THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN OPTIMISM AND
STUDEN
TS’ SPEAKING ACHIEVEMENT AT THE
FIRST-YEAR OF ENGLISH EDUCATION
DEPARTMENT UIN SUNAN AMPEL SURABAYA
ACADEMIC YEAR 2015-2016
THESIS
Submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirement for the degree of
Sarjana Pendidikan (S.Pd) in Teaching English
By
:Diyah Purnasari
D95212081
ENGLISH EDUCATION DEPARTMENT
FACULTY OF TARBIYAH AND TEACHER TRAINING
SUNAN AMPEL STATE ISLAMIC UNIVERSITY
SURABAYA
LEMBAR PERNYATAAN PERSETUJUAN PUBLIKASI KARYA ILMIAH UNTUK KEPENTINGAN AKADEMIS
Sebagai civitas akademika UIN SunanAmpel Surabaya, yang bertandatangan di bawah ini, saya:
Nama : Diyah Purnasari
NIM : D95212081
Fakultas/Jurusan : Tarbiyah dan Keguruan/ Pendidikan Bahasa Inggris E-mail address : diyahpurnama@gmail.com
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Sekripsi Tesis Desertasi Lain-lain (………)
yangberjudul : The Relationship between Optimism and Students’ Speaking Achievement
Surabaya Academic Year 2015-2016
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Demikian pernyataan ini yang saya buat dengan sebenarnya.
Surabaya, 23 Agustus 2016 Penulis
(Diyah Purnasari)
KEMENTERIAN AGAMA
UNIVERSITAS ISLAM NEGERI SUNAN AMPEL SURABAYA
PERPUSTAKAAN
ABSTRACT
Purnasari, Diyah. (2016). The Relationship between Optimism and Students’ Speaking Achievement at The First-year of English Education
Department UIN Sunan Ampel Surabaya Academic Year 2015-2016. A
Thesis. English Education Department, Faculty of Tarbiyah and Teacher Training, Sunan Ampel State Islamic University, Surabaya, Advisors: M. Salik
Key Words:Optimism, Students’ Speaking Achievement, First-year student
TABLE OF CONTENTS
TITLE SHEET ... i
ADVISOR APPROVAL SHEET ... ii
APPROVAL SHEET ... iii
MOTTO ... iv
DEDICATION SHEET... v
ABSTRACT... vi
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT ... vii
PERNYATAAN KEASLIAN TULISAN ... x
TABLE OF CONTENT ... xi
LIST OF TABLE ... xiii
LIST OF APPENDICES ... xv
CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION A. Research Background ... 1
B. Research Question ... 5
C. Objectives of The Study... 5
D. Hypothesis... 6
E. Significances of The Study ... 6
F. Scope and Limit of The Study ... 7
G. Definition of Key Terms ... 7
CHAPTER 11: REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE A. Review of Related Literature ... 10
1. Optimism... 10
a. Definition of Optimism... 10
b. The Characteristic of Optimist Person ... 12
c. The advantages of optimism ... 16
d. The Aspects of Optimism ... 18
e. The factor influence optimism ... 20
2. Students Speaking Achievement... 21
a. Definition of speaking... 22
b. The Achievement of Speaking ... 20
3. The First-year student ... 25
4. Factors affecting adult EFL learners' oral communication ... 26
5. The relationship between optimism and anxiety ... 28
6. The relationship between optimism and students’ achievement... 28
B. Review of Previous Study... 29
CHAPTER III: RESEARCH METHOD A. Research Design... 33
B. Population and Sample ... 35
C. Research Setting... 38
D. Research Variable ... 38
E. Research Instrument... 39
F. Data Collection Technique... 40
G. Data Analysis Technique ... 44
CHAPTER IV: FINDINGS AND DISCUSION A. Research Findings 1. The Optimism of Second Semester Students in Speaking Class of English Education Department UIN Sunan Ampel Surabaya ... 47
2. The Relationship between Optimism and Students’ Speaking Achievement at The First-year of English Education Department UIN Sunan Ampel Surabaya... 66
B. Discusion... 69
CHAPTER V: CONCLUSION A. Conclusion ... 72
B. Suggestion... 73
BIBLIOGRAPHY
LIST OF TABLES
Table Page
2.1 The Speaking Assessment Rubric of Brown... 23
3.1. Blue Print of Optimism Questionnaire Indicator ... 41
3.2. The Form of Optimism Categorization ... 43
4.1. The Descriptive Statistics of Optimism ... 50
4.2. The Categorization of Optimism... 51
4.3. Table of SPSS Computation of Optimism Category... 52
4.4. The Component of permanence (favorable) No. 1, 14, 17... 52
4.5. The Component of Temporary (favorable) No. 13, 22 ... 54
4.6. The Component of Universal (favorable) No. 13, 22 ... 55
4.7. The component of Specific (favorable) No. 8, 9, 15... 56
4.8. The Component of Internal (favorable) No. 7 ... 57
4.9. The Component of Permanence (unfavorable) No. 4, 18, 19 ... 58
4.10. The Component of Temporary (unfavorable) No. 16 ... 59
4.11. The Component of Universal (unfavorable) No. 11 ... 60
4.12. The Component of Specific (unfavorable) No. 5, 10... 60
4.13. The Component of Internal (unfavorable) No. 6, 12 ... 61
4.14. The Component of External (unfavorable) No. 20, 21 ... 62
4.15. The Descriptive Statistics of Students’ Speaking Achievement... 65
4.16. Normality test... 65
4.18. The SPSS Computation of Correlation between Optimism and Students’
Speaking Achievement ... 67
CHAPTER I
INTRODUCTION
A. Research Background
Studying English is something fun and challenging. As the
international language English is being the thing very important to learn.
English language pay predominant and special role in communication sphere
around the world. So that many people studying English as the preparation to
face the globalization era which English language as the instrument of
language. English can serve as the language of instruction in higher education
or as a lingua franca among those whose native is not English1
. Since the
important of English, the education in Indonesia makes English as a
compulsory subject from elementary level to university level. To come up
with these issues, the government effort to improve the quality of English
teaching by improving the quality of teachers and others component in
English learning process.
