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AN ANALYSIS OF STUDENTS’ SENSORY LEARNING STYLE PREFERENCES IN LEARNING READING
(A Study at Second Grade of English Students STKIP PGRI West Sumatera)
Aulia Yulanda
English Department, STKIP PGRI SUMBAR, [email protected] Dra.Yelliza, M. M.Pd 1) , Mayuasti, M.Pd 2)
ABSTRAK
Penelitian ini mencoba menggambarkan gaya belajar sensori yang dominan pada mahasiswa jurusan bahasa Inggris pada saat belajar membaca di STKIP PGRI West Sumatera. Penelitian ini merupakan penelitian deskriptif atau disebut juga dengan penelitian survey karena penelitian ini hanya mencoba menggali apa gaya belajar sensori yang paling dominan pada mahasiswa jurusan bahasa Inggris. Subjek dari penelitian ini adalah semua mahasiswa jurusan bahasa Inggris pada tahun ajaran 2014/2015. Di dalam penelitian ini, peneliti menggunakan teknik purposive sampling dalam memilih sampel, yaitu 15% dari jumlah total mahasiswa bahasa inggris yang telah belajar mata kuliah advanced reading . Total mahasiswa dari sesi A sampai sesi G adalah 224 mahasiswa. Jumlah mahasiswanya adalah 33. Setelah itu peneliti menggunakan instrument angket dan interview terbuka. Angket ini berjumlah 36 item yang mewakili tiga indicator sensori yaitu visual, auditory and kinesthetic. Skala yang digunakan adalah scala linkert. Kemudian peneliti mempresentasikan semua angket sehingga peneliti menemukan gaya belajar yang paling dominan. Setelah mengolah data, peneliti menemukan gaya belajar visual adalah 43%, gaya belajar auditory 41% dan gaya belajar kinesthetic 38%. Jadi dapat disimpulkan bahwa gaya belajar yang paling dominan pada mahasiswa jurusan bahasa Inggris yang telah belajar advanced reading adalah gaya belajar visual.
Key words: Learning Reading, Sensory Learning Style Preferences
INTRODUCTION
Learning is an activity in the classroom to get information or knowledge. In the classroom there were many ways and kinds of learn. Such as: learning reading, speaking, writing, listening and other. Learning could be defines as a technique to change behavior of students in the classroom. The students could change their bad behavior became good behavior in this classroom. Reading is important in our life. In the environment all of students needed to read.
Reading is one of the language skills. The students should reading to get educational goal.
Without reading the students could not improve their ability in their learning language. The students should improve their reading ability to master the other skills such as writing, listening and speaking.
Knowing students learning styles are important.
It should know for students because many reasons. First, it could be improve teaching and learning English process, especially in this research on learning reading subject. The purposed of the research is to find what is mostly sensory learning styles preferences (visual, auditory, and kinesthetic) in students’
learning reading at second grade academic year 2014/2015 in STKIP PGRI West Sumatera.
The students could know about their learning style thus they could decrease their weakness and improve their strangeness in learning reading process in the class. Second, it could be improve the students’ ability in learning reading subject. For example they knew about the best technique suitable with their learning style. It
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made the students got satisfy and improve their ability in learning reading process in the classroom. The last, the students easier got the aim of the learning English especially in learning reading subject.
REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE Language Learning Style
Language learning style is a way the individual or students to get information in teaching learning process. It was supported by Brown (2000:12) he defined that learning styles as the manner in which individuals perceives and process information in learning situation. It means that learning style is a way of someone to observe and get information in learning situation. The students liked to observe the book in reading by using their eyes, ears and both of them. The students had many natural and style in learning reading.
Moreover, Cohen (2003:146) stated that Language learning styles are general approaches to language learning, while learning strategies are specific ways to deal with language tasks in particular context. It means that language learning styles are general approaches which students had one way or more than one way to get information in learning reading. The students had many ways to get information and knowledge when they are learning reading subject. For example the students preferred to read silently for long time in learning reading and the students favored to read aloud. They had different way to get comprehension from their book when they are reading.
Then, Wang (2007:409) also defined that learning styles as an individual preferred or habitual ways of processing the knowledge and transforming the knowledge into personal knowledge. It means that language learning styles are the students habitual in learning process and to transform the knowledge into personal knowledge. Each student had habit or attitude to get knowledge in learning process.
