STUDENTS’ PERCEPTION OF ENGLISH
REMEDIAL LEARNING
IN VOCATIONAL HIGH SCHOOL
A THESIS
Presented in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Magister Humaniora (M.Hum)
in English Studies
by
YULIANA SRI WAHYUNDARI 056332028
THE GRADUATE PROGRAM IN ENGLISH LANGUAGE STUDIES SANATA DHARMA UNIVERSITY
STATEMENT OF ORIGINALITY
This is to certify that all ideas, statements, and sentences, unless otherwise stated, are
ideas, statements, and sentences of the writer. The writer understands the consequences
if taking the ideas, statements, and sentences without proper references.
Yogyakarta,
LEMBAR PERNYATAAN PERSETUJUAN
PUBLIKASI KARYA ILMIAH UNTUK KEPENTINGAN AKADEMIS
Yang bertanda tangan di bawah ini, saya mahasiswa Universitas Sanata Dharma : Nama : YULIANA SRI WAHYUNDARI
Nomor Mahasiswa : 056332028
Demi pengembangan ilmu pengetahuan, saya memberikan kepada Perpustakaan Universitas Sanata Dharma karya ilmiah saya yang berjudul :
STUDENTS’ PERCEPTION OF ENGLISH
REMEDIAL LEARNING
IN VOCATIONAL HIGH SCHOOL
beserta perangkat yang diperlukan (bila ada). Dengan demikian saya memberikan kepada Perpustakaan Universitas Sanata Dharma hak untuk menyimpan, me-ngalihkan dalam bentuk media lain, mengelolanya dalam bentuk pangkalan data, mendistribusikan secara terbatas, dan mempublikasikannya di Internet atau media lain untuk kepentingan akademis tanpa perlu meminta ijin dari saya maupun memberikan royalti kepada saya selama tetap mencantumkan nama saya sebagai penulis.
Demikian pernyataan ini yang saya buat dengan sebenarnya. Yogyakarta, 20 Januari 2011
Yang menyatakan
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
There aremany people to thankin the process of completing this thesis. First and
foremost, I thank my consultant, Ms. Novita Dewi, M.S., M.A (Hons)., Ph.D. for her
advice and help in writing this work. Without her advice and willingness to share ideas
and for allowing me to get materials, this thesis would have not been completed yet.
I am most grateful to English Language Studies lecturers for the chance to
participate in their classes. Participating in their classes has indeed given me awareness
and real experience of learning.
I wish to thank my classmates, Siti, Lupi, Pak Sigit, and Nur chotimah for her
detailed comments, ideas, and useful suggestions. I also thank my husband, Petrus Joko
Rabono, my sons; Hendy and Rayi, for the support. Likewise, my thanks also go to
mbak Leli for her help during my study in KBI.
My apologies are due if I have unintentionally omitted anyone to whom
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Page
Title Page ... i
Approval Page ... ii
Thesis Defense Approval ... iii
Statement of Originality ... iv
Acknowledgment ... v
D. Data Gathering Instruments and Data Collecting ………. ... . 30
E. Designing the Blueprint Interview ………. ... . 32
F. Constructing Interview Questions ……… ... . 33
G. Conducting In-depth Interview ……… ... . 35
H. Research Procedure ……… ... . 36
IV. ANALYSIS A. Data Processing/ Analysis ……….. ... . 39
2. Removing the Blueprint for Interview……… ... . 42
3. Conducting In-depth Interview to gain the Interview Data ... . 43
4. Processing the Interview Data ………. ... . 44
5. Constructing the Tentative of an Individual Student’s Personal Perception ……….. ... . 47
6. Conducting Individual Student’s Reflection ………. ... . 48
7. Analyzing How the Perception Affect to the English learning………… 48
B. Findings 1. The Profile of Harto’s Perception of Remedial Learning ... . 49
2. The Profile of Endys Perception of Remedial Learning ... . 49
3. The profile of Beti’s Perception of Remedial Learning ... . 50
C. Discussion 1. Harto’s Personal Perception of Remedial Learning ... . 49
2. Beti’s Personal Perception of Remedial Learning ... . 54
3. Endy’s Personal Perception of Remedial Learning ... . 56
V. CONCLUSION A. Conclusion ……… ... . 60
B. Implication ………. ... . 62
C. Recommendation ……… ... . 62
BIBLIOGRAPHY ……… ... . 64
APPENDICIES Appendix 1 ……… ... . 66
Appendix 2 ……… ... . 68
Appendix 3 ………. ... . 74
Appendix 4 ……… ... . 82
Appendix 5 ………. ... . 88
Appendix 6……….. ... . 96
LIST OF TABLES
Table 3.1 Blue prints of class observation ………31
Table 3.2 Blueprint of components and indicators to construct Interview ……….. 32
Table 3.3 The first interview questions ………... 33
Table 3.4 The second interview questions ……….. 34
Table 4.1 Class observation data of Hart (A sample) …………. 40
Table 4.2 The blueprint interview questions ……….. 42
Table 4.3 Table 4.4 Table 4.5 Table 4.6 Table 4.7 Part of category of the observation and interview data of participant ……… 44
Part of the tentative profile of Harto's ……… 47
The profile of Harto’s perception………... 49
The profile of Endy’s perception……… 49
LIST OF FIGURES
Figure 1.1 Figure 2.1
The learning system in Competency - Based Learning… 7 The relationship between remedial learning and regular learning ……… 25 Figure 3.1
Figure 3.3
ABSTRACT
Yuliana Sri Wahyundari. 2010. Students’ Perception of English Remedial Learning in Vocational School Yogyakarta: English Language Studies, Graduate Program, Sanata Dharma University.
The study on the students’ perception of remedial learning program in vocational school is to investigate feelings, thoughts, opinions and beliefs about remedial teaching according to the students. This study attempts to address one research question that is what students’ perception of English remedial teaching is. The question’s answer was investigated through a sequence of classroom observations, discussion, in-depth interviews, and reflections. This study is conducted in a vocational school in Depok Yogyakarta.
The research employs the progressive qualitative method which presents students and researcher as constructing the social world through their descriptions and interpretations of it. The nature of the data is observations and narratives. Through the students’ narrative as the researcher’s participants, it is expected that the students build their own beliefs about remedial teaching. Their beliefs about remedial teaching affect to the success of language learning. The outcome of the students’ perception is attitude which can improve the motivation in learning.
