CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION
This chapter presents and dicusses the background of study, the limitation of study, the statement of study, the objective of study, the significant of study, and definition of
key terms.
A. The Background of Study
English is one of the international languages learned in almost all of the countries in the world. We know that English is very important to be learnt at every level in our
country from elementary school until university. Learning English means that we learn not only the four basic skills, namely,
listening, speaking, reading, and writing but we also learn its components in order to speak and write English correctly. One of the most important language components is grammar.
The students who study English need to learn grammar so that they can use English well. It is not easy to learn a language, and it is not easy to teach a langugage as well.
Every language especially English has its own rules and its own skills, and grammar has a great ro
le on one‟s acquisition in English which is different from Indonesian language. The problem now is how far the students understand and can apply those rules.
As we know there are eight parts of speech in English grammar, namely noun, pronoun, adverb, verb, adjective, conjunction, preposition, and interjection.
As one of parts of speech, preposition is used in communication and preposition is a problem for most English learners that often get confused due to what Martinet Said :
“The students have two main problems with preposition. They have to know whether in any construction a preposition is required or not, and which preposition to use when one is
required.”
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Although English has been taught since the fourth grade of Elementary School, many Indonesian students still do not understand and cannot apply those rules especially
in using prepositions. The preposition is a problem for most English learners that often make students confused. Unfortunately, many teacher still teach the students using a list of
words and explanation of uses that can be boring as well as an ineffective technique. For instance, many of them translate literally from Indonesian into English. For example “in”
equals to di dalam , “on” equals to di atas. “behind” equals to di belakang, “under” equals
to di bawah, etc. This method really makes the student feel bored and sometimes make the students uninterested in their learning process.
Prepositions are as important as other materials, but in fact the students still find some difficulties in learning them. It naturally happens because learning English
prepositions is not easy. The process of learning a new language can be quite difficult. However, the
reward for the learner is being able to communicate with a whole new country or culture of people. For that reason, many factors influence students‟ achievement in English, one
of them is teaching with strategy. For carrying out the various curricular decisions, the teacher must learn how to employ a wide range of teaching strategies that is, methods of
approaching the students.
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Learning a new language should be fun, interactive, and exciting so, strategies are very important for language learning because they are the tools
which are essential for developing communicative competence.
1
A.J.Thomson and A.V.Martinet, A Practical English Grammar, London:Oxford University Press,1985, p.9
2
Joyce R. Bruce and Harootunian Berj, The structure of Teaching, Chicago: Science Research Associties, Inc, 1967, p.3
Based on the observation that concluded by the writer about teaching prepositions of place at first grade of SMPN 10 Kota Tangerang Selatan, the writer found that the most
of students have problem to remember of each meaning of prepositions of place very well, so they felt difficult to remember of each meaning of prepositions of place. In
addition, the writer also found that the teacher taught prepositions of place deductively, he explained about the each meaning of prepositions of place and after that gave the example.
Finally, the teacher gave tasks to them, even though some students still look confuse and don‟t understand the material. This teaching way make the students get bored and also
forgot the each meaning of prepositions of place, the students seemed much suppressed by feeling passive and unmotivated tio learn.
Based on the problem above, the writer above, the writer assumed that the students‟ problem in learning prepositions of place not only come from students but also
from the teacher‟s method that used in teaching prepositions of place.
TPR is a language teaching method built around the coordination of speech and action; it attempts to teach language through TPR activity.
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Through TPR, the input is usually immediately comprehensible in the first presentation, and then the students
demonstrates comprehension by carrying out the command.
4
James Asher offered the Total Physical Response TPR as one alternative to the audiolingual approach which was
popular at the time. His method, based on techniques advocated much earlier by Harold and Dorothy Palmer, which involves giving commands to which students react.
5
The main aim of English teaching in Indonesia, especially for Junior High School, they are listening, speaking, reading, and writing. To master these skills, students cannot
avoid studying grammar. This is hoped to make their English good F.L. Billow State: “The Pupils must firmly grounded in the exercise of correct grammar, if he is to attain any skill
or effective of the language, but he need not know consciously formulated rules to account to him for what he does unconsiously correctly.
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3
Jack C. Richards and Theodore S. Rodgers, Approaches and Methods in Language Teaching. London: Cambridge University Press, 2001, p.87
4
John W. Oller And Patricia A. Richard-Amato, Methods that work – A Smorgasbord of Idea for
Langague Teachers. Cambridge: New Bury House Publisher Inc, 1983, p.59
5
Patricia A. Richard- Amato, Making it Happen, New York: Longman, 1988, p. 158
Using Physical Response can bring out usually a lot of fun for students and provides excellent practice in both listening comprehension and memory.
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It is claimed that with TPR a student can easily learn around 25 items in one hour long with a variety of
structures. From the statement above it can be concluded, that without mastering grammar, the
students can not speak, read, listen or write well. Grammar has an important role in learing English. And the writer intended to study more and choose her topic about
“Improving Students’ Ability in Using Prepositions of Place Through Total Physical Response.”
A Classroom Action Research at First Grade of SMPN 10 Kota Tangerang Selatan B.
The Limitation of Study
In this paper, the writer limits and focuses her study on improving students‟ ability in using prepositions of place at SMPN 10 Kota Tangerang Selatan through TPR.
The writer limits the study only by applying TPR in teaching prepositions of place to the seventh grade students at SMPN 10 Kota Tangerang Selatan.
C. The Statement of Study
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