Educafl 2021. Vol 4 No 2 ISSN: 2540-7775
Doi: 10.21776/ub.educafl.2021.004.02.06
The Teaching of English by Using Telegram Application: A Aase Study at SMKN (Vocational High School) 4 Malang
Mizan Yushril Rahmatullah Faqih Putra Brawijaya University, Malang
yushril05@gmail.com Indonesia Dian Inayati Brawijaya University, Malang
Indonesia
Article Info ABSTRACT
Article history: This study aims to describe the implementation of Telegram application as a teaching media in teaching English and to know students’
perceptions toward this implementation. Using case study as research design, the teacher who used Telegram as teaching media in English teaching and 2 students who are taught by this teaching media were being participants in this qualitative study. The observation checklist form adapted from Lubis (2018) and the interview guidelines adapted from Chorida (2017) was used to gain the data. To reach the objective of the study, the researcher conducted online observation and interviews with those participants. The finding shows that the implementation of Telegram at SMKN 4 Malang can give positive impact in English language teaching. The use of Telegram facilitates students to autonomously learn. It is due to all of the materials needed by students are already provided with clear instructions by the English teacher in one of its features called Bot API. Related to the student responses in using Telegram application, students are pretty attractive to use this Telegram application as the teaching media. Therefore, it is suggested to English teachers to implement Telegram application as one of teaching media in delivering materials.
Received June 28, 2021 Revised June 29, 2021 Accepted June 30, 2021
Keywords:
Social Media, ICT in ELT, Telegram, Vocational High School. Bot API.
Corresponding Author:
Mizan Yushril Rahmatullah Faqih Putra Brawijaya University,
Malangyushril05@gmail.com Indonesia
1. Introduction
The development of ICT which rapidly increases has affected and changed the pedagogy of language teaching around the world. Dr. A. Gumawang Jati as cited in Floris’ study (2014) stated that in order to facilitate teacher and students in language teaching some easiness, the curriculum and ICT should be integrated.
It is expected that using ICT in English language teaching may help teachers to deliver materials in an interesting way by applying ICT media in the class.
One of the examples of ICT tools that has been used in teaching English is social media. The example of social media that is often used by the user to integrate teaching and ICT is Telegram. Based on Yinka, et al (2018), Telegram is considered to be a student-centered asynchronous teaching method that uses online learning resources to facilitate information sharing outside the constraints of time and place among a network of people.
The feature that allows the teacher to conduct the instruction through Telegram is called Bot API (Application Programming Interface), an interface for building a customized server (adapted from Telegram
official website). It means that Telegram could be a beneficial teaching media which gives students easy way to have good experiences in every teaching and learning English activity.
In the other hand, based on the Government Regulation of the Republic of Indonesia No. 21 of 2020, large- scale social restrictions (PSBB) protocols should be implemented so that all university and schools have shifted to online-based learning. The Telegram application itself could be one of the beneficial teaching media at the moment of COVID-19 pandemic.
Discussing the implementation of Telegram application in ELT, several previous studies have been conducted. The first study was conducted by Zidny and Suharso (2017). The study showed that the use of Instagram in the teaching and learning process significantly improved the students’ writing skill. The second relevant previous study was conducted by Rahma, Bandjarjani, and Andanty (2018). Based on the result of data analysis of this study, it could be concluded that telegram as media in teaching and learning process made students not lazy to write. Likewise, a study conducted by Xodabande, (2017) revealed that using social media networks in teaching language features can be very effective and promising.
Meanwhile, the current study focuses on the implementation of Telegram application in teaching and learning English within the context of vocational high school rather than only finding the effectiveness or the effect of using Telegram as the previous studies have done. Furthermore, the current study highlights one of the features of Telegram (Bot API) that is used by the teacher to hold the instruction.
Based on those considerations, the researcher decided to describe the implementation of Telegram application in teaching and learning English within the context of vocational high school rather than only finding the effectiveness or the effect of using Telegram as the previous studies have done. Accordingly, the statements of the problems of the study are as follow:
1. How is the implementation of Telegram application in teaching English at SMKN (Vocational High School) 4 Malang?
2. What are the challenges in implementing Telegram application in teaching English at SMKN (Vocational High School) 4 Malang?
