AN ANALYSIS OF STUDENT COGNITIVE ENGAGEMENT IN LEARNING ENGLISH
(At the Tenth Grade Students of SMAN 1 SUTERA Pesisir Selatan)
Wella Dania*), Sesmiyanti, S.S, M.Pd, **), Melvina, M.Ed***)
*)Program Studi Pendidikan Bahasa Inggris, STKIP PGRI Sumatera Barat wella.dania@gmail.com
**)Staf Pengajar Program Studi Pendidikan Bahasa Inggris, STKIP PGRI Sumatera Barat dises_09@yahoo.com
***)Staf Pengajar Program Studi Pendidikan Bahasa Inggris, STKIP PGRI Sumatera Barat melvina.amir@yahoo.com
ABSTRACT
The purpose of this research is to explain about students’ cognitive engagement in learning English. Design of this research is descriptive research, and the participants of this research are students at tenth grade (X1) of SMAN 1 SUTERA, Pesisir Selatan with 35 students in that class. In this research, the researcher was taken the sample by doing purposive sampling because the researcher only saw the students who have high cognitive process. In this research, researcher choose observation (checklist and field note) and interview as the instrumentation to get all information related students cognitive engagement in learning English process. After analyzed the data, researcher find that students X1 have a good cognitive engagement in learning English.
The students active and have a best understanding in learning English which the students’ use self regulated in learning English such as use deliberate planning in carry out the task, students use monitoring with their task that given by teacher, student regulated heir self in the class although the teacher in the classroom. Then, students focus on the task. In resource management the students get the source of learning English from the internet book in the library their school, and also from dictionary students ask about the task to students knowledgeable peer. As the result, students at X1 did not be recipience, they were have high cognitive process in learning English.
Penelitian ini bertujuan untuk menjelaskan tentang keterlibatan kognitif siswa dalam pelajaran bahasa Inggris. Penelitian ini adalah penelitian desktiptif, dan respondennya adalah siswa kelas X1 SMA N 1 SUTERA, Pesisir Selatan sebanyak 35 siswa. Teknik penarikan sampel menggunakan purposive Sampling karena peneliti hanya melihat siswa yang mempunyai kognitif yang lebih baik. Instrumen penelitian ini adalah observasi (ceklist and field note) dan wawancara untuk memperoleh semua data yang berkaitan dengan keterlibatan kognitif siswa dalam proses belajar mengajar. Setelah menganalisa data peneliti menemukan bahwasannya siswa kelas X 1 di SMA Negeri 1 SUTERA memiliki keterlibatan kognitif yang cukup baik dalam pelajaran bahasa Inggris, yang mana siswa mampu dalam mengatur pelajaran sendiri dengan baik walaupun tanpa ada guru yang mengawasi. Kemudian, siswa juga fokus dalam tugas-tugas yang diberikan guru.
Selanjutnya,dalam mengelola sumber mata pelajaran, siswa tidak hanya menerima sumber dari gurunya, namun mereka juga aktif dalam mencari sumber pelajaran dari luar seperti internet, buku, kamus, dan juga bertanya kepada teman yang lebih pintar dari mereka. Maka dari itu, siswa kelas X1 ini tidak ada yang menjadi penerima, mereka selalu aktif dalam merespon instruksi dari guru, namun ada beberapa siswa yang memiliki keterbatasan dalam proses kognitif mereka dalam pelajaran bahasa Inggris.
Key words: Learning English, Student Cognitive Engagement
INTRODUCTION
Student Engagement is important in English learning process, because it makes learning possible and it predicts how well students learn in school. It is supported by Christenson et al. (2012:162) that student engagement is further important because it affords teacher the moment to moment feedback they need during the lessons to assess how well their efforts to motivate students are working. It means that, students’ engagement is really important in learning process because they want get feedback from lessons who give from their teacher, and known students efforts to learn and also to motivate students work.
Student engagement as student willingness to participate in routine school activities, such as attending classes, submitting required work, and following teachers’
instructions in class.
Cognitive engagement is the extent to which students’ are able to take on the learning task. This includes the amount of effort students are willing to invest in working on the task. Clarke (2002:133) states that cognitive engagement involves the thinking that students do while engaged in academic learning task. It means that, cognitive engagement is engaged students in learning task which related students thinking and knowledge in learning. In addition, cognitive engagement is opportunity students active maximally in learning and can applicant their learning in real life situation. In learning English, students should be following the subject matter to get the high score of education in the classroom. With cognitive engagement, students can be motivated, interest and interactive to follow studying in the classroom. Moreover, in students’
engagement, teacher gives opportunity to students for participates during they are learning.
