TEACHING IDIOMATIC EXPRESSIONS FOR ENGLISH DEPARTMENT STUDENTS OF SATYA WACANA CHRISTIAN UNIVERSITY: STUDENTS’ PERSPECTIVES
THESIS Submitted in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Sarjana Pendidikan
Ratna Widiarti 112009014
ENGLISH DEPARTMENT FACULTY OF LANGUAGE AND LITERATURE SATYA WACANA CHRISTIAN UNIVERSITY SALATIGA 2013
TEACHING IDIOMATIC EXPRESSIONS FOR ENGLISH DEPARTMENT STUDENTS OF SATYA WACANA CHRISTIAN UNIVERSITY: STUDENTS’ PERSPECTIVES
THESIS Submitted in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Sarjana Pendidikan
Ratna Widiarti 112009014
ENGLISH DEPARTMENT FACULTY OF LANGUAGE AND LITERATURE SATYA WACANA CHRISTIAN UNIVERSITY SALATIGA 2013
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TEACHING IDIOMATIC EXPRESSIONS FOR ENGLISH DEPARTMENT STUDENTS OF SATYA WACANA CHRISTIAN UNIVERSITY: STUDENTS’ PERSPECTIVES Ratna Widiarti
Abstract In order to communicate naturally, it is necessary for English Department students to learn idioms and use them in written or spoken speeches. In fact, English Department students‟ abilities to use idiomatic expressions are very limited. Keeping this issue in mind, this paper aims to present students‟ perspectives toward learning and teaching idioms in order to find the best way of learning idiomatic expressions so that it raises teachers‟ creativities in teaching and their willing to help their students learn idioms. In addition, this paper intends to find what techniques teachers should use in teaching idiomatic expressions, which are helpful to support their students learn idiomatic expressions. The 5 English Department students are chosen as participants that are required to share their thought about learning idioms, their own experiences in leaning idioms, and their thought about how their teachers should teach them idioms. The results from the interviews reveal that students are interested in materials that using idiomatic expressions, unfortunately there is no certain course that teaches idioms specifically at The English Department. Mostly, the ways that students like to learn idioms are by using media, by discussing, by remembering, and by practicing. Furthermore, suggestions to teach idioms and help the students to learn idioms are provided throughout this study. Keywords: idioms, idiomatic expressions, teaching, learning, students‟ perspectives
Introduction
Idiomatic expression is a language style that is usually used by native speakers of English to communicate naturally. It is kind of expression, which cannot be understood from the literal meanings of the words of which they are composed (Rachmadys Sabrony, 1986:15). An idiom itself, is a group of words in a fixed order that have a particular meaning, which are different from the meanings of each word understood on their own (Cambridge Advance Learner‟s Dictionary, 2003). Since idiomatic expressions are important part of language for native speakers of English, it means that idioms are important for the English learners. Considering that importance, the writer assumed that English Department students must learn idiomatic expressions. But, the problem is that it is not easy to make English-asforeign-language learners understand and be able to communicate using idiomatic expressions. Moreover, English comes from some versions, like British English, American English, Australian English, etc, which means there is no standard to use which culture to be used in teaching English. Thus, knowing where the idioms came from is enough to identify where those idiomatic expressions are appropriate to be used. In addition, the learners can use idiomatic expressions from global English. Based on the writer‟s experiences while studying at The English Department of Satya Wacana Christian University, the writer finds that most English Department students use idiomatic expressions rarely in their speech and writing, neither in classroom nor outside classroom. One possible reason is that Indonesian as English learners might face difficulties in mastering it. The other difficulty in mastering idioms is like what Kaschak said in his book “Idiomatic Syntactic Constructions and Language Learning (p. 46), cited from Fillmore et al.
(1988) that students‟ core grammar limit their idiomatic construction. In this case, the learner will pass on the grammar they learned, so that everything will be translated as the way they learn and based on their knowledge of grammar, whereas idiomatic expression cannot be translated in that way. Thinking about idiomatic expressions, besides Kaschak‟s study there was also a study by Ismail Cakir from Kayseri, Turkey, about how learners perceive idioms in EFL classes. The finding of that study shows that the idioms provided cannot be easily interpreted by the students, except for identical and partly similar ones (Cakir, 2011), which means that in that study the EFL students are lack of idioms. Cakir (2011) also noted in support of teaching idioms, “It should also be noted that in language teaching, it is not pedagogical acceptable that some concepts like proverbs, idioms, metaphors should be skirted. On the contrary, a good language teacher should strive to teach them in a communicative and meaningful way together with the culture of that target language in order to foster learners‟ lexical competence (Cakir, 2011).” In addition, Liu (2008, p. 124) remind us the reasons not to incorporate idiom learning into the entire curriculum because idioms are best learned naturally in normal language use and because of the amount of time allocation for exclusive idioms. Because of that, it is debatable about using a special class only to teach idioms. Considering those arguments, the writer wants to conduct a study to find appropriate ways of teaching idiomatic expressions that are fit to English Departmet of Satya Wacana Christian University students. Using some techniques provided by Liu and theories used by some researchers, the writer interviewed the participants, which are the third and fourth year students of English Department. This study is limited in scope of way or techniques in
teaching and learning idioms or idiomatic expressions. And the research questions to be answered are “What do students think about the best way of learning idiomatic expressions,” which is aimed to reveal what techniques that students think and experience are helpful for them to learn idioms, and “What techniques do teachers have to use in teaching idiomatic expressions?” By knowing students‟ needs and interests in their ways of learning idioms, teachers may understand what they have to do to help their students learn idioms. By finding those, the writer hopes that this study will be significant, not only for the writer, but also for the reader. From students‟ perspectives, teachers hopefully will know and understand what the students‟ interests in learning idiomatic expression are and consider those perspectives to improve their techniques in teaching, especially teaching idioms, to become more creative, interesting, and challenging for the students. Idioms in Second/ Foreign Language Learning Since this study is about students‟ of English Department students‟ perspectives, it is necessary to know how idioms in forein language learning are. The use of idioms and idiomatic expressions are characteristics of competency in a language.
Cakir (2011)
described that the failure of using them refers to the lack of pragmatic competence. If the students cannot understand or produce idiomatic expressions it means they have not reached a high level of second-language proficiency. Because of that, the ESL/EFL learners should know how to use idioms in the right way and in appropriate context or collocation. By learning idioms, learners are provided with a good opportunity to acquire information about a language‟s culture (Agar, 1991; Glucksberg, 2001), which should not be underestimated during the learning process. What the Teachers Have To Do Cakir (2011) stated that Idioms are usually used in a numerous of daily situations, and consequently they must be taught as a part of the lesson in classroom until the students can
practice using idioms as the product. Because of that, teachers have to help students become communicatively competent in target language. Teachers also should attempt to teach the students in a communicative and meaningful way. In delivering the lesson, teachers must consider students‟ levels in learning idiomatic expressions. Tarcaoanu (2012) mentioned some levels in learning idiomatic expressions. One of them is the historical level, where the idiomatic competence refers to traditional language knowledge of a community which can draw a history of the idioms, and this is important when a teacher teaches idioms because knowing the background or history of idioms they teach is good to strengthen them in mastering the language itself. The writer uses this theory as consideration and base of what the teachers should do. Since what teachers have to do are not only limited above, the writer will explain more techniques in the next parts. In addition, to grab what students think about how their teacher should help them to learn idiomatic expressions, the writer asks the students about it in an open-ended question in the writer‟s interview. Teaching Idioms The first thing teachers can do to teach idioms is by explaining the idioms. In a classroom activity where a teacher teaches some language skills in a meeting, practicing idioms sometimes may not be feasible or time cost-effective. In this situation, a teacher uses idioms to speak or to give instructions then gives a brief explanation, and simplifying them. This explanation helps students to notice them. Liu (2008) stated that when students listen to a story, brief explanation about vocabulary items increases students‟ lexical learning. To encourage it, teachers need to raise students‟ awareness and interest in idioms as what Liu (2008) cited from Allis (2008) and Schmidt (1997) that idiom awareness is very important for L2 learners because, as second language acquisition (SLA) theory suggested, noticing is
needed for language learning to take place (Liu, 2008). The following are techniques teachers can use in teaching idioms to raise students‟ awareness and interests in idioms. The courses students learn idioms. Liu (2008 p. 124) remind us the reasons not to incorporate idiom learning into the entire curriculum. These are because idioms are best learned naturally in normal language use and because of the amount of time allocation for exclusive idioms. But, the writer thinks that it is important to know in what courses students learn idioms to give a description of idiomatic expressions teaching and learning in The English Department. How the teacher teach idioms. Liu‟s (2000a) study proved that teachers who provides assistance to their students when practice using idioms are very limited. Mostly, they used three principal explanations strategies, which are definition, elaboration, and paraphrasing to help students grasp the new idioms. Tarcoanu (2012) provided different steps in teaching idioms and their meaning. The first step is choose 5-8 idioms that may be easily to be grouped. Then introduce idioms in context, not in the isolation. Third, students create the conversations using the idioms. After that, students act their conversations. Students also can practice those using games and activities. And they use them in their real life as authentic material. The materials related to idioms given. An example of material related to idioms is teachers can use reading passage or listening passages (depends on the focus of language skills) that contain idioms as the material in classroom activity, then ask the students to identify and discuss it (Liu, 2008 p. 141). If teachers use material contains idioms to teach the students, then explain or discuss it, the writer sure, that students can produce better idioms.
Learning idioms in daily use. Liu (2008) shared what Irujo (1986b) said that exploring idioms by reading and discussing idioms in cartoon, comics strips, TV, and other media are fun and very helpful for college students, especially intermediate and higher level students. Teacher can encourage them by asking them to write down the idioms they encounter and then grab the meaning of them. From those media, students learn idioms as the contents of media they find, and connect those contents to students‟ real life. This kind of activity is included in Contextual Teaching and Learning (CTL). Based on Berns and Erickson (2001) theory, CTL help students to connect the contents they are learning in classroom with the real life and this learning process will build their understanding of meaning, which in this context is an idiom. Discussing idioms. Students read and highlight all the idioms in a reading passage or other natural language data (Liu, 2008). Then, teacher asks the students to discuss with their partners about the meaning and uniqueness of highlighted idioms. But, the writer also asks the students about how discussion helps them to learn idioms. Knowing culture of idioms. Liu (2008) said that idioms are conceptually motivated figurative expressions, and conceptual motivation of idioms sometime may vary from culture to culture. Some idioms that exist in L2 may be absent in L1, which makes students face difficulty. Considering it, teachers have to help the students to develop their understanding of cultural knowledge. Cakir (2011) also said that establishing students‟ mutual understanding of culture and cultural value of the language is an important thing that teachers should put in their teaching agenda.
