ENGLISH TEACHING - LEARNING PROCESS REALIZATION AND QUESTION BASED AS AN ALTERNATIVE ENGLISH TEACHING MODEL
TO BUILD STUDENTS’ CHARACTER AT SMPN PADANG
Ernati
Lecturer of English Department, FKIP, Bung Hatta University Padang [email protected]
Abstrac t
Nobody denies that the main purpose of teaching Englis h, as a foreign language, in Indonesia es pecially, is the learners are able to use English to communicate. In fact, it is found that most of s tudents know much about English but when they are asked to us e it in communication, they cannot, even the ir pronunc iation in reading is s till poor. They aren’t a lso be able to ask ques tion to the interloc utor. Thes e can be caused by many fac tors ; one of them is the teachers do not make students acc ustomed to us e English in the c lass room. It a ls o happens at SMPN Padang, The English teacher and students often do code s witc hing to Indones ia, so the s tudents are not acc us tomed to us e Englis h. Bas ed on that finding, it is wise to implement “ question based” model in teac hing English as an alte rnative teac hing model to improve the s tudents’ c apability to us e Englis h as communication and to build the s tudents’ c haracter of s elf c onfidence and c ritic al thinking.
Ke ywords: Charac ter, question-based model, ELT
A. INTRODUCTION
Realiz ing the importance of English, the government dec ided that English s hould be learnt by Indonesian s tudents, from Junior High Sc hool up to university level, even from play group, especially a t priva te sc hool. The government wants Indonesian youth be able to adapt toward globalization era in whic h they c an take part in all as pect of life in the world. Cons equently, government should provide everything needed to teach English. One of them is curriculum. It is a lways evaluated and improved gradually, and the last one is c urriculum 2013. This is done by the Indonesian government to have optimal result, for English subjec t espec ially, the Indonesian lea rners can us e Englis h as media of communication. The perfect c urric ulum means nothing if its imp lementation (teaching learning process) has not yet run we ll.
In fact, based on the researc h result done by the writer about evaluation on English teaching learning process at public Junior High sc hool all over Padang regency, it was found that English teaching learning process has not yet elaborated the students’ Englis h skill but it is a lmost foc us ed on learning about the English.
Most of teaching learning activities do not lead to the use of Englis h as media of communication, but it leads the students master about the knowledge instead of psychomotor (language skill).
In addition, In Englis h teac hing lea rning process, most of s tudents use mother tongue to communicate.
In other words , code switching to the mother tongue is more dominant during teac hing lea rning process . English teacher do not s upport s tudent to us e target language (Englis h) in teaching learning process. This condition is not good because one of the opportunity for the students to practice/ use English is in the c lass room, bec ause students environment do not speak Englis h. It is supported by Siegert (2014), pos t graduate students from Germany, who s ays that the students s hould forc e Englis h learne rs to use English in the process of teaching learning proc ess, because this is incredible event for them to use target language. He also adds that in Germany, the English learners are not allowed to use mother tongue in the process of teac hing and learning proc ess, in order that they are ac customed to use target language (Englis h).
Based on the phenomenon described above, Englis h teaching model/tec hnique is wisely modified toward the teac hing model that can explore the students’ capability to use English as a tool of communication in teaching learning process. Harris and Cullen (2010) suggests ‘ques tion bas ed ‘ model in teac hing language.
By imple menting this model, it can explore the student’s c apability to us e target language. This model has been proved scientifically effective to improve the English learners’ s kill in English, in Vietnam. In addition, this model can als o improve s tudents’ c haracter building; self confidence and critical thinking.
B. REVIEW ON ENGLISH TEACHING LEARNING PROCESS
The important area of informa tion perta ining to forma l second language teaching and learning is what goes on in the language c lass room between the teacher and students (Chaudron and Crookes, 1988). The teacher s hould provide students to learn not to transfer knowledge as an old teaching trend. In other word, the learners c enter is one of useful s trategies in learning English as a foreign language. Most of the time in teac hing learning process is spent by the students to perform their language skills. The teacher leads them to do that
activity. These c an be called learning proc ess. According to Slameto (in R iyanto,2009) there are four princ iples in learning; they are ;.