They used their habit in reading book. For example: they read the book by using their
finger, write the mark on their book and liked to doodle. They did that because it is their habit or their natural in reading.
Snipes (2007:212) explained that learning styles are different ways that individuals learn or take in information. It means that learning styles are a way someone and who were different to take information or learn something while learning process in the classroom. The students learned many things in the classroom. They had different styles to get information in learning.
They not only used their eyes but also used their ears and body.
With reference to Pritchard (2009:41) who stated that learning styles is a particular way in which individual learns. It means that learning styles is a way of students to get knowledge and their skill from their lecturer in classroom. The students took all of the information and knowledge is supported by their natural and their habitual in teaching and learning process
.
Sensory Learning StyleSensory learning style is human sense and way by seeing, hearing, touch and hands on. It means that the sensory is the students’ sense by visual stimulation, auditory stimulation and other. It could influence their behavior in the class room.
It is supported by Haggart (2004) mentioned that language sensory learning style is a subtle yet powerful force that influences your attitudes and shapes your decisions about discipline issues.
The students’ sense in classroom are influenced their behavior and their decision in learning reading in the classroom.
With reference to Oxford (2010:1393) stated that sensory is technical connected with your physical senses: sensory organs, sensory deprivation. It means that sensory learning style is a set way of learning including physical senses. It could be the hands- on, working in laboratories, using visual and auditory. The students learned by the one of the kinds of sensory learning style, they had best learning
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preferences suitable with the sensory learning styles.
Moreover, Oluwatomi (2014:47) mentioned that sensory learners like learning facts, they learned by well established methods. It means that the students’ as a sensory learning styles liked to learn facts and make a something and learn everything by sense such as: visual, auditory, kinesthetic or tactile learner. The visual students’ styles learn by seeing. The auditory students styles learn by listen their lecturer and the kinesthetic or tactile students learn by practice directly.
In conclusion, the researcher concluded that sensory learning style is a human or people sense in learning process. The sensory style could give influence to the students’ method and decision in the classroom. The students’ need to choose their best method in learning reading by used their senses. Thus, they could improve their ability in learning reading in the class
.
Learning Reading
Learning is an activity of constructions. For example: when someone wanted to make building or house. There were many ways and tools to make them beautiful and interesting. It same with someone wanted to get their goal in education. The students should have many ways to absorb and take the information and knowledge from their lecture. The processes to take all of the knowledge are learning. Learning could not separate with the human. Not only the students but also all of people in the world needed to learn to get success.
Hansen (2000:23) mentioned that understanding how people learn is something that has both propelled and detained education scholarship at the same time. For decades, educational psychologists have studied the learning process.
They conclude that learning is equated to a change in behavior. It means that learning is essentially a very basic functional definition of
learning in that learning is seen as a function that maps experience onto behavior.
Learning is not about cramming in information.
It is about learning by doing. It is about looking at issues in various ways and developing capacities, especially the ability to dig below the surface to reach the truth. That is why our goal is to teach students to learn how to learn rather than merely passing information to them (Tsui, 2006 : 1). It means that learning is the students’
doing or activity in the class or their environment. The students got information and knowledge from their learning.
Moreover In addition Prichard (2009:1) stated that learning is something of which we all have an understanding and in which we have all participated. It means that learning is how readers could get something in reading, writing, listening and other. In the classroom, the students had many ways to get information in their subject. The students’ processed to take information is learning. Learning is used not only by the students but also all of human in the world should learn everything.
Based on explanation above, the researcher could conclude that learning is an activity in the classroom to get information or knowledge. In the classroom there were many ways and kinds of learn. Such as: learning reading, speaking, writing, listening and other. Learning could be defines as a technique to change behavior of students in the classroom. The students could change their bad behavior became good behavior in this classroom.
Reading is important in our life. In the environment all of students needed to read.
Reading is one of the language skills. The students should reading to get educational goal.
Without reading the students could not improve their ability in their learning language. The students should improve their reading ability to master the other skills such as writing, listening and speaking.
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Pang (2003:6) stated that reading is about understanding written text. It means that Reading is process getting meaning from text.
The students got something or knowledge from the written texts, such as books, journal and other. Reading is one of the important skill languages. The students could not separate with reading. Because reading could help the students take information and knowledge from all of the written texts.