How native language affect idioms learning process. Liu (2008) gives an example of identifying and comparing idioms in L1 and L2. Students have to examine, compare, and contrast the idioms, so that students become more conscious not only of the ubiquitous existence of idioms but also of the similarities and differences between idioms and different languages. And the writer asks the students about how their native language idioms affect idioms learning process, either by contrasting it or by finding the similarity. Learning idioms through corpus research. Teacher asks the students to repeatedly notice and read idioms in authentic context (corpus), then determine the context and register, or to decide whether the idioms have negative or positive meaning (Liu, 2008). Conducting corpus research is a very challenging and complex task. The research assignment should be specific and the teacher guides the students continuously. Figurative meaning vs literal meaning. According to Grant (2007), a person needs to first understand the literal meaning and recognize its untruth in the context, and then “pragmatically” reinterpret it to find the intended truth or meaning, in working out the meaning of a figurative idiom. The teacher has to make sure that the students understand all the words in the idiom and the literal meaning of the idiom. Liu (2008) added that is because students generally need to understand the literal meaning to work out the meaning of a figurative idiom. It facilitates in-depth comprehension and memorization of the idioms. Students’ own way of learning. The other useful activities are picture drawing and the dramatization of idioms, but this is preferable for young learners and students with low English proficiency. This is a kind of student-center activity. It was stated in Liu (2008) that student-centered activity is very
efficient to develop students‟ understanding of idioms and other figurative language elements. Here, the writer does not only limit the students‟ ways of learning in that way, but also open for their answers. Students’ expectation. Expectation is something that perhaps does not need any theory. However, here the writer provides some interesting activities that are used as the example that students might expect their teachers to conduct it in their learning process. This is aimed to give the participants what the writer means when asks them about their expectations. Those activities are not limited in the classroom meeting, because Liu (2008) said that classes are not the most effective instructional setting for idiom learning. Here, the activities are such as by using idiom corner, which is a space on a wall in a classroom or inside the faculty building used to post idioms that students have encountered or that the teacher would like students to learn (Liu, 2008). Besides useful for the writers of the idioms, it is also useful for the readers, because they can read the idioms and learn the idioms unconsciously. Guessing idiom meanings by using contextual information is very useful and effective. In this activity, firstly look at the idiom very closely to see what grammatical function it plays. Next, examine the immediate context, and then move on to the larger context. Liu (2008) proposed the type of clues to look for to help figure out an idiom meaning, which include cause-effect, contras/ antonym, explanation/ definition, and synonymous expressions.
The Study Context of the Study This research was a qualitative study, which was meant to find some useful and helpful ways to learn idiomatic expressions, based on students‟ perspectives, compared to the literature review and their own opinions. The writer also wanted to reveal what teachers can do to help their students learning idiomatic expressions. The setting of the study took place in Satya Wacana Christian University, a private University located in Salatiga, Central Java, Indonesia. Considering that idiomatic expressions are not included in The English Department‟s courses, the subjects of this small study are not limited by the course they have taken. The reason of choosing The English Department of The Faculty of Language and Literature was that the writer saw and experienced that the students rarely use idiomatic expressions in their speech, whether in written or spoken language. And it has made the writer curious to explore what the students like or want to make them interested in learning idiomatic expressions and using them actively.
Participants The subjects of this research are 5 students who are in the third or fourth year study at The English Department of Satya Wacana Christian University. The writer chose five students instead of hundreds of students of ED because some students gave similar answers in some questions. Thus, it would be more efficient for the writer to use only five students of English Department who are in the third or fourth year students. The researcher chose the participants randomly, provided that the participants know what an idiom is. Considering that the use of idiomatic expression is a kind of skill, the researcher selected the students who were in semester 4 or above (the third or fourth year students) at The English Department.
The reason is that in those levels of study, the students have learned the language skill courses. Since the gender was not a variable in this study, the subjects were not grouped in terms of gender, so that the numbers of students from both genders were freely selected.
Instruments In this study, the interview was used as the main instrument to collect the main data. The interviews were semi-structured interviews, which included 13 open-ended questions and some unstructured questions to gather additional information from the students.
Data Collection Procedure The data were gathered through a semi-structured interview with 13 questions, but the researcher followed up some points if the writer needed more information. The interviews were recorded. The time given was approximately 15-20 minutes for each participant. Finally, the recordings were transcribed and analyzed by grouping the data based on the category derived from the data that the researcher has made.
Data Analysis In the data analysis procedure, in order to answer the research question, the categories were derived from the data and analyzed. The students‟ responses to the open-ended questions, which were not stated in the literature review, were accepted as their own ideas. The data were analyzed according to the theory that the writer stated in the literature review by comparing the theory with the data. Finally, after finishing the categorization and analyzing of the data, the writer then concluded and got the findings.
Discussion Students’ Understanding of Idiomatic Expressions According to Rachmadys Sabrony (1986:15), an idiomatic expression is an expression, which cannot be understood from the literal meanings of the words of which they are composed. And according to Cambridge Advance Learner‟s Dictionary (2003), an idiom is group of words in a fixed order that have a particular meaning, which are different from the meanings of each word understood on their own. From the five ED students that the writer interviewed, all of them said that they quite know about idioms, but some of them said that they just know a little bit. The Student A said that she does not know theoretically about what an idiom is. She thinks an idiom is kind of words that express something in an indirectly way. She gave the example of “running nose” and explained that it does not mean that the nose runs and leaves the face, but it means someone who gets influenza. Student B said that an idiom is a kind of sentence that has a meaning behind it, or in other words, the meaning is not explicit, but implicit. Student C said that an idiom or idiomatic expression is kind of expression whose meaning is different from the real meaning. Student D said that an idiom is kind of special expression. He added that every language has its own different expression that delivers the special meaning and it is kind of part of culture. And Student E said that firstly she taught that an idiom or idiomatic expression is the same as a proverb. But, then she knew that an idiom is a special expression that is used in special situations. To make sure that they really know about what an idiom or idiomatic expression is, the writer gave them three examples of phrases. They were “down to earth”, “my name is”, and “the floor is yours”. Student A, Student B, Student C, and Students D chose the first and the third one as the idiom. And Students E chose only the third phrase as the idiom.
From the data above, the writer finds that the participants quite know what an idiom or idiomatic expression is and they can identify which are included as idioms. Even though they did not understand it theoretically, but they can grasp the concept of how idioms are. It is shown by their ability to choose the idiomatic expressions from examples given. And, comparing the definitions of idioms and idiomatic expressions above with their answers, it seems that they need more explanation about idiomatic expressions until they can describe what an idiom is, based on the theory. It is important to understand the theory of idioms because there are also words or phrases, which are formed in special or fixed form but they are not idioms. It may cause confusion if the students do not understand idioms well. The example of confusion can be found from what students E said that previously she thinks idioms are just the same as proverb, but then she thinks that they are different. She also faces difficulties when she chose the idioms from examples given. She only chose the third one instead of first and third. Courses That Teach Idioms or Idiomatic Expressions Cakir (2011) said that idioms are usually used in numerous daily situations in the target language, and consequently it should be included in the syllabus and should be taught. Actually, The English Department syllabus does not include any idiom or idiomatic expression chapter in any course. When asked in what course the students learn idiomatic expression, Student A said that she knew idioms from grammar class, but she forgot about what kind of grammar that taught her about idioms. Students B said that she learned idiomatic expressions from Introduction to Linguistics, Semantics, and English to Indonesian Translation. Students C said that she learned idioms from Cross Cultural Understanding class and Semantics. Students D said that he learned idiomatic expressions from Basic Grammar, Semantics, Cross Cultural Understanding, and a class that he forgot what class it was, but he remembered that the teacher was one of the native speakers of English. Student E said that
she got idioms from Semantics Class and American Literature, which was taught by a native speaker of English. The data show that the participants mentioned different courses that taught them about idiomatic expressions. It is obvious that the fact that students learned idiomatic expression in English Department do not depend on what courses they have taken, but it depends on the teachers that taught them. Compare those answers to what Liu (2008) said that idioms are best learned naturally in normal language use, additionaly it needs more time allocation for exclusive idioms. From data above, the writer finds that most of the participants learn idioms from Semantics course. One student who did not say the same was a student who did not take Semantic course yet. It means that they learn idioms in Semantics, a course which teaches the students about the meaning of words. But, relating their answers in number one, the writer thinks that the material of idioms which are taught in Semantics are very limited because the focus of Semantic course is not idiomatic expressions, thus there are only a few exaple of idioms in the materials. And the rests of courses that they mentioned are various, two of them are CCU, and one for Grammar, Introduction to Linguistics, English-Indonesian Translation, Basic Grammar, and American Literature. It shows different courses and it means that idioms are not included as part of the syllabus. Also considering the answers of two students, about the teacher who are native speakers of English, the writer thinks that besides idioms that included in the materials or passages, students learned idiomatic expression does not depend on what courses they have taken, but it depends on the teachers that taught them. If the teachers have many idiomatic expressions, they can share it to their students, as the native speaker of English teachers did for these students. How the teachers teach idioms. To know more about the ways their teachers teach them idiomatic expressions, the writer questioned about how the teacher taught or introduced idiomatic expressions to the
students. Student A, B, C, and D answered that their teachers explain about idiomatic expressions and give the example of idiomatic expressions, but especially for Student C‟s teacher, he/ she started by asking the students to write an essay about a metaphor and told the similarities and differences. Student D‟s teacher also shared idioms he/ she has, similar to what Student E‟s teacher who inserted the idioms spontaneously when they were teaching in classroom. Comparing Liu‟s (2000a) finding that mostly, teachers used three principal explanations strategies, which are definition, elaboration, and paraphrasing to help students grasp the new idiom, data above reveal that English Department teachers mostly share the idiomatic expressions they have as the way they teach idioms. It can be seen from answers given by Student A, Student D, and Student E. Because of that, the more teachers know about idioms, the more they can share them to their students. For example native speakers of English who have many idioms, they can share more to their students. Different ways come from answers that Student B and Student C given. Student B‟s teachers teach it by explaining first, then giving the example. Student C‟s teachers teach idioms by comparing idioms to metaphor. Both of them are also different from Tarcoanu (2012) provides, which are by preparing 5-8 idioms, introduce them in context, then asks the students to create dialogue as products using those idioms. Students’ Opinions Toward Idiomatic Expressions They Have Got Responding what the participants said about their teachers, the writer wanted to know further if what the teachers taught are enough or not. Student A, D, and E said that it was not enough. Student B and C said that it was enough if only to learn the basic knowledge of idioms. Nevertheless, student B added that it is not enough to learn deeper about idioms. The data above shows that the students‟ perception toward idiomatic expressions given are just enough to give basic understanding of idiomatic expressions, as what Student
B and Student C said, but they are not enough for students to learn and to make the students awareness toward idioms. Most of them said that it was not enough to learn idioms significantly. The reasons are because language is rich of idioms and what are brought to the classroom is very limited, so that students feel that are not enough. Moreover, Student C said that because of its importance, it would be better if material about idiom were taught from the beginning year in English Department. The materials related to idioms given. The following discussion is about the students‟ opinion about the material of idiomatic expressions. Student A said that it was exciting for her. Similarly, Student B, C, and E said that idiomatic expressions are interesting, but sometimes they are diffecult or confusing for them. Student D said that it was good, interesting, and exciting because he wanted to be proficient in English, so that he needed to know more about idiomatic expressions to make his speech more natural. Liu (2008 p. 141) gave example that teachers can use reading passage or listening passages (depends on the focus of language skills) that contain idioms as the material in classroom activity, then ask the students to identify and discuss it. Considering it and what English Department teachers gave, as showed in participants‟ answers for question about the way teacher introduce idioms, the writer catches their opinions about the materials, it could be said that students are interested and excited with the material of idioms. Although sometimes the materials could be confusing, but they kept in minds that idioms are important. The writer assumes that their answers are not about how the materials are, instead of what they think about the idioms included in the materials they got. The statement of Student E, who said that it is confusing for her but she is interested in it, demonstrated it. Students’ Ways of Learning Idiomatic Expressions 1. By using medias such as TV shows, films, articles, radios, etc.
