THE USE OF INDONESIAN IN TEACHING ENGLISH IN SMK N 2 SALATIGA
THESIS Submitted in Partial Fulfillment Of the Requirement for Degree of Sarjana Pendidikan
Uswatun Khasanah 112009030
ENGLISH DEPARTMENT FACULTY OF LANGUAGE AND LITERATURE SATYA WACANA CHRISTIAN UNIVERSITY SALATIGA 2013
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THE USE OF INDONESIAN IN TEACHING ENGLISH IN SMK N 2 SALATIGA
THESIS Submitted in Partial Fulfillment Of the Requirement for Degree of Sarjana Pendidikan
Uswatun Khasanah 112009030
ENGLISH DEPARTMENT FACULTY OF LANGUAGE AND LITERATURE SATYA WACANA CHRISTIAN UNIVERSITY SALATIGA 2013
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PERPUSTAKAAN UNIvERSITAS UNIVERSITAS KRISTEN SATYA WACANA Jl. Diponegoo 52
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5O Salatiga 5071
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[email protected] ; http:/,/library.uksw.edu
PERNYATAAN TIDAK PLAGIAT DAN PERSETUJUAN AKSES Sebagai sivitas akademik Universitas Kristen Satya Wacana, saya yang bertanda tangan di bawah ini:
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Hasil karya yang saya serahkan ini adalah asli dan belum pernah diajukan untuk mendapatkan gelar kesarjanaan baik di Universitas Kristen Satya Wacana maupun di institusi pendidikan lainnya.
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Saya menyerahkan hak non-eksklusif kepada Perpustakaan Universitas Universitas Kristen Satya Wacana untuk menyimpan, mengatur akses serta melakukan pengelolaan terhadap karya saya ini dengan mengacu pada ketentuan aksei tugas akhir elektronik di atas dan norma hukum yang berlaku.
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PUBLICATION AGGREMENENT DECLARATION
As a member of Satya Wacana Christian University (SWCU) academic community, I verify that: Name: Uswatun Khasanah Student ID Number: 112009030 Study Program: PBI (Pendidikan Bahasa Inggris) English Department Faculty: Language and Literature Kind of Work: Undergraduate Thesis In develop in my knowledge, I agree to provide SWCU with a non-exclusive royalty free right for my intellectual property and the content therein entitled: THE USE OF INDONESIAN IN TEACHING ENGLISH IN SMK N 2 SALATIGA along with ant pertinent equipment. With the non-exclusive royalty free right, SWCU maintains the right to copy, reproduce, print, publish, post, display, incorporate, store in or scan into a retrieval system or database, transmit, broadcast, barter or sell my intellectual property, in whole or in part without my express written permission, as long as my name is still included as the writer. This declaration is made according to the best of my knowledge. Made in : Salatiga Date : Verified by signee,
Uswatun Khasanah
Approved by Thesis Supervisor
Thesis Examiner
Prof. Dr. Gusti Astika, M. A.
Anita Kurniawati, M. Hum
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COPYRIGHT STATEMENT This thesis contains no such material as has been submitted for examination in any course or accepted for the fulfillment of any degree or diploma in any university. To the best of my knowledge and my belief, this contains no material previously published or written by any other person except where due the reference is made in the text.