Because of this condition, many students take English teaching
education for the preparation to teach English when they graduated. English
Education Department is one of the favorite departments at Islamic State
University of Sunan Ampel Surabaya which aims to create and to produce a
1
2
professional English teacher who has a good ability in teaching English. In
related to that, the student in English Education Department demanded to
master many aspect of English learning, as the future teacher. In language
teaching and learning, there are four skills which have to be mastered by
students. They are writing, speaking, listening, and reading skills. More, the
students also have to be master the language aspect, such as grammar,
pronunciation, and vocabulary as well.
The candidate of English teacher, student of English education
department must master English speaking, because the first impression for
English teacher is their ability in speaking English. As language learners,
students should listen, talk, and negotiate meaning, focused on meaning, high
motivation to speak up, and communication competence.2
Many people
assume that speaking competence is the measuring ability of language learner.
In other hand, according to Scumin, there are some factors that affecting
language learning. Some of them are from affective factor. One of affective
side is anxiety, this can affect on the language learning. The students who
undergo this anxiety would probably feel uneasiness, frustration, self-doubt,
and apprehension when learning English, in the high level of anxiety EFL
2
3
learners become tongue-tied or lost for words in an unexpected situation and
this also leads to discouragement and a general sense of failure.3
As we know, the first-year students of English education department
come from various background of study. Many of them have familiarized with
English before, but many of them come from different background of study
such as traditional cottage, boarding school and many others who come from
different major of English study. In other hand it is stated On the journal of
educational psychology written by Martin M. Chemers said that Tinto states
that young adult would undergo the significant requirement in the transition of
high school to the university level. Moreover, Noel and Bryde said that the
new students were often got pressure and claim in the university environment.
So, the higher degree of independence, initiative, and self-regulation are
necessary.4 With the result that, in the first-year student of English education
department is assumed having these stressful condition due to the many of
subjects they have to learn and the various background of them especially who
had no English background before.
There are many things that supported student in language teaching and
learning. Instead of cognitive area, the affective aspect also plays a big role in
gaining language learning achievement. The affective side of the learner is
3
Seyed Mahdi Araghi, Roya Jafari Amineh,Review of problems of Adult EFL Learners’ (EFL)
Speaking. 4
4
probably one of the most “important influences on language learning success
or failure”.5 In the study conducted by Gardner and Lambert it is states that
affective aspects in language learning success is considered as important as
language aptitude.6 Emotion as one of affective aspects influences the
students’ motivation in English learning. The researcher found that emotions,
both negative and positive, contribute to enhancing and diminishing
motivation.7 In this study the researcher took the positive emotion that is
optimism to join its relationship with the language achievement.
The optimism of student can help them to face the depression on the
pressure situation. Optimism is a feeling or belief that good things will happen
in the future or feeling that what in the hope will happen. Study by Darvill and
Johnson on college students revealed that the positive incident were more
possible to happen and negative incident were less possible to happen by the
subject who believe that they were able to manage over even occurrence.8In a
study conducted by Buchanan and Seligman learned optimism techniques
were found to significantly reduce depression in a class of college freshmen.9 The first-year student often did not know about how they will do in the
5
Seyed Mahdi Araghi, Roya Jafari Amineh,Review of problems of Adult EFL Learners’ (EFL)
Speaking. ((Oxford, 1990, 140)) 6
Aguilar, A Pena, Mariza G. Mendez.Emotion as Learning Enhancers of Foreign Language Learning Motivation
7 Ibid 8
Indoo Singh - Ajeya Jha.Anxiety, Optimism and Academic Achievement among Students of Private Medical and Engineering Colleges: A Comparative Study. 2013. Canadian Center of Science and Education
5
college, what will they face in the future study and this problem is near with
the anxiety that will impact to depression.
In this study the researcher will examine the relationship between
optimism and the students’ speaking achievement in the first-year student of
English education department of UIN Sunan Ampel Surabaya. Since the other
researchers examine the correlation on academic achievement the writer
interested in examine the effect of optimism on speaking achievement on the
first-year student. Hopefully this research will give new contribution in
education especially for English education department in speaking field.
B. Research Question
In this study, the researcher addresses some specific problems dealing
with the relationship between optimism and students speaking achievement at
the first-year student as follows:
1. How is the optimism of second semester student in speaking class?
2. Is there any significant relationship between optimism and students
speaking achievement at the first-year student of English education
department UIN Sunan Ampel Surabaya?
C. Objectives of The Study
This study conducted by the researcher has certain objectives as follows:
6
2. To investigate the relationship between optimism and students
speaking achievement at the first-year student at UIN Sunan Ampel
Surabaya
D. Hypothesis
The general hypotheses of this study are;
1. Ho : There is no significant relationship between optimism and
students’ speaking achievement at the first-year of English education
department UIN Sunan Ampel Surabaya Academic year 2015-2016
2. Ha : There is significant relationship between optimism and
students’ speaking achievement at the first-year of english education
department UIN Sunan Ampel Surabaya Academic year 2015-2016
E. Significances of The Study
By conducting this study, the researcher hopes it can give the big
contribution as the practical implication of the study to the lecturer, students,
and other researchers as follows:
1. Lecturer
This result of study will significantly serve the lecturer to have
strategies in improving optimism among the first-year students to
create supporting environment in class to increase the student
confident and support the student to get the good achievement in
7
2. Student
It is expected that the result of this study can inspire, motivate, and
engage the student to be more optimistic in their study. And also
reduce students’ anxiety in speaking class. So that they can get the
good achievements in English speaking.
3. Further researches
Indeed, the researcher also hopes that the result of this study will
be useful for the further researcher as the comparator or even the basic
information to conduct the further research dealing with the
relationship between optimism and the speaking achievement.
F. Scope and Limit of the Study
The study overviews the relationship between optimism and students’
speaking achievement at the first-year of English education department
Islamic University Sunan Ampel Surabaya. The optimism in this research did
not consider about the difference gender of the student. The speaking
achievement is taken from the final result of speaking class on second
semester in academic year 2015-2016 as the first-year student.
