Handling My Difficulty in Motivating A 4th Grader Child to Learn English at Aces.

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ABSTRACT

Tugas akhir ini berisi pembahasan masalah tentang bagaimana memotivasi anak kelas 4 SD untuk belajar bahasa Inggris. Saya melakukan magang di tempat les bahasa Inggris ACES pada tanggal 1 Juli 2013 sampai dengan 2 Agustus 2013, posisi saya selama magang adalah sebagai asisten guru.

Terdapat dua penyebab dari masalah yang saya hadapi selama saya melakukan magang di ACES. Pertama, saya tidak mempunyai pengalaman dalam mengajar anak-anak. Kedua, saya tidak

mengetahui gaya belajar yang tepat untuk anak kelas 4 tersebut. Disamping penyebab juga terdapat dua akibat dari masalah yang saya hadapi. Pertama, saya hampir tidak dapat mengendalikan emosi saya setiap kali saya mengajar. Kedua, anak menolak untuk belajar bahasa Inggris. Setiap masalah pasti memiliki solusi. Begitu pun dengan masalah yang saya hadapi, saya mempunyai beberapa solusi dari masalah yang saya hadapi. Pertama, saya akan memberikan

tantangan yang adil bagi anak agar sang anak terhibur dan termotivasi di kelas. Kedua, saya akan memberikan hadiah bagi si anak bila dia mau belajar dengan serius. Ketiga, saya akan menerapkan cara

pembelajaran yang tepat untuk anak kelas 4 agar si anak dapat belajar dengan lebih efektif.

Dari ketiga solusi yang saya temukan untuk mengatasi masalah yang saya hadapi, saya akan menggunakan ketiga solusi tersebut secara bersamaan. Menurut saya, menggunakan semua ketiga solusi tersebut merupakan solusi terbaik. Karena ketiga solusi tersebut saling mendukung satu dengan yang lainnya.

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CHAPTER I

INTRODUCTION

A. Background of the Study

In order to be able to learn effectively, children must have

motivation to learn. Koontz stated that motivation is the driving force

and effort to satisfy a want or goal (qtd. in Moekijat, 5). From this

statement it is clearly seen that children need motivation to have good

achievement in learning. However, motivating children to learn is not

an easy job. As what is stated by Carol Bainbridge in “Top 10 Ways to

Motivate Gifted Children”, that motivating children can be difficult (par.

1). And this is what I experienced during my internship in Active

Communicatice English Study, henceforth it is called ACES.

When I did my internship at ACES as an assistant teacher, I

taught a young 4th grader child. At that time, I was teaching English

grammar and the topic was about Past Tense, the child did not want to

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learn and this made me almost lost my temper. She did not want to

memorize the irregular verbs and I did not know how to motivate her.

For this reason I chose to analyze the problem to find the causes and

the effects and the solutions to solve the problem I faced.

B. Identification of the Problem

In identifying the problem, three major questions will be used.

They are :

1. Why could not I motivate a 4th grade child to learn English?

2. How did I and the child react to the problem?

3. How is it to make the child feel motivated to learn English?

C. Objectives and Benefits of the Study

The objectives of the study are first, to help the writer to study the

problem and to find the solutions to the problem. Second, the study will

also help the readers especially the teachers in general to know the

solutions of how to motivate the unmotivated child in learning English.

Finally for ACES, the study will help the teachers in ACES to motivate

unmotivated children to learn English.

D. Description of Institution

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Based on my interview I did with Mrs. Rhilmelda, ACE kids was

founded on 1st March 2002 and located at Pajajaran street no. 87. At

first Mrs. Rhimelda cooperated with Mrs. Leoni, and they used the

name Ace Kids because basically they only taught children around

primary school to senior high school to learn English.

On 1st January 2006 Ace Kids moved to Jalan Astina no.62D

because of the increasing number of students who registered to Ace

Kids. On 1st January 2013 Ace Kids moved again to Jalan Pandu no.

6a and Mrs. Rhilmeda changed the name Ace Kids into Active

Communicative English Study, henceforce it is called ACES, because

the students are no longer from primary-high school but also college

students and grown ups.

At present, ACES has already stands on its own and is handled

by Mrs. Rhimelda without the help from Mrs. Leoni (Anthony,

Rhimelda).

E. Method of Study

The analysis is done based on interview, library research, and

browsing on the Internet. For the interview, I interviewed some

experienced teachers at ACES to find information about how to handle

unmotivated children. For more information, I did library research and

browsed on the Internet. The data is used for writing my term paper

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and also as a reseach data in this term paper for D3 English

programme.

