STUDENTS’ PERCEPTION O
F THE IMPLEMENTATION
OF COOPERATIVE LEARNING IN ENGLISH CLASS
A SARJANA PENDIDIKAN THESIS
Presented as Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements to Obtain the Sarjana Pendidikan Degree
in English Language Education
By
Yosua Kristian Hadi
Student Number: 081214066
ENGLISH LANGUAGE EDUCATION STUDY PROGRAM DEPARTMENT OF LANGUAGE AND ARTS EDUCATION FACULTY OF TEACHERS TRAINING AND EDUCATION
SANATA DHARMA UNIVERSITY YOGYAKARTA
i
STUDENTS’ PERCEPTION O
F THE IMPLEMENTATION
OF COOPERATIVE LEARNING IN ENGLISH CLASS
A SARJANA PENDIDIKAN THESIS
Presented as Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements to Obtain the Sarjana Pendidikan Degree
in English Language Education
By
Yosua Kristian Hadi
Student Number: 081214066
ENGLISH LANGUAGE EDUCATION STUDY PROGRAM DEPARTMENT OF LANGUAGE AND ARTS EDUCATION FACULTY OF TEACHERS TRAINING AND EDUCATION
SANATA DHARMA UNIVERSITY YOGYAKARTA
iv
Continuous effort - not strength or intelligence –
is the key to unlocking our potential.
*Winston Churchil*
If you want something you never had,
you have to do something you have never done.
*unknown*
If you can not fly, then run.
If you can not run, then walk.
If you can not walk, then crawl.
But whatever you do, you have to
keep moving forward.
*Martin Luther King Jr.*
vii ABSTRACT
Hadi, Y.K. (2014). Students’ Perception of the Implementation of Cooperative Learning in English Class. Yogyakarta: English Language Education Study Program, Department of Language and Arts Education, Faculty of Teachers Training and Education, Sanata Dharma University.
English becomes an essential school subject to learn since it is widely used in the world and becomes the most fundamental aspect of human communication. Considering the importance of English, people, the students of Junior High School 2 Mlati, are required to learn and master English. Therefore, teachers are expected to teach English by using interactive ways. One of the greatest methods to be used is cooperative learning. The goals are to make course topics come alive, to deepen students’ knowledge about a topic and to develop particular skills.
There were two research questions to answer, namely (1) What is the 8D class of JHS 2 Mlati students’ perception of the implementation of cooperative learning in English class? and (2) How is the implementation of cooperative learning in 8D class of JHS 2 Mlati? Survey method was used in this research. The samples of this research were all the 8D class students of JHS 2 Mlati in the 2013/2014 academic year. They were chosen because of the suggestion from the teacher and they are the best managed class compared to other classes.
In answering the first research question, the researcher used the analyses of the data that were obtained by gathering the students’ answers from the questionnaire and conducting an interview involving six students as the samples. Meanwhile, the researcher used the analyses of the data conducted from observations and interview with the teacher to answer the second research question. Therefore, this research was both quantitative and qualitative research.
From the questionnaire distribution and the interview with the students, it was concluded that most of the students (85%) had positive perceptions toward cooperative learning. Cooperative learning gave many benefits to them and helped them to develop their individual and communication skills. Meanwhile, some of the students (15%) had negative responses toward cooperative learning which was implemented in English class. The students’ dislikes of the material and/or the English language and the group dynamic were the main problems and made the students perceive cooperative learning negatively. From the class observation and an interview with the teacher, it could be said that cooperative learning implemented in English class fulfilled the characteristics of cooperative learning. The cooperative learning characteristics were implemented through three main activities. The first one was the pre-activity. It covered the teacher’s role in delivering and explaining the materials and tasks in cooperative learning. The second activity was the whilst-activity in which the characteristics of the implementation of cooperative learning existed. The post-activity was the
teacher’s role to conduct material review, to do lesson reflection, and to give assignments and other references for the students.
viii ABSTRAK
Hadi, Y.K. (2014). Students’ Perception of The Implementation of Cooperative Learning in English Class. Yogyakarta: Program Studi Pendidikan Bahasa Inggris, Jurusan Pendidikan Bahasa dan Seni, Fakultas Keguruan dan Ilmu Pendidikan, Universitas Sanata Dharma.
Bahasa Inggris menjadi mata pelajaran yang sangat penting sejak digunakannya di seluruh Dunia dan menjadi aspek dasar dalam komunikasi manusia sekarang ini. Dengan mempertimbangkan pentingnya Bahasa Inggris tersebut, siswa SMP Negeri 2 Mlati diharuskan untuk mempelajari dan menguasai Bahasa Inggris. Oleh karena itu, para guru diharapkan untuk mengajar menggunakan menggunakan metode yang interaktif. Salah satu metodenya yaitu cooperative learning yang bertujuan untuk membuat mata pelajaran menjadi menarik, memperdalam pengetahuan dan mengembangkan kemampuan siswa.
Ada dua pertanyaan yang perlu dijawab dalam penelitian ini, yaitu (1) Apa persepsi siswa kelas 8D SMP Negeri 2 Mlati akan diterapkannya metode cooperative learning? dan (2) Bagaimana penerapan cooperative learning di kelas 8D SMP Negeri 2 Mlati? Pertanyaan pertama dijawab menggunakan data dari kuesioner dan wawancara dengan beberapa siswa. Sementara, pertanyaan kedua dijawab dengan melakukan observasi kelas dan wawancara dengan guru. Maka dari itu, penelitian ini bersifat kuantitatif dan kualitatif.
Partisipan penelitian ini adalah siswa kelas 8D SMP Negeri 2 Mlati tahun ajaran 2013/2014. Mereka dipilih didasarkan oleh rekomendasi dari guru dan karena mereka adalah kelas dengan tata kelola terbaik dibandingkan kelas lainnya. Data penelitian diperoleh dengan cara mengumpulkan kuesioner dan melakukan wawancara dengan enam siswa.