G. Definition of Key Terms
In light of perspective of readers are different, the researcher tried to list
8
a. Optimism is an overall view, see a good thing, think positively and
easy to give meaning to themselves. Optimists are able to produce
something better than past, not afraid of failure, and trying to still rise
another try when failed again10. In this study, the optimism studied is
about academic optimism, the academic optimism is the general
tendency to expect positive outcomes in terms of personal, current and
future academic experiences11. The researcher examined the students’
optimism in speaking class, how the optimism influences them in
speaking achievement.
b. Students’ Speaking achievement was an indexed the grade point
average that stabilized based on school policy12. More, achievement is to do one’s best, to be successful, to accomplish tasks requiring skill
and effort and to be recognized by authority.13 In this research students’ speaking achievement is the secondary data which contain of
the student speaking score which collected from students’ academic
report from the lecturer document. In this research, the students’
speaking achievement was mostly good.
10
Gufron , M. Nur, and Rini Risnawati S,Teori- Teori Psikologi (Yogyakarta: Ar-Ruaa Media, 2010), 96
11
Salmaan F. Toor. Doctoral dissertation:“Optimism and achievement: A domain-specific and within-construct investigation” (university of Tennessee-Knoxville, 12-2009)
12
Thelma Young Monk, “Variable Associated with Academic Achievement of Africa–American Male in four-yearUndergraduate Educational Institution; A synthesis of the Study”, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University: Virginia, 7.
13
9
c. First-year student is the students who study in the first and second
semester of the academic year period. In this research, the first-year
students are from the second semester of English Education
CHAPTER II
REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURES
A. Review of Related Literature
In this chapter, the researcher will explicate several theories through
reviewing some literatures related to this study. This theoretical construct
deals with three main areas: Optimism, students speaking achievement, and
the first-year student.
1. Optimism
a. Definition of Optimism
Optimists are people that hope the good things are happen to them.
Optimism is the opposite of pessimism, while pessimism is a feeling of
helplessness. In the Oxford dictionary optimism is believe that good
things will happen.14 The optimist students hope to be able to face their difficulties of study and find the best solution for them. According to
Seligman in Gufron and Rini, states that optimism is an overall view, see
a good thing, think positively and easy to give meaning to themselves.
Individual who are optimistic are be able to produce something better
than the past, not afraid of failure, and trying to still challenge another try
when failed again.15
14
Oxford Dictionary 15
11
Scheier and Carver have defined optimism as a generalized
expectancy that good as opposed to bad outcomes will generally occur
when confronted with problems across important life domains. It is a
strong expectation that despite the inevitable setbacks and frustrations,
events and experiences will eventually turn out all right. In general
optimism is used to denote a positive attitude and is a part of positive
psychology. Optimism can be temperamental, that is, some people by
nature are more positive about life, but at the same time it can also be
learned with the right type of experiences. According to the concept of
learned optimism, proposed by Seligman, optimism can be enhanced by
selecting achievable goals. Optimistic statements are usually based on
logical and concrete facts and depend upon the explanatory styles of a
person. Attributions to temporary, unstable, controllable and specific
causes vis-a-vise permanent, stable, uncontrollable and universal causes
for setbacks and failures relate to optimism and pessimism respectively.16 According to Golemen that cited by Ghufron and Rini saw the
optimism through the view of emotional quotient, that is someone’s self
defense in order to not fall to the foolishness, desperation, and depression
16
12
when they face any difficulties.17 So that, the optimists students do not easily give up and be able to survive in a difficult situation in their
learning process. The smart and healthy students tend to be who have an
optimistic attitude in themselves.
b. The Characteristic of Optimist Person
In 1995, Henry Givray, the president & CEO SmithBucklin
Corporation, found the document written by Alan Loy McGinnis’s which
published in 1993 by the title The Power of Optimism. This text
reinforced some of him own beliefs. As importantly, it gave him some
insight regarding principles to be practiced and values to be lived. Below
are those 12 traits of some Henry’s own thoughts and interpretations.
Below are the characteristic of optimists18:
1. Are seldom surprised by trouble
Tough-minded optimists recognize that problems are part of life.
However, they see themselves as able and willing to be problem
solvers, by developing and presenting ideas and options.
Tough-minded optimists know what they have to go even in the difficult
ways.
17
M. Nur Ghufron, Rini Risnawati,Teori-Teori Psikologi, p. 96.
18
Henry Givray. “12 characteristic of tough-minded
13
2. Look for partial solutions
Tough-minded optimists don’t wait until everything is perfectly in
order or known before they take action. They know that beginning is
half the doing. They aren’t crippled by a need for perfection. Instead
they are willing to take small steps toward eventual success.
Tough-minded optimists inherently understand that thoughtful action is far
better than inaction oranalysis paralysis, which solves nothing.
3. Believe they have control over their futures
Optimistic thinking inherently boosts self-confidence and
encourages determination. Optimistic people don’t let others’ opinions
solely determine how they view the current or future state of affairs.
They know they have a say in both the path and the destination.
4. Allow for regular renewal
Henry interprets this as mental, social, and physical renewal.
Mental renewal is about continuous learning, self-reflection and
personal growth. Social renewal is about making a special effort to get
acquainted with new people as well as nurturing existing relationships.
Physical renewal is of course about being and staying healthy by
eating right and exercising.
5. Interrupt their negative trains of thought
Human beings probably have negative thoughts or self-doubt no
14
work at being self-aware while constantly monitoring our response to
other people, circumstances, conditions on the ground, or new
information. Negative thoughts often distort our understanding of
problems or issues. Distortion impedes our ability to find solutions and
plot action plans. Moreover, by blocking or shedding negative
thoughts, prejudices, preconceptions and false judgments, we become
more open to give trust and the benefit of doubt; this in turn builds
trust with others.
6. Heighten their powers of appreciation
This is about possessing and demonstrating a genuine and heartfelt
“thank you” approach, both in words and in actions. Optimists tend to
see the good in people, the positives in situations and the beauty
around them. This in turn fosters trust and invites a positive response
from others. This is especially helpful during difficult and trying times.