1. Through learning, it c an create the students ’ ac tive partic ipation, improve students ’ interes t, and it c an lead them to reach teaching objective
2. By learning, it c an c reate re inforcement and motivation of s tudents to reac h the learning objec tive 3. Through learning, there is challenge environment for students to encourage their creativity and effective
learning.
4. By learning, it should provide the s tudents’ inte raction with the ir environment.
The imple menta tion of this princ iple in teaching learning proc ess can be identified by some points , s uc h as students ’ interes t and motivation, creativity, partic ipation, repetition, re inforc ement, challenge, and individua l diffe rentia tion.
Having enough attention from the teacher c an improve s tudent’ motivation to study. Teacher’s attention can be identified through various method used by the teacher, relevant med ia used, language style and guided questions in which the purpose is to lead the s tudents to practice the language learned.
Students’ Creativity and ac tivity depends on the teacher’s s trategy to facilitate students to c reate condition tha t can encourage the s tudents’ activity and creativity to do observing, ques tioning, assoc iating, experimenting, and networking (Pedoman Pelaks anaan Kurikulum 2013). This princ iple c an be implied through (a) using multi-method, multi-media,(b) giving c hance to the students to do experimenting (us ing target language), (c ) giving re levant ass ignment, doing questions and ans wer and disc uss ion.
Students’ partic ipation, whether it is direc t or non direc t participation, in teaching learning process is rea lly interrelated with teac hing mate rials . The implic ation of this princ iple in teaching learning process could be seen from the fo llowing indicators ; (a) teaching and learning ins truc tional des ign, (b) direct experimenting ins tead of demonstration, (c) ass ignment as the psyc homotor, (d) students ’ participation to find information from ins ide or outs ide class room, (e) lead s tudents to conclude the lesson.
Repetition means the teacher’s c apability to simplify information and explanation in order that the s tudents can unders tand the teaching mate rials we ll. Simplifying c an be done through repetition. This principle c an be implied; (a) designing repetition, (b) constructing exercis es, (c ) developing clue for ps yc homotor activity, (d) cons tructing instrument for eva luation, and (e) doing various repetition.
The main challenge for the teac her to do teaching learning process is making condition of teac hing learning proc ess fun and convenient. This can be done; (a) des igning and doing experiment/prac tice activity for students, (b) giving exerc is e to the students to solve problem as media of prac tic ing targe t language, (c) giving opportunity for the students to conc lude the lesson that is lead by the teac her, (d) developing teac hing hand-out, module, and other related sourc es in order that the s tudents learn to find related information.(e) leading s tudents to find fac t, princ iple, and generaliza tion, (f) manage dis cuss ion to discuss problem s olution.
Reinforcement should be done by cons idering students ’ charac teris tics in order that re inforc ement is meaningful for the students. It can be done whether orally or in written form, individua l or group. It will be better to consider the form, time, and appropriate kinds of reinforcement given. The ma in princ ip les to give reinforcement are; (a ) giving the c orrect ans wer for eac h question given, (b) giving c orrection on students ’ homework, (c) giving c omment on students’ paper, report, and c lipping, (c) distributing students’ answer s heet corrected by the teacher and its score, (d) giving verbal reinforcement if the s tudents can perform their achievement, (e) giving s tudents pres ent when they c an finish the ir as signment.
Individual diffe rentiation is as natural c haracteris tic s. So, the teacher should pay attention to the s tudents’ differentiation in teac hing learning process , becaus e the s tudents’ differentiation is unique. This c an be implied through the following indicators ; (a) the implementa tion of using various method that can serve the s tudents’ need and their characteristics, (b) designing and using media to present the teac hing mate rials , (c) identifying every s tudents’ c haracteris tics in order to ascertain teac hing learning process model, (d) giving remedial or question to the students needed.