The result of the study reveals that the beliefs of remedial teaching will develop the students’ confidence on their ability to obtain the required competency. The feedback and reflection process collaboratively conducted by the participant and the researcher are important to highlight their thoughts, ideas of their beliefs on remedial teaching practices.
The researcher recommends to the educators to constantly respond to the students’ difficulties in learning in order to treat them wisely. The teacher’s professionalism could be shown through how well she/he handles any kinds of students.
ABSTRAK
Yuliana Sri Wahyundari. 2010. Students’ Perception of English Remedial Learning in Vocational School .Yogyakarta: Kajian Bahasa Inggris, Program Pasca Sarjana, Universitas Sanata Dharma.
Penelitian mengenai persepsi siswa terhadap pengajaran remedy di sekolah menengah kejuruan adalah untuk mengungkap perasaan, pendapat, anggapan dan keyakinan yang dimiliki oleh para siswa. Penelitian dimaksudkan untuk menjawab sebuah pertanyaan tentang apa persepsi siswa terhadap pengajaran remedy. Jawaban atas pertanyaan tersebut di dapat melalui serangkain kegiatan mulai dari pengamatan, wawancara dan refleksi. Penelitian ini diadakan di sebuah sekolah kejuruan di Depok Yogyakarta.
Penelitian ini mengetrapkan teori atau metode penelitian progressive qualitative yang menampilkan para siswa sebagai objek penelitian dan peneliti secara bersama sama membentuk dunia kemasyarakatan melalui penggambaran dan pemahaman tentang dunia tersebut. Melalui anggapan dari siswa sebagai peserta penelitian diharapkan mereka dapat membangun keyakinan dalam dirinya tentang pengajaran remedy. Keyakinan yang mereka bangun akan berdampak pada keberhasilan dalam belajar. Produk dari keyakinan siswa adalah suatu sikap yang akan memotivasi mereka dalam belajar.
Hasil dari penelitian ini menyatakan bahwa keyakinan terhadap pengajaran remedy akan mengembangkan kepercayan siswa terhadap kemampuannya untuk mencapai kompetensi yang diharapkan. Tanggapan dan refleksi secara bersama sama dilakukan oleh peserta penelitian dan peneliti sangat penting untuk menegaskan pendapat, anggapan dan keyakinan terhadap praktek pengajaran remedy.
Peneliti menyarankan kepada para pendidik untuk secara terus menerus merespon pada masalah kesulitan dalam belajar yang dimiliki oleh siswa sehingga dapat memperlakukan siswa tersebut dengan bijaksana. Profesionalisme guru dapat dilihat dari bagaimana dia menangani berbagai macam siswa.
CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION
In order to provide the background of the research, this chapter will present the
background of the study, the problem identification, research goals and objectives, and research benefits. Each will be explained briefly under the headings.
A. Background
Learning English as a second language is a long and complex work. The
learners should totally work hard to acquire it. Aspects of learner characteristic, linguistic, learning process, and the goal will influence the learners when they want to
acquire the new language. It is not simple because there are so many variables involved in the process of acquisition (Brown, 2007). As a teacher, it is important to know who the learners are, their background and their experiences in learning language. Another
factor that must be taken into account as a teacher is the teacher’s knowledge about the language and ability to explain it to the students.
How the learning occurs, what decision should be made to measure the competency, and what strategy is suitable in the process of learning are questions that must be answered by the teacher to help the students to acquire the language. The last
factor which influences the learner in learning a language is the goal. Why the learner wants to acquire the language is the most important factor in the success of learning.
Without the goal the learner may not have motivation in learning.
their children to vocational school. Having good career in a factory or a company could motivate the students in learning a foreign language. Strong motivation will contribute
in the success of learning a language. Sometimes, in the process of learning, the students will lose their motivation. This condition may happen when they get some
difficulties in learning; get problem in personal and social life or have a lot of assignment to do. In such condition, the teacher has a role to motivate the students.
The statement that learning is not going to occur without learner or task, but it
can occur without teacher is not true. In the school context, the role of the teacher is very important for the learners. Because the students usually still cannot study by their
own. Brumfit (2001) has this to say: “but teachers also have a major influence on language learning. The quality of teacher is a determining factor in learners’ perceptions of the value of their task”. It is unavoidable that teachers; (1) structure the
exposure to the language, (2) provide many opportunities for language use, and (3) mould the condition in which motivation to learn will develop. These three major roles
of the teacher are emerged in the success of language learning.
The teacher’s belief in language learning theories will also affect the learners’ success in language learning. There are three models which may influence for
explaining the language acquisition; (1) the behaviorist model, when there is a steady input of language, the process of modeling and imitation repeats, practice is sustained
and the behavior eventually becomes a habit; (2) the innate model which has two underlying assumptions. Firstly, human beings posses an innate mental capacity for language and this capacity are unique. It is a special language mechanism or organ by
language. Hence a minimal amount of exposure to his/ her first language will encourage the child to discover and apply these rules in their speech. The second
assumption is that language development follows a biological and chronological program. The innate view of second language acquisition assumes an innate mental
capacity for language learning that is different from other learning; (3) the interactionist model, that model has been influenced by the views of how language learners are often facilitated through similar strategies to the first language (Doyle, 2004).
Those three models of language theories will give inputs on the choice of the approach and method the teacher uses in the classroom. Different theories of language
and language learning influence the focus of the method; that is, they determine what a method sets out to achieve (Richard and Rodgers, 2001).
He said about the methods as follows:
Some methods focus primarily on oral skills and say that reading and writing skills are secondary and derive from transfer of oral skills. Some methods set out to teach general communication skills and give greater priority to the ability to express oneself meaningfully and make oneself understood than to grammatical accuracy or perfect pronunciation. Others place a greater emphasis on accurate grammar and pronunciation from the very beginning. Some methods set out to teach the basic grammar and vocabulary of a language. Others may define the objectives less in linguistic terms than in terms of learning behaviors, that is, in terms of the processes or abilities the learner is expected to acquire as a result of instruction, (Richard and Rodgers, 2001: p. 24).
