Pre-figured themes The interpretation of the participants’ lived experience

66 knowledge. Watching English movies, listening to English songs and reading English articles were some of the activities they did to develop their knowledge. Richard 1976: 78 states that when someone enters his adulthood, his vocabulary knowledge is relatively constant unless he actively engages himself through activities such as reading, listening or others which can improve his vocabulary knowledge. Students might perceive the chance of being autonomous learners differently but applying ELTGallery as the media of vocabulary learning encourages students to be autonomous. 2 Challenging Vocabulary Learning with ELTGallery Breaking the conventional way in learning technique offers new challenges for the learning participants. ELTGallery is a breakthrough in vocabulary learning especially for the PBI students in Sanata Dharma University. It is applied to cover things which traditional classroom cannot cover. Applying technology in vocabulary learning builds up a large vocabulary, gives students control over what words to learn, presents exercises to promote deeper learning and so on Goodfellow: 1994 as cited in Miles Kwon, 2008: 1. The learning materials in ELTGallery covers the first thousand word list, the second thousand word list and the first three thousand word list. Those learning materials were distributed to some features in ELTGallery which allowed the students to learn and practice them independently. However, both Dipta and Martha felt that the burden of completing the weekly tasks was very high. Their weekly tasks were completing seventy-five sentences and making twenty sentences. They also had to review their friends’ 67 sentences and give feedback to them. Although Dipta and Martha realized that the purpose of assigning the weekly exercises was to develop their vocabulary, but they felt that the number of the exercises were too many. The tasks were quite many, perhaps because the features of the exercises are so various. Well…actually they are good to improve our vocabulary knowledge but it’s tiring. Too many tasks to do. DA26 The variation of exercises in ELTGallery is good, quite various. But I think, the number of the questions in each type of exercise is just too much. It seemed pak Dwi only focused on the weekly tasks in which we had to complete 75 sentences and make 20 sentences each week. I think it would have been better if we had fewer numbers of questions and various types of exercises. MA24 Nation 1990 in his research on frequency counts stated that university students need around 2000 high frequency words with additional of 1000 further high frequency words to support their study. In accordance with Nation’s research, the learning materials in ELTGallery already covered the students’ need. Students need to spend their time to learn the high frequency words to support their basic understanding and knowledge of English. Therefore, the numbers of the exercises were actually normal and the students had one week to complete their tasks. Moreover, Martha confessed that she developed her reading skill as the result of her vocabulary learning. The vocabularies from the website help me to comprehend an article. I love reading, miss. So I think it helps me to improve my understanding in written texts. MA13 Probably what made the weekly tasks became too burdening for the students was because of the technical problem which often occurred in ELTGallery. A web-based learning environment is considered effective when it is efficient to use and only has few errors Nielsen, 1993. Meanwhile, Dipta and 68 Martha complained that they often experienced error in the website which slow down their work. ..The website itself was also problematic sometimes, miss. We need to log in and out several times. It slowed down the work. I guess the system of the website should be revised. When we only have very limited time and we still have to log in and out several times…that was so bothering. DA16 …the buttons don’t always direct us to the right destination pages. I experienced it when I wanted to repeat test seventy-five weekly exercises. I wish I could make it faster, remake it but I had to log out first and log in again, and sometimes the page was error. It’s so annoying because the time is limited. DA17 The annoying thing is when the features are error. The time is short but we can’t do anything when the website is error. DA28 From the narration above, Dipta felt annoyed when he experienced technical problems since it reduced his time to finish his tasks. Not far different from Dipta, Martha also experienced error page sometimes. Fast access in web- based environment is a crucial thing. Technical problems and download time should be minimized to make the learning process simpler and stress free Hall, 2003. Further, Nielsen 1996 as cited in Hall 2003: 7 pointed out that web- based learning should be able to make students get information simply and quickly. Therefore, the technical problems in ELTGallery need to be fix to support the student learning process optimally. Further, Martha also shared that her bigger challenges in vocabulary learning using ELTGallery was when she also had homework from other subjects and some technical problems occurred at the same time. It could make her felt very stressful. Her challenge was also to stare at the monitor for quite a long time to do the tasks. She said it was tiring. Yet, this case is unavoidable since web-based class required students to deal with monitors most of the time. Time and task management might