Research Setting
A. Research Setting
1. The Place of the Research
This classroom action research was carried out in SMA Negeri 1 Surakarta. This senior high school is located at Jl. Monginsidi No. 40 Phone (0271) 652975 Fax (0271) 635227. The location of the class is in a quiet settlement environment so it is conducive enough to study since it is not so crowded. It is also a strategic place and easy to be reach since it is near from highway. Actually, some buildings border SMA Negeri 1 Surakarta. There is SMP Kristen 3 Surakarta in the north side, Universitas Kristen Surakarta on the east side, residents’ houses on the south side and SMA Negeri 2 Surakarta on the west side.
SMA Negeri 1 Surakarta has three grades of class. They are the tenth grade, the eleventh grade and the twelfth grade. The tenth grade consists of 10 classes of SBI (Sekolah Bertaraf Internasional) and two classes of Acceleration. The eleventh grade consists of three classes of social classes, seven classes of science classes, and three classes of SBI classes. The twelfth grade consists of three social classes and seven science classes. Each regular class consists of 36 up to 40 students, while SBI an Acceleration classes consist of 26 up to 35 students. Therefore there are many classrooms in SMA Negeri 1 Surakarta. Beside the classrooms, there are many buildings in SMA Negeri 1 Surakarta. They are
language rooms, laboratories, hall, cafeterias, and mosque. SMA Negeri 1 Surakarta uses KTSP (Kurikulum Tingkat Satuan Pendidikan) curriculum as the basis of teaching and learning processes. Instructional processes are done in six days from Monday up to Saturday. The students start to learn from 07.00 a.m. and they finish the lesson at 13.45 p.m. on Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday and Saturday. While on Friday, they finish it at 11.00.a.m. SMA Negeri 1 Surakarta has a good accreditation and achievement because it is regarded as the best school in Surakarta.
2. Time of the Research
The research was carried out since April 2009 – January 2010. This research was conducted from the time the writer did pre-research, did the research, and up to the time when she wrote the thesis.
The complete schedule of the research is provided in the table below: No.
Activity
Time of Research
Preparation of the research Pre Observation Taking the data of the research Writing report Preparation of examination Examination
April-June 2009 August-September 2009 Sept - Nov 2009 Dec 2009 - Januari 2010 January 2010
28 January 2010
The subject of the research was the eleventh grade students of SMA Negeri 1 Surakarta. The second grade students of SMA Negeri 1 Surakarta are divided into seven science classes, three social classes, and three SBI classes. Each of science classes consists of 36up to 40 students, while social and SBI classes consist of 26 up to 35 students. In this research, the writer chose class XI IA 4 as the subject of the research. This class consists of 37 students: 20 boys and
17 girls. The students of XI IA 4 come from different social backgrounds. Economically, they are classified into medium to high level. Most of their parents work in institution and business. Psychologically, the students of XI IA 4 are far from under pressured condition. They are cheerful and free from threatening situation, even though there are some students who are shy to actively participate in teaching and learning process.
The researcher chose class XI IA 4 as the subject of the research based on a fact that several of the students were clever and very active while the others were very passive in teaching learning process. It means that the students’ motivation in learning was still low because they had low desire in studying English. Besides, there was evidence from the pre-test that their achievement in speaking was not too good. The researcher conducted the study through teaching and learning process by employing interview in teaching speaking. In this research, the researcher was as the teacher and the real English teacher there was the observer in the research process.
The research method used in this study is Action Research (AR). Mills (2000: 5) proposes action research as systematic inquiry done by the teachers or other individuals in teaching or learning environment to gather information about and subsequently improve the ways their particular school operates, how they teach, and how well the students learn.
Based on the above statements, it can be concluded that action research is an attempt to improve something in which participants examine their own social or educational practices systematically and carefully using the technique done by the teachers or in collaboration of teachers and researchers by means of their own reflection upon the effect of those action. The fundamental objective of action research is to improve practice rather than to produce knowledge. It is carried out to feed practical judgment in concrete situations.
There are many advantages of conducting action research. They are as follows:
1. The teacher will be more challenged to solve the problem
2. It gives opportunity for the teacher to adapt the theory which they get in the practices.
3. The result of the study is more significant.
4. It brings the research (research finding) that is really needed in the classroom
5. It gives opportunity for the teacher to do the professional practices.
problems. In this research, action research was undertaken in order to solve the problems that appear in teaching English during the teaching and learning process in the classroom. The purpose of the research is to improve the students’ motivation and achievement in learning English and can give the best solution from the problem that appears during the teaching and learning process on the eleventh grade of IA 4 of SMA Negeri 1 Surakarta, especially in speaking skill. This class Action Research is carried out by the teacher herself as researcher.