[email protected] Khasanah and Prof. Dr. Gusti Astika, M. A. All rights reserved. No part of this thesis may be reproduced by any means without the permission of at least one of the copyright owners or the English Department, Faculty of Language and Literature, Satya Wacana Christian University, Salatiga. Uswatun Khasanah:
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THE USE OF INDONESIAN IN TEACHING ENGLISH IN SMK N 2 SALATIGA Uswatun Khasanah Abstract This study attempted to analyze the use of Indonesian in teaching English in SMK N 2 Salatiga. The participants of this study were two teachers who taught English in SMK N 2 Salatiga. The data used for this research were classroom observation and interview. The observations were video recorded and mainly focused on the use of Indonesian in teaching English. The finding of this study showed that the teacher used Indonesian for 5 different purposes; aimed to ask questions, explain material, translate word, give instruction and command students, and tell stories and make jokes. Keywords
: Classroom observation, Teacher’s beliefs, First language use, English as an L2 Introduction
Background of the study Nowadays English is the most widely used as an international language. English has gained the status as a major language in the world. The teaching and learning English has increased throughout the world which produced a new cadre of professional, for example teachers of English as Foreign Language (EFL). English as a Foreign Language is not the language of communication in the society. EFL is taught in a country where English is not the native language, for example teaching English in Indonesia. In this study the term first language (L1) is used to refer to Bahasa Indonesia. Teachers use first language quite frequently in their classrooms and that they do it for many reasons and purposes. Language teachers think it’s important to use L1 in teaching English to help the students to have better understanding about the materials. Usually the teachers use L1 in explaining difficult materials, difficult words, and discussing the materials. But some may believe that the teachers should avoid using L1 in teaching EFL. According to Cook and Turnbull (2001) teaches have to use the target language without considering the students’ 1
first language, a principle that the teachers’ use the target language acknowledges that L1 and L2 can exist simultaneously (as cited in Beressa, 2003). This study addressed the following research question, “what are the uses of first language (Bahasa Indonesia) in teaching English in SMK N 2 Salatiga?” The purpose of this research was to describe the use of Indonesian in teaching English. More specifically, this study aimed to find for what purposes the teachers used Indonesian in teaching English. Although there have been a number studies done on the use of L1 in teaching English in many different countries, I believe that it was necessary to carry out an additional research on the similar topic in Indonesian context. The result of this study could be useful for both of teachers who are teaching English as a Foreign Language and also to the students in learning English because other teachers would realize when they will use Indonesian in teaching English to their students.
Literature review This paper analyzes the use of first language (Indonesian) in teaching English. The focus is on how the teachers conceptualize the use of Indonesian as teacher talk in their classroom. Teacher talk has important impact in teaching and learning process. According to Zsendroi (2010) teacher talk is the language typically used by teachers in the process of teaching. Teacher talk is one of the communicative functions that the teachers usually use during the process of teaching. According to Yung (2011) there are four types of teacher talk. First is informative teacher talk, which means that the teachers deliver their opinion, fact as well as some concept through word and students process the information. The second, is directive teacher talk, which means that teacher talk is used to direct the activities running in the classroom. The accurate application of directive language can make the teaching efficient and effective. The third, is eliciting teacher talk, which aims to inspire students and further
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obtains their answer in class. The forth, is feedback to the students’ answer, which refers to the way of teachers to respond to the students’ answer. When the teachers use teacher talk in explaining the materials, they are trying to make themselves to be understood easily by the students. Though the teacher talk is important in language teaching, it is not easy for the students to understand teacher talk especially when English is mostly used. Sometimes teachers’ talk may involve more than one language in order to help the learners to get better understanding about the teaching materials or classroom instructions, for example, the use of first language (L1) in the English classroom. According to Nunan (1991) teacher talk is very important, for both the organization of the classroom and the processes of L2 acquisition. It is important for the organization of the classroom because through teacher talk it can be seen that the teaching plan is success or not. In terms of acquisition, teacher talk is important because it is the major source of understanding the target language that received by the learner (as cited in Taneo, 2011). As English as a foreign language is not used in Indonesia, Indonesian as the mother tongue may be used in teacher talk in order to speed up the processes of learning. According Harrison (1973) acquiring a second or foreign language is a very different thing from the acquisition of mother tongue. Teaching English should also consider the language that is used by the society or mother tongue. Stern (1983) also argued that the first language is maintained as the reference in the acquisition of the second language (as cited in Zacharias, 2010). It means that through teacher talk, teachers should have as clear as possible of what they want to deliver in their teaching process which may involve the first language in order to make it easier in acquiring second language. Teachers use first language quite frequently in their classrooms and that they do it for many reasons and purposes. Language teachers think it’s important to use L1 in teaching English to help the students to have better understanding about the material. Although the use