3. What are the students’ responses toward Telegram application implementation in teaching English SMKN (Vocational High School) 4 Malang?
Teaching English at Vocational High School
Vocational high school is a department of education which design students to work in a certain field after graduate. As mentioned in National Education System Decree No. 20 in 2003, vocational high school is defined as a secondary education that prepares students primarily for work in a particular area. The students of vocational high school choose the program based on their ability and interest.
Based on Curriculum 2013, both vocational high school and senior high school use similar syllabus and students’
textbook in English subject. However, schools can also independently create and develop the syllabus based on the condition and needs of the area after receiving permission from local Department of Education and Culture (Mulyasa, 2013). In line, Based on Minister of National Education Decree No. 22 in 2006, the main purpose of teaching English at vocational high school is to prepare students to master English skills and knowledge that will support the achievement based on the program. Furthermore, vocational high schools need to provide English for Specific Purposes (ESP) for students.
According to Permendikbud, No. 70 (2013), allocation time for English subject in vocational high school is 2 meetings in a week. However, the time allotted for English subject in vocational high school based on Curriculum 2013 is reduced. The time of English subject was only one meeting from two meetings in a week. The reduction of English subject time also brings challenges to cover all materials that should be developed in a limited time. Based on the problems faced by teachers and students in teaching and learning English, it is expected that using social media as an ICT tool in teaching English can increased students’ motivation and interest in learning English in easy way. One of the examples of social media that could be use in teaching English is Telegram.
Social Media as an ICT Tool in ELT
Social media literally refers to any media that allows interaction among people. Based on Kietzmann, et al., (2011), social media is web-based applications which provide functionality for sharing, relationships, group, conversation and profiles. Social media also has exerted a great influence on many aspects of life, including English education. Many literatures (Allam, et al., 2016., Li, V. 2017., Handayani, et al., 2018) have shown various types of social media employed in a range of English language teaching contexts.
Some academic experts believe that social media can be used as an effective teaching tool in higher education or secondary education because of its ease of use, ready availability, and individual affordability and network effects. As cited in Devi’s study, et al (2019), Facebook has been used in university courses to facilitate teacher and student discussion, and wikis and blogs have been used to collaborate on projects and receive rapid feedback. In the secondary level of education, Instagram has been used in improving students’ writing skill (Zidny, et al, 2017). By knowing a lot of social media that have been used in teaching English, it is expected for teachers and students to use Telegram in English teaching and learning process.
Telegram Application as an ICT Tool
In this regard, Telegram is one of the web applications serving a large online community which was launched in 2013 by two Russian brothers, Pavel and Nikolai Durov (Adapted from official Telegram website). In English language teaching, Telegram is one of the examples of social media that could be used for teaching and learning process. It could be an alternative way to make students more interested in teaching English with comfortable atmosphere in the class. Based on Inayati (2015), integrating Telegram application into existing learning practices can provide informal learning contexts and create new opportunities for English learning with bringing fun and comfortable atmosphere in the class.
There are some differences between Telegram application and other social media which has similar function.
Although WhatsApp or Line has function as communication tool with others, Telegram has better characteristics than those two applications. According to Manna, et al., (2018), Telegram is very helpful for teacher or students in sending big file size like e-books, e-articles, audio, and video materials in the process of teaching and learning. Telegram could send messages, photos, videos, audio and file of any type up to 1.5 GB. In contrast, WhatsApp only has size sending capacity up to 100 MB while LINE has more big size sending capacity than WhatsApp that is up to 300 MB.
In this case, Telegram could be helpful media for teacher to send information or materials by communicating with their students in a group without anylimitations in the use of this media.
Moreover, it also provides Bot API by creating a new Bot that could be controlled and easily built specialized for it, and integrated any services. By using this feature, teachers could develop materials in variety ways in the process of teaching and learning. In the other hand, both WhatsApp and Line do not have this kind of system in their services. Based on the characteristic of Telegram application above, it can be summarized that this application could be a helpful media in English language teaching for teacher and students in vocational high school who also learn about technology in their programs.
