IN LEARNING ENGLISH
A THESIS
Presented as Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements to Obtain the Sarjana Pendidikan Degree
in English Language Education
By
Meiske Jeanete Lydia Kalumata
Student Number: 031214066
ENGLISH LANGUAGE EDUCATION STUDY PROGRAM DEPARTMENT OF LANGUAGE AND ARTS EDUCATION FACULTY OF TEACHERS TRAINING AND EDUCATION
SANATA DHARMA UNIVERSITY YOGYAKARTA
IMPROVING ELEMENTARY SCHOOL STUDENTS’ ACCURACY IN LEARNING ENGLISH
A THESIS
Presented as Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements to Obtain the Sarjana Pendidikan Degree
in English Language Education
By
Meiske Jeanete Lydia Kalumata
Student Number: 031214066
ENGLISH LANGUAGE EDUCATION STUDY PROGRAM DEPARTMENT OF LANGUAGE AND ARTS EDUCATION FACULTY OF TEACHERS TRAINING AND EDUCATION
SANATA DHARMA UNIVERSITY YOGYAKARTA
2010
A Sarjana Pendidikan Thesis on
IMPROVING ELEMENTARY SCHOOL STUDENTS’ ACCURACY IN LEARNING ENGLISH
Prepared and Presented by Meiske Jeanete Lydia Kalumata
Student Number: 031214066
Approved by
Date
Dr. Retno Muljani, M.Pd. 21 January 2010
Sponsor
A Sarjana Pendidikan Thesis on
IMPROVING ELEMENTARY SCHOOL STUDENTS’ ACCURACY IN LEARNING ENGLISH
By
MEISKE JEANETE LYDIA KALUMATA
Student Number: 031214066
5
Yogyakarta, 5 February 2010 Faculty of Teachers Training and Education Sanata Dharma University Dean
Drs. Tarsisius Sarkim, M.Ed., Ph.D.
For my mom, my dad, my brother, and Ari Wijayanto
STATEMENT OF WORK’S ORIGINALITY
I honestly declare that this thesis, which I have written, does not contain the work
or parts of the work of other people, except those cited in the quotation and
bibliography, as a scientific paper should.
Yogyakarta, 21 January 2010
The writer
Meiske Jeanete Lydia Kalumata 031214066
ABSTRACT
Kalumata, Meiske Jeanete Lydia. 2010. Improving the Elementary School Students’ Accuracy in Learning English. Yogyakarta: English Language Education Study Program Sanata Dharma University.
The role of English as a global language has demanded its learners across the age to learn and master the language. As a result, elementary schools students are also required to learn and master English as an important subject matter so that they are readily equipped for their future learning. Formal study of English requires its learners to be accurate in their grammar and pronunciation. Therefore, improving learners’ accuracy is essential. The questions of what techniques and how to improve accuracy especially for elementary school students are still open.
This current study would like to answer four questions which emerged during the practice of teaching learning activities of the writer. The first and second questions were on the techniques to improve the students’ grammar and how the students’ grammar accuracy can be improved. The area of grammar which was improved was on the subject-verb agreement. On the other hand, the third and the fourth questions were on the techniques to improve the students’ pronunciation accuracy and how the students’ pronunciation accuracy can be improved. Besides, the area of pronunciation which was improved was on
near-close near front unrounded vowel [ɪ], voiceless postalveolar fricative [ʃ] and voiced dental fricative [ð]. In order to answer those four questions, collaborative action research was conducted to the fourth graders of SD BOPKRI Gondolayu Yogyakarta.
The research discovered that (1) techniques repetition drill, substitution drill, question, and answer and complete the dialog were proven could be employed to improve the students’ grammar accuracy. On the other hand, (2) techniques repetition drill, substitution drill, and question and answer were also proven to improve the students’ pronunciation accuracy. Based on the achievement level criteria that the writer made, the students improved from basic level up to the proficient level and fluent level. Besides the techniques, the research also discovered students’ accuracy could be improved by employing (1) appropriate task, (2) attractive teaching aids, and (3) positive feedback so that students could learn in appropriate pace and be motivated.
Finally, the discoveries bring about a change in the practice of English language teaching especially to teaching fourth graders of elementary school. This research has proven that the employment of suitable techniques which based on the students’ characteristics and give more opportunities for students to practice were successful in improving the students’ grammar and pronunciation accuracy. Language teachers interested in related topic can adapt or adopt the techniques to be employed in their classroom and they can improve their practice based on the action research framework.
ABSTRAK
Kalumata, Meiske Jeanete Lydia. 2010. Improving the Elementary School Students’ Accuracy in Learning English. Yogyakarta: Program Studi Pendidikan Bahasa Inggris Universitas Sanata Dharma.
Peran bahasa Inggris sebagai bahasa global telah menuntut para pelajar di seluruh usia untuk belajar dan menguasai bahasa tersebut. Akibatnya, siswa sekolah dasar juga diharuskan untuk belajar dan menguasai bahasa Inggris sebagai mata pelajaran penting sehingga mereka terbekali sebagai pembelajaran di kemudian hari. Studi formal bahasa Inggris mewajibkan pelajar akurat dalam tata bahasa dan pengucapan. Oleh karena itu, meningkatkan akurasi adalah sangat penting. Pertanyaan tentang teknik apa dan bagaimana untuk meningkatkan akurasi terutama untuk siswa sekolah dasar masih terbuka.
Studi ini ingin menjawab empat pertanyaan yang muncul dalam praktek kegiatan belajar mengajar penulis. Pertanyaan pertama dan kedua berkaitan dengan teknik untuk meningkatkan ketepatan tata bahasa dan bagaimana ketepatan bahasa siswa dapat ditingkatkan. Wilayah tata bahasa yang diperbaiki adalah pada kesesuaian subjek-kata kerja. Di sisi lain, pertanyaan ketiga dan keempat berkaitan dengan teknik untuk meningkatkan ketepatan pengucapan dan bagaimana ketepatan pengucapan siswa dapat ditingkatkan.Selain itu, wilayah
pengucapan yang diperbaiki adalah pada suara [ɪ], [ʃ] dan [ð]. Untuk menjawab empat pertanyaan tersebut, penelitian tindakan kolaboratif dilakukan untuk anak-anak kelas empat SD BOPKRI Gondolayu Yogyakarta.