Even though idioms are not part of English Department‟s syllabus, students learn idioms and they have their perspectives of the best ways of learning idioms. Following in his book: Liu, Idiom Pedagogy: Macro Strategies (2007) who suggested that students can grab idioms individually when they read newspaper, listen to the radio, wacth TV, etc, the writer asked the participants whether they encountered idioms from films, cartoons, articles, radio brodcasting, etc or not. Student A said that sometimes she did but sometimes she did not. She could undertand the idioms from the film that she had already ever learned. Even though she did not really understand some new idioms, she knew they were idioms because when the words were translated literally, the meaning would be weird. Student B said that she can understand the well-known idioms, but she faced difficulty if she had to translate the meaning of new idioms. In this case, she only knew that those words were idioms. Student C said that she could not recognize idioms in film, cartoon, and radio if there was no meaning stated there. She preferred to learn idioms from articles or reading passages with the meaning of those idioms, or by using the picture that show the situation of that idiom. Student D said that he could recognize idioms from films or mini series. He noticed that there were idioms, moreover if those appeared repeteadly. Unfortunately, he then forgot them because he did not use those idioms. Student E said that sometime she encountered new idiom in term of knowing that it is an idiom, but about knowing the meaning, sometimes she cannot and sometime she try to guess the meaning. And she added that those kinds of activities can help students to learn idiomatic expression. Comparing the answers with what Liu (2008) stated above, it can be said that students could identify idioms individually when they read newspaper, listen to the radio, wacth TV, etc, although sometimes they found it is difficult to understand the meaning of new idioms. Since Liu (2008) said that foreign language idiom learning is a lifelong learning process, so
that students have to use the idioms they encountered, because they would forget or lose the idiom if they do not use them. In the other words, the writer says that learning idioms using media is a helpful way of learning idiomatic expressions for The English Department students. But, if students find idioms without understand or cannot use the idioms, students can ask about it or discuss it to their teachers. 2. By discussing idioms with friends. After students found idioms, they can share it by discussing with their friends to talk about what the expressions mean, how they are unique, and things related to idioms, so that students do not only notice the idioms, but also understand the idioms (Liu, 2007). The writer asked the five students about discussing idioms inside or outside the classroom. Student A said that she discussed idioms not only when she and her friends met, but also through social media such as Facebook or Twitter. Besides discussing the idioms, she also used them when she chatted with her friend. Student B said that she discussed the idioms in classroom, outside the classroom, and she discussed them with her sister. Mostly, she discussed the meaning of idioms she found. She added that discussing idioms helped her to learn idiomatic expressions. Student C said that she discussed idioms with her friends outside the classroom. Especially they talked about the material before the following week meeting. Student D said that he discussed idioms but not too often. He added that if he did not share with his friends about idioms, he would not be able use them. Student E said that she only discussed about the meaning of idioms, not about the background of why it is an idiom or something like that. From those answers, the writer concluded that students did not often discuss about idioms, just sometimes. As Liu (2008) proposed students to discuss with their friends about the meaning and uniqueness, most students discussed were the meaning of the idioms. Some of the students said that they did not only discuss idioms, but also tried to practice using them. The writer found that the more students discuss and practice to use idiomatic
expressions, the more they learn the idiomatic expressions. For those reasons, the writer concludes that discussing and practicing idioms are helpful ways of learning idioms for The English Department students. 3. By knowing the cultures behind the idioms. Idioms are usually used in numerous daily situations; consequently, the teachers have to teach idioms to their students in communicative and meaningful ways, with regard to the culture behind the idioms of the target language (Cakir, 2011). When asked about this, student A said that students needed to know culture of the idioms because when students learn a language they also learn about the culture, moreover language itself is part of culture. Student B said that it is necessary because every language has different idioms, so that students need to understand. Students C said that it is necessary because before we say something we have to understand the meaning of those idioms well. She also shared an experience in her class. She has a friend that told about “black people” in her class where the teacher was American. The teacher laughed because the meaning of “black people” that her friend referred was different from the meaning in America. Because of that, she said that we have to understand the culture of an idiom before we say it. Student D said that if students only want to learn about idioms, they just need to know the meaning of the idioms, and the culture is not necessary. But if students are interested in it, it needs a special class. Student E said that it is necessary because there are many English-speaking countries. Those countries have different idioms, and idioms that exist in one country do not always exist in other countries, too. By comparing the theory delivered above with the data collected, it can be said that mostly participants agree that knowing cultures behind the idioms help students to learn how they use the idiomatic expressions in appropriate way. It is very necessary to make students understand when and where to apply those idiomatic expressions. Because if
students do not know the cultures of the idioms they use, it is possible for them to use idiomatic expressions in the different context from what the idioms actualy mean, such as what happened to Student C‟s friend that Student C told. Nevertheless, this is a bit contrary to Student D‟s answer, because he said that knowing the meaning only is enough to learn idioms. Then the writer assumes that learning idioms is not only how we memorize the idioms and the meanings, but also how to use idioms appropriately in the right circumstances. Because of that, establishing students‟ mutual understanding of culture and cultural value of the language is an important thing that teachers should put in their teaching agenda (Cakir, 2011). 4. By understanding idioms in mother tongue. In the content of this study, student A said that it does not help because she does not really understand the idioms in Bahasa Indonesia, so that she said that it does not affect her learning of idiomatic expressions in English. Student B said that it can be helpful in English to Indonesian Translation class, but generally, it is not helpful because the idioms are different, except the idioms are translated. Student C said that it is helpful, because if students know the concept of idioms in Bahasa Indonesia, there are also some phrases in Bahasa Indonesia that are similar to the ones in English. Student D said that it is not helpful, because when he is learning English, he sets his mind in English way of thinking. And when he is learning Bahasa Indonesia, he sets his minds in Indonesian way of thinking. Student E said that it is not helpful because they are different and the meanings are different, so that it cannot help students to learn idiomatic expressions. Liu (2008) said if students understand idioms in their mother tongue, they can examine, compare, and contrast them with idioms in the target language (English), so that students become more conscious about the similarity and difference between idioms in moter tongue and idioms in the target language. Compare it with the answer above, the writer finds
that it is different because most students think comparing idioms in the mother tongue with idioms in the target language is not helpful to learn idioms. But, Student C said that it is helpful because some idioms in Bahasa Indonesia are similar to idioms in English (target language). In addition, Student B said that it is helpful only in Translation class. From those answers, the writer concludes that some students still think about language, especially idioms in the context of translation instead of as communication tools, because of that, the problem they face in the meaning make them think that concept of idioms in L1 cannot help them to learn idioms in L2 or target language. Also, it can be said that because students do not understand well the idioms in their mother tongue, they cannot examine, compare, and contrast them with idioms in the target language to help them learn idioms. 5. By conducting corpus researches. For intermediate and advance students, conducting research by using corpus as the authentic data, makes students repeatedly and read those idiom (Liu, 2008). However, Liu (2008) also stated that conducting corpus searches is very challenging and complex, so that the search assignment has to be as specific as possible. Moreover, it needs continuous guidance from the teacher. Considering those things, the writer tried to ask students‟ view of learning idiom by conducting corpus search. Before asking them, the writer showed the participants how to search in corpus, to anticipate if there were some participants perhaps who were not familiar with corpus. And as the result, Student A said that it can help students to learn idiomatic expressions, but it will be more helpful if there are the meaning too. If there is no meaning stated, and students still do not know the meaning, it is not helpful. Student B said that it seems interesting and may be helpful to learn. But, because there are too many sentences there, it is tiring to see and confusing. She added that it would be helpful for students who are diligent. Student C said that it is confusing, because there are many words there that make her
get confused. Student D said that it could help students to learn idioms because corpus is compilation of words usage frequency. Student E said that actually it helps students to learn idioms, but if the students do not understand whether the word is idiom or not, it will be confusing for them. From the data above, the writer finds that most participants are not quite familiar with corpus, and the writer assumes that the participants are guessing in their answer this question. By matching up those answers to the theory above, the writer grabs students‟ answers that conducting corpus searching is helpful for students to learn idiom only if the students know how to use the corpus and know what the idioms are. Whereas for the students who do not know, it is confusing and do not help students to learn idioms. And as Liu (2008) also said that it needs teachers‟ guidance to conduct a corpus research in learning idioms, because this is a way of learning idioms from their context, not the meaning, with the intention that it is a bit complex activity. 6. By remembering the meaning in figurative or literal meaning. Teacher should make sure that the students understand all the words in idioms and the literal meaning of the idioms because students generally need to understand the literal meaning first to work out the meaning of a figurative idiom (Liu, 2008). Considering that, the writer asked the students about their experience in remembering idioms, whether they prefer to use the figurative meaning or by using the literal meaning first. The results are, Student A, B, and C said that they prefer to remember the meaning of figurative meaning rather than the literal first. Whether Student D and E said that they prefer to use both of them. It depends on the idiom itself, if the words can be remembered by using the literal meaning, they use it. But if it cannot, they just remember the figurative meaning. From the data above, it is a bit different to what Liu (2008) said as the students understand all the words in idioms and the literal meaning of the idioms because students
generally need to understand the literal meaning first to work out the meaning. The writer discovers that some students prefer to remember the meaning by using figurative meaning because sometimes it is difficult for them to remember the meaning in literal meaning first, since the meaning are different. But, some students who use both of the way of remember said that the literary meanings build the imagery of the idioms, and they help the students to memorize the idioms. However, as what Student D and Student E said that not all idioms can be interpreted as how their literal meanings are. Because of that, in some idioms they prefer to remember the figurative meanings. As of the data above, the writer concludes that memorizing idioms using literal meanings are sometimes helpful for some idioms, but sometimes memorizing the figurative meanings are more helpful when the idioms using words which are totally different from the meaning. 7. Students’ way of learning idiomatic expressions. To answer the writer‟s research question, it is also important to know what technique(s) students use when they learn idiomatic expressions. The writer asked them to share their own way of learning. As the result, Student A, C, and E said that they prefer to write down the idioms and memorize those idioms. Additionally, Student C also try to apply the idioms in a song. Student B said that there is no special way of learning. She only reads then memorizes the idioms. And she prefers to grouping the idioms by the words, such as “down”, all idioms that use “down” are grouped and she memorizes them. Student D said that he prefers to memorize the idiomatic expressions and apply or use it to communicate. From the data above, the writer tries to compare it with what Liu (2008) stated that student-centered activity is very efficient to develop students‟ understanding of idioms and other figurative language elements. And the data show a bit different result, which are students memorize the idiom they encountered by writing down the idioms they encountered from their teachers, which is teacher centered. Also by reading the idioms provided
repeatedly, which are also teacher centered. But, in using songs and practicing it, students use kinds of activity which are student centered, as what Liu (2008) gave above. However, those activities are not their regular activity. They only do those when they found new idioms and memorize them. Therefore, the writer concludes that most participants do not have special way of learning to learn idioms, except the one who practice it.
