Research Objectives Research Benefits

12 decisions of thinking and actions, and reflecting them to change learner achievement and behaviour. b. Characteristics of Senior High School Students Students of Senior High Schools are teenagers whose ages ranges more or less 17-19 years old. Brown 2000: 92 states that teenagers in those ages are in the age of transition, confusion, self-consciousness, growing, and changing bodies and minds. Teenagers are in the transition period between childhood and adulthood, therefore teachers should have some consideration in teaching them. Harmer 2002 also states that teenagers are in the search for individual identity, thus it has to be shaped among classmates or friends. Peer approval may be considered more important for the students than the teacher’s attention, which is more crucial for young learners. There are some characteristics of teenagers that teachers need to take into account Brown, 2000. First, their intellectual capacity had added abstract operational thought, particularly in the beginning of the teenage period. They can solve complex problems with logical thinking as their intelligence develops. Second, their attention spans are lengthening as a result of intellectual maturation. However, many diversions in teenagers’ life can shorten their attention spans. Third, varieties of sensory input are important. Yet, increasing abstraction causes their appeals to five senses lessen. Fourth, there are some influential factors in teenagers, such as ego, self-image, and self-esteem. Teenagers are really sensitive to how others perceive their changing physical and emotional states. Students of senior high schools have become adultlike in their ability to make diversions between “here and now” in communicative contexts, thus they are able to deal with 13 grammar and vocabulary items. Brown 2000 also provides some suggestions for teachers to keep the students’ self-esteem high. Teachers should avoid embarassme nt of students at all costs. Besides, students’ mistakes and errors should be accepted. Teachers should also affirm each person’s talents and strengths by de- emphasizing competition between classmates and encouraging small-group work. c. Teaching English for Senior High School Students English becomes one of compulsory subjects in Senior High School level. The teaching of English in Senior High School follows the policy in the curriculum. As the curriculum changes, the objectives of English learning are also different. Previously, when Curriculum 2013 was applied, the teachers were required to integrate the spiritual and social attitudes in the learning activities. Those aspects were also incorporated with the assessment criteria. Meanwhile, in School-Based Curriculum, the English learning focuses more on the development of four language competences, namely listening, speaking, reading, and writing. These skills are integrated in the classroom activities. The learning objectives also depend on particular skills which are taught. Considering the characteristics of senior high school students, it is essential for teachers to design the learning activities appropriate with their level. The teachers’ treatment to the students should consider students’ cognitive and emotional conditions.

2. Listening Comprehension

There are different perspectives in classifying listening process. Richards 2008 classifies listening into two different perspectives i.e. listening as comprehension and listening as acquisition. Listening as comprehension is the 14 traditional way about defining listening. Listening is viewed based on its main function in second language learning, i.e. to facilitate understanding of spoken discourse. Meanwhile, listening as acquisition is related to the role of consciousness in language learning, and in particular to the role of noticing in learning. Schmidt 1990 in Richards 2008 states that consciousness of features of input can trigger the process of incorporating new linguistic features into one’s language competence. According to this view, there is a difference between input what the learner hears and intake part of input that the learner notices, and only intake can serve as the basis for language development. A specific issue that is discussed in this research is listening comprehension. For further understanding about listening comprehension, it is necessary to provide more explanation about the nature of listening, listening comprehension, micro- skills of listening, listening strategies, and listening comprehension for tenth grade students. a. The Nature of Listening Listening is one of language competences which is very essential in communication. Listening takes a great part in learner’s second language acquisition. According to Rost 1990 in Carter and Nunan 2001, “listening is not only a skill area in language performance, but is also a critical means of acquiring a second language L2”. Listening becomes a bridge for the listener to obtain language inputs in the form of spoken language, e.g. sound, stress, and intonation. In the real time communication, the listener deals with some uniqueness of spoken language which employs pacing, encoding, and pausing. Those factors influence the listener in deriving the meaning from the utterances they hear.