Dari data observasi dan wawancara dengan guru, dapat disimpulkan bahwa pembelajaran yang diterapkan di kelas telah memenuhi karakteristik dari
cooperative learning. Karakteristik cooperative learning diterapkan melalui tiga aktivitas utama. Yang pertama adalah aktivitas awal, yang mencakup fungsi guru dalam menyampaikan dan menjelaskan meteri dan tugas dalam cooperative learning. Yang kedua adalah aktifitas utama dimana karakteristik-karakteristik
cooperative learning itu ada. Aktifitas terakhir menunjukkan fungsi guru untuk mengulang materi, merefleksi pembelajaran dan memberi tugas dan referensi pembelajaran lain untuk siswa. Dari penyebaran kuesioner dan wawancara dengan siswa, dapat disimpulkan bahwa sebagian besar siswa (85%) mempunyai persepsi positif terhadap cooperative learning. Cooperative learning memberi banyak keuntungan bagi siswa dan membantu siswa untuk mengembangkan kemampuan individu dan komunikasi mereka. Di lain pihak, sebagian siswa (15%) mempunyai tanggapan negatif terhadap cooperative learning di kelas. Ketidaksukaan siswa pada materi maupun Bahasa Inggris itu sendiri dan dinamika kelompok menjadi masalah yang utama. Itu membuat siswa memberi persepsi negatif terhadap cooperative learning.
ix
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
I would like to express my gratitude to Jesus Christ, who makes everything easier and worth it for me. I believe that whatever happens to me is the
best thing and He has provided beautiful plans for my future.
I thank my beloved advisor, C. Tutyandari, S.Pd., M.Pd. for her patience, time, attention, suggestion, motivation, and guidance in finishing this
thesis. Her smiles could comfort me whenever I had no idea of what to do with
this thesis and was magically able to wake me up whenever I started to “fall
asleep.”
My thanks are also for all PBI lecturers and staff who have given me great times during my study and great experiences dealing with so many tasks and
projects. My special thank is also given to the 8D class students of SMP Negeri 2 Mlati sixth in 2013/2014 academic year, for their cooperation and willingness
in helping me to obtain the data.
Mygreatest gratitude goes to my father Yohanes Wasiadi and my mother
Kristina Sumanti for the prayers, supports, care, encouragement, patient, and protection until now. I also appreciate my brother Widhi Nugroho and my sister
Dyah Lipuringtyas for the laughs, tears, and every moment that wehave.
I would also express my gratitude to Elisabeth Andarini. I thank her for always supporting me andbeing my „tireless reminder.‟ I would like to say thank
also to my best friends Adam, Adhi, Yustian, Beni and Sherly for our great
x
Kikid and Siska for every „adventure‟ we have had. They are really my good friends,my mood boosters, and my partners in crime.
I would like to thank Agnes Sherly and Gregorius Adhi as well for letting me interrupt their leisure time to read this thesis and to share their
experiences dealing with this stuff. My special thanks go to my play performance
team ‘The Alienated,’ my football team ‘USD,’ my SPD team ‘Bright,’ and my KKN team ‘Panggung.’ I have learned so many things from them, such as
friendship, courage, cooperation, communication, loyalty, commitment, and many
more. They have made me become a better me.
Last but not least, I thank everyone who asked about my thesis. Although
sometimes it was annoying, without their questions I would not have extra spirit
and energy to finish this thesis as soon as possible. I cannot write down all names
on this paper, but I believe that God will write down all beautiful kindness which
they have made.
xi
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Page
TITLE PAGE ... i
APPROVAL PAGE ... ii
DEDICATIONAL PAGE ... iv
STATEMENT OF WORK’S ORIGINALITY ... v
PERNYATAAN PERSETUJUAN PUBLIKASI ... vi
ABSTRACT ... vii
ABSTRAK ... viii
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ... ix
TABLE OF CONTENTS ... xii
LIST OF TABLES ... xiv
LIST OF FIGURES ... xv
LIST OF APPENDICES ... xvi
CHAPTER I: INTRODUCTION ... 1
A. Research Background... 1
B. Research Problems ... 3
C. Problem Limitation ... 3
D. Research Objectives ... 4
E. Research Benefits ... 4
F. Definition of Terms ... 5
CHAPTER II: REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE ... 7
A. Theoretical Description ... 7
1. Perception ... 7
a. Definition of Perception ... 7
b. The Concept Creating Perception ... 8
c. Factors Influencing Perception ... 9
xii
2) Organization of Stimuli ... 9
3) The Situation ... 9
4) Self-Concept ... 9
2. Cooperative Learning ... 10
a. Definition of Cooperative Learning ... 10
b. The Nature of Cooperative Learning ... 13
c. The Key Elements of Successful Group Work ... 15
3. Junior High School ... 19
a. Eight Grade of Junior High School ... 19
b. The Curriculum for Junior High School ... 20
1) Competency Based Curriculum ... 20
2) School Based Curriculum ... 21
B. Theoretical Framework ... 22
CHAPTER III: RESEARCH METHODOLOGY ... 25
A. Research Method ... 25
B. Research Setting ... 26
C. Research Participants ... 26
D. Research Instruments ... 27
1. Observation Checklist ... 27
2. Questionnaire ... 28
3. Interview ... 30
E. Data Gathering Technique ... 32
F. Data Analyses... 33
G. Research Procedures ... 34
CHAPTER IV: RESEARCH FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION ... 37
A. The Student’s Perceptions ... 37
1. Teacher’s Role ... 38
2. Individual Accountability ... 41
xiii
4. Students’ Role and Student-to-Student Interaction ... 54
5. Group Process ... 61
B. Cooperative Learning Implementation ... 64
C. Discussion ... 70
CHAPTER V: CONCLUSIONS AND SUGGESTIONS ... 74
A. Conclusions ... 74
B. Suggestions ... 75
1. For the Teachers ... 76
2. For the Students ... 76
3. For the Teacher Candidates ... 77
4. For the Further Researchers... 77
REFERENCES ... 78
xiv
LIST OF TABLES
Table Page
3.1 Blueprint of the observation checklist ... 23
3.2 Blueprint of the questionnaire ... 25
3.3 Blueprint of the interview for students ... 26
3.4 Blueprint of the interview for the teacher ... 27
3.5 Scoring grade for the questionnaire ... 30
4.1 Raw data of the questionnaire point 1 ... 38
4.2 Raw data of the questionnaire point 2 ... 41
4.3 Raw data of the questionnaire point 3 ... 47
4.4 Raw data of the questionnaire point 4 ... 54
xv
LIST OF FIGURES
Figure Page
2.1 The perceptual process from Altman et al., (1985) ...8
xvi
LIST OF APPENDICES
Appendix Page
A. Observation Checklist Blueprint ... 80
B. Questionnaire Blueprint ... 81
C. Interview for Students Blueprint ... 85
D. Interview for Teacher Blueprint ... 89
E. Interview Guide for Students ... 91
F. Interview Guide for Teacher ... 95
G. Observation Checklist ... 96
H. Questionnaire ... 97
I. Raw Data Questionnaire ... 101
1 CHAPTER I
INTRODUCTION
This chapter presents the introduction of this study. This chapter is divided
into six sections, namely research background, research problems, problem
limitation, research objectives, research benefits, and definition of terms.