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of L1 in foreign language learning is critical, research shows that the uses of L1 to certain extends may have positive impact to the learners. For example, Macaro (1997) said that L1 is the learners’ language of thought and the use of L1 at certain occasion may help improve the learners’ comprehension (as cited in Chaniago, 2011). In teaching and learning process, the use of Indonesian can be positive and negative for the teacher and students’ development. The following study shows the positive and negative impact of using L1 in English classroom. In their study, Campa & Nassaji (2009) reported that the teachers used a noticeable amount of L1 in their classroom for different purposes such as translation, administrative issue, and personal comment. The teachers used L1 most often for creating the comfortable classroom atmosphere which they believe this was the effective strategy to encourage the students to participate in the learning process. In other words, the purposes were both pedagogical and social, and were intended not only to facilitate L2 learning by helping the learners to get better understanding the L2 instruction, but also to create a supportive and enjoyable environment for learning to take place. Another positive impact of using L1 is that it can be used to reduce the students’ anxiety. By making jokes in the students’ first language, it can create a less threatening atmosphere in the classroom. According to Hemminder (1987) the use of L1 can lower students’ anxiety and enhances the positive affective environment for the students to make a progress in their L2 learning (as cited in Taneo, 2011). Language anxiety comes around the students when they learn a new language. Meyer (2010) also stated that language anxiety has strong effective influence on second language acquisition (as cited in Widagdo, 2010). The use of L1 in teaching and learning is aimed to make second language learning more effective and efficient. In the English classroom, L1 has been used for various purposes. Not only to help the students to get better understanding about what the teachers were going to teach but also Grim (2010) found that the L1 could have strategic impact and be actually
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considered as a profitable communicative and teaching strategy. Through planning for comprehension breakdown, teachers can present form by giving learners the opportunity to process, notice and perhaps acquire the new input. Because most of L2 teachers do not practice an L2 teaching principle, and accepting L1 as potential successful instrument could therefore help produce successful teaching strategy. Weihua (2009) also said that one of teaching methodology which is grammar translation method that involve mother tongue in the teaching and learning process may help the learner get the general idea what they are going to learn a new language. Some teachers believe that the use of first language (L1) in teaching English is useful but some may believe that the teachers should avoid using it. Many teachers believe that the second language should be used totally in teaching English. According to Duff and Polio (1990) they have generally found that although instructors acknowledge the importance of teaching in L2, most of them still use L1 to a certain degree in their classrooms (as cited in Campa & Nassaji, 2009 ). Related to that issue, there is a popular belief that the use of L1 has been considered as bad character in the second language or foreign language leaning. There are many who have argued that the use of first language should be limited in L2 teaching because the use of L1 may have negative effect which can impede the learners’ L2 learning. Baw (2002) said that the excessive use of L1 in learning L2 does not give the students any chance in to practice the new learnt language (as cited in Raouf, 2010). In other word, the use of L1 in L2 classroom is the major cause of students’ problem in learning new language. According to Cook and Turnbull (2001) teachers have to use the target language without considering the students’ first language, a principle that the teachers’ use the target language acknowledges that L1 and L2 can exist simultaneously. Some other researchers have shown the negative impact of using L1 in L2 classroom was based on Polio (1994) and
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Atkinson (1987) the use of L1 in the classroom can create laziness among students and failure to maximize English (as cited in Miles, 2004). Cook (2001) also believes that the successful of L2 acquisition depends on keeping the L2 separated from the L1 and see the L1 and L2 as separate entities (as cited in Beressa, 2003). It means that the interference of L1 can make the students depend on the teacher and make them lazy and fail to maximize the use of the target language in the classroom. The study This research was a descriptive study to describe the use of Indonesian by teachers in English classes and analyzed the teachers’ reason in using Indonesian in their teaching. This research was conducted in SMK N 2 Salatiga., one of prominent senior high schools which Sekolah Menengah Kejuruan (SMK) in Salatiga, Central Java. This school has competent teachers of English. Participant In this research, I selected two teachers in one of senior high school in Salatiga as the participants in this study. I used a purposive sampling technique to choose the teachers. According to Zacharias (2011) purposive sampling is selecting group of people that can meet certain criteria. The criteria were teachers who taught different classes in SMK N 2 Salatiga. Research Instrument This research used both observation checklists and stimulated recall interview questions. I did the classroom observation and focused on the teachers’ talk during teaching and learning. During the classroom observation, I used checklists to make notes about purposes of the teachers to use Indonesian. Besides observation, this research also used stimulated-recall interview in answering the research questions. According to Brown & Rodgers (2002) and Nunan (1989) stimulated recall interview is a technique in which the researcher records and transcribes part of a lesson and then gets the participant to comment
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on what was happening at the time the activity took place (as cited in Zacharias, 2011). In other words, simulated-recall interview gives access into teachers’ cognitive domain as they teach. I used five questions to seek information on the use of Indonesian in teaching English. And some questions based on the class observations to find for what purposes the teachers used Indonesian in teaching English. Data collection I started this research by meeting with the headmaster to obtain permission for my research. After that I met and spoke to the English teachers about my research and asked their consent to be my participants. Then I made an appointment to do the observations and the interview. I did the classroom observations ten times. It was shown in the following table, No
Date
Class
Time
1.