Techniques That Teachers Should Do Teachers should try to use varieties of activities to help students learn idioms successfully (Liu, Idiom Pedagogies : Micro-Strategies and Techniques, 2008). By looking at students‟ answers for several questions above, the writer thinks that the teaching of idiomatic expressions in The English Department is very limited. It needs kind of improvement. And here the writer questioned the participants about their expectations of their teacher to teach idiomatic expressions. The writer gave some examples of techniques that the writer stated in the literature review. The first one is by using idioms corner where students can have a competition in writing down as many idiomatic expressions on the board (Liu, 2008). The second one is by exploring idioms in cartoons, comic strips, TV, and other media (Liu, 2008; Berns & Erickson, 2001). The third one is by reading and discussing idioms highlighted (Liu, 2008). The fourth one is by encouraging the students to guess the meaning of idioms from context (Liu, 2008). Besides, the writer asked the students if they have their own expectations. As the result, Student A said that the faculty can open a new class that specifically learning about idioms, just like at her friend‟s university. She added that the teachers have to teach idioms in a fun way, where the students not only listen and read the book, but they have to be included in the activity, especially speaking activities such as a role play. This strengthen previous point that agree with Liu (2008) that student-centered activity is very
efficient to develop students‟ understanding of idioms and other figurative language elements. Student B said that the portion of idioms teaching at the English Department should be added. And the teacher should make classroom activity more interesting, for example by using comics, cartoons, or films, and by producting roleplays that contain idioms. This is similar to what Liu shared from Berns and Erickson which are by exploring idioms in cartoons, comic strips, TV, and other media (Liu, 2008; Berns & Erickson, 2001). Student C said that it will be interesting if the classroom or faculty is decorated with some idioms like the classroom of students in high school. Even though this is a bit defferent,but the concept is a bit similar to idiom corner provided by Liu (2008) where students can write down the idioms and the other students can learn those idioms uncosciously by reading them everyday. She added that it will be good also if the teacher apply idioms in songs and pictures when they are teaching, and the portion of teaching idiomatic expressions have to be added. Student D said that the example of techniques given by the writer were good, but it is back to the teacher itself. The teachers should have more idioms in their minds so that they can share it to their students. With regard to the faculty regulation, it would be better if the faculty force the students to speak in English when they are in the faculty building. Or there is one day when everyone must speak in English in the faculty building. Student E said that those examples given by the writer are good, but it seemed a bit difficult to be applied at the English Department because there is no special class for idiomatic expressions. She thinks that it would be better if the students learn idiomatic expressions unconciously. For example by reading the idioms sticked on the walls. This is alsmost similar to Student C‟s answer that referst to concept like idiom corner that is proposed by Liu (2008). The other example is when the teachers use idioms in classroom, as
what Liu (2008) said that tachers deliver idioms in classroom naturally in context. And as the consequence, the teachers should have more idiomatic expressions to be shared with the students. But, disparitily she thinks that it is good to make a new class that teaches idioms, whereas Liu (2008) said that classes are not the most effective instructional setting for idiom learning, so here the student‟s perspective is defferent with Liu‟s theory. And from those answers, the writer concludes that the students are interested in idioms, and they hope the idiomatic expression teaching to be added. They also hope that their teachers have more idioms to be shared with them, so that they can also learn idioms from their teachers. And, for the techniques, students are interested if the ways of teaching idioms are fun, such as using songs, films, role plays, etc (Liu, 2008). Students also hope there is an English-speaking Day at English Department.
Conclusion and Suggestions Conclusion Since this study is aimed to find some useful and helpful ways to help students learn idiomatic expressions, the writer digs it up based on students‟ perspectives compared to the literature review. The writer also wanted to reveal what actually teachers have to do, to help their students learning idiomatic expressions. From the findings above, the writer would like to conclude the finding of this research about teaching idiomatic expressions at The English Department of Satya Wacana Christian University: Students‟ Perspectives. Since there are two research questions that the writer have proposed, this chapter consists of two points. 1. Students’ thinking about the best ways of learning idiomatic expressions. From the conclusions of each part in the previous chapter, the writer concluded that students are interested in learning idiomatic expressions, and they want to learn more. Mostly, the ways or techniques that students use to learn idiomatic expressions are by learning in classroom from what their teachers shared and the materials in the lessons. They also learn idioms using medias such as films, cartoons, articles, comic strips, etc. The findings also show that it is helpful to learn idioms by discussing idioms with friends or people around them, either the meaning or the uniqueness. And to memorize idioms, the finding show that students prefer to memorize the figurative meaning, and using the literal meaning to memorize some idioms. Along with those proposed way, students‟ own way of learnings are by writing down the idioms and reading them repeatedly unti they memorize it, but some students shared their way of learning idioms by using songs and by practicing those idioms to communicate. 2. Techniques that teachers have to use in teaching idiomatic expressions. From those students‟ thinking of learning idiomatic expressions, the writer refer it to this section, where teacher need to improve their techniques in teaching idioms considering
students‟ perspectives. This section is the implication of what data collected into the techniques that teachers have to use. And the writer concluded that teaching idiomatic expressions should be in fun ways. The techniques are variety, such as by using idioms corner, by asking the students to explore idioms from medias, by using idioms in reading passages or materials, and by encouraging the students to guess the meaning of idioms from context. Besides, teachers should have more idiomatic expressions to be shared with their students when they are teaching in classroom. And to make students are able to communicate using idioms, teachers should give assignments which ask the students to include idiomatic expressions, such as in writing assignments, speaking projects, roleplays or drama, etc. Suggestions Responding to the students expectations above, the writer would give some suggections for the teachers and the faculty as the following: 1. The portion of teaching idiomatic expressions can be added. It can be in a special chapter in some of the existing courses in English Department. Or it can be by adding a new course for teaching idioms, although it is cotrary with what Liu (2008) said that classroom is not the most effective way to learn idioms. The reason is because the students view idioms as important part of communication in English, so that they need to learn it more. 2. Students need to be a little bit forced to practice using idioms so that idioms that they encountered will not be lost. For example students have to use idioms in Drama class performances, or perhaps they have to use idioms in their writing projects, or etc. 3. Teachers add their bank of idioms in their minds, so that they have more idioms to share with their students in the classroom for the reason that teachers should share their idioms in natural way in classroom lesson. If they do not have many idiomatic
expressions in their minds, they will not know what idioms they can share to the students. Those result cannot be generalized into all English Departments of universities because students‟ learning environments and situations in English Department of Satya Wacana Christian University are different with the environments and situations in the other universities. They have different teacher, different materials, and perhaps also different courses. Because of that, this study is only describe students‟ thought in Englsih Department of Satya Wacana Christian University only. Since those students‟ perspectives are based on their opinion, which means there are possibility that they are just guessing, the result are good as consideration. Nevertheless, it means that further study is needed to make sure and verify the finding of this study, before the teachers really do what students expect. The further research can be a research that focus on the trial of these findings in focus group. Or other researches are opened, as long as it can prove or show contrast of this study.
Acknowledgements
First, I would like to thank to my Heavenly Father, Jesus Christ, who guides me, motivates me through His words, and makes everything is possible for me. Moreover, this thesis will not have been completed without much help and support from many people. Then I would like to show my greatest attitude to Ibu Martha Nandari, my thesis supervisor for her help, guidance, and the precious time she spent to help me in writing my thesis and Pak Brandon D. Sims for his willingness to read my thesis and for his comments to improve this thesis. I also thank to my beloved family, they are my father Sarjono, my mother Rumianingsih, and my sister Oktavira for their prayers, supports, struggle, love, and everything. In addition, I would like to share this strengthening verse, “My grace is sufficient for you, for My power is made perfect in weakness. (II Corinthians 12:9b NIV)”
Referencess
Berns, R.G. and P.M. Erikson. (2001). Contextual Teaching and Learning: Preparing students for the New Economy. Cakir, Ismail. 2011. How Do Learnders Percieve Idioms in EFL Classes? Kayseri: Erciyes University. Cambridge Advanced Learner‟s Dictionary. (2003). Cambridge University Press. Kaschak, Michael P. (2005) Idiomatic Syntactic constructions and language learning. Ebsco Academic Journal, 46. Liu, Dilin (2007) Idioms: Description, Comprehension, Acquisition, and Pedagogy. SL & Applied Linguistics Proffesional Series: Routledge. Rachmadie, Sabrony, Drs, M.A. (1986). Vocabulary: literal meaning, figurative meaning, idioms. Jakarta: Universitas Terbuka. Sadeghi, Bahador (2010). Patterns of Persian EFL Learners‟ Comprehension of Idiomatic Expressions: Reading Strategies and Cross-Cultural Mapings in Focus. Asian Social Science, 6 (8), 82-99. Tarcaoanu, Mihaela C. (2012) Teaching Idioms in English. Theoritical and Practical Considerations, 4 (7)
Appendix 1 Thesis – Questions for interview: 1. In your opinion, what is idiom or idiomatic expression? (giving some list of idioms, asking the students to choose which one(s) is/are idioms). Menurut pendapatmu, apa yang dimaksud dengan idiom atau idiomatic expression? (sambil memberikan beberapa idiom, kemudian meminta partisipan untuk memilih mana yang merupakan idiom).
2. When (in what course(s)) do you learn idioms? Kapan (pada mata kuliah apa) Anda belajar tentang idiom? 3. How did you teacher introduce idioms to you? Bagaimana dosen Anda memperkenalkan idiom kepada Anda?
4. Do you think that what your teacher(s) gave (toward idioms) is enough for you? Apakah menurut Anda, apa yang telah diajarkan dosen Anda tersebut sudah cukup?
5. What is your view toward idioms in materials? (good, bad, confusing, exciting, etc). Apa pandangan Anda mengenai idioms yang terdapat pada materi yang Anda pelajari? (baik, buruk, membingungkan, menyenangkan, dll). 6. Can you encounter idioms from film, cartoon, articles, radio broadcasting, etc? Apakah Anda dapat menyerap idiom dari film, kartun, artikel, radio, dan lain-lain?
7. Have you ever discussed about idioms with your friends inside or outside the classroom? Pernahkah Anda berdiskusi tentang idiom dengan teman Anda, baik di dalam maupun di luar kelas?
8. Do you think it will be helpful for the learners to know the culture behind idioms they learn? Menurut Anda, apakah pembelajar (mahasiswa) perlu mengetahui budaya di balik idiom yang mereka pelajari? 9. Is your understanding of idioms in your mother tongue or native language (Indonesian Language) helpful for you to learn idioms?
Apakah dalam belajar idiom di Bahasa Inggris Anda terbantu dengan pemahaman idiom di Bahasa Ibu (misalnya Bahasa Indonesia)?
10. The researcher shows the participant a corpus and show briefly how to find an idiom. Do you think this kind of activity is helpful for students to learn idioms? Peneliti menunjukkan cara pencarian idiom menggunakan corpus kepada partisipan. Menurut Anda, apakah aktifitas seperti ini membantu mahasiswa untuk mempelajari idiom?
11. If you have to memorize idioms, do you prefer to remember directly using the figurative meaning or by memorize the literal meaning first? Jika Anda harus menghafal idioms, Anda lebih suka untuk mengingat langsung menggunakan arti idiom itu atau dengan mengingat arti dari kata per kata?
12. Do you have your own way to learn idioms or idiomatic expressions? Explain about it, please. Apakah Anda mempunyai cara belajar idiom/ idiomatic expressions sendiri? Tolong jelaskan!
13. What do you expect of a teacher to help you (the students) to learn idioms? Apa yang Anda harapkan dari seorang guru/ dosen untuk menolong Anda (murid) untuk belajar idioms? For example by giving these activities: Misalnya dengan: -
Using idiom corner / menggunakan pojok idiom (semacam majalah dinding)
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Exploring idioms in cartoons, comic strips, TV, and other media/ menggali idioms dari kartun, komik, TV, dan media lainnya.
-
Reading and discussing idioms highlighted/ membaca dan mendiskusikan idiom yang digarisbawahi.
-
Guessing meaning from context/ menebak arti idioms berdasarkan konteksnya.