Penelitian ini menemukan bahwa (1) teknik repetition drill, substitution drill, question and answer dan complete the dialog terbukti dapat digunakan untuk meningkatkan ketepatan tata bahasa siswa. Di sisi lain, (2) teknik repetition drill, substitution drill dan question and answer juga terbukti meningkatkan akurasi pengucapan siswa. Berdasarkan kriteria tingkat pencapaian yang dibuat penulis, para siswa meningkat dari tingkat basic sampai proficient dan fluent. Selain teknik, penelitian ini juga menemukan bahwa akurasi siswa dapat ditingkatkan dengan menggunakan (1) tugas yang sesuai, (2) alat bantu pengajaran yang menarik, dan (3) umpan balik positif sehingga siswa dapat belajar dalam kecepatan yang tepat dan termotivasi.
Akhirnya, penemuan ini membawa perubahan dalam praktek pengajaran bahasa Inggris khususnya untuk mengajar anak kelas empat SD. Penelitian ini telah membuktikan bahwa penggunaan teknik yang sesuai berdasarkan karakteristik siswa dan memberikan lebih banyak kesempatan bagi siswa untuk praktik berhasil dalam meningkatkan ketepatan tata bahasa dan pengucapan siswa. Guru bahasa yang tertarik pada topik terkait dapat mengadaptasi atau mengadopsi teknik-teknik untuk dipakai di kelas mereka serta meningkatkan praktek mereka didasarkan pada kerangka penelitian tindakan.
LEMBAR PERNYATAAN PERSETUJUAN
PUBLIKASI KARYA ILMIAH UNTUK KEPENTINGAN AKADEMIS
Yang bertanda tangan di bawah ini, saya mahasiswa Universitas Sanata Dharma:
Nama : Meiske Jeanete Lydia Kalumata
Nomor Mahasiswa : 031214066
Demi pengembangan ilmu pengetahuan, saya memberikan kepada Perpustakaan Universitas Sanata Dharma karya ilmiah saya yang berjudul:
IMPROVING ELEMENTARY SCHOOL STUDENTS’ ACCURACY IN LEARNING ENGLISH
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.
Dibuat di Yogyakarta Pada tanggal: 20 Februari 2010
Yang menyatakan
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
I would like to express my greatest gratitude to Jesus Christ for His
everlasting love, blessing and for teaching me through this writing that life is very
colorful and beautiful as well as fulfilling my passion for the truth and knowledge.
My deepest gratitude goes to my major sponsor, Dr. Retno Muljani,
M.Pd., for her insight, knowledge, solution and support. I would like to address
my thankfulness to the headmaster od SD BOPKRI Gondolayu M.G Triyarsih for
her permission to conduct the research. I also would like to thank the fourth
graders of SD BOPKRI Gondolayu Yogyakarta for their willingness to be the
participants of this research.
My sincere appreciation also goes to my mother, my father and my brother
for their support in accomplishing this thesis. I would like thank Ari Wijayanto for
his everlasting love, support and insight for this research. I also thank Dr.
Bambang Triguno who always supports and encourages to study and to think
critically.
The writer would like to thank all the lecturers of the English Language
Education Study Program of Sanata Dharma University, PBI secretariat staff,
Mbak Daniek and Mbak Tari, and the library staff, Pak Pargiyono, Mas Drajat, Bu
Mini and Mbak Ismi, for their help, support and encouragement during my study.
I also want to express my gratitude to PBI fellows, Daniel, Mas Denny,
Niko, Reta, Lintang, Nina, Ozzy, Yuanita, Ipad, Edu, Bayu, Ratna, Retno, Alene,
Cimoy, Indra, Om Adit, Prima, Lydia, Wisnu and Bram for the unforgettable
moments during the study.
I thank Yosep Subardja’s family for their support and help for
accomplishing my thesis. I also thank my colleagues in SD BOPKRI Gondolayu
Yoyakarta for their help, support and experience. Finally, I thank for everyone who are not mentioned for their support, guidance and pray.
Meiske Jeanete Lydia Kalumata
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Page
TITLE PAGE ... ... i
APPROVAL PAGES ... ii
DEDICATION PAGE ...……... iv
STATEMENT OF WORK’S ORIGINALITY ... v
a. Dialog Memorization ... ... 16
B. Research Findings ...…………... 52
1. Techniques to Improve Students’ Accuracy ... 53
a. Repetition Drill ... ... 54
b. Substitution Drill ...………... 58
c. Question and Answer ... ... 62
d. Complete the Dialog ... ………... 65
2. Improving Students’ Accuracy ...………... 66
a. Appropriate Task ... 67
b. Attractive Teaching Aids ... ... 70
c. Positive Feedback ……... 72
CHAPTER V CONCLUSIONS, IMPLICATIONS AND SUGGESTIONS A. Conclusions ... 74
1. Techniques to Improve Grammar Accuracy ... 74
2. Techniques to Improve Pronunciation Accuracy ... 75
3. Improving Students’ Grammar and Pronunciation Accuracy ... 77
B. Teaching Implications ... 78
C. Suggestions ... 80
BIBLIOGRAPHY ………....………. 81
APPENDICES ……….… ...….. 83
A. Field Notes …….………..……… ...….. 84
B. Rating Checklist ……….………...………...….. 88
C. Single Lesson Time Line Record Sheet …….………....……...….. 93
D. Interview Transcript ……….………… ...….. 96
E. Lesson Plan …….………..…...….. 100
F. Permission Letter …….……….……… ...….. 106
LIST OF TABLES
Page Table 3.1 Rating Checklist ... 29
Table 3.2 Triangulation Matrix…... 36
LIST OF FIGURES
Page
Figure 2.1 Sagor’s Model of Action Research ... 22
Figure 3.1 Framework for Action Research ………... 26
Figure 4.1 The Research Cycles ...………... 43
Figure 4.2 Trend Analysis of Grammar Accuracy ... 46
Figure 4.3 Trend Analysis of Pronunciation Accuracy ... ... 48
Figure 4.4 Trend Analysis of Cycle One ... ... 50
Figure 4.5 Trend Analysis of Cycle Two ... 51
Figure 4.4 Trend Analysis of Cycle Three ... 52
LIST OF APPENDICES
Page
Appendix A: Field Notes …….………..………...….. 84
Appendix B: Rating Checklist ……...………...….. 88
Appendix C: Single Lesson Time Line Record Sheet …...……...….. 93
Appendix D: Interview Transcript ………… ……...….. 96
Appendix E: Lesson Plan ………..…...….. 100
Appendix F: Permission Letter ………….……… ...….. 106
CHAPTER I
INTRODUCTION
The writer puts forward her rationale in doing the research in this chapter.