7. Use their imaginations to rehearse success
Pessimists view the world through a prism of danger, angst and
failure. Tough-minded optimists picture a desired state of the future
and are confident to go about and make it happen. They develop
positive images to minimize or replace the natural anxiety of
uncertainty. But tough-minded optimists are also realistic in their
visualizations. They are comfortably able to adjust downward, as
15
8. Are cheerful even when they can’t be happy
This is especially critical for anyone in a position of authority or
responsibility who aspires to be an effective leader. In fact, during
trying times a leader’s optimism lifts spirits, gives hope and builds
strength in others. Following this principle doesn’t mean you should be
artificial or adopt a what-me-worry, head-in-the-sand persona. It
simply means that tough-minded optimists always have the “bigger
picture” in mind. They recognize that their attitude can and will have a
profound impact on the people around them, which can either enable
or inhibit performance, results, and problem solving.
9. Believe they have an almost unlimited capacity for stretching
Tough-minded optimists believe that they are on a perpetual
journey of learning, growth and self-discovery – and they act
accordingly. Their attitude is “my personal best is yet to come.” They
are constantly pushing, stretching, reflecting, leveraging to grow,
finding new ways to do things and developing themselves. This is not
about Pollyanna positive thinking but more about recognizing that the
mind, heart and soul offer limitless opportunities and potential.
10. Build lots of love into their lives
Cynical or negative people knowingly or unknowingly isolate
themselves and end up being alone much of the time. During times of
16
minded optimists recognize the power of love and friendship to heal,
nurture and renew. McGinnis wrote “love nurtures optimism.” The
reverse is true–hostility leads to cynicism and pessimism.
11. Like to swap good news
How and what we talk about affects us mentally, emotionally and
even physically. Sharing success stories generates excitement, builds
confidence, spotlights desired outcomes, boosts morale, and helps
others envision what is possible.
12. Accept what cannot be changed
Even the biggest optimist has to know when to let go.
Perseverance is powerful, but not accepting what cannot be changed
can be costly as other opportunities drift away. Simply stated,
tough-minded optimists ask “is there anything I can do to change the
situation?” If the answer is “no,” they let it go and move on.
c. The advantages of optimism
Positive psychology research has found many advantages of adopting
an optimistic viewpoint. Below are some of them19:
1. Optimists experience less distress than pessimists when dealing with
difficulties in their lives. For example, they suffer much less anxiety
and depression.
19
17
2. Optimists adapt better to negative events (including coronary artery
bypass surgery, breast cancer, abortion, bone marrow transplantation
and AIDS).
3. Optimism is conducive to problem-focused coping, humor, making
plans, positive reframing (putting the situation in the best possible
light) and, when the situation is uncontrollable, to accepting the
situation's reality. Optimists are capable of learning lessons from
negative situations. Thus optimists have a coping advantage over
pessimists.
4. Perhaps surprisingly, optimists don't tend to use denial, whilst
pessimists often attempt to distance themselves from the problem.
Optimists are not simply people who stick their heads in the sand and
ignore threats to their well-being. For example, they attend to health
warnings and usually discover potentially serious problems earlier
rather than later.
5. Optimists exert more continuous effort and tend not to give up,
possibly assuming that the situation can be handled successfully in one
way or another. Pessimists, on the other hand, are far more likely to
anticipate disaster - and, as a result, are more likely to give up.
6. Optimists report more health-promoting behaviors (like eating a
healthy diet or having regular medical check-ups) and enjoy better
18
7. Optimists seem to be more productive in the work place.
More over according to Brenda Schumacher’s journal, she wrote the
benefits of optimism are as follows:
The positive effects of optimism are well documented. Wrosch and
Scheier have studied the importance of optimism and goal adjustment and
found that optimistic individuals manage difficult situations better than do
pessimist. Optimists were more likely than pessimist to use more
problems focused coping strategies as well as additional methods such as
positive reframing, acceptance and humour. Study conducted by Dubow
states that depression was highly correlated with the agreement of low
scores on optimism levels.20That is, the higher optimism is assumed have the positive effect on students achievement.
d. The Aspects of Optimism
According to Seligman there are some aspects in the personal individual
in viewing the problem based on explanatory style21. It's all about the way you interpret something that happens to you. How you think about a positive or
negative event determines a lot. They are:
20
BrendaSchumacher. Assessing the relationship Between Optimism and Academic Success.
Athabasca, Alberta. 2006. 21
19
1. Permanence (Permanencevs.Temporary)
Pessimists believe the causes of the bad events that happen to them
are permanent: The bad events will persist, will always be there to affect
their lives. People who resist helplessness believe the causes of bad
events are temporary. While the optimistic style of explaining good
events is just the opposite of the optimistic style of explaining bad
events.
People who believe good events have permanent causes are more
optimistic than people who believe they have temporary causes.
Optimistic people explain good events to themselves in terms of
permanent causes: traits, abilities, always's. Pessimists name transient causes: moods, effort,sometimes's.22
2. Pervasive (Specificvs.Universal)
This explanatory style is related to the scope of the event, which
cover universal and specific. The optimists who experience the bad event will have specific explanation that the bad event is caused of the
specific cause and will never dilating to other event. While the
pessimists regard that the bad eventapplies to everything in our lives.
For the converse, the optimistic explanatory style for good events is
opposite that for bad events. The optimist believes that bad events have
specific causes, while good events will enhance everything he does; the
20
pessimist believes that bad events have universal causes and that good
events are caused by specific factors.
3. Personalization (Internalvs.External)
When bad things happen, we can blame ourselves (internalize) or
we can blame other people or circumstances (externalize). People who
blame themselves when they fail have low self-esteem as a
consequence. They think they are worthless, talentless, and unlovable.
People who blame external events do not lose self-esteem when bad
events strike. On the whole, they like themselves better than people who
blame themselves do. Low self-esteem usually comes from an internal
style for bad events.