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Your own expectations: / ekspektasi Anda: ________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________
Appendix 2 Interview I Researcher : Menurut Pendapat Anda, apa yang dimaksud dengan idiom atau idiomatic expression? Student A : Idiom itu umh… secara teori aku ga ngerti. Tapi kalo idiom itu menurutku adalah semacam kata-kata yang digunakan untuk menggambarkan sesuatu secara tidak langsung. Misalnya untuk flu/ atau pilek itu kan running nose gitu. Researcher : Ya, aku punya 3 frase di sini, yang pertama “down to earth”, yang kedua “my name is”, yang ketiga “the floor is yours”. Dari ketiga frase ini, mana yang merupakan idiom? Student A : Kalo menurut aku sih yang pertama “down to earth” sama “the floor is yours”. Researcher : Oke, sip, thank you. Pertanyaan selanjutnya, kapan atau tepatnya pada mata kuliah apa Anda belajar tentang idiom? Ada ndak? Student A : Ada sih, tapi aku sudah lupa. Kalo ga salh sih interpersonal listening sama grammar. Researcher : Oh grammar… what kind of grammar? Student A : I don‟t remember, yah pokoknya grammar dech. Researcher : Oh ya, tidak apa-apa. Kemudian bagaimana dosen Anda memperkenalkan idiom itu kepada Anda? Student A : Eh, kalo dosenku itu langsung memberikan kalimat, misalnya “you are the apple of my eyes” guruku langsung kasih taunya tuh begini, kalo kamu suka sama cowok kamu bilang gitu, jadi langsung ke penerapannya. Researcher :Oh, jadi misalnya dari materi bacaan atau materi di buku ada kalimat seperti itu, dosen memberikan artinya dan dijelaskan bahwa itu adalah idiom, begitu? Student A : Hm‟mh. Researcher : Apakah menurut Anda apa yang telah diajarkan oleh dosen Anda tersebut sudah cukup untuk belajar tentang idiom? Student A : Umh… menurut aku sih belum, karena terbatas idiomnya, padahal kita pengen tau lebih, idiom yang ada itu apa aja sih, ga cuma yang dipelajari itu. Makanya kalo di kehidupan nyata tuh kadang, dia itu ngomong apa yach, berarti dari pihak guru tersebut harusnya memberikan contoh yang lebih buat studentnya gitu biar lebih luas pengetahuannya gitu. Researcher : Terus, apa pandangan Anda mengenai idiom yang terdapat pada materi yang Anda pelajari? Apakah itu baik, atau buruk, atau membingungkan, atau membuat Anda excited ? Student A : Jadi kalo idiom itu ka nada yang baik ada yang buruk. Kalo yang baik yang itu exciting, tapi kalo yang buruk juga jadinya feel bad. So far sih, menurutku kalo idiom itu adalah salah satu cara kita untuk mengungkapkan secara tidak langsung to the point. Jadi kita bisa memakai bahasa lain yang mungkin teman-teman kita atau orang lain belum tentu tahu apa yang kita tuliskan itu, jadinya play safe lah. Apalagi kalau kita nulis status lah, jadinya itu menyenangkan banget kalau kita nulis sesuatu tetapi orang lain tu nggak tahu. Jadinya… exciting sih… Researcher : Oke, apakah Anda dapat menyerap idiom dari film, kartun, artikel, radio, dan lain-lain seperti itu? Student A : Kadang sih, dan kadang juga enggak, tergantung. Kadang-kadang, karena masih belajar sih ya ada yang ingat ada yang tidak. Tapi terkadang sih tau, apalagi dari film. Aku kan suka film-film romantis, jadinya kan mau ga mau kan palingpaling juga ga yang ngerti saat itu, kalo aku ga tau sih paling aku cari… oh kalo ini genrenya romantis mungkin ini.
Researcher : Untuk memastikan aja sih, berarti yang Anda serap sebagai idiom tuh sesuai dengan yang pernah Anda terima atau Anda pelajari gitu, atau yang kira-kira Anda tebak gitu? Student A : Umh, kalo aku sih mungkin yang pernah dipelajari, jadi kita kan tahu, artinya apa. Researcher : Kalau misalnya idiom itu ada di film, tapi itu kata yang baru, yang Anda belum pernah terima, tapi kalau diartikan secara literal gitu kok artinya wagu, kok ndak yang seharusnya gitu apakah Anda bisa nangkep bahwa itu idiom atau tidak? Student A : Umh, kemungkinan iya, karena kalo yang namanya “bit by bit” itu kan idiom juga kan, artinya sedikit demi sedikit, masa segigit demi segigit. Memang sih ada, tapi kan ada hal lain yang bisa diartikan itu. Researcher : Oh, jadi Anda bisa ya nangkep idiom dari apa yang Anda saksikan itu? Student A : Ya. Researcher : Kemudian, pernahkan Anda berdiskusi tentang idiom dengan teman Anda baik di dalam maupun di luar kelas? Student A : Yak, pernah sih, jadinya ada beberapa teman, apalagi kalau mereka lagi membuat status di facebook atau twitter itu kayak misalnya dapat idiom satu, terus misalnya kita cerita sama temen gitu juga kadang pakai idiom. Researcher : Itu memperkaya idiom yang Anda punya? Student A : Ya. Kadang kita kan secara ga langsung ngomong lewatnya seperti itu, ga langsung ngomong kalo kita suka, jadinya kan tidak terlalu kelihatan. Researcher : Tidak langsung gitu ya? Student A : Hm‟mh. Researcher : Kemudian, menurut Anda, apakah mahasiswa perlu mengetahui budaya di balik idiom yang Anda atau murid-murid pelajari? Student A : Kalau menurutku perlu, karena kalau kita belajar bahasa kan kita mempelajari budayanya juga. Karena bahasa itu adalah budaya juga. Researcher : Tapi dengan tahu budaya di balik idiom itu, menolong Anda ndak dalam mempelajari idiom atau mengingat idiom yang Anda terima itu? Student A : Umh, karena sekarang saya belajar bahasa Inggris dan saya mempelajari budayanya juga, jadinya menolong. Researcher : Kemudian, apakah dalam belajar idiom di Bahasa Inggris, Anda terbantu dengan pemahaman idiom di bahasa Indonesia atau bahasa ibu Anda? Student A : Apa ya, kalo aku sih ga pernah tahu idiom dalam bahasa Indonesia seperti apa, karena mungkin dari kecil kita menggunakan seperti ini. Tetapi kita secara nggak langsung kita belajar secara dalem, tapi kemungkiinan kalo aku ambil bahasa sastra Indonesia, mungkin aku bisa tahu idiom itu seperti apa. Jadi menurutku sih nggak berpengaruh ya, soalnya sih ya itu, aku pakai bahasa Indonesia tuh ya tau aja. Aku tuh ga tahu mana yang idiom, mana yang bukan. Researcher : Oh gitu… Nah di sini kan ada corpus, mungkin Anda pernah bermain-main dengan corpus? Student A : Yak.. Researcher : Nah, idiom itu kan tidak terpatok seperti yang saya tunjukkan tadi. Tetapi bisa juga itu berupa collocation. Nah di corpus ini bisa kita gunakan untuk mencari kata, misalnya “down to earth” seperti itu tadi, kita cari kata “down”. Di bagian collocate itu nanti akan terdapat kata-kata yang bisa collocate dengan kata “down” itu. Misalnya “ down to”, “down the”, “down on”, “down from”, yang collocate dengan kata “down” seperti itu. Nah, menurut Anda, apakah dengan corpus seperti ini apakah menolong mahasiswa (Anda) untuk mempelajari idiom?
Student A : Menurutku, mungkin sih membantu. Cuma kalo aku sih, itu juga harus ada meaningnya, kalo yang di corpus ini kan kata ini related dengan kata itu, gitu aja. Ga membantu banget juga, karena kita kan ga tahu artinya apa. Researcher : Kalau AlfaLink pernah menggunakan belum? Student A : Jarang sih. Researcher : Oh jarang. Kalau di Alfalink itu kan kamus digital, di situ juga sebenarnya ada, jadi misalnya kita memasukkan kata “kick:, di belakangnya ada kata, jadi “kick on”, “kick off”, kemudian ada artinya. Nah, kalau menurut Anda, alat yang seperti itu membanti ndak? Student A : Kalo aku membantu. Researcher : Tapi apakah itu tepat apabila digunakan untuk pembelajaran mahasiswa ketika mereka belajar tentang idiom? Student A : Saya rasa cocok-cocok saja ya. Soalnya kalau kayak gitu kan sudah ada standarnya. Researcher : Berarti seandainya mahasiswa disarankan mempunyai alfalink seperti itu apakah akan memberatkan mahasiswa? Student A : Kalo menurut aku sih ga apa-apa, soalnya sekarang kan sudah jamannya teknologi. Kita kan kemana-mana ga harus bawa kamus yang gede. Dan kalau memang diharuskan, kenapa tidak? Karena itu kan juga menunjang kita untuk belajar, jadi kenapa enggak. Kalo aku sih ga apa-apa. Researcher : Kemudian, jika Anda harus menghafal idioms, Anda lebih suka untuk mengingat langsung menggunakan arti idiom itu atau dengan mengingat arti dari kata per kata? Student A : Aku langsung arti idiomnya saja. Soalnya kan kadang-kadang belum tentu ada kata itu di kamus. Researcher : Oh, berarti ndak harus mengingat kalo running itu lari, nose‟nya itu hidung, hidung lari-lari, oh berarti pilek, tuh ga harus kayak gitu ya? Student A : Yak. Researcher : Oh iya, kemudian apakah Anda mempunyai cara belajar/ trik khusus untuk belajar idiom/ idiomatic expression sendiri? Student A : Kalo aku sih lebih seneng kalau dapat list, gitu kan aku baca. Yang kedua, kalau cara sih menulis kembali aja, jadi kayak “the apple of my eyes” tuh apa, “bit by bit” tuh apa, gitu kan lebih inget. Researcher : Apa yang Anda harapkan dari seorang dosen untuk menolong Anda atau mahasiswanya belajar idiom? Nah di sini ada bebrapa contoh yang saya dapat dari buku, mungkin ini bisa dijadikan contoh untuk pertimbangan, kira-kira ini cocok nggak ya, dengan mahasiswa FBS-UKSW, gitu. Yang pertama menggunakan pojok idiom (semacam majalah dinding untuk menempelkan idiom yang ditulis mahasiswa), menggali idioms dari kartun, komik, TV, dan media lainnya di kelas lalu didiskusikan, membaca dan mendiskusikan idiom yang digarisbawahi (misalnya dari bacaan), atau dosen memancing mahasiswa menebak arti idiom dari konteksnya, atau Anda mempunyai ekspektasi Anda sendiri? Student A : Kalo aku sih dari contoh ini, aku setuju sama yang exploring dari kartun, komik, TV, dan media lainnya. Terus aku sih lebih ke guessing meaning from context. Kalau yang lain ya mungkin lebih ke dikasih idiom aja, jadi apa idimnya, terus ini artinya apa. Lebih bermanfaat sih. Kan kalau list kan ga cuma satu kan, jadi lebih kaya idiom. Researcher : Yak, memngingat bahwa idiom ini kan tidak termasuk dalam mata kuliah atau bab khusus di mata kuliah yang ada di FBS ya, berarti yang Anda harapkan, guru Anda harus seperti apa ketika mengajar Anda? Kan tadi Anda sempat
mengatakan bahwa dosen memberikan list. Nah seandainya list itu diberikan apakh melalui mata kuliah tertentu, atau dengan menyelip-nyelipkannya pada materi, misalnya materi yang dibaca, seperti itu apa bagaimana? Student A : Kalau soal itu sih memang kebijakan dari fakultas ya. Tapi kalau temanku yang dari luar UKSW itu dia punya mata kuliah khusus idiom. Jadinya ada suatu semester, dia belajar kayak gitu. Jadi mereka kaya banget sama yang namanya idiom. Jadi kalau memang dirasa perlu, ya why not? Researcher : Saya coba meluruskan ya, berarti dari teman Anda itu, ada yang kuliah di universitas lain dan di sana ada satu mata kuliah tentang idiom. Student A :Iya. Researcher : Kalau boleh tahu, mata kuliahnya apa? Mungkin Anda tahu? Student A : Apa ya, lupa ik. Pokoknya idiom-idiom gitu. Researcher : Oh, pokoknya isinya tentang mempelajari idiom-idiom seperti itu ya? Student A : Hm‟mh. Researcher : Mungkin ada lagi harapan-harapan Anda tentang bagaimana guru atau dosen mengajar idiom? Student A : Dibawa fun aja deh. Researcher : Oh, dengan cara yang menyenagkan? Maksudnya fun itu yang seperti apa? Apakah itu dnegan membuat drama, atau role play, gitu atau yang seperti apa? Student A : Kalau fun itu mungkin kayak yang melibatkan students aja sih. Pokoknya dibikin asik, jadinya kayak fun lah, ga Cuma yang baca buku gitu. Researcher : Jadi, maaf ni mau Tanya. Jadi kalau seandainya kalau drama ata role play itu fun atau tidak? Student A : Kalo aku sih, karena aku suka ngomong, jadi aku suka sama yang namanya roleplay. Ya pokoknya activity speaking gitu. Researcher : Oh, berarti seandainya idiom itu diperagakan oleh mahasiswa di kelas seperti itu, apakh itu akan menyenangkan untuk belajar idiom? Student A : Kalau aku iya.