A. Research Background
In the globalization era, there is much information revealed everywhere
through the internet, books, magazines, newspapers, advertisements and
educational system. It forced people to know and understand every single thing.
Hence, some of those references are provided in English. English becomes an
essential school subject to learn since it widely used in the world and becomes the
most fundamental aspect of human communication. Stevens (1980) states that
“English language is vastly more used nowadays than it was in the past, and that
the expansion of its use continuous rapidly.” The need for mastering English by
students and intellectuals increases. Considering the importance of English,
people are required to learn and master English.
According to Harmer (1991), English has become a lingua franca, which
is widely accepted as a means of communication between speakers who have
different native languages. He adds that English is one of the main languages of
international communication (Harmer, 1991). Therefore, it is clear that English is
mostly used by people from various countries for communication and is now
broadly used in many fields like economics, culture, social, politics and especially
Since English is an important school subject to learn, teachers are expected
to teach English by using interactive ways to make the students grasp the
meaning. Moreover, Slavin (1996) said that co-operative learning (also referred to
as collaborative learning or group work) has been hailed as „one of the greatest
success stories in the history of educational innovation.‟ As the importance of
cooperative learning is needed in learning activities, the teacher of Junior High
School 2 Mlati used cooperative learning as the learning method implemented in
class. The teacher assigned tasks to small groups during class to involve students
in their own learning. The goals were to make course topics come alive, to deepen
students‟ knowledge about a topic, and to develop particular skills.
There is another factor influencing success in learning English. It is
perception. Perception is the process by which individuals select, organize, and
interpret the input from their senses (vision, hearing, touch, smell, and taste) to
give meaning and give order to the world around them. Through perception,
people try to make sense of their surroundings and the objects, events, and other
people in it (George and Jones, 2003). Positive perceptions in learning English
will lead perceivers to have high motivation to learn and positive behavior and
attitudes in the English learning activities. After knowing students‟ perception of
cooperative learning activities, teachers could be helped in planning cooperative
learning.
The researcher considers that it is necessary to know the implementation
of cooperative learning and to discover the students‟ perception of the
research is conducted in order to find out the students‟ perceptions on the
implementation of cooperative learning and to describe the implementation of
cooperative learning in 8D class of JHS 2 Mlati. Hence, the teacher can decide
and apply the most appopriate teaching approach to be applied in the English class
of JHS 2 Mlati.
B. Research Problems
This research is conducted to answer the following questions:
1. What is the 8D class of Junior High School 2 Mlati students‟ perception of
the implementation of cooperative learning in English class?
2. How is the implementation of cooperative learning in 8D class of Junior
High School 2 Mlati?
C. Problem Limitation
In this research, the researcher limits the scope of perception based on the
theory from Kinicki (1992) which defines perception as a cognitive process that
enables us to interpret and understand our surroundings. Here, the researcher is
going to do a research on the 8D class students‟ perception on the implementation
of cooperative learning in English class of JHS 2 Mlati in 2013/2014 academic
year. The participants of the study are all students in 8D class of JHS 2 Mlati.
Class 8D is chosen as the sample by considering the English teacher‟s suggestion
D. Research Objectives
Then, the purpose of this research is to find out the answer to research
questions stated in the research problem. The researcher formulates two objectives
in this study. They are:
1. to discover the scientific truth of the 8D class of Junior High School 2
Mlati students of cooperative learning implementation in English class.
2. to describe the implementation of cooperative learning in 8D class of
Junior High School 2 Mlati.
E. Research Benefits
In general, the researcher hopes that this study could give some valuable
contribution to all educational communities, especially at the English Education. The
researcher hopes that this study can give an understanding for the readers, especially
English teachers, English teacher candidates and English learners about the
implementation of cooperative learning in English class.
Teachers can consider applying other strategies in implementing
cooperative learning so that the objective of teaching-learning activities can be
achieved. Teachers would know that cooperative learning is an important way in
delivering materials for students.
The students will know that cooperative learning in class activities is
important to gain materials from teachers. The students can also know that
involving themselves in cooperative learning can be very helpful in learning.
Finally for the further researchers, the researcher hopes that this study can
learning to enrich the existing study. The further researchers can give other teaching
strategies for the teacher using cooperative learning in delivering materials for the
students.
F. Definition of Terms
In order to avoid misinterpretation from the research, the researcher
provides the definition of key words and/or phrases in this research. They are as
followed:
1. Perception Definition
Perception is the process by which individuals select, organize, and
interpret the input from their senses (vision, hearing, touch, smell, and taste) to
give meaning and order to the world around them. Through perception, people try
to make sense of their environtment and the objects, events, and other people in it
(George and Jones, 2003). While Kinicki, 1992, says that perception is a cognitive
process that enables us to interpret and understand our surroundings.
Moreover, Altman, Valenzi, and Hodgetts (1985) describe perception as a
person‟s view of reality. It is the way stimuli is selected and grouped by a person
so that they can be interpreted meaningfully. Therefore, in this study, perception is
what the students think about something and how they create a point of view about
what they have experienced, which in this case is cooperative learning in English
2. Cooperative Learning Definition
According to Richard and Rodgers (2001) says that Cooperative Language
Learning (CLL) is part of a more general instructional approach also known as
Collaborative Learning (CL). Cooperative learning is an approach to teaching that
makes maximum use of cooperative activities involving pairs and small groups of
learners in the classroom. Olsen and Kagan (1992) explains that cooperative
learning is group-learning activity organized so that learning is dependent on the
socially structured exchange of information between learners in group and in
which each learner is held accountable for his or her own learning and is
motivated to increase the learning of others. In this study, cooperative learning is
an approach emphasized collaboration and group work that makes the students
work together to achieve learning goals. Cooperative learning is not simply
having students work in groups or sit next to one another to discuss material. A
teaching approach enables learners to teach and be responsible to each other. The
students are responsible for one another‟s learning as well as their own.
