The Implementation of Teaching and Learning Process

2. The Implementation of Teaching and Learning Process

In this part, the implementation of teaching and learning process consisted of (1) teaching English to students with visual impairment; (2) the component of teaching and learning process, and (3) the impact of visual impairment on language skills.

a. Teaching English to Students with Visual Impairment There are four skills included in English teaching and learning process to students with Visual Impairment: listening, speaking, reading, and writing. In teaching process, all of these skills were learned together or integrated in a subject. The difference of the process between visual impairment and sighted students was on the way of their study which uses Braille, an alternative written communication system by fingertip touch to read patterns of raised dots on the page. They changed their visual function into auditory function and also they often use sense of touch to recognize the objects around them. Besides, the students with visual impairment developed their concept about physical object by their tactual experience, while sighted students developed it by visual object. Therefore, became a guider of the student with visual impairment, the Teacher SW had to master in using Braille system to teach the students although he was not a blind.

with visual impairment and sighted students. It was because the curriculum used was similar with regular school. The objectives divided into general and specific objectives of teaching English. It discussed in Patel & Jain (2008: 48) that the general objectives are to enable the students to speak correctly, to understand topic correctly, as well as to read, to listen and to write English easily. Although, the way students read and write was different from sighted students, but the goal of the study was similar, to make students easy to study English.

Then, to achieve the objectives of the study, the teacher followed the process of teaching and learning including three main steps activity in lesson plan: opening, main activity, and closing. In opening the class, the Teacher SW greets the students and asks about students‟ condition. He never asked the list of students‟ attendance. It was because the total number of students in the class was only 7 students. Therefore, he could remember the student who was absence at that time. Sometimes, he asked students to inform what activity that students did on the weekend, daily activity, or any special days, but sometimes this activity did not do by Teacher SW because he taught the previous study with different subject then continue with English subject. Therefore, he did not open the class with greeting but definitely continue the material or reminds the students about their homework in previous meeting. If there was homework, he would ask the students to do pair correction then check it together (app. 1-5).

Regarding with main activity, Teacher SW delivered the material by reading the text or some questions for exercise. This was occurred in almost of

detail. It seemed like storytelling that making imagination of the situation happened on the text. The students listened carefully and asked questions directly if there was something that had not understood yet. They rarely records the materials provided by Teacher SW, because for the ninth grade of Junior High School Teacher SW gave more exercise to prepare the students for the national examination. The students wrote the note only if there were new words from the text read by the teacher. On the other hand, in delivering the material, Teacher SW more frequently used instructions or clarifications using Indonesian language.

In addition, Teacher SW also inserted the light humor and created some

abbreviations when he delivered the material like “don‟t forget to always SMS (Serius Menggatekne Soal ).” This strategy used to attract the students to always focus on his explanation and to anticipate if they were sleepy in the class. Then, for the closing activity, he reviewed what the summary that has been discussed at that time and gives the students homework in order to make them study in their home. He also motivated the students to study hard to be the best in the future .

Discussing the theory with the implementation of teaching and learning process in SMP YKAB Surakarta, Westwood (2008: 48) points out that student with visual impairment do not automatically mean that a student has lower intelligence; but it means that modified ways of accessing the curriculum are needed. Concerning with this statement, the English teacher of SMP YKAB Surakarta taught all the skills included in English Skill. The difference of the Discussing the theory with the implementation of teaching and learning process in SMP YKAB Surakarta, Westwood (2008: 48) points out that student with visual impairment do not automatically mean that a student has lower intelligence; but it means that modified ways of accessing the curriculum are needed. Concerning with this statement, the English teacher of SMP YKAB Surakarta taught all the skills included in English Skill. The difference of the

teacher usually gives it orally. According to Hallahan & Kaufman (1994: 363) listening skills becoming more important than ever because of the increasing accessibility skill is not important. Itdid not mean that another skill wasnot important. Teacher SW taught all the skills in English subject as stated in curriculum for IX grade of Junior high school.

In teaching and learning process Teacher SW followed three main steps activity as stated by Richard and Lockhart (1994: 114), they are opening, main activity, and closing. Table 4.3 shows the theory and the implication of three main steps activity in SMP YKAB Surakarta.

Table 4.4 The Implication of Three Main Steps Activity

Three Main Steps Activity

Richard and Lockhart’s Theory

The Implication in SMP YKAB Surakarta

Opening

Focus the students‟ attention in teaching and learning aims

The teacher was often delivers the material

directly

without any apperception or the description of the material.

Main Activity

Main activity divided into two: sequencing and pacing.

The teacher used three techniques: exploration,

elaboration, and

confirmation.

Closing

Reinforce what has been presented with a review of key points covered the lesson.

The teacher reviewed the material that has been discussed before

In opening the class, the teacher delivered the material directly without In opening the class, the teacher delivered the material directly without

vocabulary. Unfortunately, the teacher was seldom to invite the students to imitate how to spell the word in correct pronunciation. The students just write and find the meaning of the word without practicing how to pronoun it. Basically, the objective of teaching English for the students with visual impairment was equal from sighted students that are to make students easy to study English. The teacher needs to make some modifications and the students can apply the same general education principles. Lack of sight can severally limit a person‟s experiences because a primary means of obtaining information from the

environment was not available. Furthermore, according to Hallahan &Kaufman (1994: 348) the child who is blind still to hear language and may even be more motivated than the sighted child to use language because it is the main channel through which he or she communicates with others. In this case, teacher‟s role is really important to help the students achieve the goal of the study beside the students themselves.

The students with visual impairment develop their concept about physical object by their tactual experience, while sighted students develop it by visual

students with visual impairment develop their physical object by their tactual experience which decide into synthetic touch and analytic touch. This concept was really helpful for Teacher SW when they explained about a thing or recognize new vocabulary to the students. Through synthetic and analytic touch, Teacher SW could give the meaning of the word in which the students could guess about the object, include of the name, the shape, and the function of the object. Moreover, persons who were blind rely much on tactual and auditory information to learn about the world than do sighted, who obtain a great deal of information through sight.