dikarenakan oleh banyaknya rumus yang ada. Mereka berharapa suatu saat mereka akan menguasai bahasa asing tersebut apabila aktivitas ketika belajar di dalam kelas asyik dan menyenangkan. Mereka perlu adanya PR, permainan, dan jam tambahan dalam belajar bahasa Inggris. Mereka juga perlu dimotivasi oleh sang guru saat mempelajari bahasa asing tersebut. Mereka lebih suka belajar kelompok dan membahas sebuah topik bersama daripada hanya mendengarkan guru menjelaskan pelajaran selama kegiatan belajar mengajar berlangsung. Mereka lebih senang mempraktikkan apa yang telah mereka pelajari secara langsung, misalnya berkomunikasi dalam bahasa Inggris bersama teman sekelasnya daripada hanya fokus kepada tata bahasa Inggris ataupun menghafal kata-kata bahasa Inggris. Dalam hal ini, dapat dikata-katakan bahwa murid-murid kelas dua IPA di SMA Negeri 4 Binjai memiliki sikap yang positif dalam mempelajari bahasa asing sekaligus bahasa internasional, yaitu bahasa Inggris.
xi TABLE OF CONTENTS
AUTHOR’S DECLARATION ... v
COPYRIGHT DECLARATION ... vi
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ... vii
ABSTRACT ... ix
ABSTRAK ... x
TABLE OF CONTENTS ... xi
CHAPTER I : INTRODUCTION... 1
1.1 Background of the Study... 1
1.2 Problems of the Study... 5
1.3 Objectives of the Study... 6
1.4 Scope of the Study... 6
1.5 Significances of the Study... 6
CHAPTER II : REVIEW OF LITERATURE ... 7
2.1 Learners... 7
2.2 Attitude... 8
2.3 Factors Influencing Language Attitude... 8
2.3.1 The Prestige and Power of the Language... 9
2.3.2 The Historical Background of Nations... 9
2.3.3 The Social and Traditional Factors... 10
2.3.4 The Language Internal System... 10
xii
2.5 Relevant Studies... 12
CHAPTER III : METHOD OF RESEARCH... 13
3.1 Research Design... 13
3.2 Location and Time... 14
3.3 Source (s) of Data... 14
3.4 Data Collection Procedures... 15
3.5 Step of the Research... 15
3.6 Data Analysis... 16
CHAPTER IV : ANALYSIS AND FINDINGS... 17
4.1 Analysis... 17
4.2 Findings... 52
CHAPTER V : CONCLUSION AND SUGGESTION... 60
5.1 Conclusion... 60
5.2 Suggestion... 61
REFERENCES... 63