The optimistic style of explaining good events is the opposite of
that used for bad events: It's internal rather than external. People who
believe the cause good things tend to like themselves better than people
who believe good things come from other people or circumstances.23
e. The factor influence optimism
There are some factors that influence the optimism according to the
expert. According to Idham that written in Faizah Noviana thesis
mentioned as follows:24
23
Ibid., p. 49. 24
Faizah Noviana Thesis”Hubungan antara Dukungan Sosial dan Optimisme Orang Tua yang
21
1. Pessimism, peoples are expected to be more positive, they condemned
pessimism, and to change someone’s pessimism to the optimism they
can plan themselves.
2. The consort experiences with other, the ability to admire and enjoy
things from someone else is become the strong power, so it can help
them in obtaining optimism (Clark in Mc Ginnis, 1995).
3. Prejudice,prejudice is only prejudice; it can be possibility true or not
(Seligman, 2005)
2. Students Speaking Achievement
a. Definition of speaking
Speaking is one of the language skills that learners should master.
Speaking is the most important one, as we know that the goal of using a
language is to communicate. Language is used in the society and speaking
is crucial. Speaking is produced, oral skill. Speaking consists of
producing systematic verbal, utterances to convey meaning. It is able to
be the alternative process of construction meaning that involved the
producing and receiving processing information.25
Everybody has learned their language since they were children,
especially their mother tongue. The process occurs naturally and properly
with a view to communicate in society. Speaking English is difficult to do.
25
22
Talent and much motivation and desire are required to have a good ability
in speaking English26.
b. The Achievement of Speaking
According to Travers achievement is the result of what an individual
has learned from some educational experiences.27Additionally, De Cecco and
Crawford state that achievement is the expectancy of finding satisfaction in
mastering challenging and difficult performances.28 In addition to that, Smith
and Hudgins say that achievement is to do one’s best, to be successful, to
accomplish tasks requiring skill and effort and to be recognized by authority.29 Besides, Garrison, Kingston, and McDonald in H. M. Sofyan Isnian, S.Pd,
affirm the definition of achievement as the progress pupils make towards the
goals and objectives of the curriculum.30 They then assert further about the
definition that achievement may be the one’s ability or extent of his/her
knowledge in a specific content area. Based on the opinion above it can be
conclude that achievement is the result, the successfulness, the extent or
26
Donald C. Bryant - Karl R. Wallace, 1976,Fundamentals of public speaking ,New Jersey: Prentice-hall,Inc.,P. 12.
27
Travers, Jhon P,“Fundamental of Educational Psychology”. Scrantom, Pensylvania: International textbook Company. 1970
28
De Cecco, Jhon P., and Crawford, William R.“The Psychology of Learning and Instruction. Educational Psychology”. New Jersey: Prentice-Hall, Inc., EnglewoodsCliffs. 1974
29
Smith, Louis. M., and Hudgins, Bryce. B. Educational Psychology.“An Application of Social and Behavioral Theory”. New York: Alfred . A. Knopt. 1964
30
H. M. Sofyan Isnian, S.Pd.The definition of Achievement.
23
ability, and the progress in learning educational indicate in relation with
his/her educational learning.
Student speaking achievement which is gained by the first-year
student is the result of the speaking study during the semester. The lecturers
have their own criteria to value the students’ achievement. Generally, the
achievement component is from performance aspect, affective, and
assignment.
This is the performance assessment rubric from Brown31, some lecturer uses the criteria bellow, but some of them can omit the some
categories and they sometimes also change the score these all criteria are
apply to earn students’ speaking achievement based on curriculum policy.
Table 1.2 The Speaking Assessment Rubric of Brown
Criteria Very good
c. Criteria of speaking assessment
Assessing speaking skills in the classroom has one clear advantage
over assessing listening: speech is observable, recordable, and
measurable. However once the criterion of your assessment move beyond
the phonological level, this advantage quickly disappears as acceptable
responses are more difficult to specify reliably.32
3. The First-year student
First-year students of university can categorized as adult learner
according their age. In other hand, the first-year or young adult student
according to the journal written by Martin M. Chemer said that the transition
from high school to college can cause the stressful life.
Students are divided into three types based on age: young, adolescent,
and adult.33 In this study, the researcher took the object from the first-year
students in which included to adult learners. Hurlock states that adult can be
32
H. Douglas Brown.Teaching by Principles: An Interactive Approach to Language Pedagogy(New York: Pearson Education, 2001)
33
26
divided into three periods: Early Adulthood (18-40 years old), Middle
Adulthood (40- 60 years old), and Aging (over 60 years old).34
4. Factors affecting adult EFL learners' oral communication
According to Scumin, all language skills is needed to be learned
and practiced, including to speaking skill, so EFL learners need explicit
instruction in speaking.35However, in practice, students assumed that they can develop speaking skill simply by giving them subject to be discussed.
In this discussion, some factors are considered affect oral production,
besides of the factors that facilitate the production of spoken language.
The affects adult English Foreign Language learners’ oral
communications to provide guidance in developing competent speakers of
English are36:
a. Age or maturational constraints
Adult learners’ ability to pronounce the target language fluently
with native-like pronunciation may affect or limit by age. Even if they
can express words and sentences with ideal pronunciation, problems
with prosodic features such as intonation, stress, and other
phonological nuances still cause misunderstandings or lead to
communication breakdown.
34
Respati, Winanti Siwi. Usia Dewasa: Tinjauan Psikologi Perkembangan.
(http://winanti5599.blog.esaunggul.ac.id/2010/08/23/usia-dewasa-tinjauan-psikologi-perkembangan/) accessed on April 24th,2016
35
Seyed Mahdi Araghi, Roya Jafari Amineh,Review of problems of Adult EFL Learners’ (EFL)
27
b. Aural medium
Usually, one person speaks, and the other people respond through
attending by means of the listening process. In fact, during interaction,
every speaker plays a double role-both as a listener and a speaker. If
one cannot understand what is said, one is certainly unable to respond.