help students to reduce this burden. PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI 69 Another challenge was related to the layout of ELTGallery. Dipta and Martha shared the same experience about it. According to them, the layout of ELTGallery was monotonous. They did not really like the blue color in all the page of ELTGallery. The font used in the website was not favorable. However, the buttons were quite simple although they still experienced errors. According to Dipta and Erika, the look of the website should be made as attractive as possible so that the students could enjoy their study time by exploring the website. It was such a challenge for them to deal with the website most of the time while they did not really enjoy looking at the website layout. Even Martha had an idea to give the students some chances to customize their pages based on their favorite colors, fonts and so on. She believed that it would be more enjoyable for the students. In fact, there is a surprising amount of research indicates that when learners are given too much freedom in choosing and selecting their favorable things in the website contents, it will decrease learning effectiveness Large, 1996; Niemiec et al., 1996 as cited in Hall, 2003. Probably, the website designer did not really concern about the layout because he wanted the students to focus on the contents only since the goal of the learning process is to improve the students’ vocabulary knowledge. 3 ELTGallery Learning Atmosphere Learning atmosphere is also important to help students achieving the learning goal. If students feel comfortable during the learning process, they will be confident and enthusiastic to give their best performance. Brown 1987, Krashen Terrel 1983 and Lozanov 1978 as cited in Egbert, Chao, and 70 Hanson- Smith 1999: 6 present their ideas that “before becoming mindfully engaged and willing to communicate their ideas, learners must experience an optimal level of anxiety in the language learning environment, any feelings or worry or apprehension must be facilitative rather than debilitative”. Therefore, even if learners experience anxiety during the learning process, it should be challenging instead of discouraging. Once learners feel stressful, then it will lead them to discouragement which affects their motivation to continue the learning process well. Unfortunately, both Dipta and Martha felt that the stress level in web- based vocabulary class was high. The main reason was that they had to complete many tasks in a limited time. Martha even felt that although she had managed her time but she could not keep up with the tasks. …I always felt in a rush to complete the tasks, miss. Whereas I thought, I had made my time schedule to arrange my activities and time to do campus tasks. But, I don’t know…the time seemed never enough. It was very very exhausting. MA38 Dipta felt stressful with this new teaching method because of its high expectation. His first expectation learning vocabulary with ELTGallery was fun. He expected that ELTGallery would help him learn vocabulary in a fun way. Yet, he found out later that he could not enjoy the learning process. Instead of having games to facilitate the vocabulary learning, Dipta had to complete the weekly tasks in form of exercises. Dipta also felt bored with the class situation. …I don’t know…I felt bored. Perhaps because of the layout or maybe the situation in class. It was not really fun. DA4 Further, he said that the conventional class was easier to handle since there were not many homework and there were more supervisions in class. Martha got 71 confused every time she wanted to ask and consult her problems to friends because she felt uneasy to disturb her friends’ activity. …Traditional class provides more interaction between the teacher and students. Furthermore, in traditional class there are not a lot of things to do at home. Everything is done in class…DA16 I don’t know…I just feel happier in traditional class…the one with books and printed handouts. It is easier, I think. It is more suitable with my learning style. I just need to study in the class, no more exercises at home. Everything is under control because it is done in class and the lecturer check the work directly. DA24 …Conventional class is better because the lecturer helps the students more actively. I myself prefer the traditional class. I guess it is more effective because there are more supervisions and interactions in class. In web-based class with ELTGallery, when we got confused we felt awkward to ask, the weekly tasks are just so many. In my opinion, vocabulary should be learnt bit by bit, repetitions should be more, because I tend to have short time memory so I still need more practices. MA20 At last, Martha and Dipta confessed that they felt more comfortable learning vocabulary in conventional class than in web-based class. Since conventional class offered more interactions and supervisions, they would not get confused whom to consult when they had problems during their learning time. According to them, applying a website in a class created space between the students and the lecturer which resulted on awkwardness. They hesitated to ask and consult since they rarely had conversation in class. Besides some technical problems which happened to the website, the plenty number of weekly tasks also caused the high stress level in the class. Whereas, once learners feel stressful, it will lead them to discouragement, which affects their motivation to continue the learning process well. PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI 72