Concerning to the approaches and methods that has to be chosen by the teacher based on the belief of language learning, Richards and Rodgers (2001) classify them
Physical Response, The Silent Way, Community Language Learning, Suggestopedia, Whole Language, Multiple Intelligences, Neurolinguistic Programming, The Lexical
Approach and Competency-Based Language Teaching, and (3) current approaches are Communicative Language teaching, The Natural Approach, Cooperative Language
Learning, Content-Based Instruction, Task-Based Language Teaching.
The approaches and methods are very important to consider in teaching to make the teaching and learning activity attractive, effective and efficient. Mastery learning or
competency based education is an approach used in vocational school. The focus of Competency-Based Education is on the outcomes or outputs of learning in the
development of language programs. It addresses what the learners are expected to do with the language; however they learn to do it, (Richards and Rodgers, 2001: p.141). The characteristics of Competency-Based Education are described by Schenck (1978:
vi) as cited by Richards and Rodgers (2001):
Competency-based education has much in common with such approaches to learning as performance-based instruction, mastery learning and individualized instruction. It is outcomes-based and is adaptive to the changing needs of students, teachers and the community ….. Competencies differ from other student goals and objectives in that they describe the student’s ability to apply basic and other skills in situations that are commonly encountered in everyday life. Thus Competency-based education is based on a set of outcomes that are derived from an analysis of tasks typically required of students in life role situation.
Competency-based language learning is an application of the principles of
Competency-Based Education. It is an educational movement that has been introduced
Competency-Based Language Learning involves teachers’ great knowledge of student´s context, interests and needs and the development of different standards that enrich and lead the
teaching-learning process, so that learners know exactly what they need to learn to be communicatively competent.
In Indonesia, the ideology of Competency-Based Education has been applied in Vocational Curriculum 2004. This movement presents a pattern that is focused on the outputs to learning. It defines the goals and objectives to be reached in such a way,
that students´ knowledge, skills and behaviors, can be easily measured. Besides, students develop the ability to use their knowledge in real life situations. In addition,
Competency-Based Language Learning perceived as a powerful agent which can have a positive impact on teaching, since through the implementation of the standards, both teachers and students can have a clear direction of what is expected to be achieved at
the end of a course. According to Richard, Competency-Based Language Learning is based on function and interaction of language, what means that language is taught
taking into account the social context and the communicative needs of students. On the other hand, it is also based on the behaviorist view, since it shares the principle that learners can infer language form from language function, thus, Competency-based
language learning competences designers know exactly the vocabulary and the structures that can be found in different situations and they strategically place them in
the different teaching/learning units.
When talking about the objectives and the syllabus that are going to be implemented in a course, Competency-Based Language Learning focuses on
their syllabuses and its objectives and enhances students to learn the language and to know how and when to use it in a determined moment of their lives. It is also important
to mention that teachers play an essential role, since they are the ones who are going to provide students with the appropriate activities and learning materials which are related
to their real lives, so that students can be communicatively competent in real situations. To achieve this, teachers must be excellent observers of the context that surround students and take into account the main needs they have to design matched syllabuses.
Although the syllabus has been designed as good as possible, but it does not guarantee that the result will be as good as it is expected.
The competency-based approach might be beneficial not only for the students but also the teacher. This approach is also as a powerful agent of change as it was elaborated by Docking in Richard and Rodgers:
Competency-based approaches to teaching and assessment offer teachers an opportunity to revitalize their education and training programs. Not only will the quality of assessment improve, but the quality of teaching and the student learning will be enhance by the clear specification of expected outcomes and continuous feedback that competence-based assessment can offer. These beneficial effects have been observed at all levels and kinds of education and training from primary school to university, and from academic to workplace training. (Docking 1994; 15, as cited by Richard and Rodgers)
Although the learners get benefit from this approach but they could not use the opportunity well. In this approach, all learners have to be competent in certain subject.
next competency, and for those who cannot reach the grade they will have a remedial again until they really pass the grade. So, in the end of the course, all students are
competent in all subjects. The following figure shows the system in Mastery learning or Competence-based learning:
Learning Process
↓
< KKM ← Assessment on one basic competency →≥ KKM
↓ ↓
Remedial Enrichment
↓ ↓
Competent → →→The next basic competency ←←←
Figure 1.1 the learning system in Competency-based Learning (Vocational School Curriculum)
The approach is beneficial a lot to the learners, but it seems that it does not work well as it is expected. The teacher should realize that all students cannot always be
expected to achieve the grade level criteria successfully. There are some students who have problems with a certain competency. In this matter, the teacher needs to work with
learners or learners with disabilities. They may be smart students but at that time they are not motivated to learn and in this condition the teacher needs to be able to draw
out these students and just get them motivated. Remedial help is sometimes used to get them motivated and to learn to the level of the others.
B. Problem Identification
Teaching cannot be defined apart from learning. It is related closely to each other. The dictionary reveals that learning is acquiring or getting knowledge of a subject or skill by study, experience, or instruction; while teaching is guiding, facilitating
learning, enabling the learner to learn, setting the conditions of learning. The objective of learning is to be competent in a certain subject or skill and teaching is helping the
learner to obtain the objectives. In the process of involving in both learning and teaching, the teacher and the learner might have made some overlapping views which make the learner could not be able to obtain the objective.
The overlapping may be result on some the different perceptions or views in language learning. The teacher’s beliefs and views about what language is how people
learn a language and what teachers should do to help the pupils learn can heavily influence the way he/she teaches. Meanwhile for the learners, they may perceive the lesson differently. It is understandable, since learners have many aspects which may
influence in acquiring the second language; social aspect, discourse aspect, psycholinguistic aspect, and individual differences (Ellis, 1997).
mental, the feeling of enjoy, anxiety and stress are aspect of psycholinguistic. Teachers sometimes expect the students too much and they forget that the students are not
exactly at the same level. It means that every student has his/her own ability and characteristic, they have individual differences. Some students are not as fast as other
students in the class; these students might need more time to understand a certain subject. Those kinds of students are usually called slow learners. Actually, they are not quite low in ability or slow in learning, but they may be in the condition of
unmotivated. They may have problems so they could not concentrate in the lesson and fail to pass the grade level.
The other reason why the students are underachievers is because of bad time management. Ironically, many of them are active students outside the class; they are active in extracurricular or even in students’ organization. These kinds of the students
often leave the class and miss the lesson. Some other students are lazy enough to learn at home or to do homework. They never learn seriously. All of these students need help
from the teacher. In the concept of Competency-based learning these kinds of the students may have corrective teaching and learning called remedial learning.