So, speaking is closely related with listening.
c. Socio-cultural factors
One must know how the language is used in a social context to
speak language. The student had not understood the nonverbal
message, which illustrates that the socio-cultural factor is another
aspect that affects oral communication greatly.
d. Affective factors
These related to second language or foreign language learning is
emotions, self-esteem, empathy, anxiety, attitude, and motivation.
The affective side of the learner is probably one of the most
“important influences on language learning success or failure”.37 One of affective side is anxiety, this can affect on the language learning. The
students who undergo this anxiety would probably feel uneasiness,
frustration, self-doubt, and apprehension when learning English, in the
high level of anxiety EFL learners become tongue-tied or lost for words in
37Ibid.
28
an unexpected situation and this also leads to discouragement and a
general sense of failure.38
5. The relationship between optimism and anxiety
In a study conducted by Buchanan and Seligman learned optimism
techniques were found to significantly reduce depression in a class of
college freshmen.39 Moreover it is states by Darvill and Johnson on college students revealed that the positive incident were more possible to
happen and negative incident were less possible to happen by the subject
who believe that they were able to manage over even occurrence.40 From
this explanation, it is assumed that the anxiety of students can be solved
by optimism.
However, in the study by Isaacowitz and Seligman said if the
optimism doesn’t do realistic it can be over-optimistic and may block the
performance as an individual may overlook the negative outcomes thus
may not be well prepared for unpleasant situations.41
6. The relationship between optimism and students’ achievement
According to Scheier and Carver in Owayed research said that
optimism and pessimism play a considerable role in the lives of
individuals in the area of educational, occupational, and psychological
38Ibid. 39
Indoo Singh - Ajeya Jha.Anxiety, Optimism and Academic Achievement among Students of Private Medical and Engineering Colleges: A Comparative Study. 2013. Canadian Center of Science and Education
40 ibid 41
29
adjustment.42
So that the optimism is consider to give encouragement on
academic achievement. Moreover, According to Seligman in his book
“The Optimistic Child” which adapted by the researcher from the thesis
by Muharnia Dewi said that they were pessimist did the worse occupation
than they were optimist in three aspects: the first, they more often
depressed. The second is their achievement was low in the school, in the
occupational, and the playing field compared with their real talent. The
third is their health is worse than an optimist.43
In the Cambridge dictionary it is defined academic is something
relating to schools, colleges, and universities, or connected with studying
and thinking, not with practical skills. In this research, speaking is
including to academic aspect. In term of speaking is the subject that being
studied by the student in the college.
B. Review of Previous Study
In this part, the researcher will explore the previous study conducted by
other researchers that have similar focus with this study. There are some
studies conducted by the previous researchers which inspired the researcher to
take the study which examine the relationship between optimism with the
42
Freih Owayed El-Anzi,Academic Achievement and Its Relationship with Anxiety, Self-esteem, Optimism, and Pessimism in Kuwaiti Students, vol. 33(1), (2005), pp. 95–104.
43Muharnia Dewi A, Undergraduate Thesis: “Hubungan Self-esteem dengan Optimisme Meraih
30
speaking achievement in the first-year student in education department of UIN
Sunan Ampel Surabaya, because the researcher saw the similar situation on
the problem faced by students. The early research was from Martin M.
Chemers, Li-tze Hu and Ben F. Garcia, the title is “Academic self-efficacy
and first-year college student performance and adjustment”. Martin discussed
about the problem faced by first-year student. The first-year students often get
the depression in the transition from high school to the college life. To solve
the problem researcher mentioned that self-efficacy and optimism play a big
role in reducing stressful life of college.
The second research was from Brenda Scumacher, the title is “Assessing
the relationship between optimism and academic success”. Brenda discussed
about the association between optimism and academic success as variety of
different studies on optimism and school achievement. By using
questionnaire, Brenda examines 48 high school students to know the level of
dispositional optimism trough their self-efficacy perceptions. The result
showed there is no significant association between grade and optimism scores.
The third is the research from Salmaan F. Toor, by the title “Optimism
and Achievement: A domain-specific and within-construct investigation”
Academic optimism is the general tendency to expect positive outcomes in
terms of personal, current and future academic experiences. Academic
31
optimism’s focus on the academic life domain. The study investigated the
psychometric properties of the newly constructed Academic Optimism Scale
(AOS), as well as the relationships among academic optimism, general
optimism, self-esteem and depressive symptoms in relation to academic
achievement.
The research by Freih Owayed El-Anzi, with the title “Academic
Achievement and Its Relationship with Anxiety, Self-esteem, Optimism and
Pessimism in Kuaiti Students” reveals the findings that academic achievement
has a positive correlation with optimism and a negative correlation with
pessimism. Optimism increase a person ability to tolerate situation and to
solve problems, and it may have an effect on academic achievement.44 The differences compared to this recent study shows that the research conducted
by Owayed analyzes the relationship among academic achievement with
anxiety, self-esteem, optimism, and pessimism, while this study focuses
hardly on the relationship between optimism and students’ speaking
achievement.
Other study is from Indoo Singh and Ajeya Jha, with the title “Anxiety,
Optimism and Academic Achievement among Students of Private Medical
and Engineering Colleges: A Comparative Study” this study focuses on
44
32
examining the role of optimism that hypothesized to reduce anxiety and
enhance academic achievement among medical and engineering students.
While this study, focuses on the relationship between optimism and students’
speaking achievement at the first-year of English education.
Finally, the researcher concludes that those all previous studies
significantly have the similarity and differences with this research. However,
those literatures influence this research as the foundation. This research
focuses on analyzing the relationship between optimism and student speaking
achievement at the first-year of English education department UIN Sunan
Ampel Surabaya. In light of differentiating this research with those all
previous studies above the researcher states that the different focus of this
research is on focus skill of study, and also the location of research will be
CHAPTER III
RESEARCH METHOD
This part of study deals with research methodology which is designed as
technique to collect and analyze the data.
A. Research Design
This study is classified as quantitative in nature because the data of
this research is using numerical data and using statistic to analyze it. A
quantitative research is a kind research that employs statistical procedures.44
In others term quantitative research is „Explaining phenomena by collecting
numerical data that are analyzed using mathematically based methods (in
particular statistics).45 Therefore, as quantitative research is essentially about collecting numerical data to explain a particular phenomenon, particular
questions seem immediately suited to being answered using quantitative
methods.
