THE APPLICATION OF COMMUNICATIVE APPROACH IN SMU NEGERI 1 MEDAN.

THE APPLICATION OF COMMlJNICATIVE

APPROACH IN SMU NEGERI 1 MEDAN

ATHESIS

IS

By:

/;Tf3i

~)/.qy

L.\A.

k.

0..

So bmittcd to the~ (;raduate Program of English Applied Linguistics In Partial Fulfillment For th-e l)cgn~c nf Magister of llumaniora

MILIK PERPUST AK

AA~~

UNIMEO

ENGLISH APPLIED LINGUISTICS

GRJ\:DUATEPROGRAM

STATE

UNIVERSITY

OF MEDAN

ME DAN

A THESIS

THE APPLiCATION OF COMMUNICATIVE

APPROACH IN SMU NECF:Ril MEDAN

Consultan I

Arrangged b)·

Yustiui Amnah I .ubi.~ Re~.

No. 015010022

~nglish Applied Linguistics Graduate Program State L:niversily of \'ledan

Has been defended before thesis Examination Committee, on September15'1

2005 And

declared

to

have

fulfilled the requinmcnts

ApproV(.'d by

Consultant commission

/

Prof. Dr. Jawasi Naiba ho

NIP. 1 3 0 3 4 4 7 7 5

;·,1

Pl'ot: ·l1ina :\1. Arifin, M.A, Ph<.l ~

11•.

I 3 1

I

1.

0 8 7 3

()in•ctor of Cradu<~h' Progra m l':'ll~tED

Prof. l>r. Helferik ~1anullang NIP.IJ0518778

Name : Yustini ,\mnah Lubis

Approved on : Sept. l51h 2005

I. t•rof. Or .• hnvasi Naibaho

2. Prof. Tina Mariany A., M.A., Ph.D

3. Prof. D. P. Tampubolon, Ph.D

Prof. Amrin Saragih, M.A., Ph.D

5. Dr. Berlin Sibarani, M.Pd.

Approved b~ ·

Uirector of Graduate Pm~ram l:i\t.\1EI>

P.rof. Dr. Belft-rik !Vhmullang

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

First of all, the writer would like to thank God the Almighty who has blessed

her so that she could finish her academic year in the State University of Medan.

Secondly, peace be up on prophet Muhammad SAW who has brought human being

from the darkness era to the brightness era.

She believed that without getting help from the following persons, it was impossible for her to finish her S2 thesis. Therefore, she would like to thank;

1.

Prof. Dr. hwasi

Naibaho, S.Pd and Prof. Tina Mariani MA,

Ph.D

as her first and second supervisors, who had helped and guided her in finishing ner

research,

Prof. Dr. Jawasi Naibaho, S.Pd and Dra. Mcisuri, MA. the Head and the Secretary of English Dcpm1ment who had helped her in adm;nistrative processes during her academic years in the State University of Medan,

J. Prof. D.P. Tampubolon, MA, Ph.D, Dr. Berlin Sibarani, M.Pd, and Prof. Amrin Saragih, MA. Ph.D. her examiners who had given her critics, advices, and improvement so that she could finish this research,

H. Muhammad Dahlan. A.H, her beloved husband who has accompanied Her

5. all her friends and her colleagues who had supported her mentally and on their pray so that she could finish her study at the State (Jniversity of Medan.

Mcdan, Septcmher 2005

ABSTRACT

Lubis, Yustini Amnah. 2005. The Application of Communicative Approach in Smu Negeri 1 Medan. Thesis: The State Univc r~ity of Medan.

Th.is thesi!:> deals with the investigatior. of teachers· perspective in teaching English and to investigate the constraints against the success of communicative approach. The subjects of this study are the English teachers of SMA Negeri I Medan. There are 11 F.nglish teachers in the schooL The interpretative-constructivist research 'J)aradigm was used. In collecting the data, there were two phases: phase 1: the attitudes scale: This phase was to ascertain teachers' attitudes to the Conununicative Approach as an innovation versus the traditional grammatical structural notions in language teaching and learning. Therefore, a set of questionnaire was used to collect the data consisting of 26 statements (13 positive and 13 negative) reflecting aspects of both traditions matched against a four-point scale ranging from strongly agree to strongly disagree. Phase 2: the semi-structured interviews: this phase was to ascertain the range of constraints facing teachers in the teaching ofEFL communicatively.