Furthermore Caroline (2005:69) mentioned that reading is a set of skills that involves making sense and deriving meaning from the printed word. It means that reading is important skill which was included making sense and transfer meaning from the books, magazines, articles, journal and other. The students could add the information and make a conclusion by own word. In learning reading process, the students tried to understand about what they read and make a summary. It clearly that the students in the class room could get comprehend from their learning.
In addition Nation (2009:49) explained that reading is a source of learning and a source of enjoyment. It means that reading is process of getting meaning from the text by the reader should has a complex skill to relationship of many sources of information. Reading is a source of teaching and learning in the class room. For example are reading books, journals, magazines and articles. It could define that reading not only helped the students in learning but also it could help the students were enjoy in reading. For example the students had been read the magazines and they are enjoying about it.
From definition of reading above, the researcher concluded that reading is a process to getting meaning from the texts, articles, books, magazines and other. The students read the story,text and other to getting information and knowledge from it. In learning process the students had different ways in reading. It was related to the characteristic of learner in reading is different each other. Such as: reading aloud, reading silently, reading dialogues and plays.
RESEARCH METHOD
The researcher used descriptive research.
According to Gay and Airasian (2000:315) descriptive research involves collecting data in order to test hypotheses or to answer questions about the opinions of people about some topic or issues. Descriptive research is also called survey research. Moreover, Ary (2010:414) stated survey is widely used the researcher method to gathering data ranging from physical counts and frequencies to attitudes and opinions. It means that survey research is collecting data to get preferences, attitudes and other. The researcher done this research in the last of the second semester at STKIP PGRI West Sumatera. The researcher was complete the research on two days, started on 15th September 2015.
The researcher used questionnaire and interview as instruments to analyze about students’
sensory learning style preferences in learning reading. The questionnaire is used as the main
instrument to collect the data and interview is used to be second instrument to collect the data which was also use to triangulate the data from questionnaire. The total items in the questionnaire were 36 items. In this research, researcher conducted the data by using close interview to collect information. The question of interview was developed on questionnaire’s indicators. The researcher interviewed thirty three students who filled questionnaire before.
After collecting the data process, the researcher did analysis toward the data based on the document. The data were analyzed by using scoring the questionnaire. The questionnaire will be formulated in statistic data to find the percentage generally by using formula from Sudjana (2010:89).
FINDINGS
1. Questionnaire
For the purpose of this article, data are reported in numbers and percentage of students’
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response for each statement in the questionnaire Statements. Refers to histogram above, the researcher presented that visual learning style is 43%, auditory learning style is 41% and kinesthetic is 38%. Thus , the most students’
sensory learning styles preferences in learning reading at second English students academic year 2014/2015 in STKIP PGRI West Sumatera is visual learning style. It had 43 % from 33 questionnaires of all the students.
2. Interview
In this research the researcher used Interview. Interview is a purposeful interaction, usually between two people, focused on one person trying to get information from the other person (Gay and Airasian: 2000:219). The researcher used close interview questions (Appendix III) From Coeffield, Russell and O’Brien were adapted and modified with appropriate prompt questions. In addition Ary (2010:391) states that close question are used when all the possible, relevant responses to a question can be specified, and the number of possible responses is limited. It means that Close question collected short answers for the students.
The finding of interview supported the finding of questionnaires.
CONCLUSIONS AND SUGGESTIONS
Referred to the result of the investigated students’ sensory learning styles above, the researcher could conclude that research on students’ Sensory Learning Style at second grade English students’ academic year 2014/2015 in STKIP PGRI West Sumatera gave many impacts to improve someone in learning reading. The researcher found most of the students had different characteristics or learning styles in learning reading process. From the results item of the questionnaire, most of the students had visual, auditory and kinesthetic learning styles. But the researcher should found the mostly of students’ sensory learning style preferences between visual, auditory and kinesthetic learning styles. Thus the researcher calculated the total score of all of categories of learning styles. It result showed that more than half of students had highest score on visual learning style than auditory and kinesthetic
The findings of the research showed that visual learning style is favored on English students’
academic year 2014/2015 in STKIP PGRI West Sumatera, based on the data collected from questionnaires and interviews. The researcher used percentage when calculated the results of this research. Thus, the visual learning style is 43%, auditory learning style is 41% and the last kinesthetic learning style is 38%. So, the dominant learning style is visual learning style.
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