The phenomenon related students’
cognitive engagement are In doing task from teacher, most of students gives a positive response like participation, doing task, and make assignment seriously in learning English.
In any case of learning, students not engaged when teacher gives instruction in the learning of English subject. For example, when their teacher gives the material, students not participate in learning, they just doing task because they afraid to the teacher.
Furthermore, students do not concentration in the learning, so that they do other activity in
the classroom. In addition, students did not share their opinion in class discussion, because they talk about unrelated topic so that make the classroom not interactive. Lastly, students are difficult to applicant what they have learnt in their real life, because they cannot connect the material of learning English maximally.
In supporting of this research, there are several expert that explains forms of cognitive engagement. The researcher had better discuss about the forms of cognitive engagement.
Clarke (2002:133) states that four forms of cognitive engagement:
a. Self regulated learning
Where students cognitive processing is driven by higher-order or metacognitive component.
b. Task focus
Where students use task-specific planning and self monitoring, for task where information rather than acquisition is required.
c. Resource management
Which students garner help from external sources.
d. Recipience
In which student respon passively with little mental investment, often to instruction which has short circuited their self-regulatory cognitive process.
This theory explain the forms of cognitive engagement focus on self regulated learning and task on learning. If students active in the learning, so that cognitive engagement is maximally and interaction between teacher and student be positive in learning English.
In addition, Evertson and Weinstein (2011:224) explains that self regulated learning is the highest forms of cognitive engagement. Engagement in self regulated learning is somewhat taxing. When task make cognitive demands, student may engage in self regulated learning. They may also shift the mental burden by calling upon available external resources such as willing and knowledgeable peer. Self regulated learning will be shown to consist of specific cognitive activities, such as deliberate planning and monitoring, which learners carry out as they encounter academic tasks. At this point, self regulated learning is highest form of student cognitive engagement in learning English. In addition, students add the knowledge from other sources like willing and ask peer who more clever than she or he in learning English
RESEARCH METHOD
The design of this research is descriptive research. According to Gay and Airasian (2000:275), descriptive research determines and describes the way things are. It means that descriptive research only focused on describing the phenomenon without giving treatment to the students. In addition, Sudjana (2010:64) states that descriptive research is to describe the symptom, phenomenon and event that happens in the right now. On the other word, the characteristic of descriptive research is to describe the situations or conditions actually. As statement, descriptive research was chosen because the researcher wants to find out student cognitive engagement in learning English. In this research, for answering the research questions, the researcher was described and analyzed student cognitive engagement in learning English at SMAN 1 sutera.
Furthermore, Referring to explanation above, the researcher chose students class X1 in Senior High School at SMAN 1 SUTERA Pesisir Selatan as the participants. The researcher wanted to see students’ cognitive engagement at this class. Instrument of the research is observations (checklist and field note) and interview.
Indicator of student cognitive engagement Purpose Forms of
student cognitive engagement
Indicators
To figure out of students cognitive engageme nt in learning English.
Self regulated learning
a. Students cognitive processing is driven by higher order or
metacognitive b. Deliberate
planning and monitoring, which learners carry out as they encounter academic tasks Task focus Students use
task specific planning and self monitoring
Resource management
Students garner help from external sources:
a. Willing b. Knowledgea
ble peer Recipience Students
respond passively with little mental investment.
Source: Clarke, David. 2002. And Evertson, Carolyn M and Weinstein, Carol S.
2006.
In gathering the data in the field, the researcher had done some step.
Collecting the Data Through Observation.
First, the researcher went to SMA N 1 SUTERA to give the letter of the research recommendation from STKIP and Educational Department. Next, the researcher met headmaster of SMAN 1 Sutera to get permission introducing observation in this school. After the researcher got permission from headmaster, then researcher met English teachers of SMA N 1 Sutera to arrange the schedule of the research. Then, the researcher asked permission to observe in teacher’s class.
In the class the researcher observed students’
activity, taken the note, and taken the video recording to got all information in each activity of the students do in the classroom of learning English.
Collecting the Data Through Interview. To get the purposed of this research, the researcher also needed to collect the data through interview. Next, the researcher gave the question to the students in free time after the learning in the classroom. The researcher gave some question to the students related the student cognitive engagement in learning English. Then, researcher interviewed the students. The students answered the question from the researcher with comments, and the researcher record the voice of each students with hand phone. The students were given freedom to answer the question with real condition.