In remedial learning, the teacher gives more time for the students to learn. In
this case the teacher should explain again the competency the students have to achieve, give more tasks to practice and finally retest them to measure their competency. In this
program, it is expected that the students will get better improvement in learning. But, this program is not easy to handle. The teacher and the students should find the appropriate time to held, it could be in the lesson period or outside the class or after
students have no leisure time anymore. If it is held during the lesson period, the teacher should give another activity for the students who are not involved in the remedial. It is
usually called enrichment.
C. Problem Delimitation and Limitation
As it is explained clearly that there are two groups of students; the fast
students, they achieve the competency in the right time given; and the slow learners or underachievers. Both groups have to be handled correctly; the slow learners will send into the remedial learning, and the fast learners should be given enrichment. Because
the researcher has limitation in knowledge and time to study the two cases, so the study will focus only on the remedial learning for it is considered more urgent and significant
issue for teacher to improve the teaching and learning activity. This study is also as a tool to evaluate or critic the teacher in the teaching process.
The remedial program is not easy to prepare. It needs more time and
energy. Starting from diagnostic test to know the learner difficulties, planning the learning process and then testing them, are not easy to do. The choice of the remedial
learning does not mean that enrichment is not important to study but it is merely because of the researcher’s limitation in ability and knowledge in handling the research. So, the researcher delimits the study in the remedial learning.
This study is about how a group of students perceive the remedial learning they attended; through a class observation, in-depth interviews and reflection. It is expected
who are considered as slow learners will not fail again to reach the past grade level in the following topic or competency. The qualitative progressive method will be used to
describe and to interpret the students’ perception of remedial learning.
D. Problem Formulation
As it has been elaborated in the background that in the Competency-based education, the students who cannot get the pass grade level of a competency, they have
to be in the remedial learning. This study is aimed to address the question of what the students’ perception of remedial learning is.
E. Research Goals and Objectives
The goals of this research are to describe and to interpret the students’ perceptions of remedial learning.
Examining that the description and interpretation of remedial learning are varied, objectives become significant steps to follow:
1. To describe the reason why the learners involved in the remedial learning.
2. To describe the students’ improvement after dealing with the remedial
learning.
3. To describe the students’ expectation in remedial learning.
F. Research Benefits
Scientifically, this study may contribute to the development of language
teaching and learning. Through this study, it may develop the new approach and method in teaching slow learners which is useful to minimize the possibility of the
students to be underachievers.
Practically, this study may help the researcher who is a teacher to practice the remedial teaching to encourage the slow learners successfully using appropriate
CHAPTER II
THEORETICAL REVIEW
Some theories related to the topic will be presented end elaborated in this chapter. Theory of perception, learning, language learning, and competency based education, and remedial learning will be discussed in detail to support the study.
A. Theoretical Review
It is true that perception is one of the many aspects of intelligent systems studied by cognitive scientist
1. Perception
Perception is closely related to the mental image. It is related to the psychological factor. It takes important role in human’s life. Some definitions of perceptions are
varied and many of them will be stated here.
Atkinson (1983) defines that perception is the process by which people organize
and interpret the patterns of stimuli in the environment. It does not accidently happen, it takes time. The empiricist maintained that someone learns the ways of perceiving
through experiences with the objects in the world about us. It means that someone could perceive the stimuli, if he/she contact with the object many times, she/he must involve actively in the process then he/she could organize and interpret. If he/she
Similar definition of perception is given by Bever as cited by Miller (1974), perception is common to the mental life of all human beings. It is the act of thinking,
analyzing and organizing consciously. Gary (1965) agrees that perception is a complex mental process and it cannot be separated with attention. The relation both perception
and attention are explained by Vernon (1971), he said although attention is difficult to define, but we are all perfectly aware that when we wish into perceive something clearly and correctly, we concentrate our attention upon it. And what people perceive in
any given situation may vary according to the previous experiences.
Leontive (1981) said that perception is the process whereby the external tokens
of objects and phenomena in man’s consciousness. This process takes place with help of man’s sensory organs, and is completely by the creation of image of the perceived object and sub sequent operation with this image. Further, he declared that perception is
not passive absorption of information. In order to perceive anything, someone must perform a specific activity, he must take active steps. From this idea, it’s clear enough,
that someone could not perceive if he/she does not active to do it. And the most important thing is that he/she must do it consciously.
It is clear from the preceding definition that perception is not always a simple,
straight forward and unambiguous process, but is long and unique with many variations and interruptions. There are caused partly by the great complexity of the perceived field
2. Learning
Most people consider learning is the act of gathering or memorizing facts
which is presented in the form of information or learning materials. This kind of people will easily be proud if the learners are able to mention or restate most of the materials
presented in the book or explained by the teacher. Some other people view learning is practicing. For this kind of people they will feel satisfied if the learner could present their physical ability. To avoid the uncompleted perception of learning, some
definitions will be presented as follows:
Skinner as cited by Barlow (1985) defines learning is a process of progressive
behavior adaptation. He believes that the behavior adaption process will optimally succeed if the learner is given the reinforcement. Similar definition is proposed by Chaplin (1972), according to him there are two definitions. First, learning is
acquisition of any relatively permanent change in behavior as a result of practice and experience. Second, learning is a process of acquiring responses as a result of special
practice.
Hintzman (1978) explained that learning is a change in organism due to
experience which can affect the organism’s behavior. Further, he declared that
learning any experience in daily life enable called learning. The reason is in a certain situation the life experience may have had big influence in forming the organism’s
personality.
Wittig (1981) defines learning is any permanent change in organism’s
the focus is not on behavioral change but behavioral repertoire change. The changes of the organism occur in all aspect psychological and physical. The different view of
learning is based on the belief that physical behavior does not indicate that there is a learning process, because learning cannot be observed directly.
Similarly, Reber (1989) stated that learning is a relatively permanent change to
responds potentially which occurs as a result of reinforced practice. In this definition there are four essential points of view: relatively permanent, responds potentially,
reinforced and practice. Relatively permanent means temporarily change as an effect of a certain situation like getting bored, tired. This kind of change is not involved in
the meaning of learning. The term of responds potentially is approved that there is a difference between learning and performance. This belief reflects that learning is an activity of hypothesis which can be seen from the academic work that can be
measured. Reinforce means that anything we get in learning process can be vanished if there is no reinforcement. While practice refers to the belief that learning process
needs continuous practices to keep the capability of academic achievement. Garry (1965) explains that learning is a process by which behavior is initiated or changed as a result of experience or, more specifically, through training and practice.