3. Junior High School Definition
The researcher focuses his study on junior high school students. In
Indonesia, Junior High School is commonly called Sekolah Menengah Pertama
(SMP). There is nine-year basic education in Indonesia. The first six years takes
place in Sekolah Dasar (SD) and the following three years takes place in SMP.
SMPNegeri 2 Mlati students (8D class students) are chosen as the participants of
this study. There are 12 classes in this school, seventh, eighth and ninth grade
one of the subjects tested in national examination. Hence, since in the seventh
grade, junior high school students have had English in their teaching-learning
8 CHAPTER II
REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE
Review of the literature chapter is aimed to clarify concept and theory
relations and review the group content to answer the research problems logically.
It involves theoretical description. Since this study discusses the students’
perception of the implementation of cooperative learning in English class, the
theoretical description contains the concept of perception the implementation of
cooperative learning in class. In the theoretical framework, the researcher relates
the theories to the study.
A. Theoretical Description
This section is concerned with related theories, which are used to support
the accomplishment of this study. Two major areas are discussed; they are
perception and cooperative learning.
1. Perception
In this section, the resaercher provides three part of discussions about
perception. Those are as followed.
a. Definition of Perception
Perception is the process by which individuals select, organize, and
interpret the input from their senses (vision, hearing, touch, smell, and taste) to
give meaning and order to the world around them. Through perception, people try
(George & Jones, 2003). Kinicki (1992) says that perception is a cognitive process
that enables us to interpret and understand our surroundings.
Moreover, Altman, Valenzi, and Hodgetts (1985) describe perception as a
person’s view of reality. It is the way stimuli are selected and grouped by a person
so that they can be interpreted meaningfully. The perceptual process starts from
stimuli that person has chosen. Then, our individual sensors select data from the
stimuli and allow us to interpret, or give meaning to the sensory message. The
message is then sent to the brain. Thus, the brain will process the message into
feeling. Finally, the brain continues to interpret feeling into perception.
b. The Concept Creating Perception
The individual sensors select data from the stimulus and allow a person to
interpret or give meaning to the sensory message. The way a person interprets or
perceives this information depends on a person’s clarity and familiarity of the
stimuli, physical characteristics, needs and values, knowledge, feelings and past
experience (Altman et al., 1985). This theory explains that perception involves
organizing and interpreting information and data coming from the environment so
that the information and the data can be meaningfully interpreted. The concept is
supposed by Figure 2.1.
Figure 2.1. The Perceptual Process (Altman et al., 1985: 86)
Stimuli
Sensors’
selection of stimuli
Perception, organization,
and interpretation
of stimuli
c. Factors Influencing Perception
As described at Altman et al. (1985), there are a number of factors
influencing a person’s perception. Four of the most important factors influence a
person’s perceptions are as followed.
1) Selection of Stimuli
A person focuses on only a small number of all stimuli which he or she is
surrounded. This process is known as selection. That is why people perceive
things differently. Each person selects specific cues and filters, or screens, out the
others (Altman et al., 1985).
2) Organization of Stimuli
After information has been selected, it must be arranged in order to
become meaningful. The mind tries to bring order out the unarranged sensory data
by selecting certain items and putting them together in a meaningful way based on
experience (Altman et al., 1985).
3) The Situation
A person’s familiarity and expectations about situation affect what a
person perceive. Perceiving accurately is related to how well a person adjusts his
or her behavior to a situation (Altman et al., 1985).
4) Self-Concept
Self-concept is the way people feel about and perceive themselves.
Peoples’ perceptions of the world around them are affected by the way they see
themselves. The self-concept is important since the mental picture of people
Based on the explanation of the factors influencing perception, it can be
concluded that everyone has his or her own point of view on something. The same
project or event can be perceived differently by different person then leads to
different behavioral responses or attitudes. Related to this research, perception is
the way how the students feel or think about and consider something. In this case
is the implementation of cooperative learning in English class of of Junior High
School 2 Mlati.
2. Cooperative Learning
In this section, the resaercher provides three elaborations of cooperative
learning. The first section discusses the definition of cooperative learning. The
second section discusses the nature of cooperative learning. The third section
discusses the key elements of cooperative learning.
a. Definition of Cooperative Learning
According to Richards and Rodgers (2001), Cooperative Learning (CL) is
part of a more general instructional approach also known as Collaborative
Learning (CL). Cooperative Learning is an approach to teaching that makes
maximum use of cooperative activities involving pairs and small groups of
learners in the classroom. Moreover, Olsen and Kagan (1992) say that cooperative
learning is group learning activity organized so that learning is dependent on the
socially structured exchange of information between learners in group. They also
say that each learner is held accountable for his or her own learning and motivated
Johnson, Johnson and Holubec (1990) define cooperative learning as the
instructional use of small groups so that students work together to maximize their
learning. Slavin (1995) adds that cooperative learning refers to variety of teaching
methods in which students work in small groups to help one another learning
academic content. In cooperative learning activities, students are expected to help,
discuss and agree with each other, assess each other’s current knowledge and fill
gaps in each other’s understanding. Therefore, in this study, cooperative learning
is an approach that makes the students work together to achieve learning goals. It
involves students learning from each other in groups. The students are responsible
for one another’s learning as well as their own. In the classroom, the students are
expected to help each other, to cooperate with their peers, to discuss and argue
each other, and to access each other’s current knowledge in the learning process.
Group work does not merely that students sitting side-by-side at the same table to
talk with each other. It does not merely assigning a report to a group of students
where one student does all the work and the others just put their names on it. It is
more than being physically near other students.