Appendix 3 Interview 3 Interviewer : Hallo. Student B : Hallo. Interviewer : Yak, terima kasih atas waktu yang diberikan. Sebelumnya saya mau Tanya, Anda dari angkatan berapa? Student B : 2010 Interviewer : Oh, ya dari 2010. Oh, berarti ini tahun ketiga ya? Saya rasa Anda sudah tahu tentang idiom? Student B : Ya… ya… barusan dipelajari. Eh, ya tahu sudah agak lama sih. Interviewer : Oh, iya… menurut pendapat Anda, apa yang dimaksud dengan idiom atau idiomatic expression? Student B : Emh… kalau yang di kelas Semantics kemarin, idiom itu tuh kayak semacam kalimat yang mempunyai maksud di belakangnya. Jadi intunya tuh enggak tersurat tapi tersirat. Interviewer : Oh, kurang lebihnya seperti itu yach? Nah di sini saya punya tiga frase. Yang pertama “down to earth”, yang kedua “my name is”, dan yang ketiga “the floor is yours”. Nah, dari ketiga ini, mana saja yang merupakan idiom menurut Anda? Student B : Ada lebih dari satu ya? Interviewer : Boleh. Student B : Satu sampe, eh, satu sama tiga. Interviewer : Oh, ya, berarti cukup tahu yach? Oke, kemudian kapan, atau tepatnya pada mata kuliah apa Anda belajar tentang idiom? Student B : Di InLing, di InLing dikasih tahu, terus Semantics kemarin, mempelajarin itu to, sama sedikit-sedikit disinggung di Transalion (English to Indonesian Translation). Interviewer : English to Indonesian Translation? Oke, kemudian bagaimana dosen Anda memperkenalkan idiom itu kepada Anda pada saat kelas itu? Student B : Kalau yang di InLing sih cuma… kan namanya Introduction To Linguistic, jadi kan Cuma… ya dikasih tau, oh idiom tuh kayak gini, contoh-contohe kayak gini. Terus kalau yang masuk di Semantics udah yang agak-agak dikasih tau kalau idiom tuh kayak gini, bedanya sama proverb atau apa gitu tuh kayak gini. Dikasih tahu, dikasih contoh-contohe. Ya ga banyak sih yang dikasih, soale idiom kan juga banyak banget tuh. Kalau yang di Translation kan translate tuh, jadi dikasih tahu. Misale kalau idiom yang ini ditranslate ke bahasa Indonesia ga kayak gitu, tapi pake bentuk idiom yang lain gitu. Misale “like father like son” kalau diIndonesia‟an kan jadi “air cucuran jatuhnya ke pelimbahan juga”, ga “seperti ayah seperti anak”. Interviewer : Ada lagi? Student B : Udah sih… Interviewer : Kemudian, apakah menurut Anda apa yang diajarkan dosen Anda tersebut sudah cukup untuk Anda belajar tentang idiom? Student B : Kau buat dasarnya aja sih mungkin udah cukup, tapi kalo buat mempelajari idiom secara keseluruhan, kalo aku pikir sih masih kurang, secara idiom itu kan luas banget. Ada banyak. Ga… tiap negara, tiap itu kan beda-beda idiomnya. Yang dipelajari di pelajaran itu kan Cuma dasarnya, kalo itu sudah cukup sih. Tapi kalau untuk secara mendetail tuh kayaknya kurang. Kalau aku sih… kalau aku… Interviewer : Berarti Anda lebih cenderung ke kurang atau ke cukup? Student B : Kalau untuk sebagai dasar sih cukp. Tetapi kalau yang untuk mendetail masih kurang.
Interviewer : Oh, ya. Kemudian apa pandangan Anda mengenai idiom yang terdapat pada materi yang Anda dapatkan? Seperti yang tadi dikatakan di kelas to? Nah itu menurut Anda apakah sudah baik, atau itu buruk, atau itu membingungkan, atau itu membuat Anda kayak excited seperti itu? Apakah Anda tertarik, apakahAnda ingin belajar lebih lagi? Student B : Kalau aku sih jadi tertarik, soalnya aku seneng kayak-kayak gitu, jadi seneng. Ya, tak pelajari. Kemarin aku aja sampai nyari listnya gitu, tapi ga tak baca semua. Ya tapi seneng aja, tapi kalo udah masuk di soal, ga tahu itu idiom apa, bingung. Interviewer : Oh… Student B : Tapi secara pribadi sih suka, jadi tertarik gitu. Paling seneng sih materi itu kemarin waktu Semantics. Interviewer : Oh… berarti Anda jadi apa ya, istilahnya ingin belajar lebih kayak gitu? Student B : Iya, hm‟mh. Jadi pengen tahu lebih. Interviewer : Oke, bagus. Kemudian apakah Anda dapatmenyerap idiom dari film, atau mungkin dari kartun, dari artikel, dari radio, atau dari hal-hal semacam itu? Student B : Buat beberapa idiom sih bisa, buat idiom yang kayak terkenal-terkenal gitu sih mungkin bisa mudeng. Tapi kan kadang karena idiom banyak juga, nggak semuanya bisa tahu gitu. Kadang kalau lihat film, oh kok kayak gitu, oh mungkin itu idiom, tapi ga tahu itu artinya apa gitu. Terus kadang, kemarin dikasih lihat juga sama kakak, dikasih cerita terus ada idiom, suruh ngarti‟ke artinya apa, ya tahu itu idiom, tapi ga tahu itu artinya apa. Tapi kalau untuk secara general, mungkin kayak idiom-idiom yang terkenal gitu sih bisa. Interviewer : Tapi misalnya nih, Anda nonton film. Nah, di dalam film itu ada semacam kalimat yang mungkin secara grammar, lhoh kok ini kayak gini, gitu. Apakah Anda nangkep bahwa itu adalah idiom? Student B : Eh, kadang… seringnya sih nangkep. Tapi ya itu, ga tahu artinya gitu. Seringnya sih nangkep tapi ya untuk beberapa itu kadang juga ga nangkep juga sih. Tapi lebih sering nangkepnya, walaupun ga tahu artinya. Interviewer : Oh… Tapi itu Anda mengingatnya ga, bahwa waktu itu Anda dapat idiom itu sekalipun ga tahu artinya, tapi inget ndak sama katanya? Student B : Kadang tuh inget gitu. Kadang kalau penasaran langsung cari di google gitu, tapi kadang juga “oh ya udah, ga penting” gitu. Tapi kalau kira-kira menarik gitu ya langsung cari di google artinya apa, gitu. Untung ada google. Interviewer : Iyak, berarti kira-kira kalau cara belajar idiom dengan menyaksikan film, atau melihatnya dari kartun, atau dari membaca artikel seperti itu menolong ndak kalau seseorang belajar idiom? Student B : Emh, menolong banget sih. Soalnya kalau idiom itu kan harus lihat konteksnya juga to. Kalau kita lihat film gitu, oh itu dipakai waktu kayak gitu. Tahu konteksnya kan. Kalau membaca cerita kan oh ini kayak gini. Kalau aku sih, menolong banget. Soalnya jadi tahu konteksnya gitu, cara pemakaiannya. Interviewer : Kemudian, pernahkah Anda berdiskusi tentang idiom dengan teman Anda, baik itu di dalam maupun di luar kelas, seperti itu? Student B : Pernah sih. Kalau di dalam kelas kalau lagi pelajaran gitu bingung ini gimana sih, gitu. Terus kadang di luar juga kayak gitu, kadang yang ini artinya apa sih, kayak gitu-gitu. Sama Kakak juga sering nanya-nanya idiom, ini artinya apa, jadi sering sharing gitu. Interviewer : Kalau membicarakan idiom seperti itu membantu pembelajaran Anda tentang idiom ndak? Kayak menambah wawasan ga?
Student B : Hm‟mh. Soale kan… jadi misale aku nggak tahu idiom ini. Terus teman bilang ini tuh gini…gini…gini… ini artinya apa toh? Oh ini artinya kayak gini. Oh, itu kayak gitu. Itu artinya kayak gini. Jadi inget gitu sih kalau aku. Soale kalo aku tipenya, cara belajarnya tuh denger sama diskusi. Kalau dengar sama diskusi biasanya lebih eling (=ingat). Interviewer : Iyak. Kemudian, menurut Anda apakah pembelajar, atau di sini konteksnya mahasiswa yach, perlu mengetahui budaya di balik idiom yang mereka pelajari? Student B : Sangat perlu. Soalnya ya itu tadi kan di awal tadi, idiom walaupun yang artinya sama, tiap bahasa itu tuh punya beda-beda gitu lho. Kayak tadi yang aku bilang “like father like son” di bahasa Indonesia kan “air cucuran jatuhnya ke pelimbahan juga”. Kalo bahasa Jawa kan “ kacang ora ninggal lanjaran” kayak gitu kalo ga salah. Jadi ya perlu sih, tahu gitu. Jadi harus tahu di baliknya gitu. Kadang kalau kita Cuma tahu idiom ga tahu cerita di baliknya jadinya kayaknya ya Cuma tahu-tahu aja gitu sih. Interviewer : Berarti mengetahui budaya di balik sebuah idiom itu menolong pembelajar, atau misalnya di sini Anda ya, untuk belajar idiom itu? Student B : Em, mungkin akan membantu sih, kalau aku sih pasti itu akan membantu, kalau aku… Interviewer : Kemudian, apakah di dalam belajar idiom dalam bahasa Inggris, Anda juga terbantu atau tertolong dengan pemahaman yang Anda dapat dari idiom yang ada di Bahasa Indonesia? Student B : Kalau buat translation iya. Tapi kalau secara keseluruhan enggak. Soalnya kan beda to, yang di awal tadi kan beda-beda. Nggak bisa itu… jadi bingung juga. Kadang idiom yang ini kayak gini ternyata artinya kayak gitu. Kalau dari bahasa Indonesia ke Bahasa Inggris sih nggak begitu menolong sih, kalau aku. Soale beda, kecuali kalau memang itu idiomnya translate‟an gitu sih aku bisa. Interviewer : Oh…gitu. Nah, ini di sini kan ada corpus. Pernah mainan dengan corpus belum? Student B : Belum. Tapi pernah denger sih, kayaknya serem. Interviewer : Yak, di corpus ini, kita bisa mencari misalnya kata “down to earth”, ya… Misalnya kita dari di sini „down‟. Nah, di sini ka nada banyak sekali kata “down”. Nah, misalnya di sini kan kita cari, apakah ada idiom yang menggunakan kata down? Nah, ini ada yang bergaris ini ya, :down-to-earth”. Itu tadi dari kata down, misalnya dari kata lin. Misalnya dari kata laid back. Kita cari kata laid. Nah ini kan ada yang ada strip-stripnya ini ya. Kalau misalnya kita mencari idiom dari corpus seperti ini apakah akan menolong belajar idiom? Student B : Asik sih kayake iya, jadikan ini ada symbolnya ya. Bisa sih, tapi mungkin akan agak-agak bingung ya, soalnya kan banyak to, jadi kan capek to. Kalau aku sih lihatinnya capek. Ya memang agak membantu, soalnya tahu oh ini kayak gini ada yang gitu. Tapi ya banyak banget sih, repot. Interviewer : Oh, iya bener…bener… Tetapi, kira-kira ini menolong mahasiswa untuk belajar idiom? Student B : Kalau teliti iya, kalau telaten… tapi kalau aku sih nggak telaten, lihatnya capek. Interviewer : Oh… iya…iya…bener…bener… Kemudian, jika Anda harus menghafal idiom misalnya ya. Atau setidaknya mengingat idiom itu, Anda lebih suka untuk mengingat secara langsung atau menggunakan arti idiom misalnya dari kata down to earth itu artinya kan realistis atau mengingat dari kata per kata? Misalnya dari secara lateral dulu down itu turun, to itu ke, earth itu bumi, turun ke bumi oh berarti harus realistis. Misalnya seperti itu atau bagaimana?