After collecting the data, the researcher analyzed the data based on the instrumentations given. According to Gay and Airasian (2000:239), there are four steps of analyzing the data; reading/memoing, describing, classifying, and interpreting.
FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION
After analyzing the data, the researcher got result of this research. This research is about students cognitive engagement in learning English. The data were collected from observation and interview. The research question were “what are the students cognitive engagement in learning English? and how are the students cognitive engagement in learning English?. Based on the data analysis and related to the research question, the researcher found:
a. Self Regulated Learning
In learning English activity the students have a good cognitive engagement. The students’ use self regulated in learning English such as use deliberate planning in carry out the task, students use monitoring with their task that given by teacher. In this observation and interview, the researcher found students’ cognitive process is middle in learning English. It means that the student did not enough have cognitive in learning English but their cognitive engagement in learning is good.
b. Task focus
In focus on the task students used specific planning in carry out the task of learning English such as to learn first before do the task and try to understand or to memorize of the vocabulary, and last there are some students said with do discussion with their friend in do the task. Furthermore, students self monitoring in carry out the task that given by teacher such as study at home, and ask to my sister or brother about the task that given by teacher in the school, and then, they think again whether the task is successfully.
c. Resource Management
In learning English, students also do resource management to get the knowledge more than from their given by teacher in the school. In this research, researcher found the students get the source of learning English from the internet book in the library their school, and also from dictionary who they bring in the school. Moreover, in learning English the students did not willing received the resource
management from their teacher because they said source from the teacher is so important but it is better than we were search from external source for add the knowledge. Eighth, students ask about the task to students knowledgeable peer for add the source of the task in learning English.
d. Recipience
In classroom activity the students have attention when the teacher explained material. Based on the researcher observation, they have a best understanding about material given by English teacher. So the students have got point plus while the teacher given question and the students answer with appropriate answer. The students respond what teacher instruction.
Students’ attention gave effect toward task that given by teacher in teaching learning process. In other word, the students got the educational goals in teaching learning process. As the result, in this research did not students be recipience in learning English. All of students have good cognitive engagement in learning English.
CONCLUSSIONS
Students’ cognitive engagement is students’ problem solving or thinking on task that students do while engaged in academic learning task. Cognitive engagement gave opportunity to students active maximally in learning and can applicant their learning in real life situation. In learning English, students should be following the subject matter to get the high score of education in the classroom.
With cognitive engagement, students can be motivated, interest and interactive to follow studying in the classroom.
Based on the research finding, the researcher formulated the conclusion into; the result of the observation checklist and field note shows that the students’ cognitive engagement in learning English at SMAN 1 SUTERA students X1 have a good cognitive engagement but the student have middle cognitive process in learning English. Next, the interview result that the students X1 have a good cognitive engagement in learning English, the students active and have a best understanding in learning English.
SUGGESTION
After doing the investigation phase in the field and analyzing the collected data. The researcher states insightful suggestions at this point. Firstly, for the English teacher to constructing engaged cognitive students in learning English. The teacher can motivation to teach students about students did not have cognitive process engagement and give more attention to the students in the class especially in English subject. Secondly, students cognitive engagement is important to students to motivate to learn and doing the task in the classroom. Thirdly, students can active to learning English. The students active in classroom activity, they have a good mark and have a best understanding in learning English.
ACKNOWLEDGMENT
Alhamdulillahirabbil’alamin, the researcher would like to express her gratitude to Allah SWT for the mercy and bless the researcher finally completed her thesis. Then, the researcher would like to thank to Prophet Muhammad SAW by his struggle to bring people from darkness to the world of civilized and educated. As her inspiration to keep fighting to finish this thesis entitles “ An Analysis of Students Cognitive Engagement in Learning English”. This thesis is one of the requirements to get one degree at English Department in STKIP PGRI West Sumatera.
The researcher expresses her gratitude to her advisors, Sesmiyanti, S.S, M. Pd., and Melvina, M.Ed, who have given advice and helped the researcher to complete her thesis, also for his guidance, advice, suggestion and support in finishing this thesis.
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Christenson, Sandra L, Amy L Reschly, and Chaty, Wylie. 2012. Handbook of Research on Students Engagement.
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Clarke, David. 2002. Clarke, David. 2002.
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Evertson, Carolyn M and Weinstein, Carol S.
2006. Handbook of Classroom Management: research, practice and comtemporary issues. New Jersey:
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