The design of this research is correlation. According to Ary, Jacobs,
and Sorenses‟s statement that correlation research produces indexes that show
the direction and the strength of relationship among variables46. In addition,
44Anifatun Nikmah, S1 thesis “Correlation between students’ performance in conversation and their
English achievement in regular English at SMPN 1 Balongbendo”. (Surabaya: IAIN press, 2010) 45
Sugiyono, Metode Penelitian Pendidikan. (Bandung; ALFABETA), 2012 46
34
Creswell states that “correlation design provide an opportunity for you to
predict score and explain the relationship among variables. It was useful to
describe and find out any significance correlation between two variables, the
X and the Y variables. The research was aimed to find any significant
relationship between optimism and students‟ speaking achievement. Therefore
the correlation of research design suited the purpose of research.
In this research, the researcher used Pearson product Moment to analyze
the relationship between optimism and students speaking achievement. Ary,
Jacob, and Sorensen state that “a very useful statistic, the Pearson Product
Moment correlation coefficient (Pearson r), indicates both the direction and
the magnitude of the relationship between two variables47. So, the correlation
between two variables will be known by using the Pearson Product Moment.
The first variable is the optimism; it is considered as independent variable
(variable X). Then the second variable is the students‟ speaking achievement
which is taken from the document, it is considered as dependent variable
(variable Y).
35
B. Population and Sample
1. Population
Population defines as the total number of research subject. Population can
also define as the case collection which required some requirements which
related to research problem.48
The population of this study was the student of second semester of
speaking class of State Islamic University Sunan Ampel Surabaya. The
consideration in choosing the population is because the researcher is going to
examine the relationship of optimism of first-year student in the speaking
class.
In the second semester of English Education Department there are 116
students. In this research the population took are they who qualified to be
subject of research, because there are 3 students that not fulfill the final
examination score. So that the population of this research is 113 students
which derived from speaking class on second semester.
2. Sample
Sample is the part from amount and characteristic of population.
Suharsimi Arikunto in his book state that if the subject is less from one
hundred, better for the researcher to take all part of population, so the research
48
36
is population research. Then, if the subject is amount of a hundred or more, it
can be taken 10% - 15% or 20% -25% or more.49 But in this research the
researcher did not use this technique to determine the total of samples.
In this research, the researcher took 53 samples from 113 populations.
The way to take the sample, the researcher use Slovin formula, as follows:
n = �
1+� 2
Where:
n = jumlah sample
N = jumlah population
e = error tolerance
In this research, the researcher has 113 population, and use error tolerance
10%.
n = 113
1+113 (0,1)2
n = 113
2,13
n = 53 students
The speaking class taught by two lecturers, Mr. Sigit Purnomo Jati and
Mr. Hanafi. A and B class by Mr Sigit with the amount of 45students and C
and D class by Mr Hanafi with amount of 68 students.
49
37
To define the proportional sample the researcher took data as follow from
each class by the classification of the lecturer. So, from this way the
researcher takes 53 students as the sample. Based on Slovin form, the
researcher took the sample as follows by using proportionate stratified random
sampling.
Class A and B = 45
113 x 53 = 21 students
Class C and D = 68
113 x 53 = 32 students
The exact number of the samples of each class determined by
proportionate stratified random sampling as follows:
Class A = 29
45 x 21 = 14 students
Class B = 16
45 x 21 = 7 students
Class C = 35
68 x 32 = 16 students
Class D = 33
68 x 32 = 16 students
Proportionate stratified random sampling is technique sampling to take
heterogenic population.50 The consideration to take this technique is because there two lecturer that taught these four classes, so it consider to have
different treatment of each class. In this research, to determine the students
that chosen to be samples the researcher use lottery of the name.
50
38
C. Research Setting
This research was conducted in class of speaking in the second semester
of University of Sunan Ampel Surabaya academic year 2015-2016. The
students are from heterogeneous background. The researcher chooses them
because they are included to the first year-student of University of Sunan
Ampel Surabaya.
D. Research variable
Variable is the object of research or the focus of the study. There were
two variables in the study, they are:
1. Independent variable
It is a variable that will be studied its relation or influences toward
other certain variable that becomes main discussion. The independent variable
of this study is optimism.
2. Dependent variable
It is the main study that will be examined its condition by studying its
relation with other variable. It is the variable that the results are influenced by
the independent variable. The dependent variable here is students‟ speaking
39
E. Research instrument
According to Arikunto, Research instrument is tools or facilities that are
used by the researcher in order to collect data. By using this tools can make
the job easier, complete, and systematic.51 The instruments used in this research are:
a. Questionnaire
Questionnaire is data collection technique which given a set
questions or written explanation in order to answer with respondent52.
There are many advantages of questioner are:53
1. The researcher is not necessarily present in front of the respondent
2. It can be shared directly to many respondent
3. It can be answered be the respondents as fast as their own and
depended on their part time.
4. It can be anonymous so respondents will feel free, honest and
confident to answer
5. It can be standardized in similar question for all respondents.
b. Documentation
Documents are “A readily source of data in research as many
already exist in the institutional system.”54
In this study, the
51
Ibid, 149. 52
Prof. Dr. Sugiyono, Metode Penelitian Kuantitatif, Kulaitatif dan R & D, (Bandung: ALFABETA, 2010) p.142
53
40
documentation data is taken from the lecturer data of students‟
speaking result in the second semester. The data is required to know
the correlation between students‟ optimism and their speaking
achievement in one semester.
F. Data Collection Technique
To obtain the valid data, the writer used kinds of data collection. For
conducting the research, in collecting data the writer uses some technique.
a. Questionnaire
This technique is used to know students‟ optimism in speaking
English; Students got some question about their optimism that has
been made by researcher. The questionnaire that was used in this
research had been developed based on Selligmans‟ theory on his
book entitled Learned Optimism. The questionnaire of optimism
consists of 22 items of statement in multiple choice forms and had 5
options for each indicator that was divided into two kinds of items:
the favorable items and the unfavorable items. The technique of
scoring optimism for each item used Likert scale.