Student B : Kalau aku pertama langsung, jadi ini kayak gini artinya ini, gitu. Tapi kadang kalau nggak tahu tak raba-raba, oh ini tuh gitu, tak raba-raba gitu. Tapi cara biasanya sih langsung. Itu artinya ini. Kalau nggak tahu, masih baru, ngraba sendiri. Interviewer : Oh berarti langung saja dengan figurative meaningnya ya? Student B : Hm‟mh. Interviewer : Kemudian nih, apakah Anda mempunyai cara belajar idiom atau belajar idiomatic expression tersendiri? Student B : Kalau aku sih, nggak ada sih. Cuma paling itu, mbaca yang sama. Misale yang tadi kayak down, down semua apa-apa-apa artinya apa-apa-apa. Jadi dikelompok‟in gitu. Tapi secara khusus sih nggak ada sih. Ya biasa, baca-ngapalbaca-ngapal gitu tok. Interviewer : Oh… ya..ya..ya… berarti langsung? Student B : Denger, inget gitu aja sih. Interviewer : Kemudian, tadi kan denegr langsung inget tapi misalya ada trik-trik khusus gitu, untuk mengingat yang Anda dengar tadi itu atau ndak? Student B : Enggak sih, kalau lupa ya udah. Nana : Oh, jadi inget iu karunia gitu ya? Student B : He‟eh. Kalau enggak ya sering diomongin. Jadi kalau ngobrol sama teman, pakai idiom itu. Interviewer : Oh, kayak diterapkan gitu? Student B : Ya, jadi kayak penerapane gitu, jadi kan inget. Tapi kalau lupa ya udah. Interviewer : Okey.. Nah, kemudian nih, apa yang Anda harapkan dari seorang dosen untuk menolong Anda atau menolong mahasiswanya untuk belajar idiom? Nah, di sini kan saya punya beberapa contoh. Misalnya apakah dengan menggunakan idiom corner, itu semacam majalah dinding untuk menempel idiom yang ditulis oleh para mahasiswa. Ataukah dengan cara menggali idiom dari kartun, komik, TV, dan lainnya. Misalnya mahasiswa diminta membuat project untuk menemukan idiom dari media-media itu? Atau mungkin dengan membaca dan mendiskusikan idiom yang digarisbawahi dari suatu materi? Atau mungkin dengan belajar idiom melalui cara menebak idiom disesuaikan dengan konteksnya? Atau mungkin Anda punya ekspektasi yang lain? Student B : Kalau aku sih lebih suka yang tadi. Jadi kayak yang kartun, komik, kayak gitu aku suka. Soalnya kan lebih menarik, kalau kita membaca terus capek juga kan. Sekarang kan mungkin kita belajar terus, jadi kalau ditambah kayak gitu jadinya capek. Tapi kalau dilihat dari komik, kartun, atau kayak TV kan asik, jadi refreshing juga kalau nonon film sambil nyari idiom gitu. Tapi karena materi idiom sendiri itu nggak banyak ya, mungkin susah kalau dibuat kayak gitu. Biar tetep mempersingkat waktu kalau materinya nggak banyak, di kelas tuh dikasih kayak semacam… apa ya, teks pendek gitu, atau komik gitu, trus nyari di dalam kelas itu. Soalnya ga banyak juga sih idiom dipelajari. Eman-eman padahal, apik jane. Interviewer : Tapi kalau menurut Anda, sebenarnya perlu ndak sih di ED (=English Department) ini diterapkan misalnya mata kuliah idiom atau misalnya ada sesuatu yang menggali idiom atau mempelajari idiom kayak gitu? Student B : Emh, mungkin kalau dibuat kayak mata kuliah gitu terlalu lebay ya. Idiom… kayaknya kalau buat mata kuliah idiom itu tuh piye… gitu. Tapi mungkin porsinya agak ditambahi. Yang kemarin kan di Semantics itu Cuma satu bab, eh setengah bab malahan, gitu mungkin bisa dibuat jadi satu bab agau agak panjang gitu. Ya satu bab lah setidak‟e, sudah cukup sih, kalau aku. Soalnya kalau kita terlalu banyak belajar idiom juga jadinya nanti malah bingung. Tapi kalau kurang ya kayaknya kok sitik gitu. Mungkin satu bab gitu cukup kalau kau sih.
Interviewer : Kalau misalnya itu… misalnya ni… porsinya ditambahi kan harapan Anda kan, terus dosennya sendiri cara menyampaikannnya kepada mahasiswa bagaimana? Student B : Pakai cara yang kreatif. Interviewer : Cara yang kreatif itu seperti apa? Student B : Ya kayak yang tadi, pakai komik, atau pakai apa, mungkin bisa disuruh role play pake idiom gitu kan asik tuh. Interviewer : Role play yang ada idiomnya juga? Student B : Ho‟oh, ada idiomnya. Kalau ga buat film gitu, trus ada idiomnya gitu sih. Interviewer : Oh, harus menggunakan idiom gitu ya? Student B : He‟eh… Interviewer : Oh, iya..iya… mungkin ada lagi? Student B : Eh, udah sih kalau aku kayak gitu udah cukup sih. Asik gitu belajar idiom. Tapi kalau kebanyakan ngapalke idiom ya waduh… Interviewer : Oh ya, baik kalau begitu, terima kasih banyak atas waktu yang diberikan. Student B : Sama-sama Mbak Interviewer. Interviewer : Tuhan memberkati.
Appendix 4 Interview 3 Interviewer : Halo selamat siang. Student C : Iya selamat siang. Interviewer : Maaf, Anda angkatan berapa? Student C : 2010. Interviewer : Oh, ya… angkatan 2010. Baik, langsung saja kita mulai ya? Menurut pendapat Anda, apa yang dimaksud dengan idiom atau idiomatic expression? Student C : Menurut saya, idiomatic expressions atau idiom itu seperti ungkapan ya, atau ekpresi yang artinya itu berbeda dari arti khususnya, arti yang seharusnya. Interviewer : Nah, di sini saya punya beberapa frase, ada tiga frase di sini. Yang pertama “down to earth”, yang kedua “myname is”, yang ketiga “ the floor is yours”. Dari tiga frase yang saya punya ini, mana sajakah yang merupakan idiom? Student C : Emh…. Nomor satu, nomor tiga. Interviewer : Oh iyah, satu dan tiga ya? Oke, terima kasih. Kemudian, Anda kan tadi sudah tahu tentang idiom, itu kapan, atau tepatnya pada mata kuliah apa Anda belajar tentang idiomatic expression? Student C : Kalau selama ini ya, saya tuh pertama kali beajar tentang idiom tuh semester ini di kelas CCU (=Cross Cultural Understanding) dan beberapa di kelas Semantics sih, tapi di chapter-chapter terakhir. Tapi kalau idiom, yang bener-bener tahu tentang idiomnya itu di kelas CCU. Jadi ada seperti metaphor seperti itu. Interviewer : Oh, ok. Kemudian pada saat Anda belajar tentang idiom itu, bagaimana dosen Anda memperkenalkan idiom itu kepada Anda? Student C : Emh, jadi pertama kali kami (mahasiswa) disuruh membuat essay tentang metaphor. Nah terus saya mencari sendiri tentang idiom itu apa, dan metaphor, dan contohnya seperti apa. Nah terus, setelah itu kami membuat essay, dan di essay itu tuh ada beberapa pertanyaan yang diajukan oleh dosennya, yaitu metaphor yang ada di bahasa Inggris tuh seperti apa, apakah ada persamaan dengan yang ada di bahasa Indonesia, ataukah ada perbedaan. Nah, terus setelah itu, setelah kita membuat essay di kelas, dosen baru menerangkan idiom itu seperti ini. Ada beberapa perbedaan dan persamaan, tetapi memang banyak yang berbeda. Seperti, misalnya seperti contoh ya, kalau kemarin itu Duncan itu bilang seperti ini, “like father like the son”. Terus kalau di bahasa Indonesia kan juga ada “seperti anak, seperti bapaknya” seperti itu. Terus ada juga buah apel tidak jauh dari pohonnya. Interviewer : Buah jatuh to? Student C : Eh, buah jatuh tidak jauh dari pohonnya. Nah, seperti itu. Interviewer : Oh… tapi dari yang disampaikan dosen Anda terebut, Anda bisa nangkep idiom itu dari situ? Student C : Iya, di situ. Interviewer : Berarti cukup jelas ya? Kemudian apakah menurut Anda apa yang telah diajarkan oleh dosen Anda tersebut sudah cukup untuk belajar tentang idiom? Student C : Menurut saya sudah. Yang penting tahu konsepnya apa idiom itu. Contohnya seperti apa, itu sudah. Interviewer : Oh sudah… tapi kalau untuk pembelajaran, misalnya Anda kan belajar tentang idiom, apakah kalau seperti itu apakah cukup? Student C : Emh, untuk belajar… oh ya, yang ini mungkin perlu ada kelas khusus mungkin ya, atau gimana. Jadikan ini baru ya, kayak menurut saya sendiri tuh itu baru dan itu baru diajarkan di semerter-semerter akhir seperti ini. Lha terus, padahal itu sebenarnya kan perlu di awal-awal. Buat mahasiswa baru juga tahu tentang apa
sih idiom itu. Tapi saya juga baru dapat itu di semester ini, yang konkrit, yang jelasnya. Interviewer : Kenapa kok idiom itu perlu? Student C : Ya menurut saya… kadang kan kalau misalnya kita berinteraksi dengan orang luar ya kadang-kadang mereka menggunakan frasa tertentu, ya idiom itu. Ya seperti yang digunakan di lagunya Adele itu kan, “rolling in the deep” itu kan kadang kita kan, apa ini maksudnya “rolling in the deep”? Jadikan menurut saya seperti itu juga perlu dari awal-awal mahasiswa, dipelajari, udah diajarkan seperti itu. Interviewer : Kemudian, menurut pandangan Anda nih, apa pandangan Anda mengenai idiom yang terdpat pada materi yang Anda pelajari? Apakah idiom yang disampaikan selama ini sudah baik, atau sudah cukup, atau oh idiomnya masih buruk, atau pakah idiomnya membingungkan, atau justru itu membbuat ANda tertarik dan oh idiom itu menyenangkan, atau seperti apa? Student C : Kalau menurut saya, idiom itu kok malah menyenangkan ya. Menarik, karena kita di sini juga tahu mengenai kultur negara lain seperti apa. Kan mungkin berbeda. Jadi apa ya, jadi lebih tahu banyak aja tentang dunia luar gitu lho. Interviewer : Terus, kalau dari materi yang di bacaan, atau yang di buku, kayak gitu atau di sisni biasanya materinya menggunakan apa sih? Student C : Menggunakan, maksudnya dengan media apa gitu? Interviewer : Emh, Anda tahu idiom tu apa dari bacaan, atau dari video, atau…? Student C : Ya dari bacaan sih. Interviewer : Nah, itu sudah cukup atau masih kurang? Student C : Ya menurut saya itu sudah cukup. Interviewer : Sudah baik berarti ya? Student C : Sudah baik. Interviewer : Kemudian, kalau Anda nih, apakah Anda dapat menyerap idiom ketika Anda nonton film, atau mungkin dari kartun, atau dari artikel, dari radio, atau dari mediamedia semacam itu? Student C :Ya menurut saya kalau dari film, kartun, atau radio misalnya. Ketika itu tidak ada meaningnya, tidak ada arti yang disampaikan atau hanya mengungkapkan idiom gitu seperti ini, gitu mungkin menurut saya tidak bisa jelas, tidak bisa deserap oleh saya. Tapi kalau misalnya di artikel misalnya suatu idiom A kemudian ada artinya seperti ini-sepeti ini, atau ada beberapa gambar yang memperagakan idiom itu, nah itu kemungkinan saya bisa menyerap atau mengetahui. Interviewer : Tapi misalnya Anda sedang nonton, film barat ceritanya. Di situ ada kalimat yang diucapkan itu kok ndak seperti aturan grammar ya. Misalnya “the floor is yours”, oh panggung itu milik saya nah kan kayak gitu misalnya. Apakah Anda bisa tahu bahwa oh kayak gitu itu berarti ada idiomnya kayak gitu? Student C : Emh, mungkin kalau secara langsung sih saya ndak tahu ya. Tapi kalau misalnya ada beberapa konteks, misalnya di panggung “the floor is yours” ada orang maju terus ada orang maju ya mungkin oh ini ada orang maju mungkin mempersilakan untuk maju, gitu jadi ka nada konteksnya. Tapi kalau orang Cuma ngomong seperti itu mungkin saya ndak bisa tahu…. Situasinya. Interviewer : Berarti Anda bisa menyerap idiom dari situasi yang sedang terjadi? Student C : Iya. Interviewer : Nah, pernah ndak Anda berdiskusi tentang idiom itu dengan teman Anda baik itu di dalam kelas maupun di luar kelas?
