OF SMPN 1
N 1 STUDENTS OF DAGANGAN MA
R IMPLICATION TO ENGLISH TEA
A Thesis
ubmitted to Fulfill One of the Requirements ompletion of Graduate Degree in Language S
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MOTTO
ْ ُ ِ َ ْ َأَو ْ ُ ِ ْ ُ ُ َ ِإ ُ ُ ْ َ ْ ِ َ َو ْ ُ ِ اَ ْ َأَو ْ ُ ِرَ ُ َ ِإ ُ ُ ْ َ َ َ ﱠﷲ ﱠنِإ
"Sesungguhnya Allah tidak melihat kepada bentuk, rupa dan harta benda kalian, tetapi Allah memperhatikan hati dan amal-amal kalian".
[HR. Muslim]
ٍ#ْ َط ٍ%ْ&َ ِ َك َ(َأ َ)ْ َ* ْنَأ ْ َ َو ً,ْ-َ. ِفوُ ْ0َ ْ ا َ ِ ﱠنَ ِ)ْ1َ* َ
"Janganlah engkau menganggap remeh perbuatan baik sedikit pun, meskipun engkau berjumpa saudaramu dengan wajah berseri-seri"
[HR. Muslim]
“Trouble is your best friend.
It makes you stronger and more understanding about life.
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DEDICATION
In the name of Allah
Most gracious, most Merciful
My special thanks for:
Allah SWT, Who makes my life meaningful, Who gives me everything I need,
and always shows me to the right way of the destiny life.
I PRESENT THIS LITTLE WORK FOR:
- My lovely wife, Tity, thanks for your love and your support to me,
- My late father and mother, I hope Allah will always love and take care
of you there, and I will always pray for you every time and everywhere,
- My lovely daughter, Honesty, you are the light on my life, you are my
spirit to step and face the future,
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ACKNOWLEDGMENT
First and foremost, by getting down on knees, the writer wants to say Alhamdulillahirabbil ‘alamin, as my grateful thanks to the owner of soul Allah SWT Who has blessed, given wonderful love, and shown the truth in the path of life to the writer. Hence, I can entirely accomplish this thesis. I believed that there was nothing I can do without Him. My special gratitude and appreciation are also addressed to the following people:
1. The Director of Graduate Program of Muhammadiyah University, Prof. Dr. H. Khudzaifah Dimyati, SH, M.Hum for giving the writer permission to write this thesis,
2. Prof. Dr. Markhamah, M.Hum, The head of Graduate Program of the English Departement,
3. Agus Wijayanto, Ph.D, as my first consultant who always gives me a lot of attention and spare time to guide, suggest, permit, support, advice, and correct my thesis,
4. Dra. Siti Zuhriah Ariatmi, M.Hum, as my second consultant who has given support, motivation, guide, advice, and wisdom from the beginning to the end of my thesis,
5. The lecturers in Muhammadiyah University of Surakarta who cannot be mentioned one by one. I say thanks for their guidance, advice, and knowledge given to me,
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as Maria Deny K, S.Pd for all the time and her guidance there, and also her students and the school administration staffs,
7. The teachers and staffs of SMP Negeri 1 Gemarang Madiun, who have given me support, help, and spirit,
8. The special thanks for my beloved wife and daughter, who have given help, support, advice, and the wonderful moment. May Allah SWT bless us, and 9. All my friends in campus, thanks for togetherness and let’s keep our
friendship.
Finally, I want to thank to the readers especially those who are eager to give constructive criticism that can make this thesis better. The writer hopes that this simple thesis would be beneficial to everyone.
Surakarta, April 22nd 2014
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ABSTRACT
ZAINAL ARIFIN, S 200 120 056, 2014: “Learning Styles of SMPN 1 Students of Dagangan Madiun and Their Implication to English Teaching”. A Thesis of Post Graduate Program, Magister of Language Study, Muhammadiyah University of Surakarta.
