CONCLUSION, PEDAGOGICAL IMPLICATIONS, AND

xiii LIST OF APPENDICES page Appendix 1 Photographs 141 Appendix 2 Field Notes of Classroom Observations 144 Appendix 3 Field Notes When Playing Game 155 Appendix 4 Interview Transcripts 166 Appendix 5 Participants’ Notes 181 xiv ABSTRACT Widiantari, Anastasia Kiki. 2014. The enhancement of young learners with hearing difficulty of SLB B Wiyata Dharma I Tempel Yogyakarta in English learning with computerized educational games. Yogyakarta: English Language Studies, Graduate Program, Sanata Dharma University. English Learning is not only for normal learners, but also for those who have special needs. In this study, they are young learners with hearing difficulty. Even though their difficulty in hearing and speaking make their learning process slow, it is possible for them to learn and understand English. Thus, to support education, technological innovations are continuously improved and one of them is a computer game. The existence of many computer games nowadays commonly played by children is considered proper to support English learning since many games use English to give instructions. When the children win the game, it means they succeed in playing the game. However, it does not mean that the game is meaningful to them. In SLB B Wiyata Dharma I Tempel Yogyakarta, the learners of elementary school use computer for playing games, not for learning its functions since the subject of computer learning is for High School level. This study is to describe the enhancement of young learners with hearing difficulty of SLB B Wiyata Dharma I Tempel Yogyakarta in English learning with computerized educational games. The goal of this study is to describe and interpret the enhancement of young learners with hearing difficulty in English learning with computerized educational games. A computerized game The Sims, a combination of role play and real-life simulation games, was then implemented. This single case study involved two fifth-grade participants of SLB B Wiyata Dharma I Tempel Yogyakarta. Before doing the study, The Sims was situated for educational purposes. The participants were introduced to this kind of game. The data of this study were derived from the classroom observations, the observations during playing the computerized educational games, the observer’s field note, the learners’ notebook, and the semi-structured interview. After all data were gathered, they were ultimately transcribed and analyzed. The search of the answer of the study about the use of computerized educational games in English learning to young learners with hearing difficulty of SLB B Wiyata Dharma I Tempel Yogyakarta revealed four emerging themes; 1 challenge, with the sub-themes of encountered problems and pleasant experience, 2 motivation, with the sub-themes of internal and external motivation, 3 scaffolding, with the sub-themes of experience learned at home and at school, and 4 creativity, with the sub-themes of opinion, idea, imagination, and logical thinking. The findings showed that when situated appropriately, the computerized educational game was able to help the participants to both memorize the previous English learning and experience a new learning independently. The findings of this study add substantial knowledge to the teachers and the school. Moreover, it becomes the recommendation of further studies and projects to explore the same or similar participants or school. The further studies and xv projects are expected to be able to empower the marginalized learners and develop the education condition in Indonesia. xvi ABSTRAK Widiantari, Anastasia Kiki. 2014. Perkembangan para siswa tuna rungu SLB B Wiyata Dharma I Tempel Yogyakarta dalam pembelajaran Bahasa Inggris dengan permainan-permainan bersifat edukatif yang dikomputerisasikan. Yogyakarta: Kajian Bahasa Inggris, Program Pasca Sarjana, Universitas Sanata Dharma. Pembelajaran Bahasa Inggris tidak hanya untuk para siswa yang normal, tetapi juga bagi para pelajar yang memiliki kebutuhan khusus. Meskipun kesulitan dalam mendengar dan berbicara membuat proses belajar mereka lambat, sangat memungkinkan bagi mereka untuk bisa belajar dan mengerti Bahasa Inggris. Dengan demikian, untuk mendukung pendidikan, banyak inovasi dalam teknologi terus ditingkatkan dan salah satunya adalah permainan komputer. Banyaknya permainan komputer yang saat ini sering dimainkan oleh anak-anak dianggap tepat sebagai sarana pendukung pembelajaran Bahasa Inggris, karena banyak permainan komputer menggunakan Bahasa Inggris dalam memberikan instruksi. Ketika anak-anak memenangkan permainan, berarti mereka berhasil dalam bermain, Akan tetapi, tidak berarti permainan tersebut memiliki arti untuk mereka. Di SLB B Wiyata Dharma I Tempel Yogyakarta, para siswa Sekolah Dasar menggunakan komputer untuk bermain permainan, bukan untuk mempelajari fungsinya karena mata pelajaran tersebut dipelajari saat di Sekolah Menengah Umum. Studi ini untuk mendeskripsikan perkembangan para siswa tuna rungu SLB B Wiyata Dharma I Tempel Yogyakarta dalam pembelajaran Bahasa Inggris dengan permainan-permainan bersifat edukatif yang dikomputerisasikan. Tujuan dari studi ini adalah untuk mendeskripsikan dan mengartikan perkembangan para siswa tuna rungu dalam pembelajaran Bahasa Inggris dengan permainan- permainan bersifat edukatif yang dikomputerisasikan. Studi ini kemudian dilakukan dengan menerapkan permainan yang dikomputerisasikan The Sims yang merupakan kombinasi antara role play dan simulasi kehidupan nyata Studi dengan satu kasus ini melibatkan dua partisipan kelas lima dari SLB B Wiyata Dharma I Tempel Yogyakarta. Sebelumnya, The Sims disituasikan untuk tujuan pendidikan. Para partispan diperkenalkan dengan permainan ini. Data penelitian ini berasal dari pengamatan kelas, pengamatan selama bermain permainan komputer, catatan peneliti, catatan para partisipan, dan wawancara yang semi terstruktur. Setelah semua data dikumpulkan, mereka akhirnya di salin ke dalam bentuk teks dan dianalisa. Pencarian jawaban dari studi ini mengenai penggunaan permainan bersifat edukatif yang dikomputerisasikan dalam pembelajaran Bahasa Inggris oleh para siswa tuna rungu SLB B Wiyata Dharma I Tempel Yogyakarta menghasilkan empat tema utama, yaitu 1 percobaan, dengan sub-tema masalah yang dialami dan pengalaman menyenangkan, 2 motivasi, dengan sub-tema motivasi internal dan eksternal, 3 scaffolding, dengan sub-tema pengalaman di rumah dan di sekolah, dan 4 creatifitas, dengan sub-tema opini, ide, imajinasi, dan pemikiran logis. Temuan-temuan tersebut menunjukkan bahwa permainan bersifat mendidik xvii yang dikomputerisasikan mampu membantu para partisipan untuk mengingat kembali pembelajaran yang sebelumya dan mengalami pembelajaran baru secara mandiri. Ke empat temuan di studi ini menambah pengetahuan para guru yang bersangkutan dan sekolah di mana partisipan belajar. Terlebih lagi, ini menjadi rekomendasi untuk studi dan proyek selanjutnya yang diharapkan untuk memberdayakan para siswa yang kurang mendapat perhatiand dan meningkatkan kondisi pendidikan di Indonesia, supaya mereka mampu mengeksporasi partisipan atau sekolah yang sama atau serupa. 1

CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION

In the first chapter, I would like to introduce my study to readers through elaboration of my study background, problem identification, problem limitation, problem question, goals of the study, and the benefits. The elaboration comes in the course of my concern with children with special needs. Below is my personal experience which results to this study. In 2009, I watched news program in one of private television stations about a concert held for children with special needs. This concert performed a young pianist from China who was also physically defected. She had hands like crabs or around four fingers only. Though only having four fingers, she could play the piano beautifully as if she had been a normal child. Then, my memory went back to 1998 when I, for first time, met to two special people. They were my neighbors and had always amazed me when hearing about their experiences. The first person was Mr. Lukas, a pseudo name, who is visually impaired because of an accident. He is both a great teacher and motivator, especially for visually impaired people. We often met and talked about his experiences joining NGO to help people with special needs, particularly children. At that time, I wondered how they could survive in the world which gives them lots of difficulties due to their limitations. Later Mr. Lukas introduced me to her friend who apparently lived near my house, Ms. Jeni, a pseudo name, who was also a person with hearing difficulty. She was a teacher in a private special school in Yogyakarta. To get a better education, she moved to Wonosobo, an area in Middle Java, and got her undergraduate degree 1 . In 2009, we met again. When she knew I was an English teacher, she always tried to speak in English with me. I was so surprised that I could communicate with her fluently as her oral language and pronunciation in English were easily understandable even though I never engaged with people with special needs. Since then, I am always curious about how people with special needs learn languages, particularly children. Ms. Jeni taught in a private special school in Yogyakarta, teaching young learners of kindergarten and elementary school. She then explained to me that English in her school was simply taught and tried to convince me that the learners were good in pronouncing the words. She asked me to come with her when she was teaching to prove it. In another occasion, she explained further that not all learners with hearing difficulty in all special schools had the same ability in English because they had different methods in teaching. Since early age, the learners had been accustomed to technology when learning, such as computers. Previously, a friend of mine had also done a research of material design for learners with hearing difficulty in SLB B Wiyata Dharma I Tempel 1 Lembaga Pendidikan Anak Tuna Rungu LPATR Dena Upakara in Wonosobo, Central Java was firstly founded and run by the nuns of the Daughters 1 of Mary and Joseph PMY, Indonesian acronymin 1938. The number of pupils later increased, and in 1955 the nuns entrusted the care of deaf boys to the Brothers of Charity, who also opened a school Lembaga Pendidikan Anak Tuna Rungu LPATR Putra Don Bosco in Wonosobo in December 8, 1955. In 1995, Dena Upakara opened a special school in Wonosobo for these girls and boys. Later in 2000, the school was moved to Yogyakarta and named after Helen Keller 1880-1968, a blind and deaf American woman who successfully graduated from college and became an author, lecturer and activist for women´s suffrage, workers´ rights and the anti-war movement. It obtained government recognition in 2005 http:donboscolabtik.blogspot.com201201sejarah-slbb-karya-bakti-wonosobo.html. Yogyakarta. They used a simple method for teaching English to young learners. Computers were used in learning only for learners who had been in Senior High School. However, there were times when the learners were permitted to use computer with the teacher’s assistance. Unfortunately, they finally only played some games installed in the computer. When playing, sometimes the learners asked questions to teacher about things they did not understand. The teacher realized this condition. It was done minimum once in a month to compare the learners’ current knowledge and the English expressions they found in the game. The learners who mostly came from modest family were not accustomed to technology for their learning.. This condition did not ban the learners to access technology. At home, they had the access to technology through their family members’ laptop. Commonly they only played with it without truly realizing the functions of laptop. This arouse a question in my mind if the learners were aware if they could use other ways in English learning, such as computer games, which were more fun and challenging for them. However, the negative perceptions that computer games for children tended more destructive than constructive became another consideration. By playing games, the learners were expected not only to learn English but also to know the meaning of it. Thus, the appropriate game for young learners with hearing difficulty needed to be mainly considered. This condition became my milestone in determining my mind to conduct a research in SLB B Wiyata Dharma I Tempel Yogyakarta to understand more on how they learn English. Therefore, this research is relevant to English education issues for two main reasons; marginalized learners are aware that they can use any media around them for learning and this awareness leads them to be independent marginalized learners.