F. Limitation of Study

The study is based on my internship that took place in ACES from

1st July to 2nd August 2013. The subject of the study is a 4th grader in

ACES and I myself, was as an assistant teacher.

G. Organization of Term Paper

This Term paper starts with the Abstract, Declaration of

Originality, and Table of Contents. Then it is divided into four chapters:

Chapter 1, Chapter 2, Chapter 3, and Chapter 4. In Chapter One,

there are Background of the Study, Identification of the Problem,

Objectives and Benefits of the Study, Description of the Institution,

Method of the Study, Limitation of the Study, and Organization of the

Term Paper. Chapter Two analyzes the causes and effects of the

problem. Chapter Three describes three potential solutions to solve the

problem, with the positive and the negative effects of each solution.

Lastly, Chapter Four is the Conclusion, which discusses the best

solution to my problem. For the last part, there is a list of the sources

of all the supporting theories and interview data in the Bibliography,

and also Appendices which iclude flowchart and interview transcript.

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CHAPTER III

POTENTIAL SOLUTIONS

In this chapter, I would like describe some potensial solutions based on

my research to solve my problem in handling my difficulties in motivating a 4th

grader child to learn English based on my research. There are three potential

solutions with their positive and negative effects.

The first potential solution is I will give a fair challenge to the child. In

Ron Clark Story Reflection Paper, it is said that by giving a fair challenge to

children, the children would actually pay attention and learn (par. 2).

Therefore, I will give a fair challenge. For example if the child can memorize

at least 15 words of irregular verbs, I will do 10 push ups, but if she cannot

memorize the words well then she has to do 10 squats and the child will be

motivated.

The first solution has a potential positive and a potential negative effect.

The potential positive effect is the child will feel entertained and will pay

attention to the lesson. In Ron Clark Story Reflection Paper, it is stated that if

the teacher gives a fair challenge to the children keeps the class entertained

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and they will pay attention to what the teacher is teaching (par. 2). From this

point, I see that this solution can motivate children to learn and also make

them entertained.

The potential negative effect of this solution is the child might not have

any respect toward the teacher. Turley said that humiliating will make others

disrespect us (par. 6). This will happen if the child keeps failing and has to do

the penalty again and again and she will feel this as humiliation. If the child

feels humiliated, she will not respect the teacher

The second potential solution is I will give the child a reward if she does

well in studying. The reward can be : playing games, or something verbal. As

it is stated by Wright that using rewards can motivate students (9). If the child

is rewarded for her good achievement, she will feel that her hard work is paid

off and therefore she will be motivated to learn.

The first potential positive effect of using this solution is the child will do

the exercise and learn more seriously and therefore will be more motivated.

Druger shares his experiences that if the teacher gives the student reward for

her good work, she will be encouraged to learn and become motivated (3).

Therefore if I use this solution, the child will be more eager to learn and

motivated.

The second potential positive effect of this solution is the child will

perform better in learning. Be given a reward, the child will perform better in

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learning since she is motivated. Harms in his article stated that ”Students who

were given money or a trophy to look at while they tested performed better”

(par. 5). By giving a reward to the child, according to Harms, may make the

child motivated and will perform better in learning.

This second potential has some potential negative effects. First, the

child might become dependent on the reward. Linsin states that by offering

rewards “the students will demands higher and more frequent rewards” (par.

15). Therefore, by giving the child rewards, she may always expect for a

reward and refuse to learn if there is no reward.

The second potential negative effect is the child might not like the

rewards and will end up unmotivated. Linsin stated that reward weakens over

time and teachers have to increase the payment to keep the student

motivated (par. 15). In some ways rewards in a long run is ineffective, and I

have to increase the rewards to keep the child motivated.

The last potential solution is I will use the teaching style that is suitable

with the child’s learning style. According to Griswald, “identifying learning

styles and adapting lessons can motivate students” (par. 2). If I can identify

the child’s learning style and uses the suitable teaching style to teach him or

her by using some test or questioners, it will help the teacher to motivate the

child to learn. However, there are positive and negative effects of this

potential solution.

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The positive effect is the child can learn English more effectively. Baker

states that “When teachers know their students' best way to learn, they can

help their students learn more effectively” ( par. 2). When I know the child’s

learning style and use the suitable teaching style, the child will be more

enthusiastic in learning and learning will become more effective as they learn.

The potential negative effect of this potential solution is, the child will

lose her interest in learning English. Weimer said that if a learner has already

been used to learning with his or her own learning style for example using

visual aids, and the teacher tries to use another learning style which she or

he thinks is more suitable for the child, the child may not be motivated to learn

(par. 5). Therefore if I teach the child using a different learning style that is

suitable for her, she may lose her interest, for example, if the child is used to

learning with kinesthetic learning style and at the moment the teaching

materials need to use visual learning styles she will not be motivated or eager

to learn.