The researcher questions four important problems which arise in classroom
practice. Furthermore, the purpose, limitation and benefit of the research are also
elaborated in this chapter. Finally, the writer also provides the definition of terms
based on the relevant sources to avoid misunderstanding.
A. Research Background
The role of English as a global language has demanded students across the
age and level to study the English language as an important subject mater.
Elementary schools students, therefore, should also learn and master English as
one of their school subject. Crystal (2003: 3-6) and Goodwyn (2005: 1) sustain
that one of the main indicators of English as a global language is the priority
given to English as the primary subject of foreign language teaching, although
English has no official status in the country. Shortly, English has become the main
choice to be taught to children when they start their formal study. In practice,
however, teaching English to young children emerges problems which certainly
need to be solved. In this case, the writer who is an English teacher of SD
BOPKRI Gondolayu Yogyakarta also faces problems in her teaching learning activities especially in teaching fourth graders. Problems which hold immediate
concern to be solved is the students’ grammar and pronunciation accuracy.
The writer observes that there are six students whose grammar and
pronunciation accuracy need to be improved. Based on the writer’s exploration
and observation to those students, the writer notices they often make mistakes in
subject-verb agreement related to their grammar accuracy. Whenever the teacher
asked those students to construct, transform, or answer teacher’s questions, they
made mistake in using the verb or the be-verb. Sometimes, in fact, they can
construct, transform, or answer the teacher’s question. However, they need more
time to think than the other students do in order to perform well on those tasks.
Besides, those students need ample explanation from the teacher before they
successfully construct, transform or answer the teacher’s question. On the other
hand, those six students also often make mistake on their pronunciation. The
writer notices that their mistakes are on near-close near front unrounded vowel
[ɪ], voiceless postalveolar fricative [ʃ] and voiced dental fricative [ð]. Those
students’ mistakes are certainly unsuitable for normal conversation in which it
needs accuracy on both grammar and pronunciation.
In spite of the demand of the curriculum which requires the students to be
able to speak simple utterances, the writer as well as her colleagues and
headmaster believe that the students’ grammar and pronunciation accuracy should
be improved. It is due to the fact of English as a global language which requires
its speaker not only to be fluent but also comprehensible. In addition, based on the
writer’s interview to the school headmaster on January 10, 2008, it was revealed
that grammar accuracy should be one of the important points to be considered in
grammar accuracy the students will be readily equipped by additional knowledge
of English before they enroll into secondary education. Further, the intelligibility
of a language largely depends on the understanding of the grammar of that
language. Grammar is the explanation on how one creates and understands novel
utterances and sentences from limited words (Fromkin, Rodman and Hyams,
2003: 117-121). Another fact which supports those arguments is whenever the
writer meets the students in the real context of conversation. As an example is
when the students come across the writer after the school hour. Some students like
to say Miss go home or finish Miss. Surely, the intended meaning can be more
precise if those students apply accurate grammatical rules. Based on that situation,
it can be understood that grammar is an important process for making a speaker’s
meaning clear when contextual information is lacking.
Similarly, focusing on the pronunciation accuracy is necessary because it
is included as a part of speaking skill used for communication (Wong, 1987: 18).
A language, as a means of communication, is a set of habits developed in early
childhood and reinforced throughout a person’s lifetime by continual practice.
These habits involve movements of the organs of speech such as the tongue, the
lips, the vocal cords, and so forth which produce speech sounds. In learning a new
language, people have to learn a new set of habits which differs from the habits
acquired in the native language. It is necessary for a language learner to begin
making conscious efforts to produce the sounds of the new language as the native
speaker produces them. In addition, because the sounds of the new language
organs, learning to make the right motions may require a good deal of time and
practice. Therefore, it has been the writer’s concern to eradicate the students’
mistakes on pronunciation to avoid fossilized habit of pronunciation so that they
can attain better performance in their future learning.
The writer, therefore, would like to conduct an action research based on
the practical problems which occur in the teaching learning activities. The major
focus of the action research is on practical issues of immediate concern to
particular social groups or communities. In this case, the role of grammar and
pronunciation accuracy which is very important to communicate globally hold
immediate concern to be investigated and solved whenever problems occur on that
aspect of language. In addition, the rigorous analysis and systematic data
collection of the action research facilitate the writer to conduct the research in her
own pace without sacrificing her involvement in the teaching learning activities.
Finally, the writer hopes to give contributions on English language teaching
especially in teaching elementary school students though this research.
B. Problem Formulation
Through the study of grammar and pronunciation accuracy, the writer
would like to answer these following research questions:
1. What are the techniques which improve the students’ grammar accuracy?
2. How can the students’ grammar accuracy be improved?
3. What are the techniques which improve the students’ pronunciation accuracy?
C. Problem Limitation
The research is conducted to the fourth graders of SD BOPKRI Gondolayu
Yogyakarta in the framework of action research. The outcomes of the research will be closely associated to the participants of the research. However, as the
nature of the action research which pertains to improvement, the application of the
findings to the other cases with similar problems and characteristics is widely
opened. In addition, as the nature of the action research allows collaboration, the
writer is helped by two language teachers in conducting this research. They will
help to observe and record progress during the research.
Although there are many problems occurring in the class, this research
focuses on techniques which improve the students’ grammar and pronunciation
accuracy. Besides, this research investigates how to improve the students’
grammar and pronunciation accuracy. The study on the grammar accuracy will be
limited on the improvement of the students’ grammar accuracy on subject-verb
agreement. The writer reasons that subject and verb are the two most important
elements of sentences structure in that complex sentences will be ill-formed by the
absence of those elements. By emphasizing on the importance of the subject and
verb, the students will acquire functions and the role of those elements. In
addition, the English teaching curriculum suggest that the elementary school
students should learn simple sentence structure such as making simple question,
responding to questions and making simple sentence.
In addition, this study also investigates the improvement of the students’
students’ pronunciation accuracy on near-close near front unrounded vowel [ɪ],
voiceless postalveolar fricative [ʃ] and voiced dental fricative [ð]. Here, the writer
chooses to use words instead of phrases or sentences since pronunciation of words
in isolation could be recognized and analyzed more clearly and accurately rather
than the pronunciation of phrases and sentences. There writer reasons that
voiceless postalveolar fricative [ʃ] and voiced dental fricative [ð] are absence on
the students’ native language. As a result, the students replace the sounds with the
similar sounds of their native language. Therefore, the students need to be
accustomed to pronouncing those two sounds. Finally, the near-close near front
unrounded vowel [ɪ] is actually present on the students’ native language or
Bahasa Indonesia however they often mispronounce the sound because of the influence of adjacent or initial sound and in some occasion they replace the sound
with similar sounds of their native language.