The finding!:> indicate that there were many aspects of communicative approach are not applied based on the teachers' perspective in SMA Negeri 1 Mcdan. Those aspects are concerned to 1) In selecting the materials, the teachers do not consider the principle of authenticity. 2) In e mphasizing ben.veen accuracy and fluency, the teachers emphasize accuracy than fluency. 3) The teachers' role are dominant and the students' role are less dominant. 4) The teachers transfer the knowledge of language and notlacilitator of learning the language. 5) Jn teaching reading comprehension, the teachers teach translation technique than reading strategies. o) Teachers dominantly use Indonesian language during the kaming process. 7) Students' errors are corrected immediatetly. 8) The teachers give many drills, home assignment, and repetitions. 9) The teachers' oriented is product oriented rather than process oriented.

Th ~ teachers' constraints arc due to the fact that they don't have any authority to scl<:(:l <~ppropriate textbooks for tlu.:ir students and also they eonsidcr that their students have low ability in English.

TABU~ OF CONTENTS

ACKNOWLEGF:MENTS

ABSTRACT

T AIJLE OJ•' CONTI!:NTS

INTRODUCTION

1.1. Background of the Study ... ,... 1

1.2. Problems ofthe Rest.:arch ... . 1.3. Scope or the Study... 6

1.4. Objectives of the Study... 6

1.5. Significance of' the Study.. ... ... 6

CHAPTER ll REVIEW OF LITERATURE 2 .). Theoretical

Framew-ork ... ..

2.1 .1 .Communicative Approach ... ..

2.1.1.1.

The

Orii01

of Communicative Approach ... ... ...

7

2.1 .1 .2. D ~ ion of Communicative Approach... 8

2.1.1.3. The Roles ot' the Teacher and Stmknts... 11

2.1.1 A Tlll· (~oals of ( 'ommunicativc Approach ... ~ ... .. ... 12

2.1. I .5. Characteristics of the Learning Process... ... 13

2.1.1.6. StutlenHcachcr Interaction... 17

2.1.1.7. The View of Language in Communicative Approach... 18

2.1. L8. The Languagt: Skills Emphasized... 19

2.1.1.9. The Role ofthe Students' Native Language... 20

2.1.1.10. Evaluation in Communicative Approach... 20

2.1.1.11. Students' Error... 20

2.1.1.12. Communi~.;ative Classroom... 21

2.1.1.13. Classroom Activities in Communicative Approach... 23

2.1.2.Communicative Approach in Indonesian Curriculum ... .. 2.2. Conceptual Framework ... ..

CHAPTF:RIII

METHOD OF

RF:SEARCH 3.1. Research Design ... .. 3.2. Subjects of the Study ... .. Technique of Collecting the Data ... ... . Instruments for Collecting the Data ... .

27

31 3.5. Technique of Analyzing the Data ... ~ ... 35

CHAPTER IV

FINDINGS AND DATA ANALYSIS

36 51

CHAPTERV

CONCLUSIONS AND SUGGESTIONS

5.1 Conclusions ... ..

5.2 Suggestions ... . 70 REFERENCES ... .. 71

1. 1. Background of the Study

C HAPTER I INTRODUCTION

f

MIUK

PERPUST AKA

jj -·

I

UNI MEiJ

~ he learners of a foreign language who attempt to speak the language are often

confronted with problems resulting from an inadequate command of the appropriatr

language. Although this occasionally leads to breakdown in communication, foreign language learners generally manage to overcome their problt:ms by employing one or

more so-called communication strategies. Hence, it is acknowledged that om: uf the problems of learning a :second or loreign language is how to commucatc in that

language.

The learners of a second or lor~ign language have different expencnccs in

learning a language. Some arc mon: successful than others. This is because the type

and amount of experience vary from person to person as well as from language to

language. Actually, the learners have developed habits of thought as well as speech pattern::; of their first language or their mother tongue which has a very different

system from the target language. Such differences pose some problems for the second

or foreign language learners. The differences between two languages interfere when

leamers of one language set out to leam the other la nguage (Spolsky, 1989: 89).

Consistent with the explanation above,

it

must

be

noted that there are some

necessary conditions that have been stated by Spoh>ky (1 989: 88) for second or

2

a. Learning a language involves an opportunity to analyze it, consciously or

unconsciously, inot its component parts.

h. Learning a language involves an opportunity to Jearn how its constituent parts

are recombinahlc gramrnatkally into larger units.

c. Learning a language involves an opportunity to learn how its....elemt:nl::; are embedded in linguistic and non-linguistic context.

her O\.\TI knowledge with that of native speakers or other targets

Learning a language involves an opportunity tor new items to be remembered.

Learning a language involves an oppo1tunity for the new skills to be

practiced.

Besides those necessary conditions, it may also be necessary to compare

lonna!

and informal learning situations which greatly inHuences second and foreign

language learners. Spolsk_y ( 1989: 89) states that in a lonna\ situation, language is

used only to ~tudy \"vhcrcC~s in an informal situation the language is being used for

communication. !n an informal situation, the learners are surrounded by fluent speakers of the target language, but in a formal classroom, only the teacher is fluent.