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BIBLIOGRAPHY

Printed Sources

Moekijat, Drs. Dasar-Dasar Motivasi. Bandung : Pionir Jaya, 2002.

Electronic Sources

Bainbridge, Carol. “Top 10 Ways to Motivate Gifted Children.” About.com

2013. 15 September 2013. <http://giftedkids.about.com/od/

nurturinggiftsandtalents/tp/motivate.htm>

Baker, Fiona. “Learning Styles in Children.” Kidspot 2013. 23 September

2013.

<http://www.kidspot.com.au/schoolzone//Learning-Learning-styles-Learning-styles-in-children+4053+391+article.htm>

Clark, Su. ”Temper the Reply.” Tesconnect 20 October 2000. 11 May 2008.

<http://www.tes.co.uk/article.aspx?storycode=339902>.

Doganay, Ahmet, and Ayse Ozturk. “An Investigation of Experienced and

Inexperienced Primary School Teachers Teaching Process in Science

and Technology Classes in Terms of Metacognitive Strategies.”

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Academia. 2013. 23 September 2013.

<http://www.academia.edu/1265178/An_Investigation_of_Experienced_

and_Inexperienced_Primary_School_Teachers_Teaching_Process_in_

Science_and_Technology_Classes_in_Terms_of_Metacognitive_Strate

gies>

Druger, Marvin. “Motivating The Unmotivated.”15 March 2012. 27 September

2013.

<http://www.fehb.org/CSE/CCSEConference2012/wright_CCSE_Confer

ence_Breakout_Motiv_Students_15_Mar_2012.pdf>

Graham, Donna. “What is the Meaning of Motivation?” Ezine Articles 19 may

2010. 15 November 2013.

<http://ezinearticles.com/?What-is-the-Meaning-of-Motivation?&id=4326473>

Griswold, June. “Children’s Learning Styles.” Parent to Parent 15 September

2013. <http://www.fortnet.org/ParentToParent/PFellers/par_lern.html>

Harms, William. “Immediate rewards for good scores can boost student

performance.” UchicagoNews 26 June 2012. 13 December 2013.

<http://news.uchicago.edu/article/2012/06/26/immediate-rewards-good-scores-can-boost-student-performance>

Linsin, Michael. “Why You Shouldn’t Reward Students With Good Behavior.”

Smart Classroom Management 5 March 2011. 13 October 2013.

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<http://www.smartclassroommanagement.com/2011/03/05/rewarding-students-for-good-behavior/>

“Ron Clark Story Reflection Paper.” StudyMode. 15 September 2013.

<http://www.studymode.com/essays/Ron-Clark-Story-Reflection-Paper-1943478.html>

Sasson, Dorit. “How to Plan Lesson Using Learning Styles.” Ezine Articles 23

October 2008.16 September 2013.

<http://ezinearticles.com/?How-to-Plan-Lessons-Using-Learning-Styles&id=1612512>

Turley, Allen. “Moments that Matter – Dealing with Disrespect (Part 2)

Expressions of Disrespect.” Connections 2 May 2013. 15 October 2013.

http://connections.teenchallengeusa.com/training/moments-that-matter-dealing-with-disrespect-part-2-expressions-of-disrespect

Sasson, Dorit. “How to Plan Lesson Using Learning Styles.” Ezine Articles 23

October 2008. 28 September 2013.

<http://ezinearticles.com/?How-to-Plan-Lessons-Using-Learning-Styles&id=1612512>

Weimer, Marvellen, PhD. “Challenging the Notion of Learning Styles.” Faculty

Focus 13 March 2012. 6 November 2013.

<http://www.facultyfocus.com/articles/learning-styles/challenging-the-notion-of-learning-styles/>

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Wright, Jim “Six Reasons Why Students are Unmotivated (and What

Teachers Can Do).” Intervention Central 15 march 2012. 10 October

2013.

<http://www.fehb.org/CSE/CCSEConference2012/wright_CCSE_Confer

ence_Breakout_Motiv_Students_15_Mar_2012.pdf>

Interview

Anthony, Rhimelda. Personal interview. 5 August 2013.

Handling My Difficulty in Motivating A 4th Grader Child to Learn English at Aces.

ABSTRACT

TABLE OF CONTENTS

CHAPTER I

INTRODUCTION

A. Background of the Study

B. Identification of the Problem

C. Objectives and Benefits of the Study

D. Description of Institution

E. Method of Study

F. Limitation of Study

G. Organization of Term Paper

CHAPTER III

POTENTIAL SOLUTIONS

BIBLIOGRAPHY