The other interviewee suggested that it is better to change the seating arrangement into the letter “U” seating arrangement. He said that this seating
arrangement could give some benefits. First, this arrangement is good for whole class discussion which is usually done in Public Speaking I class. The students who sit in
the front row do not need to turn their body to see someone’s presentation who sits in the back row; it means that the students can see their friends directly in the class. He
said the lecturer also can observe the students easily.
D. Lecturers’ Suggestions for Teaching and Learning Process Using the Traditional Seating Arrangement
To dig any suggestions from the lecturers of Public Speaking, the researcher interviewed the lecturers. The following are the descriptions of the suggestions that
the lecturers give. The lecturers have the same answers for suggestions in teaching and learning
activity in Public Speaking class using traditional seating arrangement. To make teaching and learning activity work efficiently, there should be a special room for
speaking class. As we know, Public speaking focuses on cooperative learning. In cooperative learning, most of the activities are done in pair work and group work. It is
more appropriate if the arrangement is changed into the circle one. If the arrangement is in circle, all of the students sit in the front and lecturer stands in the middle of the
class. All of the students are able to see their lecturer clearly because nobody sits 73
behind the other students. Circle seating arrangement also makes the interaction between lecturer-student and student-student go well. It is also better if the chairs and
tables are in one piece and can be folded. So, it will be easier for the students to move the tables or chairs or change the seating arrangement in different activities. The class
should not be too big because Public Speaking is not a big class. The lecturers said: “It is better if there is a special class for Public Speaking. The arrangement is five
small circles which scattered around the class. In my opinion, it is good for group discussion and the class is not too big. If this special class is impossible, the
chairs and tables could be folded, so it is easier to be moved.”
“Like I said before, the traditional seating arrangement does not really matter in my class. We still can do the activities well. In the group work, the students just
have to move closer each other with their friends in the group. But, this seating arrangement is not ideal for Public Speaking class. It would be better if the
arrangement is circle seating arrangement. It makes me easier to interact with my students and the students are more comfortable doing group work.”
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CHAPTER V CONCLUSIONS AND SUGGESTIONS
This chapter presents the final discussion of this research. In this chapter, two majors section are presented. The first is presenting conclusions drawn from the
research result. The second is presenting suggestions to improve the seating arrangement.
A. CONCLUSIONS
There were two problems stated in the first chapter. They were what the lecturers’ and students’ perceptions on the traditional seating arrangement in Public
Speaking I class at Sanata Dharma University were and what some possible suggestions that can be drawn after knowing the students’ and lecturers’ perceptions
on the traditional seating arrangement were. The first research question was answered by analyzing the data from the
distributed questionnaires and interview with the students and lecturers. The result of the questionnaire and interview showed that in general, most of the students thought
that traditional seating arrangement was good in Public Speaking I class. The students were accustomed to this arrangement because they had been experiencing this seating
since the first semester. The students could understand lecturer’s explanation well although some students who sat in the back row faced a small problem when they sat
there because if they sat in the back row there would be many distractions there. It was just a matter of their self-awareness whether they wanted to study in the class
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seriously or not. Some of the students thought that they were not really comfortable with traditional seating arrangement when they had to do group work activities. They
had to move heavy chairs or tables to gather with their friends in the group. It could waste time and cause noisy sound. Generally, students perceived traditional seating
arrangement as a positive perception. One of the students wrote: “Yes, I could. It happens because I have already accustomed to this situation.” The lecturers thought
that they found few difficulties using traditional seating arrangement, especially when they had to interact with the students, but they could handle those problems. The
lecturers were also accustomed to this seating arrangement, but they thought that traditional seating arrangement was not ideal for Public Speaking I class.
The second research question was answered by analyzing the data from open- ended questions in the questionnaires and interview. From the result of the open-
ended questions and interview, there were two majors suggestion that can be drawn from the students’ and lecturers’ perceptions on traditional seating arrangement. The
first suggestion is related to the facilities. They suggested that the institution should provide a special class for Public Speaking I with these criteria: first, for speaking
class, the seating arrangement should be in circle or letter ‘U” arrangement, so the lecturer becomes the center in the class and none of student sits in the back row.
Second, it is also better if the tables and chairs are not made of wood because those chairs are heavy. Third, the table and chair are in one piece and could be folded. The
last, it would be better if the faculty reduces the number of tables or chairs in the class because Public Speaking is not a big class.
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