According to Dellors (1995) good education throughout life is based on four
pillars: learning to know, learning to do, learning to live together and learning to be.
Learning to know is done by combining a sufficiently broad general knowledge with the opportunity to work in depth on a small number of subjects. This also means learning to learn. Learning to do, in order to acquire not only an occupational skill
It also means learning to do in the context of young people’s various social and work experiences which may be informal, as a result of the local or national context, or
formal, involving courses, alternating study and work. Learning to live together is done by developing an understanding of other people and an appreciation of
interdependence; carrying out joint projects and learning to manage conflicts in a spirit of respect for the values of pluralism, mutual understanding and peace. And learning to be is better to develop one’s personality and be able to act with ever
greater autonomy, judgment and personal responsibility.
Referring to the various definition of learning, we can take of the similarly
point of learning thus are change and behavior. In general, learning is steps of changes of individual behavior which is relatively permanent stay as a result of experience and interaction with the environment using cognitive process. According
to cognitive theorist, learning and perception are very closely related to each other. They view learning as reorganization of a number of perceptions, (Sprinthall, p.192).
When we perceive something means that we should organize and then interpret as stated before. This reorganization allows the learner to perceive new relationships, solve new problems, and gain a basic understanding of a subject area. That is why
learning is long and complex activity. The length of time needed by someone may be different with others. The complexity is also not the same for some people. Someone
3. Motivation
Motivation is aspects which make someone do something enthusiastically. The
reason of students to learn in Vocational School may have different motives. Their motives will influence their attitude and act in acquiring a subject area. One of the
teacher’s tasks is to help the students maintain their motivation to learn and this is not a singular or simplistic process.
The real problem with motivation, of course, is that everyone is looking for a
single and simple answer. Teachers search for that one pedagogy that, when exercised, will make all students want to do their homework, come in for after-school help, and score well on their tests and report cards. Unfortunately, and realistically, motivating students yesterday, today, and tomorrow will never be a singular or simplistic process. (David Scheidecker and William Freeman
(1999) in Dőrnyei, 2005:13)
According to Dőrnyei (1994), there are three levels of motivation from the
classroom perspective: The language Level, The Learner Level and The Learning Situation Level. The first is related to the aspects of second language, such as culture
and community. This level represents the traditionally established elements of second language motivation associated with integrativeness and instrumentality. The second involves individual characteristics that the learner brings to the learning process,
self-confidence. And the last level is Learning Situation Level. It is associated within a classroom setting; the course, the teacher and the students.
Some experts classify the factors of motivation into internal and external factors. Likes William and Burden’s (1997) list the internal factors contains Intrinsic interest of activity, perceive value of activity, sense of agency, mastery, self concept,
broader context are external factors. Both internal and external factors influence in the success of second language learning.
Similarly, Deci and Ryan elicits that there are intrinsic motivation and extrinsic motivation.
Intrinsic motivation concerns behavior performed for its own sake in order to experience pleasure, and satisfaction such as the joy of doing a particular activity or satisfying one’s curiosity. Extrinsic motivation involves performing a behavior as a means to an end, that is, to receive extrinsic reward (e.g. good grades) or to avoid punishment. Deci and Ryan (1985).
Further they say that human motives can be placed on a continuum between self-determined (intrinsic) and controlled (extrinsic) forms of motivation. Weiner
(1994), states that a great deal of human motivation stems from the sociocultural
context rather than from the individual. Covington (1998) explains people are highly motivated to behave in ways that enhance their sense of personal value and worth.
When these perceptions are threatened, they struggle desperately to protect them, which results in a number of unique patterns of face-saving behaviors in school setting.
4. Remedial Learning
The students who have high motivation will be success in learning while who
have low motivation, they may be failed. In mastery learning or competency based
learning the term of success is competent. For the students who are considered incompetent have to be handled in remedial learning.
According to Mariana (2003) remedial learning is the follow up of the regular
learning, this program is held to help the slow learner or help the learner with learning disability to gain the achievement in a certain subject area. There are two reasons why
Some learners may not learn as fast as the others. Second, remedial learning program hopefully will help the slow learner in achieving the learning. Learners who failed to
meet a pre-established mastery criterion or minimum criterion standard are to follow this remedial learning program until they could earn the criterion on the same topic
with others.
Remedial learning is a part of learning, based on the concept of mastery
learning. The assumption underlying mastery learning is that almost every student can
learn the essential skills in a curriculum. This assumption is both communicated to the students and acted upon by the teacher, whose job it is to provide the instruction
necessary to make the expectation come true.
Mastery learning is an approach or a framework for planning instructional sequences, formulated by John B. Carroll (1971) and Benjamin Bloom (1971).
According to them, mastery learning provides a compact and interesting way of increasing the likelihood that more students will attain a satisfactory level of
performance in school subjects. The core theory of this is based on the meaning of aptitude.
Bloom transformed Carroll’s stance into a system with following
characteristics:
1. Mastery of any subject is defined in terms of sets of major objectives
that represent the purposes of the course or unit.
2. The substance is then divided into a large set of relatively small learning
units, each one accompanied by its own objective, which are part of the large ones, or thought essential to their mastery.
3. Learning materials are then identified and instructional strategy is
4. Each unit is accompanied by brief diagnostic tests that measure the student’s development progress (the formative evaluation) and identify the particular problems each student is having. Knowledge of progress is fed back for her students to act as reinforcement. (Praise and encouragement can, if contiguous with correct performance, serve reinforcement, also).
5. The data obtained from administering the tests are used to provide
supplementary instruction to the students to help overcome problems. (Bloom in Joyce, 1996, p.330).
If instruction is managed in this way, Bloom believes, time to learn can be adjusted to fit aptitude. Students lesser aptitude can be given more time and more
feedback while the progress of all is monitored with the assistance of the tests. In practice, the problem inherent in any mastery learning strategy is how to provide the additional instruction time to the students who need it. This additional instructional
is given outside of regular class time, such as after school or during recess (Slavin, 1991: 294-294). But there is some questions whether the additional time required for
corrective instruction in mastery learning might not be better spent in covering more material.