Friday, February 1st 2013
X TGB A
2 x 30 minutes
2.
Friday, February 1st 2013
X TKK
2 x 30 minutes
3.
Tuesday, February 5th 2013
X TEI C
2 x 45 minutes
4.
Wednesday, February 6th 2013
X TKJ A
2 x 40 minutes
5.
Thursday, February 7th 2013
XI TMO C
2 x 45 minutes
6.
Friday, February 8th 2013
XI TAV
2 x 30 minutes
7.
Saturday, February 9th 2013
X TGB B
2 x 40 minutes
8.
Wednesday, February 12th 2013
XI TEIC
2 x 40 minutes
9.
Friday, February 15th 2013
X TAV
2 x 30 minutes
10.
Saturday, February 16th 2013
X TGB B
2 x 40 minutes
The observations focused on the use of Indonesian in the teachers’ talk during teaching. I recorded the teachers’ talk using a video recorder. After the observation, I transcribed the data for analysis. In order to get enough data, I interviewed the teachers using
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stimulated recall interview by presenting the observations transcript to the participants. The focuses of the interview were to find out to what extent, for what purposes and reasons why the teachers used Indonesian in teaching English. After the interviews and classroom observations, the data were compiled and analyzed qualitatively. Data analysis procedure The data were gathered from the classroom observations and stimulated-recall interviews. For the analysis, the data were transcribed using a clean transcription method. According to Zacharias (2011), a clean transcription of interview focuses on the content of the interview. Then, the transcriptions were coded. Ideas that emerged from the interview were divided into categories. The quoted examples from the data were used to support each point in the analysis of the data. The data were analyzed descriptively, and some supporting theories were used in the analysis.
Finding and discussion This section discusses the use of Indonesian in teaching English in SMK N 2 Salatiga. When I observed the teaching and learning process in class, both teachers used Indonesian in teaching English. I divided the data into five big categories: asking questions, explaining material, translating word, giving instruction and commanding students, and telling stories and making jokes.
The first category of Indonesian use was in asking questions. In this class teacher A taught about sentences in English and teacher B was about traffic light, as follows: Teacher A
: Ya betul, kalimat itu ada subjeknya betul?
Students
: Yes
Teacher A
: What kind of subject that can be used in a sentence?
Students
: Things idea, and then place 8
From the conversation above, it can be seen that teacher A used Indonesian in asking questions to the students. When he asked about sentences which consist of subject, it showed clearly that he used Indonesian in asking questions. It was also presented by teacher B, as seen below: Teacher B
: Okay. Let’s say you make both of pictures, gini ya, this is number one, number two, up to number six. You read the first bold phrase, frase pertama. A sign with I saw was the driver must wear a seatbelt. kira-kira cocok nomer yang mana?
Students
: Enam, six.
Teacher B
: ya tinggal ditulis saja. The driver must wear a seatbelt. Is that clear? Jelas?
Students
: jelas
From the conversation above, it can be seen that teacher B also used Indonesian in asking questions to the students. He asked to the students in Indonesian which number that appropriate with, kira-kira cocok nomer yang mana? In additon, he asked the students whether they have already understood or not by using the word in Indonesian; jelas?. In the interview, teacher A and B had same opinions about why they used Indonesian in asking questions to the students. Based on the interview, teacher A said that, Ya ini kan saya menjelaskan mengenai konsep, konsep subjek itu apa kemudian konsep meja itu apa, meja itu fungsinya apa itu sebenarnya sebagai konsep. Kalau meja bahasa inggrisnya sudah tau “table”. Tapi ini karena saya ajak berfikir abstrak, berfikir yang agak tinggi begitu saya change ke Indonesia. karena kalau pakai bahasa inggris dia tidak akan tau. Similarly, teacher B said, Jika dalam menterjemahkannya pertanyaan menurut saya hanyalah untuk mempermudah mereka saja dalam memahami bahasa inggris pada kelaskelas tertentu. Bahkan ada beberapa kelas yang katakanlah kalau menggunakan bahasa inggris secara full, mereka akan “pemalu”. Akan menyulitkan bagi gurunya sendiri maupun kepada murid dalam mengajar ataupun menerima pelajaran. Jadi memang keadaan setiap sekolah berbeda, guru berbeda dan mungkin menurut saya hal tersebut adalah yang terbaik atau yang saat ini yang digunakan rata-rata guru. Teacher A said that he used Indonesian was because he wanted their students to understand the material about concept. If the teacher used English instead of Indonesian, he would be 9