In addition, Bot API is a program which is based on AI (Artificial Intelligent) and machine learning in small level. Users may have an interaction with customized bot by sendingcommands and it will reply by what it provides (Setiaji and Paputungan, 2018). The figure 1 and 2 are an interface of the interaction between user and Bot.
Figure 1: Interface of Bot API Feature in Telegram
Figure 2: Another Interface of Telegram Application by Using Bot Feature
2. Methods
Research Design
Since the study intends to describe the implementation of telegram application in teaching English and to know students’ responses toward the implementation of Telegram application in English language teaching, the research design used was case study which is included in qualitative study. Its implementation was considered as a unique phenomenon in teaching and learning English.
Setting and Participants
The participants who would give the information about the implementation of Telegram application as teaching media in teaching English was the English teacher at SMK Negeri 4 Malang and 2 students from one class who are high achiever student and low achiever student. It was expected by choosing those students, it could be representative of the whole class opinions about Telegram implementation in teaching and learning English. Furthermore, the interview would be also conducted in order to get students’ perception toward the implementation of Telegram application in teaching English.
Data Collection Method and Analysis
The instruments needed to conduct in this study are field notes, observation checklist, interview guidelines and documentation. In order to support and complete the observation data, the researcher also employed field notes in gaining the data. In this study, the field note would be used to describe the teacher’s implementation toward Telegram application in English language teaching and also to get students’ enthusiasm and responses during the implementation of Telegram application in teaching and learning process.
Furthermore, in this study, the researcher would be a non-participant observer. The researcher would use observation checklist to help in knowing the use of Telegram application in process of teaching and learning in doing observation. The observation checklist used in the study was adapted from Lubis (2018) includes 21 statements. There were 21 statements in the observation checklist related to the research questions and the behavior of the participants. The observation checklist consists of into 4 sub-topics such as class environment while using Telegram application, students’ interest and motivation in the classrooms’ activity, the implementation of Telegram application in English classroom, and the contents of Telegram application that were contained the answer, yes or no which would explain further.
As part of adaptation, the researcher changed some questions of the observation checklist because there are some questions that cannot be measured and inappropriate to be implemented in observation checklist.
Since the researcher decided to use case study as the research method, the interview was conducted with the participants to get more information and their perceptions toward the implementation of Telegram application in English teaching and learning. In doing interview, the researcher used interview guidelines to make easy in conducting the interview. In this study, the interview guidelines are adapted from Chorida (2017). There were several questions that related to the implementation of Telegram, beneficial, challenges faced, and problem- solving by an English teacher and students in using Telegram application. Two students of one class who were taught with Telegram application would also be interviewed to get their perception toward Telegram implementation in English teaching. Those were high achiever student and low achiever students which were selected by using mid-term test score. They were expected to accommodate the whole students’ perception in one class.
To enhance the data got from several instruments before, documentation could be important data source in this study. The documents were considered important since the data gained are real written explanations. It helped the researcher to describe the real process on the implementation of Telegram application in English teaching. Documentation used in the study includes the official written information released by the school. The documentations that were reviewed in this study are syllabus, materials, and students’ assessment of English subject.
After collecting the data, the researcher classified, displayed, and concluded the results of the research by using these following steps:
1. The researcher classified and sorted out the important data related to the topic of the study by conducting data condensation. The process of choosing, focusing on, and simplifying the data were done in this step. The data that would be taken are relevant to the implementation of Telegram application in English teaching and learning.
2. Then, the researcher selected data leaded to new ideas on what should go into displaying data. In this research, the data were displayed by showing it in a form of description.
3. After that, the researcher made the conclusion from the result of the observation checklist used in observing Telegram application implementation in English teaching, the interviews responses and the documents from the school. The conclusion was drawn based on the data and the information gathered during the research was conducted. Besides, the researcher may also find the relation among those categories of data that was useful in answering the objectives of the current study.
4. Finally, to increase the validity of the data that were taken, the researcher conducted triangulation. It was done by crosschecking the sources of data which were observation, interview, and documentation. Then, when the data from all of the sources were similar, it could be said that the data was trustworthy.