In a fonnal situation. il is can:.fi..tlly controlled. while in an informal situation the

language is frc..: and normal. In an infonnal situation. attention is on the meaning of

the communication. but in a formal situation, it is on the meaningless drill. Hence, if

3

condition of a language, and

it

is indeed necessary to rely on the descriptions of a

second or foreign languagt:.

Moreover, English has hccnmc the primary inlernatiunal medi um of science ami

technology, diplomacy, business and communications, and a significant body of the

worlds literature has been written in English (Kachru, 1986 in Ownic: 1997: 7). Indonesia's increasing participation in the intemational arena in dip~omacy, trade,

II as in academic ursuits has raised an

awareness within the country of the necessity to acquire o f English. The use o r

English in Indonesia has become necessary. In terms of the concept outlined above,

Indonesia's policy emphasizes the role of English in the country as a strong first

foreign language rather than a second language.

The term ' English as a fordgn language', must be distinguished from the term

' English as a second language'. Ownic (1997: 8) states that a language is considered a

foreign language n:hen the language: is taught as a subject in school but is not a

medium of instruction or communication,

tor

example, English in Indonesia,

Thailand and Japan. English as a second language is one in which English is not

spoken natively but is widely used as a medium of instruction and a means of official

and informal communication for intranational functions in schools, for · nformal

situation and for publication, for example, English in Singapore₁ t11c Philipines and

India.

English occupies a special position in comparison with other foreign languages.

4

language for international communication. (Kachru, 1987: 98 in Ownie,

1997:

8).

English is one of the main sources of the enrichment

or

the Indonesian language in its attempt to be a language of science, technology, commerce, politics and others which

are useful for Indonesian development The Indonesian govemment has decided that

English become a compulsory subject given in schools. Engli-sh is given priority over

other foreign languages, for example, the Indonesian government has sent some

Other efforts have been made by the Indonesian government to improve the English

language compete::ncy such as conducting upgrading courses ior ymmg lecturer.; and

st:nding them abroad to continue their education.

UnfOJ1unately. a research report lhlln Badan Litbang Depdikbud RI in 1993 concluded that Indonesian junior high school students' ability in English were

regarded low. The conclusion comes from the data that 76.95 % students of second

\'Car or Junior lligh S~:hoo! an.: ll ll;Jblc 10 lJSl! dit:tionarics. Thus. on ly 5 % stude nl ~

\Yho are able to use dictionari es ( Sugiarto. 2001 ). The (~onclu sion implies that the

failure is caused by the teachers' emphasis on the teaching of language structure ratht:r than language ski! Is.

The research findings also implied that the cornmlmicativc approach proposed in

the 1994 national curriculum has failed to

achieve

its goals since the students were

unable to communicate in English. Therefore, the present study tries to invt:.stigate the

application of communicative approach in senior secondary level. The purpose is to

5

As it is in other Indonesian schools, English subject is one of th~ main subjects stated in the National Curriculum for Senior Iligh School and t!:lught in SMU

Negeri I Medan. In the curriculum, English su~jcct is taught twice a week and in

each meeting

it

is taught for two hours. The duration of time in each meeting is 45

minutes. However, the amount or meeting varies from a grade level to others. For instance, for the first and second year grade, English is taught tour hours a week. but

for the third year level, English is taught four hours for the Natural Science major, six

hours for the Social major and eight hours a week for the I .anguage major.

There are eleven English teachers in the school. All of them have Sl degree in

English. Each teacher teaches different grade. The English teacher for the first year

students is graduated from English Department of the State University of Medan (UNTMF.D), and the English teachers for the second and third year grade

graduated from English Department of the University of North Sumatra (USU). The English teachers teach English by using English textbooks as their main

source materials. They use the hooks entitled Komunikasi Akt~f

Baham lnggris

wdtcn by Sugcng HS, Sri Mulyono, and Sri Loo Widodo, which i~ published by

Tiga Serangkai .lnkarta in 2003. The curriculum is based on the 1994 English

cuniculum, which has already been revised which is called as the currieulum

1.2. Problems of the Research

6

a. What are the teachers' perspective towards the communicative approach in

language teaching and learning?

b. What arc the constraints that act against a succcssiul application of the communicative approach

in

the EFL context?

1.3. Scope ofthe Study

The scope of this study is investigating the application of communicative apfJroach in SMA Negeri 1 Medan which emphasizes on the teachers' attitude in teaching English.

1.4. Objectives of the Study

.::=.