In order to be successful, Johnson et al. (1994) explain that cooperative
learning tasks are designed by teachers so that students are required to depend on
one another to complete the assigned tasks and to master content and skills. There
are five cooperative learning methods that are designed to achieve different
1) Jigsaw
Each student, in a four to five member team, is given the information for
the only one part of the learning activity. Each student needs to know all
information to be successful. Students work cooperatively in two different teams,
their original team and an expert team. All students in the expert team seek the
same information, study the information and decide how best to tell it to their
peers in the original team. After seeking the same information is accomplished,
students return to the original teams to teach their portion of the lesson to the
others in the team (Johnson et al., 1994).
2) Think-Pair-Share
This strategy can be used before the teacher introducing new concepts. It
gives everyone in the class time to access prior knowledge and provides a chance
for them to share their ideas with someone. Think-Pair-Share helps students
organize their knowledge and motivates learning of new topics. There are three
steps to do Think-Pair-Share with the limit on each step signaled by the teacher.
(a) Students are asked to brainstorm a concept individually and organize their
thoughts on paper. (b) Students pair up and compile a list of their ideas. (c) Each
pair will then share with the entire class until all ideas have been recorded and
discussed (Johnson et al., 1994).
3) Send-a-Problem
Students are placed into heterogeneous teams of four. Each team designs a
problem to send around the class. The other teams solve the problems in this one
4) Round Robin
Students are placed in the heterogeneous teams of four. Each student has
the opportunity to speak without being interrupted. The discussion moves
clockwise around the team; everyone must contribute to the topic. The team may
use an item to pass around as a visual aid to determine who has the floor. Round
table is another version. The difference is that a piece of paper is passed around
and each member writes instead of speaks about the topic (Johnson et al., 1994).
5) Mind Mapping
Mind Mapping is the process depicting a central concept with symbols,
images, colors, keywords, and branches. This is a fast and fun way to take visual
notes, foster creativity, stretch students’ visual thinking skills, make learning
contextual and meaningful, and promote active involvement with the learning
content. Pairs of students may create their own mind map or they may
simultaneously add to the team and/or class mind map (Johnson et al., 1994).
b. The Nature of Cooperative Learning
Nation (1989) states that like all learning activities, group work is more
likely to go well if it is properly planned. Planning requires an underdstanding of
the principle that lies behind successful groupwork. Meanwhile, Johnson et al.
(1994) mention several factors in order to make the minority students do not fall
1) Raise the achievement of all students, including those who are gifted or
academically handicapped.
2) Help the teacher build positive relationship among students.
3) Give students the experiences they need for healthy social, psychological
and cognitive development.
4) Replace the cognitive organizational structure of most classroom and
schools with a team-based, high-performance organizational structure.
Johnson et al. (1994) mention three types of cooperative learning. The
types are as followed:
1) Formal cooperative learning groups
These groups last from one class period to several weeks. These are used
for a specific task and involve students working together to achieve shared
learning goals (Johnson et al., 1994).
2) Informal coperative learning groups
These groups last from a few minutes to a class period and are used to
focus student attention or to facilitate learning activities (Johnson et al., 1994).
3) Cooperative base groups
Groups are long term group. They last for at least a year and consist of
heterogeneous learning groups with stable membership. The primary purpose is to
allow the students to give each other support, help, assistant and encouragement to
succeed academically (Johnson et al., 1994).
Gaies (1985) states that all interaction requires a minimum of two
learners. In general, groups of four or five members work best. Larger groups
decrease each member's opportunity to participate actively. The less skillful the
group members, the smaller the groups should be. The shorter amount of time
available, the smaller the groups should be (Cooper, 1990; Johnson, Johnson, and
Smith, 1991; Smith, 1986). From the explanation above, it could be inferred that
groupwork is a well-planned interaction between at least four or five participants
with the understanding of certain principles that could support the success of the
group.
c. The Key Elements of Successful Group Work
Douglas (1978: pp. 102-104, pp. 112-114, and pp. 117-118) states that
there are three steps to achieve the success of the groupwork. The three steps are:
(1) the ability to observe; (2) the ability to make appropriate intervention; and (3)
the ability to assess the group’s situation. The ability to observe is actually very
important in working in groups. In a group there are several people, not just one;
all of the people are parts of the group and all of them are able to influence what is
going to do. Therefore, it is necessary to keep some kind of oversight of everyone.
Last but not least, good observation lies at the bottom of all successful work with
groups.
The ability to intervene in a group is totally dependent upon the
observation that has been made. Intervention should focus on what is important
for either groups’ survival or groups’ achievement. To be able to be focuss means
equally aware about what is going on at the moment which can lead the group
toward or away from those purposes.
However, the problem of the assessment was solved when Douglas (1978)
had an experiment in setting group based on three stages operation. In the first
stage, most effort was put into the slow transfer from didactic teaching to
experiential learning. Next, in the middle period the effort was divided between
maintaining the group as entity over the various breaks which occured and
encouraging the members to make their own inputs based on their own experience
and learning. Last, the third period was characterized by leadership acts and the
substitution of acts. From here, the problem of assessment was solved by the
comment being made upon the performance of the group rather than its individual
members.
Johnson et al. (1994) mention that there are five essential factors to
achieve success in cooperative learning. The five essential factors are Positive
Interdependence, Student-to-Student Interaction, Individual Accountability, Social
Skills and Group Process.
1) Positive Interdependence
Students realize that each individual affects the success and work of the
others. Students must share information in order to complete their tasks because
the work is structured (Johnson et al., 1994).
2) Student-to-Student Interaction
Students are encouraged to help each other. Students share resources with
ideas, keep an open mind, act in a trustworthy way, and promote a safe feeling for
all by reducing anxiety (Johnson et al., 1994).
3) Individual Accountability
Students perform independently even though they work together. Each
individual performance is assessed. Students must take personal responsibility to
work toward the group goal(s) (Johnson et al., 1994).
4) Social Skills
Students learn and use appropriate social skills including leadership,
decision-making, trust building, communication and conflict-management
(Johnson et al., 1994).
5) Group Process
Students must analyze how well they are achieving their goals while
maintaining effective working relationships in order to develop the group process
(Johnson et al., 1994).
Nation (1989) mentions several factors that determine the success of the
groupwork. The factors are: (1) the learning goals of the group work, (2) the task,
(3) the way information is distributed, (4) the seating arrangement of the members
of the group, and (5) the social relationships between the members of the group.