3. Finding
The Implementation of Telegram application in teaching English at SMKN (Vocational High School) 4 Malang.
Based on the finding, the implementation of Telegram application suits with environment of the school. It is due to the fact that the school of SMKN 4 Malang is the one which focuses on teaching the students about technology and computer. As what has been implied by the students in interview section. The student said
“Yes, because my major at this school is studying about technology”. (An excerpt retrieved from an interview with student B)
Besides, the students also told
“Yes, I think it is suitable with the condition of the students who are teenagers that are attracted with the use of gadgets in daily life”.
(An excerpt retrieved from an interview with student A)
Therefore, by implementing Telegram application in English language teaching, hopefully it would make the students aware of using the development of technology in a wise way. However, the teacher did not always use Telegram as the only media to encourage the students’ awareness in taking advantage of the development of technology. There should be the utilization of other applications such as Socrative and Teacher’s Blog, but still, the main media used by the teacher was Telegram which included all the materials needed along the semester.
Other benefit obtained by implementing Telegram application in English language teaching is that it may provide the students an autonomous learning. It is due to all of the materials needed have been being inputted by the teacher to one of the Telegram’s feature, which is called as Bot API. It is proven by teacher who said
“This media is already completed with all of the materials and accessible for students”. (An excerpt retrieved from an interview with the teacher)
To access the materials, students just need to go to Bot which is named English For Grade X, then select the topic they want to study. The materials in this feature consist of quite complete package such as explanation, example, and tasks. Thus, the students would be easier to study English wherever and whenever they want. The appearance of Bot API can be seen in figure 3.
Figure 3: The Appearance of Bot API
However, to gain all the benefits mentioned above, the teacher needed to do some efforts. Before using Telegram application as teaching media, the teacher should set and create the Bot API to be used in teaching English. First, the teacher logged in to Telegram account. Then, in the search section, he typed manybot.
The following list such as in figure 4 would appear, Manybot should be selected.
Figure 4: Searching Manybot Account
After being clicked, a chat dialog would appear as in figure 5, the teacher clicked START to begin setup.
Figure 5: Interface of Manybot
After clicking START, the initial command would appear. Since the teacher was going to make a bot, he clicked on the text /addbot or clicked on "Create a New Bot" like in the figure 6.
Figure 6: Creating a New Bot
Then, the tutorial of making a new bot would appear in detail as shown in figure 7
Figure 7: Tutorial of Making a New Bot
In the figure 7, the teacher was advised to make a Bot using @BotFather. Then he clicked on the @BotFather username. After that, he would enter directly into the chat dialog with the Botfather. He clicked START to get started.
After clicking START, a tutorial on using BotFather would appear as in figure 8. To start making the Telegram Bot, the teacher clicked on the /newbot link.
Figure 8: The Interface of BotFather
Then, the teacher was asked to give a name of the Telegram Bot that would be used. In this study, the teacher used
“English for grade X” as the name of the Telegram Bot as what has been showed in figure 9.
Figure 9: Giving Name for The New Bot
Next, the teacher was asked the username of the Bot that would be made. The username should be ended with the word bot or Bot. In this study the teacher used “@English_ForGradeX_bot” as the username of the Bot. Figure 10 showed the detail information of the interface in user-naming the Bot.
Figure 10: Giving Username of The New Bot
After determining the username, the Telegram Bot has been created and the information as shown in figure 11 would appear.
Figure 11: The Information of Bot Token
This process is actually not finished yet, the teacher should verify the Bot token. Then, he copied the token listed and went back to Manybot. Next, the teacher clicked “I’ve copied the API token”. The teacher then waited until Manybot had answered with the words "Good. Send the API token in the next message”. After that, the teacher should paste the token that was copied before in the Manybot chat column then clicked “send”. Finally, the teacher waited until he got a reply that the token for the Telegram bot has been received as in the figure 12 and Manybot would inform the teacher that the Telegram Bot was ready to use.
Figure 12: The Information That Bot Is Ready To Use
After creating the Bot, the teacher inserted the materials, exercises, and quizzes in the Bot. Then, the teacher asked the students to download and install the Telegram application in their device as well as making Telegram group class. Finally, the teacher can share the information about the Bot by sending the link or asking them to find it in Telegram’s searching feature.