The questionnaire consisted of 22 items of statement. The
distribution of the question in questionnaire could be seen in the table
below:
54
41
Table 3.1 Blue print of optimism questionnaire indicator
Dimension
(Aspect of
Optimism)
Indicator Favorable Unfavorable
Permanence: events have specific causes, while good will never dilating to other event.
a. Believe that an event is caused by internal factor.
b. Believe that an event
42
The technique of scoring optimism used Likert scale. The procedure of
scoring favorable items of optimism test was given as follow:55
Option: SA (strongly agree) = 5
S (agree) = 4
N (neutral) = 3
D (Disagree) = 2
SD (strongly disagree) = 1
The procedure of scoring unfavorable items of optimism was given as follow:
Option: SA (strongly agree) = 1
S (agree) = 2
N (neutral) = 3
D (Disagree) = 4
SD (strongly disagree) = 5
Then the researcher categorized the samples into three category grade
of students‟ optimism in the speaking class, which was high, moderate, and
low. The way to get the first dominant optimism was looked for mean score
55
43
(M) and standard deviation (SD). To determine mean and standard deviation
the researcher used SPSS 21. Then mean and standard deviation score were
applied to this form. The form was derived from saifuddin azwar Penyusunan
Skala Psikologi, that cited by Muharnia Dewi in her thesis56. The form of optimism category as follows:
Table 3.2 The Form of Categorization of Optimism
Category Interval Frequency %
High ≥ M + 1SD
Moderate M – 1SD < X <M + 1SD
Low ≤ M – 1SD
Total
Description: M = Mean
SD = Standard Deviation
1 = Constant number
b. Documentation
This technique used for collecting the students‟ score as a
comparison with the result of questioner. Then writer can know the
result of the research. In this study writer took students‟ rapport or
the result of their English test at the class in order to compare the
result of questionnaire. From this data we know the correlation itself.
56
Muharnia Dewi A, Undergraduate Thesis: “Hubungan Self-esteem dengan Optimisme Meraih
44
G. Data Analysis Technique
The technique of data analysis used by the researcher was the formula
of Pearson‟s product moment correlation.
To examine whether there was the correlation between optimism and
students‟ speaking achievement the researcher analyzed in the following
procedures:
1. The questionnaire giving score for each item and summing up had
been checked.
2. The data on students‟ optimism and speaking achievement had
been tabulated.
3. The coefficient of correlation between the students‟ optimism (X)
and the students‟ speaking achievement (Y) had been determined.
Correlation coefficient usually represented by r indicates indicating
both the direction of the correlation (either positive or negative)
and the strength or the degree of the relationship between
variables.
4. Before analyze the correlation, the researcher do prerequisite test.
The prerequisite test is conducted before doing correlation
analysis. The prerequisite test was normality test and homogeneity
45
5. To correlate between the EQ and English achievement had been
analyzed by product moment, The researcher used the following
formula:57
� = � −
� 2
− 2 � 2− 2
Note :
r = correlation coefficient of variable X and Y
∑xy = the sum of the product of X and Y scores for each students
∑x= the sum of X scores
∑y= the sum of Y scores
∑x2= the sum of square of students‟ participation score
∑y2 = the sum of square of students examination score on PeerWise
(∑x)2= the sum of squared X scores
(∑y)2= the sum of squared Y scores N = the total of respondents
According to Sugiyono that cited by Gunawan Sudarmanto said that
Statistic parametric is used to analyze interval and ratio data that taken from
normal distribution of population.58 Analysis of Pearson Product moment is
included to parametric statistic. In this research, the researcher also uses SPSS
57Anas Sudiyono, “Pengantar Statistik Pendidikan”,
(Jakarta: Rajawali Press, 2009), 206 58
46
21 to analyze data, in order to make the calculation easier and more valid. The
level of significance 0,05 is used and the value of sig from output of SPSS.
The above formula is very important due to find out whether or not the
(Ho) Hypothesis or (Ha) Hypothesis is accepted in this research. The result
computation indicates whether there is any correlation between the two
variables or not. Then, from the result of the r computation (r-observation), it
is classified as the perfect positive relationship (+1.00), no relationship (0), or
the perfect negative relationship (-1.00). As Donald Ary, Lucy Cheser J. and
Chris Sorensen‟s explanation that explain.59
59
CHAPTER IV
RESEARCH FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION
This chapter presented the description of finding and discussion that was
covered during the research. The descriptions of finding were students’ optimism,
students’ speaking achievement, hypothesis research and the correlation between
optimism and speaking achievement. The researcher presented them is based on the
data collected and the procedure described in the chapter III. Since there were some
results in this study, the researcher presented them as follow:
A. Research Findings
1. The Optimism of Second Semester Students in Speaking Class of
English Education Department UIN Sunan Ampel Surabaya
a. Sudents’ Optimism in Speaking Class
To know the students’ optimism of the first-year of English education
department UIN Sunan Ampel Surabaya, the researcher used questionnaire
to measure the students’ optimism. Research procedure used the
questionnaire of optimism which was developed based on Seligman’s
theories. It could be seen below:
1) Permanence (Permanence) consisted favorable and unfavorable items.
48
1. Every success I have achieved is the starting point of any
successful that will I be in the future.
14. If I’m not desperate I am sure I will get a good achievement in
speaking class.
17. When I get a good score in speaking, I will try to maintain it.
b. Unfavorable item contained
4. Because I did not have a good English experience, so the effort I do
is not work up.
18. I made a mistake when having conversation with my friend in front
of the class it will make me shy in a long way.
19. I have been practicing speaking but my score is bad and I am not
going to practice again.
2) Permanence (Temporary) consisted favorable items and unfavorable
item
a. favorable items
13. I have been practicing speaking, but the test today did not go well,
and I am sure that the next test will succeed.
22. I believe bad luck can be changed with effort and prayer.
b. unfavorable items
16. When I do not study and I succeeded in my test, I believe that
success is a coincidence.