These factors should be taken seriously, otherwise, the groupwork will fail and
fall to pieces. The groupwork should also be seen from the difficulty level of the
task. If the task could be done by one single person, then the groupwork will be
useless because every member of the group could do the task and they claim that
should be considered. When the teacher use one-way communication there will be
no interaction between the student to their peers as well as to their teacher. The
next significant thing to the successful groupwork is the arrangement of the group
members. When the students face each member in the groups, the discussion
could run well and effectively. Regarding the social relationships between the
members of the group, people already know that everyday there will be a new
problem coming to life. This happens to all people, including the members of the
groupwork. If each member has a good relationship, there will be less problem.
Unfortunatlely, if the members have a conflict with the other members in the
group, the groupwork will likely fall to pieces. The reason is that the members in
conflict will reluctant to work in group and, therefore, these reluctant persons will
harm the dynamic of the groupwork and, consequently, will drag the groupwork
to the failure.
3. Junior High School
Educational system in Indonesia includes three stages or levels. The first
level is primary education which involves elementary schools (Sekolah Dasar or
SD). The second is secondary education which involves junior high schools
(Sekolah Menengah Pertama or SMP) and senior high schools (Sekolah
Menengah Atas or SMA). The third is tertiary education which involves
universities, academies and other tertiary educational institutes (Tanlain, 1995).
Junior High School students are the students who have graduated from the
grades. Those three grades are: grade seven eight and grade nine. Grade is a
school level under which students are joined based on the students’ age and their
cognitive development.
a. Eight Grade of Junior High School
Here in this study, the participants of the research are the 8D class students
of the eight grade or the second-year students of JHS 2 Mlati Sleman. They are in
the age between twelve and fifteen years old. The students receive six session of
English teaching a week over a period of two semesters with the duration of 40
minutes in each meeting.
b. The Curriculum for Junior High School
Indonesian government changes the education curriculum every ten years.
The latest curriculum is 2004 curriculum that is called Kurikulum Berbasis
Kompetensi (KBK) or Competency Based Curriculum (CBC). However, the
government has developed the CBC and produced new curriculum, 2006
curriculum, which still becomes a part of CBC. The researcher puts information
about 2004 curriculum because it is the root of the 2006 curriculum
implementation.
1) Competency Based Curriculum
Competence Based Curriculum was firstly implemented in 2004. This
curriculum provides some competencies that lead to students’ achievement of
discourse competence which requires the students to use English according to the
the other competencies. They are actional competence, linguistic competence and
strategic competence.
In CBC, the government has already formulated same competency
standard, base competency and indicators for each of all education level. All
school has the same guidance system to carry on teaching-learning process,
whereas each school has different condition and quality. Therefore, the
government improved and completed the curriculum into the 2006 curriculum.
The 2006 curriculum is called School Based Curriculum (SBC) or Kurikulum
Tingkat Satuan Pendidikan (KTSP).
2) School Based Curriculum
Kurikulum Tingkat Satuan Pendidikan (KTSP) is a part and a development
of the 2004 curriculum. Similar to the 2004 curriculum, government provides
similar content standard (competence standard and base competency) for each of
all education levels. However, the indicators are different one school to another
since they have different conditions. Each school has an authority to formulate the
indicators based on the condition of its students. Each school will have same
competency as another school, but it will have different indicators from other
school. In other words, KTSP is developed by school and school committee with
reference to competence standard and content standard as well as curriculum
guideline made by the Body of Education National Standard (Badan Standar
The KTSP requires students to achieve an objective. The objective of
English subject in Junior High School is that students should have the following
abilities:
a) Developing communicative competence, both oral and written competence
to achieve literaly level of functional.
b) Having awareness on the essence and the importance of English language
to increase nation’s competitive ability in global society.
c) Developing students’ understanding on the relationship between language
and culture.
B. Theoretical Framework
This research focusses on 8D class students’ perception on the
Implementation of cooperative learning in English class of JHS 2 Mlati.
Therefore, the researcher exposes two major parts of theories namely perception
and cooperative learning in this research. Those theories are employed to provide
a basis to gain students’ perception on the Implementation of cooperative learning
in English class.
According to Richards and Rodgers (2001), Cooperative Language
Learning (CLL) is part of a more general instructional approach also known as
Collaborative Learning (CL). Cooperative learning refers to variety of teaching
methods in which the students works in small groups to help one another learning
academic content. Students are expected to help each other, to discuss and agree
other’s understanding (Slavin, 1995). Johnson et al. (1990) defines it as the
instructional use of small groups so that the students work together to maximize
their learning. By synchronizing the characteristics of cooperative learning the
researcher obtained from the related theories, it is expected that the researcher
could know that cooperative learning implemented in the class has the same
characteristics with the kind of cooperative learning stated in the theories.
How do the students perceive the implementation of cooperative learning?
Do they perceive this teaching-learning process positively or negatively?
According to Altman et al. (1985), the way a person interprets or perceives this
information depends on a person’s clarity and familiarity of the stimuli, physical
characteristics, needs and values, knowledge, feelings and past experience. The
way the students perceive something will influence the students’ behavior
response, whether it is in positive or negative way. Thereby, when the students
perceive cooperative learning positively, the students’ behavior response will be
positive too. Then, they will support the use of cooperative learning as an aid to
improve their English proficiency. However, if the students negatively perceive
the implementation of cooperative learning, their behavior responses will be
negative too. As a consequence, they will not perceive cooperative learning as an
aid to improve their English proficiency.
According to Altman et al. (1985), perception is made after passing
through four steps. Those are the stimuli, sensors’ selection of the stimuli to
the stimuli, and the behavior formed after people evaluate and interpret the stimuli
they received.
Figure 2.2. The Perceptual Process Used in this Research
Cooperative
25 CHAPTER III
METHODOLOGY
The purpose of chapter III is to ensure that the empirical verification of the
logical truth is valid. In this chapter, the researcher explains each part of the
research methodology including what research method is used, how many
participants are taken, what research instruments are used and how the data are
gathered and analyzed. This chapter presents the research method, research
setting, research participants, instrument and data gathering techniques, data
analysis techniques, and research procedure.