The Telegram group class in this study consists of thirty-five students and a teacher. The teacher started the class by broadcasting a text that includes some points that students need to pay attention. The teacher explained what the students should study that day. By doing that, the students would know that they were going to learn about daily routine task. After explaining what was going to be studied, the teacher also informed them what they should do to complete the course. Firstly, the students should click the online link provided to study the material. The online link was the gate to get all the materials (explanations and examples), tasks, and activities regarding to the topic provided.
Besides, the students are also allowed to go to Telegram’s Bot API set by the teacher for the class and choose the daily routine menu. Both online link and Bot API provides the same materials. The display of the materials can be seen as in figure 13.
Figure 13: Display of daily routine materials
The second, after studying about the topic discussed, the students are asked to complete the quiz lied after the material section. The quiz consists of two sections. The first section is matching the picture and daily activities. Here, there are 25 pictures and 25 daily activities such as getting up, washing face, doing homework, and so on. The students are asked to write down the daily activities that is suit with the picture provided below the picture. The second section is that completing the paragraph by choosing the appropriate word. This section contains a paragraph that its some words are missing. The students should choose the appropriate words among A, B, C, or D option by writing it down on a paper and submitting in the form a picture in the Telegram group class. The number of the missing words is 12. Thus, the total number of the quiz is 37. The detailed information about the quiz can be found in figure 14.
Figure 14: Quiz of daily routine materials
Thirdly, the students should write their own text of their daily activities in the form of telegraph (a blogging platform provided by Telegram) just like the example given previously in the materials section. After that, the students should send the online link of their work to the group to be checked and scored by the teacher. The students should submit their work before the due date which was the next day after the teacher gave the materials at 24.00.
Those who sent their job out of the due date, their score will be decreased. Figure 15 is the display of Telegraph by Telegram application.
Figure 15: The Display of Telegraph
To publish a writing on Telegraph, firstly, the students only need to go to an instant web called telegra.ph.
There, the students would see a blank white space with some boxes to write down their title of the writing, name, and of course their writing the same as what has been provided in figure 4.13. They can add some pictures from their device, videos from YouTube, or even tweets from Twitter by only providing the link in the writing. After the writing is finished, the students need to press “publish” button at the top right of the page. Finally, the writing is published.
After announcing what the students should do to complete the course, the teacher closed the text by wishing them to have a nice job and a good luck. The teacher also suggested them to share the information about that day’s announcement to their friends so that no students would miss the information. Without any further do, some students started sending their work to the Telegram group class. If the students asked about the materials or task, the teacher directly share the answer in the group class. Hence, after the students collected their works and no longer asked about the topic or the materials, it can be determined that the materials are successfully delivered.
Besides, using telegram in online ELT classroom also gives some contributions to the development of students’
English competencies. Regarding writing skill, Telegram provides Telegraph application which allow the students to post their writing to be read by the other users.
It was supported by the teacher who said
“Telegram promotes students autonomous learning so they can learn every time and everywhere. It helps students to improve their skills in English such as reading and writing”.
(An excerpt retrieved from an interview with the teacher)
This was beneficial for students to foster their self-confidence to publish their writings. To make the students write on Telegraph, the teacher usually asked them to publish their work such as writing recount text, daily activities, and so on. Then, after publishing their writing, the students just need to drop the online link to submit the work. Out of the school task, the students of course can publish their own writings on Telegraph.
The telegraph supports not only students’ writing skill but also reading skill. Since the published writing task was usually submitted by dropping the online link at the Telegram group class, every student may read the others’
work by clicking the online link. As much as they keep reading, their reading skill would be increased. However, telegraph was not the only source for practicing reading skill. The teacher provided some materials that includes some readings on it. It was in line with the students’ interview result that they said
“We can learn a new vocabulary by reading the material provided by the teacher”. (An excerpt retrieved from an interview with student A)
Thus, to increase the reading skill, the students may read the other students’ writing on telegraph or read the readings provided by the teacher in Bot API feature.