One of the most difficult set of skills a person could ever struggle to learn is a language. There is no easy way to master a language, particularly a language which is not our first language. In the process of learning a language particularly a second language, there are many variables that determine the success of a language learner which include language learning styles. In a class made up of various learning styles, it is always necessary for the teachers, particularly the language teachers to identify, respect and work on the diversity of the learners’ differences. The study investigated the diverse learning styles employed by ESL students in SMPN 1 Dagangan, Madiun Regency, East Java. The students were classified into three levels of competence; high, middle, and low level competence. They were also classified based on gender; males and females. A set of questionnaire was distributed to fifteen students. To get deeper interpretation on their learning styles, the students were also interviewed. The students’ learning style preferences were identified based on their levels of competence and gender in order to investigate their differences. The data was analyzed using the case study method and the findings revealed that the students’ learning styles can be categorized as visual, auditory, kinesthetic, tactile, individual and group learners. The results of the study indicated that there were some differences in using learning styles by the students of high, middle and low levels of competence. A little difference was also found in male and female students. Thus, it is important for teachers to be aware of their students learning styles.
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CHAPTER II : UNDERLYING THEORY A. Previous Study ... 10
B. Theoretical Approach ... 14
1. Notion of Learning Style ... 14
2. Development of Learning Style ... 17
3. Learning Style Preferences ... 24
4. Learning Style Models ... 27
a. Reid’s Perceptual Learning Styles ………... 28
b. Kolb’s Learning Styles Inventory ……… 31
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d. Witkin, Oltman, Raskin, and Karp …………... 34
e. Willing’s Learning Style Model ………... 35
5. Learning Styles and Gender ………... 38
CHAPTER III : RESEARCH METHOD A. Type of the Study ... 46
B. Setting of the Research ... 50
C. Subject of the Research ... 50
D. Data and Data Source ... 51
E. Technique of Data Collection ……….. 51
1. Documentation ……… 51
2. Questionnaire ……….. 52
3. Interview ……….. 53
F. Technique of Data Analyses ... 54
G. Checking the Reliability and Validity of the Data …….. 57
CHAPTER IV : RESEARCH FINDING AND DISCUSSION A. Research Finding ………... 60
1. Learning Styles of the Three Level Competence Students ………. 60
2. Learning Styles of High Level Competence Students ………. 67
3. Learning Styles of Middle Level Competence Students ………. 72
4. Learning Styles of Low Level Competence Students ………. 75
5. The Students’ Learning Styles Based on Gender ….. 80
B. Discussion ………... 82
CHAPTER V : CONCLUSION AND SUGGESTION A. Conclusion ………... 86
B. Suggestion ………... 88
REFERENCES ……… 92
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LIST OF APPENDICES
Appendix 1 : The English grades of students in 2012 and 2013 and their
ranks ………. 98 Styles Based on the Results of Questionnaire ……….. 107
Appendix 6 : The Students’ Perceptual Learning Style Preferences in General Based on the Results of Questionnaire ………... 108
Appendix 7 : The Rank of Using Learning Styles by the Three-level Competence Students Based on The Results of Questionnaire ………... 109
Appendix 8 : The Frequency Distribution of the Students’ Learning Styles Based on the Results of Interview ………. 110
Appendix 9 : The Students’ Perceptual Learning Style Preferences in General Based on the Results of Interview ………... 111
Appendix 10 : The Rank of Using Learning Styles by the Three-level Competence Students Based on the Results of Interview…. 112 Appendix 11 : The Frequency Distribution of the Students’ Learning Styles Based on Gender and the Results of Questionnaire... 113
Appendix 12 : The Frequency Distribution of the Students’ Learning Styles Based on gender and the Results of Interview …….. 114
Appendix 13 : The Questionnaire of Learning Style ………... 115
Appendix 14 : The Transcript of Interview ……….. 117
Appendix 15 : The Transcript of the Results of Interview ………... 119
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LIST OF TABLES
Table 1 : Definitions of Reid’s Perceptual Learning Style Preference…... 29 Table 2 : Kolb & Fry’s Learning Styles (Adapted from Tennant,
2006:89) ………... 32
Table 3 : The Characteristics and Description of Willing’s Learning Style
Groups ……… 36
Table 4 : Overview of Some Learning Styles (Reid, 1998) ………... 37 Figure 1 : The distribution of learning styles of the three groups based on
the results of the questionnaire ……… 61 Figure 2 : The distribution of learning styles of the three groups based on
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LIST OF FIGURES
Figure 1 : The distribution of learning styles of the three groups based on the results of the questionnaire ……… 61 Figure 2 : The distribution of learning styles of the three groups based on