The imple menta tion of Englis h teaching and learning proc ess at every level of education refe rs to “ Peraturan Mentri Pendidikan Nas ional republic Indonesia nomor 41 tahun 2007 “ about process standard for elementary, Junior and Senior High School. Englis h teac hing lea rning process is as the implementation of lesson plan that covers three ma in s teps , pre teaching activities, whis t teaching activities and post teac hing activities .
Pre teac hing activities is as vital ac tivities in teac hing lea rning proc ess, bec ause this activity functions to motivate students and to make them ready to learn the teaching materia ls . This involves (a) activity to prepare s tudents to be ready to follow Teac hing and learning proc ess, (c) the activity to encourage the students ’ bac kground knowledge or review the previous and relevant teaching ma teria ls , (d) inform the purpose of learning the materials .
Whils t teaching activity is the important activity to reac h the teac hing objectives. This ac tivity should be inte ractive, innovative, fun, challenge, and motivated. This ac tivity c overs obs erving, questioning, assoc iating, experimenting, and networking (“Pedoman Pelaksanaan Pelaksanaan Kurikulum 2013”).
Post teaching ac tivity covers the activity to conclude the lesson that is guided by the teac her. Bes ides , the teacher gives follow up (homework) that is relevant with the teaching materia ls , and giving information about the next topic learned is als o important in this s tep.
C. THE REALIZATION OF ENGLISH TEACHING LEARNING PROCESS AT SMPN PADANG
From the res earch result, it was found that teac hing and learning proc ess at SMPN Padang c an run bas ed on its schedule that covers pre-teaching activity, whils t teac hing activity and post teac hing activity. In detail, it will desc ribe each s tep of teaching as follows .
In pre teac hing activity, there a re three ind ic ators in this step; they are the activity to prepare students in term of psychology and phys ics, to be ready to study, the ac tivity of doing apperception, and the activity to inform teac hing objective, and the benefit of lea rning the topic. These indicators have been done by the teacher even though it is not optimal yet. Apperc eption has been done but it was not meaningful yet bec ause it is not rea lly relevant with the topic that will be learnt. The teachers reviewed the previous irrelevant topic. For example, the teacher asked s tudents with the ques tion; “ did you remember our lesson last week ?, and the s tudents answered, “yes mam, desc riptive text” the teac her replied, “good, our topic las t week was desc riptive text. Do you know desc riptive text ?, What is the generic structure of descriptive text ?, what is the purpose of descriptive text ? what is the language feature of desc riptive text ? Ok, students , our lesson today is command and prohibition.” Thes e ques tions were not re levant with the topic that will be learnt. This is s upported by Soegito and Nuraini (2002) who state that apperception is important activity to encourage the students ’ bac kground knowledge, and to improve the students’ motivation in learning, when it is relevant with the topic . Besides, Sieger (stated orally), one of pos t graduate s tudents from Germany and one of the observer, adds that apperception is very us eful to take student’s attention and motivation. He also adds that it should be relevant with the topic that will be learnt.
Whils t teaching activity c an be reflec ted from 6 indicators . They are mas tery of teaching ma teria ls , implementing the method or teaching strategy, the use of teac hing media, c onduc ting teaching and learning process , evaluation and the use of English as media of communication. The teac her spent muc h of time to give explanation ins tead of giving time to the s tudents prac tic e language skills. The explanation given by the teacher refers much to the concept of the language, such as organization of the text. Most of students memorize the organization (language fea ture ) of the text but the s tudents are not lead to c omprehend the important information from the text read. So, when the students are as ked question about the generic s tructure of the text, they can mention it, on the other hand, when they are as ked question about the important information from the text, mos t of the students have difficulty to ans wer. The main purpose of teaching reading is the s tudents are able to comprehend the important information from the text read. Even, when the students are as ked to read the text a loud, their pronunciation is also not appropriate. It is supported by Stoller and Grabe (1998) who said that the ability to read-taking general comprehens ion- requires that the reader draw information from a text and combine it.