D. Research Objective
This research which is conducted to the fourth graders of elementary
school students has objectives to improve the practice of teaching English. In
details, the research objectives are:
1. To discover techniques which improve the students’ grammar accuracy.
2. To discover how to improve the students’ grammar accuracy.
3. To discover techniques which improve the students’ pronunciation accuracy.
E. Research Benefits
This research will give positive contributions to the field of English
language teaching especially teaching the fourth graders. The benefits of the
research for English language teachers are:
1. The research provides alternative techniques to teach English to young
children with problems on grammar and pronunciation accuracy.
2. The research depicts how to improve the students’ grammar and pronunciation
accuracy.
3. Teachers with similar problems are possible to adapt or adopt techniques
employed in this research.
On the other hand, other researchers interested in language teaching will
also gain benefits. The benefits are:
1. The improvements on the findings are possible in that the research is carried
out in the framework of action research.
2. New angels could be employed in this research so that other findings could be
discovered.
3. Depicts the use of action research for language teachers
F. Definition of Terms
Technical terms which are related to the language teaching and the
research are clearly defined based on relevant sources of the related fields to avoid
misunderstanding. The followings are the definitions of the terms and how the
1. Accuracy
Accuracy in this research is defined in line with Nunan (2003: 329) who
defines accuracy as the ability to produce grammaticality well-formed words,
phrases and sentences. In this research, accuracy refers to the students’ ability to
repeat and produce sentence with correct agreement between the subject and the
verb. In addition, the students accurately pronounce near-close near front
unrounded vowel [ɪ], voiceless postalveolar fricative [ʃ] and voiced dental
fricative [ð]. The students’ grammar and pronunciation accuracy will be
determined by the students’ performance which is compared to the criteria of
achievement level that the writer made.
2. Grammar
Grammar in this research refers to the definition provided by Brown
(2001: 362) who defines grammar as the system of rules governing the
conventional arrangement and the relationship of words in a sentence. In this
research, grammar refers to the students’ ability to produce and to construct words
to become sentence in accordance with conventional arrangement of English
language with correct subject-verb agreement.
3. Pronunciation
Brown (1992: 3) defines pronunciation as the productions of the speech
sounds. In this research, therefore, pronunciation refers to the students’ speech
fricative [ʃ] and voiced dental fricative [ð]. This study investigates techniques to
improve the students’ ability to produce those three speech sound as they
evidently occur in the teaching learning activities.
4. Action Research
The research widely employs action research as the framework of the
research. In this research, action research is defined in accordance to Sagor (2005:
1) who defines action research as a disciplined process of inquiry conducted by
and for those taking the action. The primary reason for engaging in action
research is to assist the actor in improving or refining his or her actions. Action
research in this research is a research which is conducted by the writer as a
language teacher in the fourth grade of SD BOPKRI Gondolayu to improve the
students’ grammar on subject-verb agreement and pronunciation accuracy of
near-close near front unrounded vowel [ɪ], voiceless postalveolar fricative [ʃ] and
CHAPTER II
LITERATURE REVIEW
The writer elaborates theories of teaching English to young children, the
techniques to improve students’ grammar and pronunciation accuracy and action
research in this chapter. Contemporary theories related to the research are
carefully selected and reviewed to attain the best practice of the research. The
theories are compared to the practice of the research in the future to emerge the
findings and improvements on the practice of teaching English language.
A. Theoretical Review
The writer reviews theories of teaching English, techniques to improve
students’ grammar and pronunciation accuracy and action research in this
sub-chapter. Whereas the first part is related to the teaching English to young children,
the second part is related to the techniques to improve students’ grammar and
pronunciation accuracy. Finally, the third part elaborates the nature of the action
research.
1. Teaching English to Young Children
English has become a global language in which it demands every student
to master English. Therefore, elementary school students should also learn
English from the first grade. On the other hand, teaching English to the
elementary school students is considered by many to be the most challenging level
of language instruction. Teaching English as a second language to children,
therefore, is not merely excessively exposing the children to the target language.
The success of teaching English to young children requires specific skills and
intuitions that different from those appropriate for adult teaching (Brown, 2001:
87; Harmer 2007: 82 and Whitehead, 2000: 120). In addition, students at this level
have little or no prior knowledge of the target language. Therefore, the teacher
becomes a central in the teaching learning activity. Brown (2001: 87-91) suggest
five category to give practical approach to teaching young children. They are
intellectual development, attention span, sensory input, affective factors and
authentic, meaningful language.
a. Intellectual Development
According to Piaget (1972) as quoted by Brown (2001: 88) and Merry
(1997: 48-50), children are still in an intellectual stage which is called concrete
operations. As a teacher, therefore, explaining rules, patterns of sentences, and
other abstract concepts about language must be done carefully. Children are
centered on the here and now, on the functional purposes of language. They
certainly cannot grasp the terms, definition or linguistics concepts which explain
about language. Brown (1999: 88) gives rules for classroom as guidelines related
to the children’s intellectual development. The first one is that the use of
grammatical terms like present simple or present progressive should be avoided.
The second one is that stating rules in abstract terms should also be avoided. As
do or does should be added. That rules is in line with Harmer (2007: 82) who explains that young children have difficulties to grasp grammar rules. Third,
giving examples for explaining certain patterns are the way to introduce
grammatical patterns to children. Halliwell (1992: 3) sustain that children are able
to understand what is being said to them even before they understand individual
words because they can understand by intonation, gesture, facial expressions,
actions and circumstances. Finally, repetition is used as the way to cooperate
between ears and brain. Difficult concepts or patterns require more repetition that
adult need. Certainly, maintaining students’ interest and attention of the repetition
should be kept intact.
b. Attention Span
One of the main differences between adults and children is attention span.
Whereas adults’ attention span is long, children attention span can be short when
they have to deal with boring, useless or very difficult teaching material. Since
language lessons can be sometimes difficult for children, teachers’ job is to make
the lessons interesting, lively, and fun. Nunan (1999: 148) suggests that in order to
maintain the students’ attention and to attain the objectives of the lesson, teacher
should focus on the learners need in which the teacher should defining the needs,
determining the objectives of the lesson and selecting appropriate teaching
techniques. Therefore, Brown (1999: 88-89) suggests ways to maintain students
attention. First, activities should be designed to capture children’s immediate
require the students to think very hard will be rejected by the students because of
their boredom. Second, various activity should be employed to maintain
children’s interest and to keep children’s attention alive. Halliwell (1992: 7)
introduces the term imagination as a mean to maintain the students’ attention.