Another form of mastery learning, called the Keller Plan (Slavin, 1991: 292),
has students take tests following a series of lessons. Any students who fail to achieve at minimum criteria standard level of master continue to study or work with fellow
students who did achieve mastery until they could pass the tests or competence. In this method, students who pass the tests the first time spend much less time on those lessons than students who require several tries.
takes someone to learn any given material, rather than his or her capacity to master it. Students with very low aptitude with respect to a particular kind of lear5ning simply
take a much longer time to reach mastery than students with higher aptitude. This view is optimistic in the sense that it suggests it is possible for nearly all students to master
any given set of objectives, if the opportunity to learn is provided along with appropriate materials and instructions. Thus viewed, aptitude becomes primarily a guide to how much time a learner will need.
An experimental research done by Arlin and Webster in 1983 (Slavin, 1991) shows that it took them twice as long as to complete the unit, although mastery students
scored much better than non-mastery students on final test. The significant different between mastery learning and traditional one is that the students in mastery learning condition received corrective instruction if they missed more than one item on the
chapter tests, while students in traditionally taught condition were allowed to go on.
5. Diagnostic
Woolfolk (1987) believes that early diagnosis is important so that learning
disabled students do not become terribly frustrated and discouraged. The students themselves do not understand why they have such trouble learning. They may try to
compensate and develop bad learning habits process, or they may begin avoiding certain subject out of fear and ashamed of not being able to handle the work. These
Wallace and Mcloughin (1975) stated that educational diagnosis is the asking of educationally relevant questions about a child’s learning behavior for the purpose
of instruction. It is intended to produce useful instructional ideas. This step is very important for teachers in the remedial program because from the result of the
diagnostic the teacher can accomplish the specific objectives, the method and material. Otherwise, the diagnostic may have been futile. One important point of this step is to apply services to all children with learning disabilities.
Diagnosis is one aspect of the total process of treatment for children with learning disabilities. The total process involves four phases: (1) identification, (2) analysis, (3) educational planning, and (4) evaluation. The diagnosis process receives direction during the identification phase, where the sign of learning disabilities are usually recognized. Analysis is the major part of diagnosis, which involves the effort to describe the learning disorders of the child. The analysis guides to the planning phase. Diagnostic is not the same with evaluation. Similarly, testing is not the same with diagnosis, but it is an instrument of it. Diagnostic provides baseline data for evaluation strategies. Hopefully, the result of the evaluation phase may have valuable feedback for further diagnosis and instructional planning, (Wallace, 1975: 16).
Slavin (2009) elicits that standardized tests are often used to diagnose individual’s students learning problems or strengths. At the same time the testing
might identify specific deficits that need remediation. Diagnostic tests differ from achievement test in that they generally focus on a specific content area and emphasize
result can be used to guide remedial instruction or to structure learning experiences for students who expected to learn the skill.
6. Learning Disabilities
As with any of the groups of exceptional or handicapped students described
thus far, students with learning disabilities are not all alike. Many different characteristics have been attributed to learning disabled students; the most common are specific difficulties in one or more academic areas, poor coordination, problems
paying attention, hyperactivity and impulsivity, problem organizing and interpreting visual and auditory information, disorder of thinking, memory, speech, and hearing
and sharp emotional ups and downs. Hallahan & Kauffman in Woolfolk (1987: 465-466)
Whatever the label for those children who failed to meet the criterion, it is
important to cope that those children need help, because they have “learning disabilities’. The term ‘learning disabilities’ refers to a specific group of
handicapped children, the children are achieving poorly in the regular school setting, but were not mentally retarded or often called ‘slow learner’ in the usual sense. For these kinds of children the term of exceptional children are not adequate. The
problem does not merely come from the mental and physiological of the children but it is also realized that a specific learning disabilities might arise from inadequate
In contrast, Kirk and Bateman in Anderson (1974) stated that a learning disability is not the result of mental retardation, sensory deprivation, or cultural or
instructional factors, but result from a psychological handicap.
Anderson (1974) differentiates between learning disabilities and learning
difficulties. He prefers simple descriptive term for those children who failed to meet the criterion that is students with learning difficulties, or as applied in different content areas, reading difficulties, writing difficulties, difficulties with number and so on.
According to him learning difficulties is more inclusive than learning disabilities. The implication of this are that all teachers are going to need to be familiar with organizing
the various kinds of learning difficulties, they are going to need to know how to diagnose the reason for the student’s failure to learn, and they are going to need to know how to help this students.
B. Theoretical Framework
According to theories explained before, the success of the student in language
learning depends on many various kinds of factors. First of all that the teacher should understand is that the students have different ability to master a certain subject. Some students may learn slower than others, or they are often called ‘slow learners’. They
need more time to master a certain topic than other students do. In mastery learning, the students who could not attain the standard criteria should have a specific treatment in
remedial learning program.
sometimes the result is not as good as the goal setting before. Even, the students may experience constant failure in the same area. Because of that situation, people usually
label them as exceptional students, slow learners or students with learning disabilities. Thus label is often considered as negative one, and this condition will influence the
group of the students with learning disabilities in perceiving the remedial program. They may have the perception that remedial learning program is just a place to exclude them rather than a chance to reach the similar competence with others. They may feel
ashamed, fear, and the most dangerous is the feeling that they will never be able to succeed in learning forever.
Because of those circumstances, the teacher should really treat the slow learners in the remedial learning program in such a way so the students will get better experiences and become better learner. This experience will change their perception of
English learning and motivate them to get a better achievement. This perception will influence them in the following learning practice in the regular learning. The following
is the figure to show the relationship between perception in remedial learning program and regular learning.
Regular Learning Failed Remedial Learning
1. Motivated
Pass the grade level 2. Enjoy learning
3. Get improvement
CHAPTER III
RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
This chapter describes sequential procedure of this research. Five interconnected parts
build research method. Those parts are research method, nature of data, data setting and
sources, data gathering instruments and data collection, data processing, and research
procedure.