Teaching strategy/method/technique used is not yet explored much the students’ language skills. The s tudents are asked muc h to do exercise related to the addition of their knowledge not language skills. Junior High school students , as the beginner English learner, should give much language practice in order that they are acc us tomed to use Englis h as the media of c ommunication. They should practic e pronunc iation much in order that they c an pronounce the Englis h words correctly, because language is habit formation. This is s upported by Chaudron and Crookes (1998) who says that pronunciation is crucia l to our students , so we need to teach pronunc iation in a sys tematic and principled way.
Media used in teaching learning process is not really interes ted for the students . The teac her us ed text book, s tudents’ worksheet as the media. According to Murcia (1988) media is very important to help the s tudents unders tand the explanation and the exercis e easily. In addition, teaching learning proc ess has not yet been optimal to explore the students’ language skills bac aus e mos t of the activity is designed toward the mastery of knowledge, as the result, when the students are asked to communic ate in Englis h, they s aid that they don’t understand. Even when we give s imp le question to the SMP s tudents , they can not respond it.
Eva luation has been done by the teac her whether through test or exercis e, but the materials of evaluation has not covered yet the language skills, it dominatly c ons its of knowledge, for example, in what paragraph do you find orientation ?. this question deals with the knowledge of asking about the organization of the text. It does not as k about the skill to comprehend the important informa tion of the text.
Students us ed their mother tongue as a media communication in Englis h teac hing learning process.
They are not forc ed to use English in communic ation. Even, the teac her often s witch into Indonesian when they
are not acc us tomed to us e Englis h in the classroom and outs ide the class room it is imposible for them to use English. So the s tudents have very les s oppurtunity to practic e Englis h. Siegert (oral statement) states that using target language in the c alss room can make language habit formation, amd code s witc hing is not good in english c lass room. In Germany, Englis h learne rs /s tudents are forced to use Englis h in English c lass room, so elemtry s chool students c an speak Englis h because Germany elementry s chool students learn English.
The last teaching step is post teaching ac tivities. This ac tivity has been done by the teacher through giving explanation. The teacher s hould lead the s tudents to go to the conc lusion by giving ques tons in order that the students are c reative and they also c an practic e their ta rget language (English). If the s tudents are given some points as the conc lusion, they will forget eas ily. It was also found that the c onc lusion given by the teacher mostly focus ed on language conc ept not language s kills . In order that the students c an improve their language s kills , it will be better to lead the s tudents to practice Englis h. For example, when the teacher taught topic ” command and prohibition”, they lead the students to conc lude about the s truc ture, for example, ” wha t kind of verb do we use to give command ?” This conc lusion refe rs to structure, language concept,. It can be lead the s tudent to have conclus ion on the skill point of view; such as ” what will you say if your friends maka noice in teaching learning process ”.So the s tudents prac tice using prohibition its elf ins tead of memoriz ing the structure of prohibition.
D. QUESTION BASED AS AN ALTERNATIVE ENGLISH TEACHING MODEL
Bas ed on the desc ription of Englis h teac hing realization above, the alterna tive English teaching model that is in line with the s cientific approach (curriculum 2013) is ques tion bas ed model. This model is s ugges ted by Harris and Cullen (2010). This model has been proved to improve students’ Englis h skills in Vie tnam. In Indonesia, it is not proved yet, so we are not quite sure whether it is effective to improve students’ Englis h skill or not. This teaching model is as the development of lea rner c enter teac hing princ ip le, and this model deals with the communic ation principle, that is communication will occur first through question (Harris and Cullen, 2010). Dea ling with the princ ip le that language is as a means communication, so question based model might be appropriate teac hing model to improve students’ English skills. This means that when s omeone meets the other one at c erta in place, they us ually start the ir communic ation by having question, not statements. Through questions , they can develop their c ommunication intensive ly. Bas ed on this princ iple it is ass umed that language learners can be tra ined to us e the language by having ques tions, in the purpos e of exploring the s tudents’ language skills . Besides, having accus tomed to give questions , the students c an be encouraged to have self c onfidence to use the language and they will have critic al thinking as well.Question based model is a teaching model in which each kind of teaching and lea rning activity is s tarting with question, whether question is derived from the teacher or the s tudents. If the students have not yet an idea to have ques tion, the teacher can give ques tion to encourage students’ bac kground knowledge and motivation through questions . The effect is communication will occ ur, and code s witc hing and trans lation will be minimized. Teaching s tep in this model can be identified through three main teac hing activities , pre, whilst, and post teac hing activities , and each teaching step is started with question. The teacher as the model should use English, and never us e other language. In detail, the teaching step of this ques tion model can be described below.