Although language teaching should be concerned with real life, promoting fantasy
and imagination can be very useful for teaching young children. Third, teacher
should be animated, lively and enthusiastic about the subject matter. Children
need this exaggeration to keep their spirit maintained and their mind alert.
Halliwell (1992:6) states that it is because the children’s instinct of being fun.
Fourth, humor will also maintain students’ attention. However, appropriate humor
to children should be used instead of adults’ humor. Finally, children are very
curious to learn. Raising students’ curiosity will maintain the students’ attention
and focus.
c. Sensory Input
Children need to have all five senses stimulated. Teaching learning
activities should also stimulate children to use their five senses. Halliwell (1992:
10) also adds that the success of teaching young learner also depends on the
children’s experience to acquire new ideas or concepts. Exposing the students to
many experience so that their five senses are stimulated will help the young
children to create meaning from their experience. In teaching learning practice,
Brown (2001: 89) suggests ways to teach related to the students’ sensory input.
activity. Young children are basically active and lively. Therefore, by giving them
more chances and experience to be active, new ideas and concepts can be
introduced easily. Second, sensory aids are helpful to internalize concepts.
Pictures, audio-video recordings, taste of foods or smell of flowers are important
elements in teaching language to children. Finally, teachers’ nonverbal languages
are also important because children sensitively pay attention to teachers’ facial
gestures, gestures and touching. Halliwell (1992: 11) states that these special
nature of language are the key part of the process by which language develops.
d. Affective Factors
Children in many ways are much more fragile than adults because their
egos are still being shaped. In the practice of teaching, they are extremely
sensitive to peers. Therefore, the slightest differences of communication can be
negatively interpreted (Brown, 2001: 89). In addition, Halliwell (1992: 12)
sustains that mistakes and failures are frustrating for children. Therefore, teachers
need to help the children to overcome those potential barriers especially in
language teaching. Brown (2001: 89) also suggests ways to lower the students’
barriers in learning a language. First, help the students to laugh at various
mistakes that they all make. In teaching learning activity, checking understanding
is certainly important. However, checking the young children’ understanding
should be done carefully and laughter is a good technique to convey that they
make mistakes. It is also meant to maintain their attention span. Halliwell (1992:
watching what they do and by watching their face. Second, teachers should be
patient to build their confidence. However, teacher should also be strict on the
expectation of children. Most children arrive at school with their confidence still
intact. They do not expect to be able to do everything immediately but they
assume that they can do anything eventually (Halliwell, 1992: 12). Finally,
teacher should give more opportunities for children to participate orally,
especially for the quieter ones. These opportunities and positive reinforcement
that the teacher provides will build positive self esteem.
e. Authentic and Meaningful Language
Children are focused on new language which can be used here and now.
They will not give effort with language which does not hold immediate reward for
them (Brown, 2001: 90). Therefore, classroom activities will not run as it is
planned unless the teachers provide authentic and meaningful language. Similarly,
Halliwell (1992: 14) states that the practice of language teaching to young
children should making language exercise into real exchange. Therefore, teacher
should expose the students with classroom activity which provide real life
activities and communications. In teaching practice, Brown (2001: 90) also
outlines ways to present authentic and meaningful language to children. First,
authentic language should be used. Children are good at sensing unauthentic
language. Therefore, using words, phrases and sentence which relate to their
world are very useful. Second, language should be context embedded. Story lines,
improve students’ attention and retention. Exposing the children with pictures,
dialog or conversation which they can easily found in the house or school will be
meaningful for them (Halliwell, 1992: 15). Finally, teacher should not broken the
language into too many parts because the students will not understand the
relationship. Stressing the interrelationship among various skills is very important
so that the students are aware of the connection.
Seeing the characteristic of the children, teaching methods and techniques
are very important especially to maintain their attention and to provide authentic
and meaningful language. The followings are the techniques which can be
employed to improve the students’ grammar and pronunciation accuracy without
neglecting their characteristics as learners.
2. Techniques to Improve Accuracy
The characteristic of young learners require suitable teaching techniques
so that improvement of the students’ grammar and pronunciation accuracy could
be attained. The elaborations above suggest that techniques to teach young
learners should be various in activities and practical in delivery to maintain the
students’ interest and attention. The followings are techniques which are possible
to be employed to teach young children.
a. Dialog Memorization
According to Larsen-Freeman (2000: 47), the students are required to
through mimicry based on a dialog provided by the teacher. After the students
finished memorizing the dialog, they take turn with the teacher to practice the
dialog. Teacher can also give opportunities for students to practice the dialog in
pair. Finally, they can perform the dialog they have memorized in front of the
class.
b. Repetition drill
Larsen-Freeman (2000: 47) explains that students are asked to repeat the
teacher's model as accurately and as quickly as possible. In addition, she explains
that this drill is often used to teach the lines of the dialog. Similarly, Richards and
Rodgers (2001: 60) adds that utterances must be brief enough to be retained by the
ear. Sound is as important as form and order.
c. Chain drill
Larsen-Freeman (2000: 48) explains that a chain drill gets its name from
the chain of conversation that forms around the room as students, one-by-one, ask
and answer questions of each other. The teacher begins the chain by greeting a
particular student, or asking him a question. That student responds, then turns to
the student sitting next to him. The first student greets or asks a question of the
second student and the chain continues. A chain drill allows some controlled
communication, even though it is limited. However, in practice a chain drill also
gives the teacher an opportunity to check each student's speech because every
d. Single-Slot Substitution Drill
According to Larsen-Freeman (2000: 48), the students are required to
substitute a part of a sentence with a cue provided by the teacher. The students can
substitute a subject, a be-verb, a verb or an object in a sentence. The major
purpose of this technique is to practice students’ skill to find and to fill in the slots
of a sentence.
e. Multiple-Slot Substitution Drill
Larsen-Freeman (2000: 48) explains that multiple-slot substitution drill is
similar to the single-slot substitution drill. The difference is that the teacher gives
more cues to be substituted in the sentences. The technique practice the students
to recognize what part of speech each cue and where the cue fits into the sentence.
f. Transformation drill
According to Larsen-Freeman (2000: 49) and Richards and Rodgers
(2001: 61), the teacher gives students a certain kind of sentence pattern, an
affirmative sentence for example, and asks the students to transform the sentence
to be another type of sentence, negative or interrogative sentence. Various
transformations can be employed based on the students’ level.
g. Question-and-Answer Drill
Larsen-Freeman (2000: 49) explains that this drill gives students practice
quickly. Besides, this technique is very good to check the students’ understanding
for certain patters. The teacher can also give some opportunities to students to
practice the question and answer drill in pair to avoid students’ boredom.
h. Complete the Dialog
According to Larsen-Freeman (2000: 49), in the complete the dialog,
selected words are erased from a dialog students have learned. Students complete
the dialog by filling the blanks with the missing words. This technique is also
good as a media to check students’ understanding of materials that they have
learned. In addition, this technique will also give variation because the technique
will be done in writing.