To conclude, the implementation of Telegram application as the teaching media in teaching English is suitable with the environment of SMKN (Vocational High School) 4 Malang. Furthermore, it is also beneficial for supporting students’ development in English comprehension especially in writing and reading skills. Meanwhile, to utilize the Telegram in teaching English, teacher needs to provide all the materials and insert them to Bot API. Teacher should also make a group class consisted of all of the students in the class to organize the teaching process well. Therefore, by doing this, the benefits of using Telegram and the learning objectives can be reached.
Challenges in Implementing Telegram in Teaching English at SMKN 4 Malang.
The problems found are based on the teacher and students’ interview as well as observation. Thus, this finding will be divided into two parts which are teacher’s problems and students’ problem.
1. Teacher’s Problems As the teacher saying
“Usually, the problems are the internet connection access and making sure students study and do the exercise by themselves”,
(An excerpt retrieved from an interview with student the teacher)
The problem probably faced by the teacher is regarding internet connection access. Based on the observation, since Telegram application cannot be operated offline, the teacher should connect to internet access when he wanted to conduct or start the class. The use of Telegram also needs a stable signal to be able to connect well. If the internet connection is bad, it can be a problem that could potentially disturb the operation of Telegram. For example, when the teacher wants to send materials to be a project for students in group class, it cannot be sent because the internet connection does not work well, so when it occurs, it can be impacted to the project timeline.
The second problem is that the teacher cannot control whether the students study the materials or not. In accordance with the observation, it is difficult to make sure that the students pay attention to the materials given or
the students do the quiz by their selves is also difficult to be known. Furthermore, these problems may affect to teacher’s decision in marking the score of each student.
Overcoming the problems, the teacher provided some solutions by saying
“I usually make sure the internet connection is available and running well before starting the class, then give students essay question to fix the second problem”.
(An excerpt retrieved from an interview with the teacher.)
Therefore, providing enough internet data before starting the class as well as checking students’ work should be conducted. The internet data needed is not too much. 2 Giga bytes of internet data are way enough to operate the Telegram application. To make sure that the students study the materials given, the teacher gave them an essay question to be answered. For instance, as what has been mentioned previously, the teacher asked the students to make daily routine text. In the form of essay, each student should have different answer. If different students have the same answer, it means that one of them copied the other student’s answer.
2. Students’ Problems
Similar with the problem of the teacher, students also face internet connection access matter. The student said
“The problem is the internet connection access because without the data internet connection, we cannot use Telegram during the learning process”.
(An excerpt retrieved from an interview with student A)
This implied that sometimes the implementation of Telegram is affected by the internet connection access. The observation activity found that it needs a strong signal to be able to have a well connection. If the internet connection is not running well, it can be a problem that could disturb students when they want to send the task. Sometimes, it may cause students send their tasks out of due date.
The other problems faced by the students is that, at the beginning, students found some difficulties to operate the application. In the interview section, student also said
“Sometimes, I find difficulties in operating Telegram at the beginning”. (An excerpt retrieved from an interview with student B)
It is in line with the observation that Telegram application is quite different from other mainstream social media such as WhatsApp. Telegram is way more complicated with a lot of features in it. However, this is not kind of a big problem because the students are already used to work with other more complicated application such as Coreldraw, Photoshop, and so on.
To sum up, the teacher and students have similar challenge in using Telegram application which is internet connection access. Separately, teacher faced the problem regarding making sure that the student study the materials as well as do the quizzes by themselves. Meanwhile, students also faced the problem of using Telegram application.
Thus, beside both the teacher and student have similar problem, they also have their own problem in using Telegram.
Students’ Responses toward Telegram Application Implementation in Teaching English at SMKN 4 Malang.
In this part, the researcher focused picturing students’ responses toward the Telegram application implementation in English language learning at SMKN 4 Malang. The data are obtained from students and teacher interview, and the observation.
Based on the finding, students are pretty interested to use this Telegram application as the teaching media used to deliver the materials. The teacher said
“They seemed enthusiast and interested”.
(An excerpt retrieved from an interview with the teacher)
In line, students also mentioned
“I think my friends and I enjoy using Telegram in the process of teaching and learning because the atmosphere in Telegram group is friendly and attractive” and “In my opinion, the students enjoy during the learning process while using Telegram because it easy to use”.