afraid that the students didn’t understand. Similarly, teacher B wanted their students easy to understand the materials and also could make them confident in learning English. Based on the interview, teacher B said that if he used English in asking questions to the students, he thought that the students would be shy and tend to be silent. According to Hemminder (1987) the use of L1 can lower students’ anxiety and enhance the positive affective environment for the students to progress in their learning (as cited in Taneo, 2011). Meyer (2010) also argued that language anxiety has strong effective influence on second language acquisition (as cited in Widagdo, 2010). As an example, when I became a student-teacher in SMK N 2 Salatiga, I experienced about the language anxiety. The students tended to be silent when they were asked to speak in English, however when the students were asked by the teacher using their mother tongue, they were able to share their opinions. It might happen because Indonesian gives a freedom to them to express their opinions or ideas. In other word, L1 allowed students to say what are thinking about. They also said that the student sometimes knew what they would to say, but it was difficult to express in the target language. Thus, the use of Indonesian in English classroom by the teachers was to encourage and help the students to find out how to express their ideas with a great confidence, not only in Indonesian but also in the target language. The second category of Indonesian use was in explaining materials. Below are the teachers’ explanations were Indonesian to the students: Teacher A
: That’s why you swipe the floor in the clean way.right? okay, Sekarang kalau subjeknya berupa benda, buat kalimat dengan things? Subjeknya things, subjeknya ada berapa macam? ada dua, kategorinya ada dua konkret and…?
Students
: Abstrak
Teacher A
: Bedanya kalo konkret things and abstrak things, kalau konkret bisa di indera, how many senses do you have? Kamu tau artinya indera bukan hanya penglihatan, there are 5 senses, right? Vision, auditoria, smell, touch, tastes. Sekarang coba yang bisa kamu indera apa aja.
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From the conversation above, it can be seen that, teacher A used Indonesian in explaining materials about sentences. When he explained about sentences, it clearly showed that he used Indonesian subjeknya ada berapa macam? ada dua, kategorinya ada dua konkret and abtract. He explained about two kinds of subject which concret and abstract. It was also presented by teacher B, as seen below: Teacher B
: Nomer 2 a school crossword. Let’s say you decide this is the meaning of the phrases. Misalnya nomer satu ini. kalian tinggal nulis huruf the crossword. bisa? Tidak perlu di sini sudah ada semua. Is that clear?
Students
: yes.
From the conversation above, it clearly showed that teacher B also used Indonesian in explaining materials. He gave an example of how to do the exercises in Indonesian Misalnya nomer satu ini. kalian tinggal nulis huruf the crossword. bisa? Tidak perlu di sini sudah ada semua. In the interview, teacher A and B had same opinions about why they used Indonesian in explaining materials. Based on the interview, teacher A said, Maka karena saya mengingat anak-anak saya levelnya masih seperti itu, jadi kalau saya jelaskan menggunakan bahasa inggris takutnya nanti pesan saya tidak akan sampai. Jadi mengapa saya pakai ini, supaya pesan-pesannya itu bisa dipahami. Ya intinya lebih memahami konsepnya dulu. Similarly, teacher B said, Saya cenderung menggunakan bahasa Indonesia sebagai bahasa penjelas agar mereka lebih mengerti. Biasanya kalau kelas ini mereka tergantung yang kurang. Maka daripada akan lebih cepat untuk mereka dalam memahami. Mungkin cukup untuk membantu saja, yang lain untuk memudahkan murid dan juga guru dalam menjelaskan materi. Teacher A explained that he used Indonesian in explaining materials was because he wanted the messages that he deliver was easy to be understood by the students. Similarly, teacher B also noticed that if he used English, he was afraid that the students would be difficult to receive the materials. Both teachers used Indonesian in explaining materials; to make the students easier to understand the materials. I thought that the teachers should use Indonesian
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or not in explaining materials with the consideration of students’ level. Thus, by using Indonesian as their L1, the students could receive the material easier in order to improve their English. Weihua (2009) said that one of teaching methodology is grammar translation method, it involves mother tongue in teaching and learning process and it may help the learner get the general idea about what they are going to learn in a new language. Macaro (1997) said that L1 was the learners’ language of thought and the use of L1 at certain occasion may help improve the learners’ comprehension (as cited in Chaniago, 2011). The third category of Indonesian use was in translating words. Below are the teachers’ translations were Indonesian to the students: Teacher A
: Tables is use for.. Apa guna meja?