b. Emerging theme: Perseverance

Emerging theme is the theme which appeared during the data gathering. It was not predicted before. In this research, the emerging theme is perseverance. Stott 1984: 62 defines perseverance as persisting in, or remaining constant to a purpose, task or belief in spite of obstacles and opposition. Perseverance is closely related to endurance. It is the endurance to bear disappointment and discomfort without quitting or letting down. Dipta and Martha experienced the same challenges when they learned vocabulary in web-based class. Exploring ELTGallery for vocabulary learning was also their first experience. It can be said that they had the same start but they performed differently at the end. Dipta chose to continue his study in PBI because he saw that the occupation of being a teacher had more working opportunities than other occupations. Besides, he also liked English since it was fun. Then, when he was in the second semester, he had a chance to select an elective course on his own. He chose vocabulary class with the hope that he could get an A to raise his GPA. His first expectation of having ELTGallery was a fun learning. However, things did not run as what he had expected before. He started to face some challenges in vocabulary web-based class and his motivation started to decay. Moreover, Dipta was a busy student. He joined some campus activities and he often joined a committee in campus events. He enjoyed socializing. Prioritizing was the thing that he should practice more. It was proven when he reflected his experience in joining web-based vocabulary class. Dipta learnt that autonomy learning was not easy. Having given more freedom in managing his own learning progress did not PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI 73 make him become more discipline. He was sometimes late to submit his weekly tasks instead. He found it difficult to manage his own time and schedule to complete all the tasks at home. He needed to make a group of friends who could help him to be on the right track to accomplish the learning goal. He had to do it since he realized that he was typically an easygoing person and he needed a reminder to make him do things well. He knew that he could not always depend on someone and he promised himself that he would try to manage his study better. Martha continued her study in PBI because she knew she got a talent in English and she wanted to improve and excel in it. Martha had already got a strong will which can help her to face any challenges during the learning process. Joining vocabulary web-based class was her first experience to challenge her perseverance in improving her English skills. Being discipline in completing the tasks given was not enough. She realized that she needed to have real practices in her daily life with high determination. She also faced challenges in learning vocabulary with ELTGallery. Yet, she did not give up. She learnt that learning achievement merely depends on the students’ effort to accomplish their learning goals. Therefore, although it was a hard battle, she felt thankful she had been in web-based vocabulary class since she could gain the value of perseverance. 74

CHAPTER V CONCLUSIONS AND SUGGESTIONS

This is the last chapter of the study and it consists of two parts. The first part summarizes the findings of the study and concludes them. The second part presents the suggestions which are expected to give contribution to the teachers in conducting teaching learning process especially in a web-based environment.

A. Conclusions

A website is one of media which can be explored to facilitate teaching learning process. The rapid growth of technology supports teachers to apply websites in classes. Applying a website in teaching learning process supports students’ autonomy learning. Autonomy learning challenges students to be more responsible to their learning progress. Their responsibility will lead them to achieve the learning goal. Challenging learning is interesting. Yet, challenges should give positive values in order to improve the students’ motivation in learning. A good challenge enables students to raise their curiosity in learning. In this study, the website is applied in vocabulary class with the hope that students can develop their vocabulary autonomously. However, to benefit the vocabulary autonomy learning optimally, the best environment needs to be set. The two participants in this research give some insights to evaluate whether the environment for conducting the vocabulary web-based class had been well set or not. PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI 75 Two types of meanings classified under two major bracketed themes based on the interpretation of the students’ lived experiences are presented here. The themes were pre-figured themes and emergent theme. The pre-figured themes were determined based on the discovery of conceptual truth. There are three pre- figured themes in this study. They are autonomous learning with ELTGallery, challenging vocabulary learning with ELTGallery and ELTGallery learning atmosphere. The emergent theme was found during the research process. In this study, the emergent theme is perseverance. The conclusion of the discussion on each theme is presented as follows. The first is autonomous learning with ELTGallery. Both participants admitted that applying ELTGallery in vocabulary learning encourages the students to be more autonomous. They were able to adapt the materials to suit their learning styles. They also made use the features of the website to improve their vocabulary. Their learning time was not only limited in the class, they took initiatives to improve their knowledge by having more exposures outside the class. Reading articles, watching English movies and listening to English songs helped them to learn vocabulary in context more. Joining structure and linguistic class also benefited them in improving their vocabulary knowledge especially in word formation and phrases. Unfortunately, Dipta found out that he was less confident with the autonomy given since he thought that he still needed more guidance and supervision from the lecturer in class. He still expected that the lecturer would move around, check the students’ work and communicate with the students. According to him, it would reduce the boredom in class. Martha found out that the web-based vocabulary class was very challenging and she had to try to