1.1 Rationale of the Study

The essence of education is to educate learners to be more knowledgeable and then able to use their knowledge as a means to succeed in life. By having education, the learners are expected to think logically and critically in order to reach their full potential. Although education is aimed for all learners, in practice the application is later considered by the characteristics of the learners. This study particularly focuses on the education of learners with hearing difficulty. Learners naturally come equipped at birth with the ability to learn language Li Gleiman, 2002:90. Through language, learners are able to follow their education better. Their senses influence them to learn. However, different processes happen for each learner. Kauffman and Hallahan 2006:8 mention that education for exceptional learners is required for realizing their full human potential. However, revealing the learners’ potential needs process. Richards and Renandya 2002:71 explain that progressive learning that becomes today’s trend in education is aimed to enable the learners to progress towards self-fulfillment. This later helps the learners to build learners’ autonomy in learning so that they will be more independent and able to manage themselves. Autonomy in learning is very important regarding to the fact that human beings always learn new things as long as they live. In learning, learners are gradually taught to form their self-autonomy which later leads to learners’ independence to improve their life quality. The improvement of learners’ life quality is characterized by the ability of the learners to self-fulfill their needs. It became the main reason of this study. As mentioned previously, this study was conducted to respond some issues in education that focus on the computer games in learning English by young learners with hearing difficulty. They need to learn English in order to be able to compete with normal learners when they get involved in the society, both in written and in spoken. From this phenomenon in English learning, the concept of pragmatic progressivism is employed. The purpose is to help the participants to be more autonomous and empowered in their learning because the participants of this study were marginalized by their limitation to hear as what normal children do. In Indonesia, according to data from UNESCO in 2009 2 , the implementation of inclusive education for children with special needs continues to decline. It was proven by the position of Indonesia in the 58 th out of 130 countries in 2007. Meanwhile, in 2008 it declined to the 63 rd out of 130 countries. In 2009, Indonesia was in the 71 st out of 129 countries. The continuing decline shows that the education for children with special needs has not been fully considered. It is also supported by the few numbers of the teachers in Indonesia and the less- responsive curriculum towards the children with special needs. 2 The data from UNESCO was proposed in the Inclusive Education Stakeholders National Summit Pertemuan Nasional para Pemegang Kebijakan dalam Pendidikan Inklusi dealing with the Opportunities for Vurnerable Children OVC program held by Helen Keller International HKI Indonesia in Jakarta on Monday, November 30, 2009 http:edukasi.kompas.comreadxml 2009113017003448soal.pendidikan.inklusi.ranking.indonesia.merosot.terus.