Students
: Meletakkan buku
Teacher A
: Meletakkan buku apa? Tables is used to take the book
From the conversation above, it can be seen that, teacher A used Indonesian in translating word. When he asked the English word for meletakkan buku, he could know that no body knew the answer. Then, he explained to the whole class that they could say table is used to take the book for the word meletakkan buku. It was also presented by teacher B, as seen below: Teacher B
: Now, Ada yang tau what is tunnel? Tunnel: a place where? Tunnel means?
Student
: menara
Teacher
: No, this is terowongan, there was a sign of underpass ahead. What is underpass? We will see it later itu ada di soalnya. There I saw a group of the road sign.
From the conversation above, it can be seen that, teacher B also used Indonesian in translating word. When he asked the students about the meaning of tunnel, there was one student who answered it into menara. Then he directly translated the correct meaning of tunnel which means terowongan not menara. In the interview teacher A and B had different
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opinions about the reasons why they used Indonesian in translating words. Based on the interview, teacher A explained, Tujuan ini saya ingin anak-anak acquire language. Jadi untuk bisa acquire dan juga bisa tertanam dalam pikiran siswa, memang saya menggunakan teknik translation. Translation itu memasukkan Bahasa Inggris lebih mudah daripada tanpa translation. Jadi mereka tidak hanya mencerna tapi acquire language, bisa masuk ke dalam memori-memori mereka. On the contrary, teacher B explained, Itu mungkin pertama-tama tujuannya sebetulnya adda beberapa hal, yang pertama hal tersebut harusnya dihindari. Karena apa yang saya pelajari jika langsung menterjemahkan murid tidak akan belajar apa-apa. Seharusnya idealnya apa yang saya pelajari hal tersebut sebetulnya salah. Karena seharusnya kita tidak harus serta merta menterjemahkan kedalam bahasa Indonesia. kita harus menerangkan katakanlah what is tunnel? Tunnel is kind of concret object which has narrow space inside of it, and things like that. Jadi kita bisa katakanlah tidak harus leading. Kita tidak menyuapi tapi kita membiarkan mereka agar berpikir dahulu. Tetapi secara idealnya apa yang saya mengerti hal tersebut memang salah dan itu adalah opsi yang terakhir apabila kita memang sudah tidak punya waktu. Akan tetapi idealnya walaupun kita tidak menggunakan bahasa inggris tetapi kita harus tetap untuk membiarkan mereka berfikir dahulu. Both teachers had different opinions about the use of Indonesian in translating words. Teacher A said that the use of Indonesian in translating words was to make the students easier in acquiring English. He said that students not only understood the meaning of some words but also they could acquire language in their memory. In line with teachers’ statements, Stern (1983) stated that the first language is maintained as the reference system in the acquisition of the second language (as cited in Zacharias, 2010). On the contrary, teacher B thought that the use of Indonesian in translating words should be avoided. He thought that when he directly translated some words to the students without giving them time to think. Therefore, it could make the students couldn’t learn the material totally. The students just depended on the teachers’ explanation and also it could make them lazy to think and also learn English. Based on Polio (1994) and Atkinson (1987) the use of L1 in the classroom can create laziness among students and failure to maximize English (as cited in Miles, 2004).
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The forth category of Indonesian use was in commanding and giving instruction. Below are the teachers’ commands and instructions were Indonesian to the students: Teacher A
: Buat kalimat dengan Chair! ayo yang pojok. In the corner. You are very very shy, what are you doing over there, kamu sedang apa? Buat kalimat dengan chair!
Students
: Chair is for sitting down.
Teacher A
: Yes correct, Chair is for sitting down.
From the conversation above, it can be seen that, teacher A used Indonesian in commanding and giving instruction to the students. When he commanded students to make sentences using the word chair, he used Indonesian buat Kalimat dengan chair. It was also presented by teacher B, as seen below: Teacher B
: Okay draw it first. You don’t have to make it as good as on the book. Yang penting jelas. As long as it is clear and you can understand the pictures. Tidak perlu bagus2 yang penting jelas. This will appear on the test. Soalnya ada di tesnya. Sudah selesai? Sepuluh saja.