A. Research Method
Considering the purpose of the study that was to describe what remedial teaching to the
participants’ improvement in learning English, the progressive qualitative research proposed by
Holliday (2002) was applied in the study by which people and researcher are portrayed to
construct the social world through their interpretation of it. Progressive qualitative research
comprises the following features: (1) Reality and science are socially constructed; (2)
Researchers are parts of research settings; (3) Investigation must be in reflexive, self-critical,
creative dialog; (4) Aims to problemize, reveal hidden realities, initiate discussion. Holliday,
2002:18). These features were actualized in the process of how the researcher and participants worked together to reconstruct what they had in mind in such a way that the participant eventually realize how much they were aware, what they thought, and
what they did. The researcher was not to impose, rather she provided a room for them to express freely through reflexive dialogs both in informal meetings or recorded interviews. They were expected to help themselves actualize their potentials.
narrative research, I could analyze not only what they perceived but also the meaning of it. A kind of reflection is also conducted to appreciate their sharing of their feeling and
experiencing.
B. Nature of Data
The nature of data was narrative, which was gained from class observation and in-depth interview with the participants. Reflection was done after sequential data collection did not give any additional new data.
C. Data Setting and Sources
Through this research I intended to advocate them by facilitating the participants
to promote their opinions, beliefs, and thoughts related to remedial learning. They were not imposed, instead I helped them reflect and reconstruct what they had in mind so they would have clear pictures of their own perception by themselves. Better
perceptions related to remedial learning were eventually achieved. This also encouraged them to take responsibility for their own learning so that they developed
skills and strategies for continuing to learning in the next lessons.
The study was carried out in a vocational school in Sleman in which the participants: Harto, Beti and Endy from different departments were learning English.
The narratives of the participants from three different departments (Building Designing Technique, Audio-Video Technique and Industrial Chemistry Technique) in different
The sources of the data were (1) three students from different departments as participants of the study, (2) field-notes, and (3) recorded interviews (Mp3). The three
student-participants, two male and one female were chosen based on the English teachers’ recommendation. Assuming that they knew which students (all participant are
the students who have to follow the remedial program) with whom I could cooperate to get the richness of the data. The student participants varied in terms of proficiency and family background. All of them were at the first grade. They were chosen because they
have experiences in the remedial teaching.
The observation data were used to investigate what kind of instructed settings in
which the participants learned English. The audio-taped in depth interviews were used to reveal any principles, opinions, beliefs, thoughts and interpret the participants’ practice and their perceptions. The data was also supported by informal talks obtained
in a relatively relaxed situation after school. It was done to narrow the gap between the participant and me as researcher so they were more comfortable and secure to tell the
stories. The other reason is not to bother their time in attending the lessons during the school time.
In order to get the narrative data, informal talks with the teachers who teach the
participants of this study, were taken in informal situation in the school break time. Fortunately, I conducted this research where I taught there too. This condition made me
D. Data Gathering Instruments and Data Collecting
The data gathering instruments of this research were interviews that were guided by interview blueprint and based on construct definition, categorization, and derivation of indicators. Realizing the validity of the research findings, it is essential to triangulate
the data. It was done by establishing the relationship between several types of data, description of classroom situation and physical condition, the teacher’s way of
teaching, the description of the students’ behavior in teaching and learning activity, the interview accounts of the students’ perception of remedial teaching. The relationship then built and developed in a system of interconnected data.
This figure shows the component being interviewed to triangulate the students’ perception
Description of classroom situation and physical condition
Description of the teacher’s way of teaching
Learners’ perception
Figure 3.1
The component to do class observation and to interview the participants Description of the students
behavior in the class
The implementation of a number of data gathering instruments was expected to triangulate of the study. The instruments consisted of (1) a sequence of class
observation, (2) a sequence of interviews which was recorded. The data was presented in (1) the table of observation data (2) the transcript of interview and (3) the interpreted
narrative of learners’ perception of remedial learning program.
Since the study was intended to build a whole description of learners’ perception of remedial learning program, so I managed to arrive in depth interview. The
first step to get the data, I made the blue-print of class observation according to these diagram (Table 3.1). A set of observation of individual learner’s learning practices was
accordingly carried out a resulting in the observation data which informed learning atmosphere in instructed settings in which the participant learnt English. The observation was field-noted.
The following table consists of components and indicators as a blueprint to get the data through class observation:
No. COMPONENTS INDICATORS
1. Classroom situation 1. Physical Appearance
2. Seating arrangement
3. Lighting and ventilation
2. Teaching aids and facilities 1. Textbooks
2. Teaching media
3. Teacher’s role and participation 1.2. Personal Qualities Using Spoken English
3. Actions
4. Student’s participation 1. Attention
2. Facial Expression
3. Actions
1. Designing the Blueprint Interview
The observation data was carefully examined to construct an interview blueprint
used for conducting in-depth interviews exploring and investigating any principles, opinion, thoughts, and reason for the students’ action in the remedial learning program.
This blueprint functions as flexible guidelines to easily analyze the abundant data. It does not mean to set up discrete questionnaire items.
The following facet is to make the blue-print of components and indicators to
construct the interview questions.
No Components Indicators
1 Personal data of
participants
Name Sex Grade
Major / Department
2 Goal of learning Short term
Long goal
3. Motivation Internal factors
External factors
4. Learning strategies At school
At home
5. Teacher’s roles
( Method and strategy)
Handling the underachievers
Encouraging and responding the student’s problem
6. Test type The form and the number
7. Remedial teaching The meaning
The implementation 8. The
application/process of remedial
During the class session After class
9. Expectation Have a nice teacher
Providing remedial teaching Avoiding the remedial test
Table 3.2 Blueprints of components and indicators to construct interview
2. Constructing Interview Questions
The following facet is making the blue-print of components and indicators to construct the interview questions. Based on those components and indicators, interview
questions were constructed. As a result, there were variations of question in asking each
research participant. Table 3.3 shows the example of interview questions used in the
interview with Harto. Those questions were used as guideline during the interview.
No Questions
1 Please introduce yourself!
2 Do you like studying? Why do you like it?
3 What is your goal of learning English?
4 What is your motivation in learning?
5 Do you have problem in learning English?
7 What is your teacher response towards your problem in learning?
8 According to you, what is KKM ( minimum standard criteria )
9 What have you done to achieve that?
10 How do you feel if you fail to gain the minimum standard criteria?
11 What does your teacher do toward the students who could not get the standard criteria?
12 What is remedial learning?
13 What do you think of remedial learning program in your class?
14 How is it held?
15 How important is remedial learning for you?
16 What do you hope in the remedial learning program?
17 What are advantages and disadvantages attending the remedial learning program?
18 What is your expectation toward the remedial learning?
Table 3.3 the first interview questions
Table 3.3 shows the example of interview questions used in the interview with
Harto. Those questions were used as guideline during the interview.