A. Research Method
Since this research is going to find out the students’ perception toward the
implementation of cooperative learning in class 8D of Junior High School 2 Mlati
Sleman, the method used in this research is a survey research. According to Ary,
Jacobs and Razavieh (1979), survey research is kind of research that allows the
researcher gathering data ranging for physical counts and frequencies to attitudes,
opinions and characteristics of severals groups about particular issues. Survey
research is commonly used to find the facts by collecting the data from the
population and sample. Therefore, the provided questions in the survey are
information-gathering questions.
In this research, the data are presented in quantitative and qualitative ways.
explained in qualitative way. The data gathered from the interview are presented
and described in qualitative way.
B. Research Setting
This research was conducted in 8D class of JHS 2 Mlati, which is located
on Jl. Perkutut, Sinduadi, Mlati, Sleman, Yogyakarta. The researcher conducted
the research from January 2014 until February 2014, which consisted of several
steps, namely class observation, questionnaire distribution and interview session
with the students and the teacher. The class observation was conducted on January
27th and February 2nd, 2014. The questionnaire was distributed on February 11th,
2014. The interview session, divided into interview with the students and another
interview with the teacher, was conducted on February 24th, 2014.
C. Research Participants
The target participants in this research were all 31 students of 8D class of
JHS 2 Mlati in 2013/2014 academic year. The English teacher of JHS 2 Mlati
recommended this class to be observed. He said that this class is the best-managed
class comparing to other classes. The teacher had implemented cooperative
learning in that class. Therefore, the researcher considered that this class could
fulfill the researcher’s need about cooperative learning.
All of the students of 8D class were asked to answer the questionnaire and
learning they had experienced. The researcher also conducted interview to the
teacher to obtain information in answering the second research problem.
D. Research Instruments
There were some instruments used in conducting this research. The
researcher used an observation checklist, a questionnaire, an interview for the
student and an interview for the teacher. The instruments were used to collect the
data in order to answer the research questions.
1. Observation Checklist
The researcher used an observation sheet in order to examine how
cooperative learning is implemented in English class. This observation sheet was
not used for monitoring the students or the teacher’s activities during the lesson
but it was to check the synchronization of cooperative learning either theoretically
or factually. Observation provides “more objective informations related to the
research topic, and typically provides answer to the questions being investigated”
(Hancock and Algozzine, 2006). Therefore, the items provided in this observation
sheet (Table 3.1) contained items about the characteristics of cooperative learning
according to some experts.
Table 3.1 Blueprint of the Observation Checklist
No. Things to be observed
Theory
1. Statement number 1, 2 and 3
One of three steps to achieve the success of the group work is the ability to observe (Douglas, 1978).
2. Statement number 4, 7 and 9
No. Things to be observed
Theory
3. Statement number 5 and 6
Students learn and use appropriate social skills including leadership, decision-making, trust building,
communication and conflict-management (Johnson et al. 1994).
4. Statement number 8 and 13
Students perform independently even though they work together. Each individual performance is assessed.
Students must take personal responsibility to work toward the group goal(s) (Johnson et al. 1994).
5. Statement number 10, 11 and 12
Students are encouraged to help each other. Students share resources with other, provide constructive feedback, challenge other member’s reasoning and ideas, keep an open mind, act in a trustworthy way, and promote a safe feeling for all by reducing anxiety (Johnson et al. 1994).
6. Statement number 14, 15, 16 and 17
One of three steps to achieve the success of the group work is the ability to assess the group’s situation (Douglas, 1978).
2. Questionnaire
According to Hopkins (2008), questionnaires that ask specific questions
about curriculum and aspects in classroom are a quick and simple way to gain
information from the students. The researcher proposed to use a questionnaire for
the students in order to gain specific information about the perception of the 8D
class of JHS 2 Mlati students on the implementation of cooperative learning in
English class.
The advantage of questionnaire was its ability to obtain data from a large
number of samples in relatively quick and economical way. The researcher used
closed-ended questionnaire. The closed-ended questions were used in order to
ease the researcher collect the numeric data from the participants. The
out their understanding and their perception about cooperative learning
implemented in their class.
Table 3.2 Blueprint of the Questionnaire
(Adapted from Dandy Jalu’s Thesis, 2011)
Aspects Theories Questions
Students’ Perceptions of the Implementation of Cooperative Learning in English
Class 1. 1.Teacher’s
role
The teacher has to create a highly structured and well-organized learning environment in the classroom, setting goals, planning and structuring tasks, establishing the physical arrangement of the classroom, assigning students to groups and roles, and selecting materials and time (Johnson et al. 1994).
Students perform independently even though they work together. Each individual performance is assessed.
Students must take personal responsibility to work toward the group goal(s) (Johnson et al. 1994).
Question
Students realize that each individual affect success and the work of the others. Students must share information in order to complete their tasks because the work is structured (Johnson et al. 1994).
Students learn and use appropriate social skills including leadership, decision-making, trust building, communication and conflict-management (Johnson et al. 1994).
Students are, as member of the group must work collaboratively on tasks with other group members. Students have to learn teamwork skills and are also directors of their own learning to plan, monitor, and evaluate their own learning (Richards and Rodgers, 2001). Students are encouraged to help each other. Students share resources with other, provide constructive feedback, challenge other member’s reasoning and ideas, keep an open mind, act in a trustworthy way, and promote a safe feeling for all by reducing anxiety (Johnson et al. 1994).
Question number 33 to 46
5. Group process
Students must analyze how well they are achieving their goals while maintaining effective working relationships in order to develop the group process (Johnson et al. 1994).
uncertain answer. In order to obtain definite answer, the researcher provided only
four columns. They were strongly agree, agree, disagree and strongly disagree.
3. Interview
Interview is a method of gathering information through oral question.
According to Shneiderman and Plaisant (2005), interview can be very productive
since the interviewer can pursue specific issues of concern that may lead to
focussed and constructive suggestions. Moreover, Genise (2002); Shneiderman
and Plaisant (2005) said that there are three main advantages of interview as a
data collection method: (a) direct contact with the users often leads to specific,
constructive suggestion; (b) they are good at obtaining detailed information; (c)
few participants are needed to gather rich and detailed data.