Students
: Belum pak.
Teacher B
: Make it fast. cepat sedikit! Five more minutes. Yang kecil saja tidak usah besar-besar yang penting jelas!.
Students
: Ya pak.
From the conversation above, it can be seen that, teacher B also used Indonesian in commanding and giving instruction to the students. When he asked the students to draw the pictures of road sign, he said yang penting jelas, tidak perlu bagus yang penting jelas and tidak usah besar-besar yang penting jelas. In other words, he asked the students to draw a clear picture. He also commanded the students to make it fast using Indonesian cepat sedikit. In the interview, both teachers had the same opinion about the reason why they used Indonesian in commanding and giving instruction to the students. These opinions were clearly stated by those teachers in the interview. Teacher A said,
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Saya pakai Bahasa Indonesia karena instruksi saya agar bisa dimengerti. Kalau saya pakai bahasa inggris, siswa saya suruh apa tidak tau. What can I do sir? Aku mau apa? Ya dia tidak akan melakukan apa yang disuruh. Jadi instruksi itu penting ya, bisa dilakukan itu memang harus dipahami apa instruksinya. Similarly, teacher B said, Tentu saja yang pertama untuk memudahkan kami semua. Yang lainnya adalah saya menginginkan agar semuanya berjalan dengan seperti apa yang saya inginkan. Ini bertujuan agar anak-anak lebih jelas dan mengerjakannya dengan tepat. Maka saya akan langsung menggunakan switch ke bahasa Indonesia, sehingga mereka dapat memahami dan melakukan tugasnya dengan baik. In this case, both teachers had the same opinions about the use of Indonesian in commanding and giving instruction to the students. Teacher A and B said that they used Indonesian to make the instruction clear and easy to be understood by the students. Thus, the students could do what they had to do in the classroom and it could make the teaching and learning process efficient. According to Yung (2011) the use of L1 in giving instruction to the students will make the accurate application of directive language which means it can make the teaching efficient and effective. The fifth category of Indonesian use was in telling stories and making jokes. Below are the teachers’ examples of using Indonesian to the students: Teacher A
: Nama dulu, please. Make a sentence ayo apa? Melakukan sesuatu, is itu kan untuk present continous tense ya boleh tapi harus yang bentuk –ing ya?
Students
: Bambang is sweeping
Teacher A
: Bambang is sweeping. Bambang sedang menyapu. Jadi bambang ini termasuk orang yang rajin ya. biasanya cewek yg nyapu. Dan cewek kalau nyapu ya harus bersih. Kalau ga nanti dapat orang brewok. It’s true right? if you don’t sweep the floor clearly, you will have a beard. Do you like beard man?
Students
: No
From the conversation above, it could be seen that, teacher A used Indonesian in telling stories and making jokes. As an example, Bambang sedang menyapu. Jadi bambang ini
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termasuk orang yang rajin ya. biasanya cewek yg nyapu. Dan cewek kalau nyapu ya harus bersih. Kalau ga nanti dapat orang brewok. He told the students whether sweeping usually was done by woman not man. He said that if woman sweep should in clearly way, so that they didn’t have beard man. It was also presented by teacher B, as seen below: Teacher
: Hari ini, today it means road sign sudah selesai?. Next week we are going to continue the material. Masih ada satu materi lagi.Kita review materi lagi setelah itu kita pulang. But for next week we are going to have a test first. We are going to review it a little bit for fifteen minutes. Masih ingat apa masih lupa?
Students
: Lupa
Teacher
: Masih lupa? Okay jangan dihapus dulu. Present continuous tense. Anyone of you still remember what is present continuous tense? Masih lupa?
Students
: Masih lupa. I don’t know.