3. Action Research
The research widely employs action research as the framework of the
research. In this research, action research is defined in accordance to Carr and
Kemmis (1986: 162) quoted by Burns (1999: 30) who define action research as
self-reflective enquiry conducted by participants to improve the rationality and
justice of their own practice in social situation. Although many proponents of
action research propose various definitions, they have common that the action
research is a self reflective enquiry to attain improvements. According to Burns
(1999: 12) and Suparno (2008: 6), action research is a research which is done by
practitioners in their professional field. Furthermore, improvement on the practice
conducts a research to improve his or her teaching technique, classroom activities,
students’ motivation or teaching material is doing an action research. In addition,
Kemmis and McTaggart as quoted by Suparno (2008: 6) explain that action
research is a critical self reflection which is done by practitioners to improve
productivity, justice on social problem or educational practice. McNiff (2002: 15)
also states that critical reflection of a practitioner who conducts a research become
the central of action research. The followings are the complete elaborations of the
nature and the model of action research.
a. The Nature of Action Research
Burns (1999: 24) states that the major focus of the action research is on
concrete and practical issues of immediate concern to particular social groups or
communities. It is conducted in naturally occurring setting, primarily using
methods common to qualitative research (Nunan, 1992 quoted by Burns, 1999:
24). However, Sprinthall, Schmutte and Sirois (1991: 99) suggest that action
researcher may use any approach that is presumed to solve a practical problem. In
this case, the writer conducts the action research to improve her teaching to teach
the fourth graders of elementary school. The immediate concern is related to the
students’ grammar and pronunciation accuracy. By conducting the action
research, immediate answers to problems that cannot wait for theoretical solution
can be attained.
Based on those elaborations, action research suggests a number of
characteristics. First, action research is contextual, small-scale and localized. It
identifies and investigates problems within a specific situation. In this case, the
context is on the fourth grade of SD BOPKRI Gondolayu. Second, it is evaluative
and reflective as it aims to bring about change and improvement in practice. The
writer would like to improve the students’ grammar and pronunciation accuracy.
Third, action research is participatory as it provides for collaborative investigation
by teams of colleagues, practitioners and researchers. In conducting the practice,
the writer collaborates by colleagues who work as language teacher in the school.
Finally, changes in practice are based on the collection of information or data
which provides the stimulus for change.
On the other hand, action research as a research method holds three
important issues to strengthen its position (McNiff, 2002: 17-19). They are
ontological issues, epistemological issues and methodological issues. Related to
ontological issues, action research strongly believes that everyone can create his
or her own identity also give opportunity to others to create their own identity.
Therefore, there will be many perspectives. On epistemological issues, action
research perceives that knowledge is dynamic. The knowledge develops from
simple to more complicated. In other words, knowledge is a process and it is not
intact. Finally, action research holds reflection as its methodology. There results
of the reflection are shared to others. The sharing of the reflection is meant to give
space of tolerance to bridge differences. In addition, sharing of the reflection will
be more meaningful if dialog and communication are built. The followings
b. The Models of Action Research
Many proponents of action research propose various model of action
research. However, they have in common in that they stress on improvement of
practice. In this research, the writer follows the model of action research proposed
by Sagor (2005: 7). Figure 2.1 illustrates the model.
Figure 2.1 Sagor’s Model of Action Research (Sagor, 2005: 7)
Sagor’s model of action research consists of four stages. They are
clarifying vision, articulating theories, implementing action and collecting data
and reflecting and planning informed action. In stage one, action researchers
enunciate their goals and specify detailed criteria that can be used with validity
and reliability (Sagor, 2005: 5). In this research, the writer’s goal is to improve the
students’ grammar and pronunciation accuracy by means of employing various
techniques. In the stage two, the action researchers seek rationales for achieving
the goals of the research (Sagor, 2005: 6). The writer reviews various techniques
considers young learners’ characteristics to support the employment of the
techniques. The stage three is the process of collecting data during actual teaching
(Sagor, 2005: 6). Finally, the stage four is the stage where the action researchers
adjust their practice to attain improvement on the next meting. After the
researchers finish the stage four, they return to the stage three by adjusting and
improving their action.
B. Theoretical Framework
The research would like to answer four questions as they are stated in the
problem formulation. In order to improve the students’ grammar and
pronunciation accuracy, two important aspects should be considered in advance of
the teaching practice. They are students’ characteristics and teaching techniques.
Teaching English to young children requires vigilant practice because children are
more fragile than adults in some degree. Therefore, in explaining rules, patterns of
sentences and other abstract concepts about language to children must be done
carefully. Children are centered on the here and now, on the functional purposes
of language. They certainly cannot grasp the terms, definition or linguistics
concepts which explain about language. In addition, children attention span can be
short when they have to deal with boring, useless or too difficult teaching
material. Since language lessons can be sometimes difficult for children, teachers’
job is to make the lessons interesting, lively, and fun. Children in many ways are
much more fragile than adults because their egos are still being shaped. In the
differences of communication can be negatively interpreted. Additionally,
children are focused on new language which can be used here and now. They will
not give effort with language which does not hold immediate reward for.
Therefore, classroom activities will not run as it is planned unless the teachers
provide authentic and meaningful language.
Therefore, techniques such as repetition drill, single-slot substitution drill,
multiple-slot substitution drill, complete the dialog, chain drill and dialog
memorization can be employed to improve the students’ grammar and
pronunciation accuracy. Those techniques could maintain the students’ attention,
provide interesting activities and they expose the students with the language that
the students will use in real life. In addition, those techniques also enable the
teacher to control the students during the teaching learning activities.
