Background of the Study

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CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION

This chapter presents the general explanation of the background of the present study. It covers background of the study, identification of the problem, limitation of the problem, formulation of the problem, objectives of the study, and significance of the study.

A. Background of the Study

In this age of globalization, language as a main communication tool is dominating all aspects of life. As a means of communication, English language has been used around the nations significantly. The importance of English leaves no doubt that it has transformed not only in communication but also in education, trade, business, social media and many more as a lingua franca. As English has increasingly become a global language that encompasses the world, non native speaker uses English as their secondforeign language to communicate in different purposes. In education, especially in teaching learning activity, Indonesia as a developing country also puts English in almost all educational level provided by its institution in any gradual study either in formal or informal. English is determined as a compulsory subject in the national curriculum in Junior and Senior High School level. In Senior High School level, students are required to master the four English skills. One of the four skills is listening. Listening well is an important aspect in acquiring the English skills because listening is the basic skill for other skills development. Without listening to English sounds first, the other English skills are impossible to achieve. Students who learn English must first expose to English sounds because they will absorb the sounds they hear, and it will built-up other language skills. Enriching listening activities to student make them more absorb about the skill. 1 From this explanation, it can be concluded that listening is important key in learning English language in Senior High School. However, wide differences between Indonesian and English cause difficulties in learning English listening. It is known that English sound system is different from Indonesian sound system. The difference can lead to other difficulties in mastering English, and often becomes problem for the students to learn English listening. The potential problems, according to Penny Ur, might cause of unaware to consonant cluster, word order, stress and intonation of English because students are not used to hear it. 2 It is why Indonesian students tend to have difficulties in listening to English sound. They have trouble in recognizing sounds, and fail in identifying words correctly because of imitating and inadequate pronunciation sample. 3 Meanwhile, based on the writer own observation during her PPKT, most of the English learning and teaching process in the classrooms emphasize in developing of students‘ skill of grammar and other components and skills. They are rarely exposed to listening activities. Without enriching their listening, it is not easy for them to listen to English sound. She also experienced when she was in Senior High School, she had a difficult time pronouncing words in English. She tends to say it the way her own language say it. It was because she got lack of listening practice at that time. These facts show that students unable to get an appropriate sound of listening if they do not get listening practice. They fail to know the words and the intended meaning from the words they listen. Another problem is about the teaching media that are not used by the teachers in delivering listening process. The teaching media have a very significant role in helping the students to cope with the material provided in listening activities, 1 Jeremy Harmer, How to Teach English, Essex: Pearson education Limited, 2007, p.133. 2 Penny Ur, Teaching Listening Comprehension, New York; Cambridge University Press, 2000, revised edition, p.11 —12. 3 Ibid., p.6. whereas students will not engage optimally in listening without the right media to teach it. The cases of acquiring good listening are quite problematical because in increasing the listening ability takes time and promote continuous process, yet the ability to understand does not happen automatically. They should be solved because it can lead to other difficulties. In line to these problems, the writer considers that it is necessary to find out alternative way to create a suitable circumstance in teaching listening, In order to make better listening activities for students. She thinks over of such media which provide such exposure where students get good sounds as just get better at listening. According to Theo van Els ―by media we mean all aids which may be used by teachers and learners to attain certain educational objectives. ‖ 4 Based on the writer observation in school, there are many teaching media available to facilitate the goal of listening skill. Such as, Tape Recorder, LCD Projector, TV, Language Laboratory, and DVD are some of the useable media. These media are in a way of infrequent use by the teacher. The writer sees opportunity to teach listening through one of these media especially the language laboratory. However, it is not in superior use and being discarded by teachers because of poor knowledge of the technology is as one of the reasons; Whereas, Language laboratory has systematic and complex operation that not every teacher can use it. It becomes such a facility that can provide teachers and learners ways of listening details of sound and reduce their difficulties in intensive listening. 5 Language laboratory is able to convey meaning as close as simulations through its screen in learning English while the headset can give students of their focus. Its visual stimulus gives better output for remembering, identifying, and connecting facts and concepts. A broaden application of the computer to gain listening through its characteristic creates comprehension even better than the others. Students can be 4 Theo Van Els, et.al., Applied Linguistic and the Learning and Teaching of Foreign Languages, London: Hoddor and Stoughton, 1990, p. 280. 5 Jeremy Harmer, How to Teach English, Essex: Pearson Longman, 2000, p.134. more motivated in learning language using language laboratory or technology than those who do not. 6 That is why she thinks Language laboratory facility can give good output since it has its own room with its own quality. The writer‘s aim in using this medium is to know whether the language laboratory gives the students valuable improvement in mastering listening as one of English skills. The curious even grow larger when most students get inadequate score of listening test, and they still think that English listening is a difficult subject to learn. Of course, learning is the main key, and this could keep up with a lot of practice. Therefore, the writer chooses SMA Islamiyah Sawangan because it has language laboratory facility. She curious to find out whether the use of medium such as language laboratory is considered to give valuable contribution in giving listening improvement to the students. In this research she uses the language laboratory as a medium to teach listening at the first grade of SMA Islamiyah Sawangan under the title “An Analysis on the Role of Language Laboratory in Teaching Listening ”.

B. Identification of the Problem