(An excerpt retrieved from an interview with student A and B.)
There are several reasons why the students showed this particular response. Based on the observation, the first is that they do not need to open the book to study the materials. They just select the materials they would study at Bot API because all of the materials were already there or they can study the material which sent by the teacher in the Telegram group class. The second is that Telegram application is accessible. The application can be easily downloaded in the Playstore or Appstore. Besides, it is also available to be operated at PC devices.
Furthermore, the students perceive that the use of Telegram application as teaching media is appropriate. The teacher organized this application well and the concept was clear. Students could study the materials autonomously.
They also stay connected with the teacher if they want to ask or clarify something about the materials. Students said
“Telegram may help us which we can learn autonomously with all of materials that were already in this media and we can connect and ask directly to the teacher by Telegram”.
(An excerpt retrieved from an interview with student A)
Similarly, the teacher said
“The students do not need to bring a lot of books and it may increase students’ awareness of using technology wisely.
It also may attract students’ attention toward learning process”.
(An excerpt retrieved from an interview with the teacher)
Based on the observation, the atmosphere in Telegram group was also welcoming and friendly. The teacher sometimes cracks some jokes to break the ice. The communication among the students in Telegram group was also interesting. They may give comments each other work when they are submitting it to the Telegram group but still in conducive way.
4. Discussion
The use of ICT gives positive benefits on the teaching and learning process for students of vocational high school especially those who are majoring technology and computer science such as at SMKN 4 Malang. The students of vocational high school choose the program based on their ability and interest. Since they choose the major based on their ability and interest, the use of Telegram application also gives an effort to enhance their motivation and willingness to learn. This is in line with the statement proposed by Ayari et al., (2012) that technology can be a powerful tool to engage students in the learning process inside and outside the classroom.
Moreover, time allotted for English subject in vocational high school based on Curriculum 2013 is reduced.
From 2 meetings per week, it became one meeting per week. The reduction of time allotment becomes problem for both students and teacher to complete the course in a limited time given. Therefore, using Telegram application is the answer to help them overcoming the problem regarding time allotment. It is due to the Telegram application facilitate students to learn autonomously. This is supported by Soleh, et al., (2015) that some learners are more responsible for their learning and they are more initiative to solve their problems by themselves during the learning process. However, this may occur if only the teacher provides or insert the materials needed to Telegram feature named Bot API. Besides, it also provides students an access to connect with the teacher personally if they find any difficulties in learning. Thus, Telegram application could be the appropriate application to support students to practice an autonomous learning.
The findings also showed that Telegram application utilization as teaching media can be an efficient tool which help the teacher in the effort of enhancing students’ ability of writing and reading skills. Writing skill may be improved by using Telegraph feature, while reading skill may be improved by using both Telegraph and Bot API features such as what has been mentioned previously in the findings. It is in line with the previous study conducted by Rahma, et al., (2018) who found that there was an influence of Telegram application in enhancing students’
achievement in writing. They also argued that students may be interested to write in Telegram because it is easily accessed in their gadget and they can use it everywhere as long as they are connected to the internet. Comparably, it also related with the previous study conducted by Zidny and Suharso (2017). This previous study found that using Instagram as teaching media was successfully enhance students’ writing skills comprehension. Although the media used was different, but it can be a supporting evidence that the use of social media in teaching English may improve students’ skills in many ways.
However, integrating the use of ICT into teaching and learning is a process that not easy for some people.
People may have encountered some difficulties while implementing it. Many factors cause difficulties in utilizing ICT such as Telegram.
Based on the findings of this research, the problem faced by teacher and students were about internet connection. This reflects Salehi, et al., (2012), found that teachers believed that low internet speed prevents them to use the implementation of ICT in school. Also, this finding supports the findings by Habibu, et al., (2012), found that lack of software problems such as network connectivity or low internet speed affected the barriers to ICT utilization.
Therefore, checking the internet connectivity and availability before starting the class is important to do to avoid this problem. By doing this, hopefully both teachers and students may not face this problem anymore.