The uhjcct i ""' ur the study are ·" litlluws

a. Ill invcstig<llc the ll·ar.:hcrs· /X'rspL·etivc in teaching hlgli.-;IJ.

z

b. to investigate the constraints against the success of communicative approach. 1.5. Significancl! of the Study

The present study' findings will be useful for English teachers especially in

~ rA N cgcri 1 Medan as to improve lheir teaching stratcgic!S and also useful for

school administrators as a contrihution loT the better improvement in teaching

.---- . - · - - ,

ft'IILIK

PERPUSTAKAAN '

CHAPTER V

UNIMEO

CONCl.USIONS AND SUGGESTIONS

5.1 Conclu~ions

After analyzing the data, the conclusions of this research are drawn as

follows:

5.1. 1. Many aspects of communicative approach are not applied based on the

teachers' perspective in SMA Negeri 1 Medan. Those aspects are concerned

to:

5.1.1.1. In selecting the materials,

prim:iple of authenticity.

5 .1.1.2. In emphasizing between accuracy

emphasize accuracy than fluency.

5 .1.1.:). The teachers' ro I e are dominant and the dominant.

5. 1.1 A. The teachers transfer the knowledge

facilitator of leaming the language.

5. 1.1.5. In teaching reading comprehension, the teachers teach tmnslation

technique th<ln reading strategies.

5.1.1.6. TeacHers dominantly use Indonesian language during the learning

precess.

5. 1':"1 . 7. Students' errors are corrected immediatetf)::.

70

5 .1.1.8. The teachers give many drills, home assignment, and repetitions.

5.1.1.9. The teachers' oriented is product oriented rather than process

oriented.

5.1.2. The teachers' constraints arc due to the Jact that they don't have any authority

to select appropriate textbooks for their students and also lht:y consider that

their students have low ability in English.

5.2 Suggestions

The suggestions of this research are made as the following.

5.2.1. The headmaster should make workshop for the teachers of how to teach

English cornmunicativdy.

'i J ')

-

.~ . ..:... The headmaster should give the authority

materials.

5.2.3. The headmaster should monitor the process

or

teaching and learning

REFERENCES

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Another look. In S. Savignon & M. S. Berns Eds., "Initiatives in

communicative language teaching. A book of readings". 3-21. Reading, MA: Addison-Wesley

Cook-;-v.J. 1991. Second Lon~ua~e !.earning and Lan~UaKe TeacllinK. London: Edward Arnold

Ellis, R. 1985. Understanding SecuruJ Language Acquisition. New York: Oxford

Fu!!an, M. 1993. Change Forces: l'rohing the Depths o{ Educational Re.fhrm.

London: Falmcr Press

Gcrngross, G., & Puchta, H. 1984. Reyond notions andfimctions: Language lCflChi.!Jg

or the art ofletling go. In S. Savignon & M. S. Bem:s Eds., "Initiatives in communicative language teaching. A book of readings" 89-·1 07. Reaoing, MA: Addison-Wesley

Larsen-Freeman. D. 1 qg6 Teclmiques and Principles in

l:' ork: Oxfurd University Pn:ss

Littlewood, W. 1981. Communicative Lanxuaxe Teachinx: An Introduction.

Cambridge: Cambridge University Press

Markee, N. 1997. Managing Curriculum Innovation. Cambridge: Cambridgt: University Press

Morrow, K., & Schocker, M. 19R7. [/sing texts in a communicative approach. "ELT Journal," 414, 248-56

Naibaho, J. 1989. Place and Role

rd

English in Indonesian Language Planning.

Suara t>cmlidikan. 15. 5-24

Nunan. D. 19Hl). Underslonding Second Language Classromn.~. London: Prentice

J-lal'l

Nunan, 0. 1999. 5,'econd f.anguagt~ T ew : hir,~g (lnd !,earning. Roston: Heinle & Heinle

72

Ownie, S.J. 1997. Communication Strategies in Jnterlanr;Uflge Production hy

Indonesian FFI. /.earners. Unpublished MA 's Thesis. Kuala Lumpur:

University ofMalaya

Richard, J.C., Platt, J., & P1att, H. 1992. Longman Dictionary of Language Teaching & Applied Linguislics. London: Longman.

Spolsky. B. 1989. Conditivns for Second Language Learning London: Oxford University Press

Sugiarto. 2001. Pernedaan Hasil Be/ajar Memhacu antara Siswa Laki-laki dan

Diajar Membaca Teknik ,')'kimming. Jakarta: Hadan

Walsh ct al. 1993. The interpretive vo;ce: qualitative research in early childhood. In · D. Spodek Ed., Handbook of Research on the Education of Young