1 CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION 1.1 Research Background
Listening is one of the most important skills in learning English, indeed it is the basis of communication. Speaking itself is not a communication unless what is being said can be understood by another person (Olshtain et al., 2016). In other words, if someone speaks but others do not understand what is being said, there can be no communication. If someone misunderstands what the other person is talking about, there is no communication.
Listening is a complicated interactive process in which students understand what they have known and heard before applying their linguistic knowledge to comprehend the message (Haloho et al., 2022). Listening was regarded as one of the most difficult skills to master because students were expected to understand and gain information from what they heard while learning English. Listening was one of the difficulties that students faced when learning English. In fact, many English as a Foreign Language (EFL) students found it difficult to get information from spoken messages. This was an unfortunate because learning requires interaction between teachers and students in the target language. A number of cases in EFL classrooms indicated that many students still had poor listening skills.
In junior high school English teaching in Indonesia, there seemed to be less emphasis on listening activities, and most English textbooks were in paper format and do not have audio supports. It is because many teachers usually skip the teaching of
Listening at school, although it is stated in the syllabus that students must master both oral and written text/expression. It may be that teachers find it difficult to find suitable materials and prepare the media to teach listening in the classroom, which could make it easier for students to understand what they have heard.
Moreover, according to the results of an interview with the English teacher who teaches ninth grade students at SMPN 10 Tanjungpinang, the following problems were encountered by the teacher: (1) students' difficulties in listening skills; (2) teachers' lack of innovative teaching media and often implemented the lecturing method; and (3) lack of adequate facilities to support listening activities. The first problem is the students' difficulties in listening skills which can be seen from students’ performance in participating in classroom learning. This problem happened because the listening material wasn't effective which made the students do not understand the material well and made them unmotivated to learn English. The second problem is that the teacher used textbooks provided by the school most of the time. In relation to the third problem, the lack of facilities, especially in electronic goods supporting learning media, makes it difficult for teachers to apply digital-based learning media.
As a result of the problems reported, it seemed necessary to take action by developing an innovative learning media to attract students in the learning process. The media created must be in accordance with the material to be studied, and the media created must be creative. The researcher was interested to develop Scratch Program as a learning media for teaching listening skill at ninth grade students.
Scratch is a visual programming language with a drag-and-drop interface that can
be used to create a variety of works such as stories, games, animations, music, art, and presentations. Scratch is designed to encourage creativity, the ability to think systematically, and group work, all of which are essential in the twenty-first century (Gulbahar & Kalelioglu, 2014). Scratch is a simple programming tool that could be used to learn English. As a result, the scratch program was developed to meet the needs of students and teachers while also incorporating technology and language advances to increase student engagement in the English learning process.
In addressing the current problems that the students have faced, the researcher tried to develop a Scratch Program for teaching listening skill. It was hoped that teachers used it in the educational environment in the learning process. Therefore, the Scratch Program development was conducted as research entitled "Developing Scratch Program for Teaching Listening in Report Text at Grade 9".
1.2 Research Question
Based on the research background above, the research question can be formulated as “How will the Scratch Program for teaching listening in report text at grade 9 be developed?”
1.3 Research Objectives
From the research question above, the objectives of the research is to develop the Scratch Program for teaching listening in report text at grade 9.
1.4 Specification of Product
In this research, a Scratch Program as a media for teaching listening in report text has specific specifications as follows:
1. In the form of animations contained in the media that are in accordance with the English subject matter "Factual Report Text".
2. The features contained in the media include an audio animation material discussing factual report text.
3. The media can be accessed online at the website address http://scratch.mit.edu/
or by accessing via the link provided by the developer.
4. The media would be provided in the form of video documents containing recordings of media works on the Scratch Program.
1.5 Research Significances 1.5.1 Theoretical Significances
Theoretically, this research is expected to expand knowledge about listening skill using Scratch Program as a learning media for grade 9 students.
1.5.2 Practical Significances
This study would be beneficial for the teachers, students, and other researchers.
They are as follows:
a. Teachers
This research would assist teachers, particularly English teachers, in developing lesson plans and engaging their students in the teaching and learning process, particularly when it comes to listening exercises. The English teacher is also expected to create interesting listening activities using this media in an innovative manner.
b. Students
The findings of this study could be used as additional knowledge to enhance listening skill while in the learning process. After using the media, the students can listen and understand English words properly.
c. Researcher
This research could encourage other researchers to carry out related study in order to provide new teaching methods in enhancing listening skill or the other basis English skills using Scratch Program.
1.6 Assumption and Limitation
Students can use the media known as the Scratch Program, which is expected to make students interested in learning English and make them feel more confident when listening English words. Students from Junior High School grade 9 are chosen by the researcher. The research's content is derived from Factual Report Text, KD 3.1. It is because it corresponded to the fundamental and standard competencies for junior high school grade 9 students. In the teaching and learning process, the teacher can use the Scratch program with projectors and speakers. This media is also intended to encourage students to pay attention in listening section.
1.7 Definition of Key Terms 1. Scratch Program
Scratch is a high-level block-based visual programming language and website developed by MIT that allows users to easily create interactive games, music, stories, animations, and art, as well as share their work on the web.
2. Listening in Report Text
Listening in report text refers to English text that is heard and used in conversation with others, for example oral stories, interviews, dialogues, monologues, phone conversations, discussions or role plays that informs the specifics of an object.