Besides, teacher also found difficulty in making sure that the students do the exercises given by themselves to check whether the students understand the materials. According to the teacher interview, to overcome this challenge, teacher provide them an essay question. Based on Reiner, et al. (2002), essay questions are generally used when a teacher wants to assess students’ understanding of subject-matter content and students’ ability to reason with their knowledge of a subject. Moreover, it also provides different answer from each student so that the students cannot copy others’ answer. Based on the advantages provided by essay question, it can be an alternative way for the teacher to assess equally students’ understanding during an online class.
Furthermore, students found different challenges. Sometimes, they find difficulties in operating Telegram application correctly. It was mentioned previously that Telegram has some different features which are not included in any mainstream social media such as WhatsApp and Line. Those are Bot API and Telegraph. According to students’ interview, they need to get used to these kinds of features. For instance, to access Bot API, they have to do several steps. Therefore, in overcoming these problems, the students suggest the teacher to make a brief procedure text to explain how to operate some features in the purpose of teaching. This is should be done to make a clear information between both teacher and students so that it makes the utilization of Telegram application in English teaching conducive. This is in line with the statements proposed by Ping, et al. (2003) that a procedure text minimizes the occurrences of deviant behavior among students and keep the students to do the task appropriately.
Contrary, difficulties found in this study are not the same as what has been found by Faramarzi, et al., (2019).
The study revealed that the teacher and students’ knowledge about each features of telegram is crucial. Teacher and students should be fully trained in operating Telegram application to obtain the huge potential of the application.
When it cannot be achieved, using telegram as learning media can be stressing. However, this kind of difficulty did not appear in this study. This happens may be because the teacher and students are in the appropriate environment.
As what has been mentioned in the finding, the school of SMKN 4 Malang is the one which focuses on teaching the students about technology and computer so that the teacher and students are used to have a business with such application. Thus, it is not a problem for the teacher and students to develop this application in the purpose of learning.
In addition, students’ responses should be considered in utilizing ICT as a teaching media. This is should be done to know whether the students are excited, attracted, or even bored. If the students are excited, the use of ICT can be continued. Meanwhile, if the students are bored, it means that the implementation of ICT should be evaluated or even be stopped. In this study, the result showed that the use of Telegram application as a teaching media got positive reaction from the students. It is due to the fact that Telegram application is practical, accessible, well- organized, interesting, and conceptualized clearly. Besides, Telegram application also provides autonomous learning, has friendly and welcoming atmosphere, and connects students and teacher. This finding is the same as what Inayati (2015) found in her study which concludes that integrating Telegram application into existing learning practices can create new opportunities for English learning with bringing fun and comfortable atmosphere in the class. To conclude, the utilization of Telegram application could be an alternative way to make students more interested in teaching English with comfortable atmosphere in the class.
After all, since Telegram application provides some meaningful benefits, limited challenge, and got positive reaction from the students, it can be concluded that social media such as Telegram application is an appropriate and effective application to be used as teaching media in ELT. This is in line with what previous study conducted by Xodabande (2017) revealed. The previous study revealed that using social media networks in teaching language features can be very effective and promising. However, it can be reached if only the teacher organized it well such as what was done by the teacher in this research. Those are providing all the materials needed by the students in Bot API, using Telegraph to publish students work, guiding students by informing what they are supposed to do, creating a comfortable atmosphere in the group class by letting students to ask their difficulties, and answering students’
question quickly. By doing this, the aims that the teacher want to achieve by implementing Telegram application as a teaching media could be reached.
5. Conclusion
In conclusion, Telegram becomes a media in terms of virtual learning at home for the teacher and students during the pandemic of Coronavirus disease (COVID-19). As the COVID-19 outbreak spread, the government enforces Work From Home (WFH) to all of society for working and learning online at home including teachers and students. It can be said that Telegram isan online learning platform that can connect teachers and students to make interactive learning environment.
This research can be used as a reference for further researchers who want to conduct a research by the topic of ICT-based learning media with a different method, subject or occasion. The further researchers can conduct more research about the use of Telegram with different levels, for example the use of Telegram for adults and young learners.
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