Student C : Kalau itu menyangkut mata kuliah itu pernah. Jadi kayak di CCU itu,kemarin dengan teman saya, tentang idiom itu seperti apa, contohnya seperti apa-seperti apa, sebelum masuk ke materinya minggu depan, misalnya seperti itu. Interviewer : Berarti itu di dalam kelas? Student C : Di luarnya. Interviewer : Oh… di luar kelas. Kemudian, menurut Anda nih, apakah pembelajar, atau Anda kan mahasiswa ya, apakah mahasiswa perlu mengetahui budaya di balik idiom yang mereka pelajari? Student C : Oh ya, menurut saya ini dangat penting mengetahui budaya di balik idiom yang mereka pelajari. Karena sebelum kita mengucapkan suatu kata, anggaplah itu idiom ya, kita harus tahu maknanya atau artinya di balik idiom itu sendiri. Dulu pernah sekali, ada teman di kelas poetry kalau nggak salah. Temen saya itu bilang, waktu itu kelasnya Danielle, dia kan dari luar negeri ya. Terus ada temen saya yang bilang “black people” itu… apa ya… apa gitu, saya lupa. Nah terus, kemudian Danielle itu tertawa, lha artinya itu, teman saya itu artinya pokoknya waktu itu kan kita belajar tentang marginalism. Interviewer : Oh begitu? Student C : Hm‟mh. Terus, pokoknya di situ teman saya itu maksudnya orang-orang hitam, black people itu, ndak seperti… ndak bisa terus-terusan berada di bawah, istilahnya seperti itu. Jadi bisa juga black people itu menjadi orang yang menyenangkan seperti itu. Lha terus Danielle itu tertawa, dan kemudian dia bilang, artinya sebenarnya tidak seperti itu. Artinya agak dalam tanda petik, orang hitam, orang black people itu lebih bisa memuaskan kita dalam sex. Jadi ya menurut saya, lebih baik kita mengetahui budaya di balik kata-katanya itu sebelum kita mengucapkan idiomnya itu. Interviewer : Tapi kalau dengan mengetahui budaya di balik idiom itu apakah itu berarti membantu kita belajar idiom? Student C : Iya. Interviewer : Oh iya… Nah, selanjutnya, apakah dalam belajar idiom di dalam bahasa Inggris, idiom yang ada di dalam Bahasa Indonesia itu menolong Anda dalam mempelajari idiom yang ada di dalam Bahasa Inggris? Student C : Iya. Interviewer : Oh iya… Nah, selanjutnya apakah dalam belajar idiom di dalam Bahasa Inggris, idiom yang Anda ketahui didalam Bahasa Indonesia itu menolong Anda untuk belajar idiom dalam Bahasa Inggris? Student C : Beberapa iya. Jadi kalau misalnya kita sudah tahu dalam bahasa Indonesia idiom itu seperti ini-seperti ini, terus kemudian ada beberapa yang kayak kupu-kupu malam, gitu ya, ya itu kan ada beberapa istilah “kupu-kupu malam”, itu kan ada beberapa istilah untuk kupu-kupu malam di Bahasa Inggris. Interviewer : Iyak, tapi tertolong dengan bahasa ibu ya? Student C : Iya. Beberapa frase yang sama Interviewer : Oh… okey, nah kemudian di sini saya punya sebuah corpus. Anda pernah bermain dengan corpus? Student C : Tidak pernah. Interviewer : Oh, kalau begitu saya tunjukkan dulu ya. Di sini misalnya, tadi kita punya frase “down to earth” misalnya kata pertamanya kan “down” ya. Nah, ada banyak sekali kalimat. Ini kan ada kalimat yang menggunakan kata “down” di sini. Nah, kita cari di sini apakah ada kata “down to earth”… Nah ini, “down to earth”… “down to earth ini sendiri kan sebuah idiom. Nah ternyata di corpus kok kita cari kata down di
sini ada garisnya seperti ini ya. Kira-kira kalau cara belajar seperti ini dengan menggunakan corpus seperti ini bisa ndak? Student C : Ya kalau menurut saya… oh ini berarti yang ada strip-stripnya maksudnya idiom gitu? Interviewer : Ya ndak mesti juga sih. Student C : Kalau menurut saya membingungkan ya…karena banyak sekali kata-kata di situ. Kata menggunakan down, jadi menurut saya membingunkan malahan. Interviewer : Owh… ya…ya…ya… berarti kurang efektif kalau diterapkan di ED ini ya? Student C : He‟eh. Interviewer : Oke, kemudian kalau misalnya Anda harus menghafal atau mengingat idiom, Anda lebih suka utuk mengingat langsung menggunakan makna figuratifnya tatu mengingatnya itu dari kata per kata dulu? Kayak misalnya “down to earth”, down itu turun, to itu ke, earth itu bumi, oh berarti turun ke bumi, berarti artinya realistis. Nah, apakah deng cara seperti itu atau langung “down to earth” itu artinya realistis begitu? Student C : Kalau menurut saya mungkin lebih langsung ke figurative, artinya ya. Interviewer : Langsung aja ya? Student C : Hm‟mh. Soalnya mungkin nanti bingung ya? Interviewer : Berarti yang lebih mudah ya? Iyak… Kemudian apakah Anda mempunyai cara belajar idiom atau idiomatic expression sendiri? Student C : Umh… ya itu tadi ya, kayak seperti itu tadi. Jadi menghafal, tahu idiomnya, kemudian menghafal meaningnya figuratif langsung. Interviewer : Cara menghafalnya bagaimana? Student C : Cara menghafalnya? …. Dihafalkannya ya mungkin… umh… misalnya dari kata down to earth itu sendiri gimana kita bisa hafal, ya diinget-inget. Interviewer : Dicatat nggak? Student C : Umh… iya, terus diinget-inget kayak gitu. Atau mungkin kalau misalnya ada beberapa diaplikasikan di lagu mungkin itu lebih cepat bisa hafal ya, jadi pakai lagu. Interviewer : Nah, kemudian apa yang Anda harapkan dari seorang dosen utuk menolong Anda untuk bisa belajar idiom? Nah, di sini kan saya punya beberapa contoh. Seperti teknik-tekniknya seperti itu. Apakah misalnya dengan menggunakan pojok idiom, misalnya semacam majalah dinding yang diisi oleh para mahasiswanya. Atau mungkin apakah menggunakan kartun, komik, TV dan media lainnya untuk digali idiomnya? Atau mungkin dengan membaca lalu mendiskusikan idiom yang digarisbawahi, atau istilahnya yang dihighlight di suatu bacaan? Atau mungkin dengan cara dosen yang memancing mahasiswanya untuk menebak arti idiom berdasarka konteksnya? Atau Anda punya harapan sepeti apa sih dari seorang dosen? Student C : Umh… ya kalau misalnya ita sangat penting ya untuk mempelajari idiom. Ya mungkin menurut saya ndak Cuma hanya di kelas-kelas saja untuk dosen mengaplikasikan idiom atau arti idiom itu sendiri. Nah, mungkin bisa diberikan misalnya kayak di SMA atau SMP, sekolah-sekolah itu kan ada “Raji Pangkal Pandai”, jadi kayak digantung, atau dibikin apa… dan artinya. Jadi, mungkin di sini juga membiasakan mahasiswa untuk mengetahui arti makna idiom itu seperti apa, terus idiom luar negeri itu seperti apa, menurut saya seperti itu. Selain didiskusikan di kelas untuk bahan ajaran ya. Tapi kalau di luar itu mungkin juga perlu biar mahasiswa itu sendiri juga tambah pengalaman, terbiasa seperti itu. Interviewer : Kalau cara mengajarnya? Misalnya di kelas, dosen mau mengajar idiom, berarti kira-kira cara efektif untuk mereka menolong mahasiswanya itu menggunakan apa sih?
Student C : Mungkin kalau hanya membaca atau mendiskusikan saja itu mungkin cepat lupa ya. Jadi lebih bagus kalau menurut saya itu diaplikasikan ke music, terus nanti ada representasi gambar, kayak yang menunjukkan perasaan itu. Gambar, music, ya pokoknya media yang bisa kita lihat. Interviewer : Oh, berarti kalau seperti itu kira-kira perlu ndak porsi pembelajaran idiom di ED ini ditambahkan? Student C : Ya, sangat perlu. Karena, ya itu tadi, hanya beberapa mata kuliah aja, dan itu ndak keseluruhan materi, tapi Cuma beberapa chapter, setengah chapter seperti itu. Jadi ndak total semua. Interviewer : Apakah ini berarti Anda, misalnya menginginkan ada mata kuliah yang belajar tentang idiom seperti itu atau cukup ditambahkan di sela-sela materi mata kuliah yang sudah ada? Student C : Kalau menurut saya mungkin di hal literatur ya, kalau kita bisa mempelajari idiom lebih lanjut, karena saya kan anak literatur, jadine menurut saya itu penting buat kita mengetahui kultur orang luar juga. Dan itu, mungkin itu juga bisa diaplikasikan di kelas literatur-literatur lainnya ya, untuk mempelajari idiom-idiom itu tadi. Interviewer : Kalau begitu terima kasih banyak atas waktu yang diberikan. Tuhan memberkati. Student C : Ya, terima kasih.