On the other hand, action research facilitates the writer to reach another
goal of this research that is to answer how to improve the students’ accuracy on
grammar and pronunciation. The nature of the action research which enables the
writer to do systematic data collection and to do self-reflective enquiry will
emerge various pattern how the students’ improvements are attained. Therefore,
employing various techniques based on the characteristics of the young learners in
the framework of the action research will discover techniques to improve the
students’ grammar and pronunciation accuracy at the same time depict the process
CHAPTER III
RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
The writer elaborates the methodology of the research in this chapter
mainly to put forward the rationale of using certain research method. It also
provides the elaboration the research participant, research instruments, data
gathering technique, data analysis technique and research procedure.
A. Research Method
The method which was used in this research was action research.
According to Burns (1999: 24), action research focused on concrete and practical
issues of immediate concern to particular social groups or communities. This
research was conducted by the writer as an English school teacher of SD BOPKRI
Gondolayu who taught fourth graders. The immediate concern and practical issues were the improvement of the students’ grammar and pronunciation accuracy.
In practice, although there are many models of action research, the writer
followed the action research model and cycles proposed by Sagor (2005: 4-7). The
writer selected the model because it provided clear-cut research stages so that it
was easily implemented during the research. The model also provided details on
every stage to be followed to attain the certainty of the research. Therefore, the
teacher was guided during the research to establish clear vision, to select
appropriate theories, to implement the action, and to make critical reflections
based on her research. In other word, this model is practical for teachers as
researchers who had little experience in doing a research. Figure 3.1 illustrates the
model of the action research used by the writer in this research.
Figure 3.1
Framework for Action Research (Sagor, 2005: 7)
Sagor’s model of action research consists of four stages. They are
clarifying vision, articulating theories, implementing action and collecting data,
and reflecting and planning informed action. The completion of these four stages
is called one cycle. Soon after researchers finished stage four, they would return to
the stage three to revise and improve their action based on critical reflection in
order to collect more data. The events of finishing those four stages and return to
the stage three continuously in order to improve actions to attain the intended
results is called research cycles. The nature of the action research which differs
from other research methods is the research cycles. Therefore, whenever action
researchers finish a cycle, they can revise and improve their action to be
B. Research Participants
The research participants were the fourth graders of SD BOPKRI
Gondolayu, Yogyakarta academic year 2007/2008. There were 44 students in the class which consisted of 21 male students and 23 female students. The choice of
the participant was also based on the theory that action research is contextual,
small-scaled and localized and it is conducted in the natural occurring setting
(Burns, 1999: 24 and 30). Based on those arguments, choosing the class as the
research participants to conduct the action research was appropriate. However, the
writer only investigated six students whose grammar and pronunciation accuracy
needed to be improved.
Those six students selected based on their actual use of English and based
on the writer’s observation and documentation during the daily teaching learning
activities. They often made mistake in producing sentence especially on
subject-verb agreement. Whenever the teacher introduced new materials and asked them
to make or alter a sentence to be another type of sentence, they made mistake in
subject-verb agreement. Sometimes, they could perform the task well. However,
the teacher needed to prompt the students before they could perform well.
Certainly, it was unlikely in the normal conversation. This research was conducted
to improve those six students’ grammar accuracy especially on the subject-verb
agreement. Similarly, those six students also often made mistake on their
pronunciation. The writer identified that their mistakes on pronunciation was on
near-close near front unrounded vowel [ɪ], voiceless postalveolar fricative [ʃ] and
In addition, action research is also participatory (Burns, 1999: 30). It
provides for collaborative investigation by teams of colleagues, practitioners and
researchers. In this research, two English language teachers were also involved in
the investigation. They helped the writer in conducting the research. The English
language teacher recorded the progress of the students who were observed using
instruments provided by the writer. On the other hand, the another language
teacher also recorded the students’ progress in a different point of view based on
the guideline provided by the writer. In addition, their assistance was also to
ensure that the writer could concentrate fully on teaching.
C. Research Instruments
There were four research instruments which were used to obtain the data.
The employment of those various instruments was to obtain vast amount of
information and to maintain the validity and the reliability of the research by
means of data triangulation. All research instruments are attached on the
appendecies. The first research instrument was field notes. According to Burns
(1999: 87), field notes are descriptions and accounts of events in the research
context which are written in a relatively factual and objective style. Similarly,
Suparno (2008: 46) adds field notes are used to record everything which is
observed during the research. The field notes were employed to answer all
research problems. The employment of the field notes enabled the writer to record
students’ progress and behavior in response to the treatment that the writer gave.
could be maintained in the field notes. The writer wrote the field notes after the
class ended. Therefore, whenever the writer wrote the field notes, she could make
a self reflection of her teaching as the basis of improvement of her action on the
next meeting. In addition, the writer wrote the field notes for six times.
The second instrument was rating checklists. The rating checklist was used
to answer research problem number one and three. According to Johnson as
quoted by Suparno (2008: 49), rating checklist is used to record certain
performance and level. In this research, the rating checklist was used to measure
and to see the fluctuation and improvement of the students’ grammar and
pronunciation accuracy based on the employment of a certain technique. In
addition, the writer made criteria of the students’ grammar and pronunciation
accuracy to be used as the benchmark. The complete criteria is attached on the
Appendix B. The following table is the rating checklist used in this research.
Table 3.1 Rating Checklist
Technique A Technique B Technique C Technique D
Criteria Criteria Criteria Criteria
The operation of the rating checklist was also based on the criteria that the writer
made. As an example, Student 1 could repeat or alter sentences or answer
teacher’s question correctly with ample teacher’s explanation. Therefore,
the observer would simply put a check mark (√) corresponded to the student and the criteria. Those worked both for grammar and pronunciation accuracy.
The third instrument was single lesson time line record. This instrument
was to collect the data to answer all research questions. Hancock and Settle (1990:
103) as cited by Wallace (1998: 59-60) suggests that the value of this instrument
was on the reflective analysis on why the time-line took the particular changes in
direction that it did and what might have been done to keep it in the upper sections
of the grid. In this research, this instrument was used to measure whether or not a
certain technique could improve students’ accuracy. Therefore, the instrument was
employed in every meeting to monitor the improvement of the students’ accuracy
based on the employment of a certain technique. Figure 3.2 depicts the instrument.