From the conversation above, it could be seen that, teacher B also used Indonesian in telling stories and making jokes. He asked the students using Indonesian, Masih ingat apa masih lupa?, masih lupa?. He asked whether the students still remember about the lesson or not. But then the teacher asked by saying do you still forget? And it made the whole class noisy. In the interview, both teachers gave same reasons why they used Indonesian in telling stories and making jokes. Teacher A explained in the interview, as the following, Ice-breaknya itu berupa joke, tell story. Kalau pakai bahasa Indonesia itu lebih bagus, kan tujuannya supaya mereka rileks. Kalau pakai bahasa inggris malah nanti mereka jadi tegang lagi. Ini mengapa sih? malah dia mikir lagi. Panas lagi otaknya nanti bisa error itu. Makanya untuk ice-breaking, untuk joke seperti itu pakai bahasa Indonesia tidak apa-apa. Dan juga membuat atmosphere di kelas itu kondusif, buat Suasana tidak tegang. Similarly, teacher B said, Kalau menggunakan joke dengan bahasa inggris mereka juga tidak akan mengerti. Dan juga membuat hubungan antara guru dengan murid menjadi katakanlah agak renggang dan tidak bisa berjalan dengan baik. Dan juga bisa membuat atmoshphere di kelas semakin baik. Tentu saja tergantung juga dengan karakter gurunya apakah kaku atau tidak juga membedakan. 16
Both teachers had same opinion that the use of Indonesian in telling stories and making jokes could be useful in teaching English. Teacher A said that the use of Indonesian in telling stories and making jokes as an ice breaking could make the atmosphere in the classroom relax. Similarly, teacher B said that if he used English in telling stories and making jokes, the students would be confused and didn’t understand about what the teachers’ said. The atmosphere in the classroom would be better and also could make the relationship between teacher and students good. In this case, if the teachers could make the atmosphere in the classroom more comfortable, it could encourage the students to participate in teaching and learning process. In accordance with teachers’ statements, Campa and Nassaji (2009) reported that the teacher use of different languages in the classroom is not only to facilitate L2 learning by helping the learners to get better understanding the L2 instruction, but also to create a supportive and enjoyable environment for learning to take place. In other words, by telling stories and making jokes, it could create a less threatening atmosphere in the classroom that could make students feel enjoy and also can encourage them to learn English. Conclusion In summary, this finding showed that the teachers in this study used Indonesian in their English classes. The teachers used Indonesian for the purpose of asking questions, explaining material, translating word, giving instruction and commanding students, and telling story and making joke. Both teachers supported the use of Indonesian in teaching English in SMK N 2 Salatiga. Nonetheless, both teachers had the same ideas that they believed the use of Indonesian was needed in teaching English. First, the teachers’ beliefs about the use of Indonesian in their teaching were required to make the students easy to understand the material and make them confident in learning English. Second, the students could receive the material that the teachers want to explain by using Indonesian. Third, students could understand the meaning
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of difficult words in order to improve their English. Forth, the use of Indonesian helped the good organization in the classroom by making the teachers’ instruction clear and easy to understand by the students. Thus, it could make the students improve their language proficiency. As a conclusion, the use of Indonesian could help the students to acquire and improve their language proficiency of English. This study provided knowledge about the use of Indonesian in teaching English at Senior High School especially in Sekolah Menengah Kejuruan (SMK). It was possible for the Senior High School teachers in making their teaching become more efficient. In addition, the description of the positive impact in using Indonesian may also be useful information for teachers in Senior High School in preparing the students to improve their English proficiency. There are two limitations in this study. The first one is this study is only focused on teaching context in Senior High School in Salatiga, especially in Sekolah Menengah Kejuruan (SMK). Second, this study involved a small number of participants which were two teachers. Further research may include more partipants to reveal more issues on the use of Indonesian in teaching English. I would suggest that the findings of this research could be considered by the teachers in teaching English in which Indonesian needs to be used. Besides, the use of Indonesian should be reduced bit by bit to make teaching and learning process more efficient. It might be mixed between 40% using Indonesian and 60% using English. I would also suggest that it needs to do further research that looks at what are the purposes of using Indonesian by the teachers in teaching English to senior high schools’ students.
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ACKNOWLEDGEMENT This thesis would not have been finished without the support of many people. I wish to express my gratitude to my supervisor, Bapak Prof. Dr. Gusti Astika, M.A., who were abundantly helpful and patience in guiding me to finish this thesis in a limited time. Deepest gratitude is also Ibu Anita Kurniawati, M. Hum., as my thesis examiner. Without whose knowledge and assistance this study would not have been completed. I would like to thank to the English Senior High school teachers in SMK N 2 Salatiga who were willing to share all their thought, experiences and knowledge to support this thesis. I also wish to express my love and gratitude to my beloved family who always supports me. Special thanks also go to my husband, Bahtiar Adi Nugroho, who also supports me by his prayer. I also thanks to my friends, Ica Frizka Shinta Rina Anita Titin and Lutfi, who always supports me and help me in doing my thesis. All my best I give to Allah that I can finish this study in time by His plan.
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