researcher makes reflection. In this stage, the teacher and researcher evaluate the outcome of the action. Based on the reflection, the researcher makes replanning
for further improvement.
2.13 The Use of Action Research for Teachers
It has been generally assumed that when a student learns a foreign language, heshe will meet some learning problems as the result of the differences
between the two languages. Here, the language teacher has responsibility to encourage and stimulate the students by developing herhis professional role as an
educator. As the fundamental aim of action research is to improve practice rather than
to produce knowledge Elliot, 1991:49, this research can be one of the effective ways for English teachers to repair and improve their educational action through
cycles of the activities. Based on the explanation above, it is clear that out of the various factors which affect the learning process, the teacher is the most important
factor. If the teacher is incompetent and does not keep herhis teaching practice up, there will be no improvement in education field. By conducting an action
research, teacher will be able to solve problems faced in the classroom and improve the quality of teaching English.
CHAPTER III METHOD OF INVESTIGATION
3.1 Participants of the Study
Participants of the study deal with population. The definitions of population are given in many books. According to Arikunto 2006: 130,
population is the whole subject of the research. In line with Arikunto, Tuckman 1978: 227 says that the population is that group about which the researcher is
interested in gaining information and drawing conclusion. Thus, population is the group which will be taken as the data source in our research. The population in
this study is the year eighth students of SMP N Kesesi Pekalongan, in academic year of 20082009.
3.2 Issue Under the Study
In conducting a research, sources of the data are very important to collect the data. As stated by Arikunto 2006: 129 that the sources of the data in the
research is the subject from whom the data can be obtained. In this study the writer used an action research procedure in order to get the required data.
In gathering the data, the writer used three ways. Here are the instruments of collecting data:
1 Test
There are two kinds of test instruments used to measure the four language skills of the students, namely the objective test and the essay test Harris, 1969:
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