Figure 3.2 Single Lesson Time Line Record Sheet
Finally, interview was also employed as one of the instruments in this
research. According to Ary, Jacobs and Razavieh (2002: 562) interview is oral
opinions, beliefs and feelings about situation in their own words. The interview
provided information that could not be obtained through observation or it could be
used to verify the observation. This study used semi-structured interview to
answer all research problems. The writer prepared questions to be asked to the
students. Those questions provided underlying guideline during the interview. The
rationale of using the semi-structured interview was this instrument enabled the
writer to probe in to the students’ answers so that in-depth data could be gathered
and thick description be attained. Further, this interview was conducted in the
students’ native language so that data could be elicited in a natural way where
language anxiety was taken away. There were six students who were interviewed
at the end of each cycle. Basically, there were three questions asked to the
students. Those questions were (1) Do you enjoy the English class?, (2) What was
the technique which improve your grammar or pronunciation accuracy? and (3)
Why do you think that technique improve your grammar accuracy?. Because the
interview was conducted to the elementary school students, the writer utilized the
students’ language in a way to elicit their answer. The transcripts of the interview
were attached on the Appendix D.
D. Data Gathering Technique
This research used qualitative techniques to gather the data. Observation
and interview were employed to elicit the data. The observation was conducted on
every meeting. On the other hand, the interview was conducted whenever a cycle
1. Observation
Observation was mainly used as technique to collect the data in this
research. Field notes, rating checklist, and single lesson time line record sheet
were the instruments which were employed to collect the data in the observation.
Field notes were used to record changes that happened during the research. In
addition, the field notes also recorded the writer’s reflection on each meeting. To
maintain the contents of the writing so that yielded the intended data of the
research and to understand the context and nuances of the environment where the
action took place, Sagor (2005: 92) and Burns (1999: 81) suggest steps to be taken
in the observation. Therefore, on writing the field notes, the writer focused on
observing six students whose grammar accuracy needed to be improved during the
teaching learning activity. The writer made the field notes after the class ended to
maintain the memories retention during her teaching. In addition, the field notes
were also media of self reflection. To emerge the best practice, the writer was
guided three questions in writing her reflection. Those questions were (1) Why the
objective of the research on improving the students’ accuracy was successful or
unsuccessful in this meting, (2) What elements contributed to the success or
failure, and (3) What the writer learned from this success or failure. In the end, the
questions would also help the writer to look for patterns and trends.
Besides field notes, the rating checklist was also employed to measure the
improvement of the students’ grammar accuracy based on the employment of a
certain technique. The rating checklist would be utilized by one of the observers
grammar and pronunciation accuracy. There were five criteria to measure the
students’ progress. Those criteria were emerging, basic, developing, proficient and
fluent. The complete description of those criteria is attached on the Appendix B.
Similarly, the single lesson time line record sheet would be utilized to
monitor the employment of a certain technique and to measure the feasibility of
the techniques in improving the students’ accuracy. The administrative details
such as meeting, class and date would be recorded in this instrument. In addition,
objectives of the lesson, planned outcomes, and point of attention were also
present in this instrument. These would be followed by a diagram of horizontal
axis and vertical axis. The horizontal axis indicated the time line in a single
meeting. On the other hand, the vertical axis indicated the five level of
effectiveness. The observer determined the level of the effectiveness based on the
criteria made by Hancock and Settle (1990: 103) as it was quoted by Wallace
(1998: 59). As an example, the writer employed a repetition drill and the result
showed that this technique could improve the students’ grammar accuracy.
Therefore, this technique reached level five. The complete criteria of this
instrument are attached on Appendix C.
2. Interview
In addition to observations, semi-structured interviews were also
conducted to gather the data. The interviews were conducted to the six students
who were observed to investigate the certainty of the data yielded from the
(Ary et. al., 2002: 434). Since the research employed semi-structured interview,
the writer prepared guided questions. There were three question asked to the
students. Those questions were (1) Did you enjoy the English class, (2) What was
the technique which improved your grammar or pronunciation accuracy, and (3)
Why do you think that technique improved your grammar or pronunciation
accuracy? The writer employed semi-structured interviews because they provided
greater flexibility. In addition, semi-structured interviews allowed for the
emergence of themes and topics which might not have been anticipated when the
investigation began. However, since the questions were asked to the elementary
school students, the writer altered the questions in a way without changing the
essence of the questions so that those were understood by the students. In
addition, students’ native language was used so that students could easily answer
the question in their own pace. Because this data gathering technique was done
orally, it was necessary to use recording aid. The result of the interview was then
transcribed into writing so that it was easier to do the analysis.
E. Data Analysis Technique
Sagor (2005: 111) argues that action researchers are actually conducting
trend analysis. The goal of trend analysis is tracing any and all changes in
performance that occurred in the effort to reach priority achievement targets. In
addition, it also meant to understand whatever pertinent factors of circumstances
contributed to those changes. However, Sagor (2005: 93-96) explains that to
be fulfilled. Validity refers to whether the data actually reflect the phenomena
they claim to Sagor (2005: 93). On contrary, reliability refers to the accuracy of
the data. The followings are the discussion of the trend analysis technique and the
data triangulation matrix.
1. Trend Analysis
As it has been stated before, this research employed rating checklist and
single lesson time line record sheet as two of instruments for data collection. In
order to elicit the trend, the rating checklist and the single lesson time line record
sheet were assembled and coded. Then, following Sagor (2005: 111), the trend
could be described by the relation between time and performance as Figure 3.3
illustrated.
Figure 3.3 Trend Analysis (Sagor, 2005: 111)
As an example, in the meeting two, the writer employed four techniques to be
investigated whether or not they could improve students’ grammar and
pronunciation accuracy. The first and second technique could improve the
students’ grammar accuracy whether the third and fourth technique could not.
line during the employment the first and second technique. On the other hand,
decreasing trend would be indicated by a line from top to the bottom of the
performance axis during the employment of the third and fourth technique.
However, findings of the trend analysis should be validated by means of
other instruments in this research. Data triangulation was employed to maintain
the validity and the reliability of the research. The followings are the complete
discussion of the data triangulation technique.
2. Data Triangulation
Sagor, (2005: 93-96) suggests triangulation matrix as the means of
fulfilling the validity and reliability. Table 3.2 outlines the triangulation matrix
which was used in this research. The rationale of triangulation was that single
evidence gathered from a single data might be suspicious and imprecise.
Therefore, when separate and independent piece of data were gathered and
emerge the same findings, the precision of the findings would be apparent.
Table 3.2 Triangulation Matrix
Research Problem Data Source 1 Data Source 2 Data Source 3
1
line record sheet field notes interview
3
line record sheet field notes interview
The operation of the triangulation matrix should be done step by step and