No Questions
1 How was your final test in the last semester?
3 What do you expect to have, related to the test type?
4 What kind of remedial program did you get?
5 What do you think of the program held by the teacher?
6 How do you feel when you are attending the remedial test?
7 How is remedial learning program meant to you?
8 What do you expect toward the English learning?
Table 3.4 the second interview questions
3. Conducting In-depth Interview
In-depth interview was conducted soon after the interview questions were
finalized. The interview was held according to the participants’ schedule. All participants were interviewed in the afternoon after the class was over. In-depth interview was an effort to get several points of views of students’ perception on
remedial learning program. This result of this step is interview data recorded and transcribed. This revealed individual student’s perception of learning in remedial
program
Each participant at least was interviewed twice. The last interview was the reflection of participants to his/her tentative profile of his/her perception on remedial
learning program. In this stage the participant was given a chance to reinterpret, make comments and improvements, give suggestion, correct the statements, add or change
Data were collected in a range of time to accommodate the time research
participants available. Harto’s data were taken on May14th and June 14th 2010. Endy’s
data were taken on May 16th and June 14th 2010 . Beti’s data were taken on 18th May
and June 14th 2010. The details of data collection time, atmosphere, and interview
transcript were presented in the appendix. Data collected from in-depth interview and participants’ reflection were interconnected and triamgulated as a means to get different point of view of the same phenomenon.
E. Research Procedure
This research was aimed to reveal thick description of students’ perception on
remedial learning program. Research procedure to conduct this research was established as follows:
1. Data of participants in this study were chosen based on the teacher’s suggestion.
2. A sequence of literatures study on related aspect was conducted to construct the
blue print of interview questions. Interview questions were used to conduct
in-depth interview of student understanding, thought, knowledge, and experience on remedial learning program.
3. In depth interviews were conducted based on the blueprint of interview questions.
This interview was aimed to adopt students’ understanding, experiences, knowledge, and concerns related to remedial learning program. Participants were
4. Data collected from the interview were categorized according to the blue print of interview questions to ease the data analysis.
5. Categorized data were thematized according to research questions. The result of
thematizing data was tentative profile of students’ perception on remedial learning
program.
6. Tentative students’ perception on remedial learning was confirmed to the
participants to get their reinterpretation, suggestion, comments, improvements, and
corrections. This verification was meant to get the verified profile of students’ perception on remedial learning and the result of attending the remedial program.
7. The statement of students’ perception on remedial learning program and their
Figure 3.2 the research procedure
Collecting data of participants in remedial learning program
Designing blue print of interview questions
Conducting interview
Processing interview data
Making tentative students’ perception
Reflecting students’ perception
Verifying students’ perception
Discussing students’ perception
CHAPTER IV
ANALYSIS
There are three major sections will be discussed in this chapter to show how
the research procedure was carried out and the result was analyzed and discussed. The sections are: (1) data processing or analysis which is followed by (2) findings, and (3) discussion. The first section elaborates how the data was analyzed in a sequence of data
processing activities. The second section shows the research findings to answer the research questions. And the last section discusses the research findings in interpreted
narratives and the contribution their perception of remedial learning to make the better understanding in order to encourage the success in learning English.
A. Data Processing / Analysis
This section presents a sequence of data processing activities to illustrate in
detail how the procedure was held. The sequence of data processing consist (1) processing classroom observation data, (2) constructing blue-print for interview, (3) conducting in-depth interview to gain interview data, (4) constructing the tentative
individual student’s perception of remedial learning, (5) conducting students’ reflection, and (6) analyzing how the perception contribute to the success in learning
1. Processing class observation data
The first type of data of the study was observation data gained from the field- notes.
This data described the background of learning atmosphere in which the participant learned English in instructed settings, the classroom situation and physical condition.
Table 4.1 is an example of the observation data:
Table 4.1 Class observation data of Harto (A sample)
Date : Thursday, April 7, 2010 Time : 08.30 – 10.00
Place : SMK X Depok
Name of Teacher : Ms. X
Grade : X
Department : TGB (Building DesigningTechnique) Number of Students : 32 ( … male, …. Female)
Subject : English (Short Response: Neither, either, so and too)
Physical Condition : The classroom is big and clean, the ventilation is okay (Row of windows are available in the right side). It is very noisy because the class is located in the corner near the street and there are many labors doing their jobs making a parking lot.
No. Activity Teacher Students Circumstances
1. Opening Greets students Respond T Some ss are still
talking, some are preparing something and the two boys are putting their heads on the table.
trying to use the chance to handle the sms from her mobile phone. although there are still a number of ss who are talking to her partner silently.
Most ss pay attention and listen it carefully but two or more ss always try to interrupt with a kind of joke. Sometimes the teacher reminds them to pay attention. and sometimes says or asks something to certain students To build the intimate relation among teacher
Many ss do it seriously but most do not care with the instruction. So when the T asks
him/her, he/she always asks what number has to be done
some ss respond and say “thank you” while the others do not care of the teacher’s leaving.
2. Removing the blueprint for interview
As the study attempted to reveal the students’ perception in remedial learning which
refer to any experiences, feelings, opinions toward the English remedial learning, the blueprint for interview was then formulated to guide the in-depth interview with the participants. In spite of specific components and indicators listed in the blueprint, they
remain flexible guidelines as shown below.
No Components Indicators
1 Personal data of
3. Motivation Internal factors
External factors
4. Learning strategies At school
At home
5. Teacher’s roles
( Method and strategy)
Handling the underachievers
6. Test type The form and the number The test material
7. Remedial teaching The meaning
The implementation 8. The
application/process of remedial
During the class session After class
9. Expectation The teacher
Remedial teaching English learning
Table 4.2 the blueprint interview questions
3. Conducting in-depth interview to gain the interview data
The in-depth interviews were conducted after the class observation. Luckily for me, although I don’t teach the participant but I am the teacher of the school where
the study was held. So, it is easy to get permission from my college to hold the interview with the participants. Nevertheless, each participant feels nervous when I called him/her out of the class although I am not a stranger for them. This condition is
caused by their beliefs that if the teacher calls the student means it must be something inconvenient happens to him/her. It’s a little bit difficult to ensure him/her that