There were two interview guidelines in this research. The first interview
guideline was for the students. The researcher used the first interview guideline in
order to obtain qualitative data about the students’ perception of cooperative
learning implemented in the class to answer the first research question. The
researcher interviewed six students privately, without any distraction that could
affect the originality of the data. The researcher gave open-ended questions in the
interview to gain as much information as possible. By providing open-ended
questions, the researcher allowed the participants to answer the questions (Table
3.3) more openly.
Table 3.3 Blueprint of the Interview for Students
(Adapted from Dandy Jalu’s Thesis, 2011)
No. Questions Descriptions 1. Question
number 1 to 3
No. Questions Descriptions 2. Question
number 4 to 11
Those questions gathered data about the students’ individual performance eventhough they work together.
3. Question number 12 to 20
Those questions collected data about the students’ social skills and positive interdependence. members and to help each other.
5. Question number 29 to 31
Those questions asked about how well the students are achieving their goalswhile maintaining effective working process.
The second interview guideline was for the teacher. The researcher used
the second interview guideline (Table 3.4) in order to obtain qualitative data about
the implementation of cooperative learning in the class to answer the second
research question.
Table 3.4 Blueprint of the Interview for the Teacher
No. Theories Questions
1. There are some factors that determine the success of group work. The factors are the learning goals of the group and the task given (Nation, 1989).
The teacher has to create a highly structured and well-organized learning environment in the classroom, setting goals, planning and structuring tasks,
establishing the physical arrangement of the classroom, assigning students to groups and roles, and selecting materials and time (Johnson et al. 1994).
Question number 1, 2 and 3
2. There are some factors that determine the success of group work. The factors are the way information is distributed, the seating arrangement of the members of the group and the social relationships between the members of the group (Nation, 1989).
Question number 4, 5 and 6
3. The teacher are giving feedback, redirecting the group with questions, encouraging thinking, managing conflict, observing students, evaluating activity and supplying resources (Harel, 1992: 169).
Question number 7, 8, 9, 10 and 11
4. Students are encouraged to help each other. Students share resources with other, provide constructive feedback, challenge other member’s reasoning and ideas, keep an open mind, act in a trustworthy way, and promote a safe feeling for all by reducing anxiety (Johnson et al. 1994).
No. Theories Questions 5. One of three steps to achieve the success of the group
work is the ability to assess the group’s situation (Douglas, 1978).
Question number 17, 18, 19 and 20
The researcher can repeat the questions in case the respondents (the
students and the teacher) do not understand the questions. The researcher can also
develop the questions so that there is a possibility for the researcher to gain
additional information supporting the research.
E. Data Gathering Technique
The data of this research were gathered by observing the class, distributing
the questionnaire and conducting the interview with the students and the teacher.
The researcher conducted the research after the researcher getting the permission
from the Chairperson of English Language Education Sanata Dharma University
and the Headmaster of JHS 2 Mlati.
The researcher observed the class in order to conduct a preliminary
research about the field of research. The questionnaire and interview sessions with
the students of 8D class were conducted to answer the first problem about the
students’ perceptions of cooperative learning implemented in their class. The
observation and interview sessions with the teacher were conducted to answer the
second problem on how cooperative learning was implemented in English class.
The researcher used the observation checklist to check whether theories about
The next instrument was the questionnaire, which the researcher
distributed in February 2014. The purpose of the questionnaire distribution was to
measure students’ perception about the implementation of cooperative learning.
The third instrument was the interview for the student. The interview for the
students was conducted in order to obtain more specific information about
students’ perception on the implementation of cooperative learning.
The last instrument used in this research was teacher’s recorder. The
researcher used the teacher’s recorder in order to gather detailed information from
the implementation of cooperative learning. The researcher asked the teacher to
describe how cooperative learning was implemented. That way was to clarify the
process of the implementation of cooperative learning. Students’ perception on the
implementation of cooperative learning could be the tools for the researcher to
provide other teaching strategies suggestions, especially in the form of
cooperative learning for 8D class of JHS 2 Mlati.
F. Data Analyses Technique
The data was obtained from the questionnaire and interview. To answer
the problems the researcher analyzed the data gathered using quantitative and
qualitative methods. The researcher made discussion of the interview result then
put some theories related to the findings. The data taken from the interview and
observation checklist were expected to answer the second problem. The data
The data obtained from the questionnaire was expected to answer the first
problem. The data was classified based on positive and negative response from the
students. The result of the calculation was put into the table and discussed based
on the blueprint of the questionnaires.
The resarcher used Likert scale in analyzing the data. The low value
represents negative answer and high value represent positive answer. The scoring
technique will be shown in the following agreement.
Table 3.5 Scoring Grade for the Questionnaire
Option Score
Strongly Disagree Disagree
Agree Strongly Agree
1 2 3 4
The respondent were required to put circles on the column provided in the
questionnaire. The researcher counted the number of circles on each degree of
agreement of each items, “strongly agree”,”agree”,”disagree” and “strongly
disagree” by setting them on the table. The researcher calculated the score by
counting the data into percentage and interpreted them into statements. The
formula was:
X 100%
: The number of students based on the degree of agreement
In interpreting the result, the researcher classified the same answer of each
research statement. The following step was calculating the percentage of each
research statement. The result of the calculation was put into the table and
discussed based on four categories in the blueprint of the questionnaires.
G. Research Procedures
There were eight steps in this research. At first, the researcher found the
topic the researcher was about to investigate, the subject of the research and the
problem formulations of the research from the observation in the English class.
The second, the researcher started to design a set of questionnaire to answer the
problem formulation. After designing a set of questionnaire, the researcher
constructed the proposal to be proposed to the supervisor. The third step, the
researcher asked permission to the PBI secretariat. After getting the permission to
conduct research, the researcher proposed the proposal to the headmaster of JHS 2
Mlati and to the lecturer of the class where the research would be conducted.
The fifth step was the observation session. The researcher conducted
observation to check whether theories about cooperative learning the researcher
found were also conducted in the class. The sixth step was the questionnaire
distribution. The researcher designed a questionnaire before distributing it to all
members of the class on February 11th, 2014. This step was to answer the first
problem formulation. Considering the efficiency and the effectiveness in the
process of gathering data, the researcher distributed the questionnaire 20 minutes