1. Pre-Teaching Ac tivities) a. Greetings
b. Praying to the God
c. Apperception or review the previous and relevant lessons. If we do apperception, it will be better to us e pic ture, and it can be done by us ing ques tion to guide the s tudents to the topic of the lesson.
d. Introduc ing the topic
2. Whils t-Teaching Activities ) a. Observing
In this s tep, the students obs erve the example us ing language in real context, and they are asked to have ques tion rela ted to the example given. If the s tudents are shy to have ques tion, the teacher will give question as the model.
b. Questioning
In this s tep, there are three-ways questions ; student-teacher, teac her-students , s tudents -students. These questions should re late with the theme of lesson.
c. Associating
In this step, the s tudents are associated with their friends about the theme of the lesson. They can do it in pair or group.
d. Experimenting
Experimenting in language teaching learning process is different from the other fie ld, s cience for example. It means practice using the language more and more.
e. Networking
In this step, the s tudents are asked to have discussion, especia lly having c orrection about their performance in communication.
3. Pos t-Teaching Activities
In this s tep, the teac her lead the s tudents to conclude the lesson using c lue, question, and it c an bring s tudents to the conclus ion. Bes ide, follow up activity, giving homework, s hould be relevant with the theme.
E. QUESTION BASED MODEL AND STUDENTS’ CHARACTER BUILDING
Character is defined by many experts. One of them is Neufal and David (in Mukhlis 2011), who defines c haracter as dis tinc tive trait, distinc tive qua lity, mora l s trength, the pattern of behavior found in an individua l or group. Muckhlis (2011) defines charac ter as the moral plus which cover cognitive, feeling and ac tion. From the definitions above, we can say that c haracter is reflec ted through human beings positive pattern of behavior that c over cognitive, feeling and ac tion.
So what is the corre la tion between question based model and charac ter building ? The correlation is implic itly s tated in three aspec ts of charac ter; cognitive, fee ling, and ac tion. By implementing the question model of teac hing, the students are accus tomed to make ques tion in c ommunication. The question habit c ould arous e the s tudents’ self confidence to use the language in communic ation. This character deals with the s tudents’ feeling. Feeling s elf confidence can lead the students to do ac tion; s uch as action of creating communication.
In addition, someone can make question if He/She knows the materials that is going to be asked. In other word, She/He has knowledge about the mate rials asked. It refe rs to cognitive. The action occurs when there is enough knowledge and feeling self c onfidence. In long term, question habit in teaching learning process will c reate analytic al thinking.
F. CONCLUSIONS
Englis h teac hing and learning process at SMPN Padang has been conducted, but teaching method or s trategy us ed has not yet explored the students ’ language s kills . This can be identified through the students ’ activity that focus ed on the mas tery of knowledge on the language instead of using language for communication. The us e of native language by the student is still dominant in teaching lea rning situation. This does not deal with the habit formation of using target language as media of communication. The s tudents are not forced to use Englis h in communic ation and the teac her often do code switching in teaching learning s ituation. Ideally, the teac her should give model to the students to use English as media c ommunication.
Bas ed on this res ult, the Question Bas ed model is one of alternative teaching models to have habit formation of using Englis h as media of communication. This model is based the bas ic princ iple tha t communication occ urs trough ques tion. This habit formation can improve s tudents’ language s kills and build s tudents’ character; s elf c onfidence and c ritic al thinking.
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---. 2007. Peraturan Mentri Pendidikan Nasional Nomor 41 tahun 2007. Tidak berupa buku yang diterbitkan.
