124 6. Dishonesty for better and for worse:
Most participants knew that there were leaked examination questions before the D-day of the National Examination.
However, only one participant used it to do English examination. Dylan actually used the leaked examination questions to work on some other subjects D35.
However, he did not use it to work on the English examination D35. Sting also knew it S25. However, he chose not to use it at all S31. Baez was the only
participant using it. Nevertheless, she only downloaded and used one package because she did not want her action to be noticed by the authority B2-B67.
Half of the participants were involved in cheating on the D-day of the National Examination. All of them gave their answers away to other friends. But only one
of them, Baez, asked answers from another friend on the D-day. Both participants‟ attitude toward cheating was also different. Baez cheated because she
thought cheating was inevitable. She cheated because she wanted and needed to B83. Dolores cheated because she felt obliged to do it. Her teacher asked her to
help other friends and she thought her friends also needed her DO40-DO41; DO44-DO46. However, she actually disagreed with cheating DO40. Dolores
cheating‟s action was thus more problematic than Baez action.
E. COMPOSITE STRUCTURAL DESCRIPTION INTERPRETATION
1. Independency:
Most participants considered independency important during the preparation and on the D-day of the 2015 English National Examination. The
participants‟ independency was reflected through initiatives, stable motivation, and autonomy.
The initiatives can be seen in the actions the participants did to prepare themselves for the English National Examination. Some actions only involved
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themselves. Some other actions involved others. During the examination preparation, Dylan‟s initiatives were done by himself at home. They include his
habit to memorize five vocabularies and to watch English movies without subtitles every day D3-
D7. Dylan‟s initiative is also reflected on the strategy he implemented on the D-day. Instead of just following the plot instructed in the
National Examination, Dylan made a plot for himself: he did reading when it was time for listening D36-
D37. Dolores‟ initiatives involved both herself and others. One of her initiatives were buying and working on books of examination
questions DO4. Another initiative was discussions she held with her friends and teachers DO5-DO8; DO10-D
O11. Sting‟s initiatives can be seen in the study group Sting created with his friends S4-S9.
One of the participants‟ stable motivation can be seen when he was faced with teachers who did not master the materials well andor could not deliver the
materials they mastered well. Dylan was still motivated to study even though he found it hard to cope with this type of teachers. He still memorized five
vocabularies every day and watched English movies without subtitles even though he considered his teacher incompetent D3-D7. He also kept studying in class
even though was not comfortable with his teacher D11-D13. The participants‟ autonomy can be seen when they studied or worked on the
examination by themselves. Sting always did tasks given by the teachers himself S30. He was also okay when learning in class even though he did not ask
teachers or friends S38; S39. On the D-day of the English National Examination most participants also did not cheat. Only one cheated. Dolores was also involved
in cheating but she was not the one who asked for answers; she gave her answers PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI
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to her friends DO7-DO40. Dolores actually wanted not only herself but also her friends to be autonomous in working on the examination. This was why she
often helped her friends to understand examination materials during preparation DO6-DO8; DO10-DO11. Her wish for her friends did not come true on the D-
day because most of her friends were still dependent on her DO37-DO40. Meanwhile, Dylan had quite different story. He also actually used leaked
examination questions but he did not use it for English D35.
2. Graduating as focus:
Graduation was a nerve-wracking issue for half of the participants. This was why they were affected by whether or not the National
Examination was used to determine graduation. Dylan felt nervous, tense, and uneasy when the National Examination was still
used to determine students‟ graduation D18. For Dylan the National Examination was not supposed to be used to determine graduation because it was
only conducted for three days D16. Three-day examination should not be used to determine his three-year learning process in school D16.
Almost similar to Dylan, Sting also felt a little nervous sometimes when the National Examination was still used to determine graduation S11. Sting was so
focused when it was used for it S40. Dylan also did D18. Both participants repressed the negative feelings they felt by studying well D20; S40. However,
when the National Examination was no longer used to determine their graduations, both felt relieved D31; S11. They also did not study as hard as
before for the National Examination D31; S11-S13.
3. Self-understanding:
The 2015 English National Examination helped half of the participants increase their self-understanding regarding their weaknesses and
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strengths in English and how they could improve them. This level of self- understanding was resulted from their strong habit to reflect.
Dolores knew she was weak in written English especially reading from the preparation of the 2015 English National Examination DO23-DO25. The
National Examination preparation was thus a way for her to improve her weakness DO27. She figured out then that the preparation indeed helped her to
improve, especially in scanning and vocabulary DO49. She also shared impacts she received from the National Examination. She gain new knowledge about
English speaking countries DO50. She also thought it brought easiness for her at the beginning and during her study in English Letters DO51.
Dylan also had similar understanding. Dylan knew he needed to improve his listening skill to face the National Examination D3; D7. Dylan also knew he
always loved movies D39. He then used his hobby of watching movie to improve his listening skill D39. Dylan also had good understanding on his
weaknesses. He, for example, realized he was weak in reading D41; D42. In order to be able to be successful in the National Examination, he thus arranged a
strategy that he thought would help him get through reading save: he worked on reading when it was the time for listening D36; D37.
4. Others’
concern:
The feelings, thoughts, and actions of most participants were very much affected by their parents, teachers, and friends. Their parents
especially affected them in their decision makings. Dylan‟s father was influential enough for him that he finally decided to join a major he did not like and was not
capable enough D44; D45. Dolores‟ mother was also influential to her thus PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI
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when her mother told her she should prove herself in skills other than speaking in the National Examination, she did try DO27.
Their teachers affected both their motivation in learning and improvement in English. Baez‟s XII
th
grade teacher who spoke very softly made Baez‟s motivation to study English low B9-B12; B76. Baez never studied English at
home for this reason B76. Contradictorily, Baez‟s teachers in the English course, who were friendly enough according to her, made Baez study actively in the
course B24; B77. Quite different from Baez, teachers did not affect the motivation of another participant, Dylan, quite significantly. He still diligently
study English even though he thought some teachers did not teach well during the English National Examination preparation D3-D7; D11-D13. However, teachers
who mastered and delivered the materials well made him improve faster D40. Not only parents and teachers, the
participants‟ friends also affected them in certain ways. Baez, for example, kept silent during the preparation in class
because she did not want to be judged by her friends as a student who wasted everybody‟s time B89. Baez also felt worried after the National Examination
was over and before the results were announced because she did not want to have better result than her friend B92. Friends also affected Dolores. Her habit to help
her friends understand examination materials and even to help them on the D-day of the English National Examination was resulted from her sympathy to her
friends. PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI
