Students’ Reflective Writing DISCUSSION

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B. DISCUSSION

In this part, the discussion involves the interpretation of the research findings from the three data collection; students‘ reflective writing, video recording, and multiple observers which relates with the background theories of the study in order to answer the two research questions.

1. Students’ Reflective Writing

The first section emphasizes on answering the first research question that cooperative learning is effective to improve the participants‘ communicative competence. S tudents‘ reflective writing mainly emphasizes on what the students are actually thinking as defined in reflective thinking by Lipman, 2003 that it refers to a conscious process of thinking with its statements and judgments that are supported by explanations and facts to support the opinion. From the results of students‘ reflective writing, some information is obtained that CL is effective to improve the participants‘ communicative competence. The first conclusion is that most of them interact with many friends during the learning process. It is supported by the fact that more than 80 of them communicate with more than half of the total number of students. The communication means that they practice using English in their interaction with their friends. The interaction results to the students‘ higher involvement in the learning process as experienced by Peterson and Miller who obtained statistically significant result that participants reported higher levels of degree of engagement 87 Peterson and Miller, 2004:129. The interaction promotes one of the criteria of authentic tasks as suggested by Gatbonton and Gu 1994 The participants experience the tensions and pressures of real communication such as those arising from not knowing what their interlocutors would say or from having to make sense of their interlocutor‘s utterances under time pressure. On one occasion, when a new student joined the program and he was involved in the „tea party‟ activity which practiced on like and dislike, his partner helped him to answer the questions on “Do you like broccoli?” with “yes, I do” or “no, I don‟t”. The new student eventually was able to understand the questions and answer accordingly because there were clues “yes” and “no” which he has understood. The comprehension takes place because there is interaction among the students. Communication is used as synonymous to interaction. Spitzber, 1998: 68 as in Keeble, 2005:179: stated that ―Taken very broadly, communicative competence is the ability to interact well with others‖. The conclusion is that interaction using the target language benefits the participants to experience authentic communication through practicing real communication. Language learning as a consequence should always be related with communication. ―Language is communication. And communication both determines and is determined by social meaning‖ Savignon, 104. The second information obtained relates with how the students use the language expressions being taught. In the role play activity in which they practice to become both buyers and sellers, they were enthusiastic to practice both speaking and listening about the English expressions used in the activity. Furthermore, they became more excited when they were asked to bring real 88 vegetables to conduct the activity. It was witnessed that they brought more vegetables than asked simply because they wanted to practice and use the language expressions more often than what is required. It confirms one of the essential things to consider when teaching English to young learners that: ―Children learn through experiences by manipulating surrounding objects‖ Piaget in Hudelson, 1991: 256 as in Sukarno, 2008: 60 states that children in primary or elementary school are usual in what is called the concrete operational stage of cognitive development. This means that they learn through hands – on experiences and through manipulation of objects in the environment. Accordingly, it is important that the English teachers use media or real objects in delivering the materials in order that the students understand the lesson more easily. The findings also revealed that more than 50 of students practice using most of the language expressions. They practiced both speaking and listening to the language expressions through interaction with their friends as shown in their answers in question two and three. The use of language expressions during the learning process promotes the idea of authentic communication like in Tomlinson Masuhara, 2010: 400 that ―To be authentic, the learning materials should always provide practices for using the language.‖ The activities involving both speaking and listening supports the notion of authentic communication. Teachers should design tasks that allow learners to practice identifying the key grammar and vocabulary in real-world texts and to develop the skills of speaking and listening in an integrated way, just as in authentic communicative situations Yang, 2010: 341. The interest to do role playing activities supports the principle of cooperative learning with language pedagogy as in Jacobs Hannah, 2004: 103 89 that ―within groups, students can develop more fully as they can play a wider range of roles than are normally available via teacher- fronted instruction‖. They also stated that cooperative learning activity promotes students to cooperate with friends different from themselves in which they are able to learn from the diversity. The third finding refers to their experience of authentic communicative situation as expressed in the students‘ reflective writing number five,‖ Did you have experience of authentic communicative situations during the learning activities? If yes, what experiences did you have?” All of the students stated that they experience being involved in authentic communicative situation as in the role-plays of buying and selling activities and tea party on asking about like and dislike The selection of the activities were based on the stud ent‘s background whose parents mostly work as sellers or street vendors. Materials which are based on the relevant environment are expected to boost the learners‘ motivation which results to more effective learning Nguyen, 2005. It was positive that cooperative learning boosts not only students‘ experience of authentic communication but also promotes their motivation in learning. The benefit of relating English learning with social context is also supported by Mannigel, 1998, p. 231 as in Ongan and Emily , 2005: 299 who said ―Children learn through their interest in real events, objects or people, and the immediate environment is used for this purpose.‖ It can be concluded that using cooperative learning activities which include materials that are relevant to the students‘ environment are beneficial to give the students experiences with authentic communication. 90 The participants in addition also stated that they felt less anxious when they were put in groups. Each of them also had different role to play like being a buyer and a seller on the activity of buying and selling, tea party, or writing around. It again confirms one of the essential things to consider when teaching English to young learners that: ―children learn through social context, in groups in w hich they know with one another‖ Vygotsky in Hudelson, 1991: 257 As in Sukarno, 2008: 60. He also states that children learn in social contexts, in groups where some group members know more than others. Therefore, the English teachers should make their teaching situations similar to social contexts. Although classroom setting does not offer students with authentic context, it is important for teachers to make the students feel like they are doing tasks the way they should be used Yang, 2010. It also confirmed that everyone in the groups had equal opportunity to practice using the language. One student 9.1 stated that she also became the participant of STAD. The other students were also the participants of STAD. However, it seemed that they did not consider STAD as an activity in which they had specific role and expressions to use. Another student 9.1 also stated that besides being a buyer and a seller, she also became a chairman in her group. The teacher assigned some students, those with the highest ability to be the chairman in order to assist the other members to comprehend the lesson. The teacher assigned them to be the teacher‘s assistant which gave pride to them. In addition, they were responsible to make sure that all the members understood the instructions and the practices they had to perform. By doing this, the teacher did not have to be the only source to ask when students have problems. The findings 91 support the idea of how cooperative learning is in line with language pedagogy which puts emphasis on individual differences as in Jacobs and Hannah, 2004: 103. a. Group activities provide a different mode of learning rather than a steady diet of teacher-fronted instruction b. Within groups, students can develop more fully as they can play a wider range of roles than are normally available via teacher-fronted instruction. c. The CL principle heterogeneous grouping encourages students to interact with peers different from themselves, providing students opportunities to benefit from this diversity and to learn to work with people different from themselves. d. When groups are working on their own, teachers have more time to spend with students who may need individual attention. Cooperative learning in short is advantageous to promote students‘ active involvemen t, students‘ experiences to work with other people, and equal opportunity to practice communicating in English. The benefits at the same time promote the concept of authenticity which plays role as both the language and the participants. ―Authenticity is a function not only of the language but also of the participants, the use to which language is put, the setting, the nature of the interaction, and the interpretation the participants bring to both the setting and the activity‖ Taylor, 1994:6. The next section focuses on answering the second research question that is how effective CL is to empower the research participants. The first finding from the participants‘ reflective writing reveals that the interaction in which one student helps another student to better understand the lesson supports the principle of empowerment in which ―Empowerment is the power that one has to produce, to prosper, and to promote growth in self and in others‖ Dye, 2012: vii. It means that interaction through mutual understanding give power for everyone to make progress. 92 On different occasion, one student borrows somebody‘s pencil by saying “Pencil, please..” and the friend gives the pencil while saying “Here you are” is an indicator that the English acquisition has taken place in the social interaction among students. It supports Vygotsky in Hudelson 1991: 257 as in Sukarno, 2008: 60 who states that language acquisition occurs through social interaction. It means that the teacher should use English in the classroom naturally as if it was used in their society. The fact that the participants are able to use English even when it is not part of the lesson materials is also an evidence that an empowering learning context has been taking place since it is able to not only improve performance but also to use the improvement in their own learning both inside and outside the formal learning setting. ―Learning facilitated through sustainable empowering learning environments is most effective, resulting in improved, productive empowering and life- long sustainable performance‖ Fraser, 2002; De Corte, Verschaffel, Entwistle and Van Merrienboer, 2003; Konings, Brand- Gruwel and Van Merrienboer, 2005; Alridge, Fraser and Ntuli, 2009 as in Francis et al, 2010: 11. The finding is also in line with the idea of empowered teacher who gives opportunity for hisher students to participate more actively during the learning activities instead of dominating the class as experienced by many English learners in the country. ―An empowered teacher will rather act as a facilitator and make learners realize that they have a share not only in their own learning process but in the learning process of others as well‖ Carl, 1995: 2. The cooperative learning activities in short are able to provide opportunities for students not only to 93 practice the language expressions but also to encourage interactions, cooperation, and interests in language learning among students which promotes the learning empowerment. The second finding that relates with learning empowerment is how the students think, feel, and perceive about the activities using cooperative learning. From their answers of question number six, ―Which kinds of learning activities that make you feel confident to use English in communication?”, it can be confirmed that the activity on buying and selling role plays, STAD, and tea party were able to both provide practices to interact in English communication and encourage students‘ confidence to use English in their communication with their friends because more than 70 of them affirm that they feel confident with role play activity on buying and selling, STAD and tea party. ―It is generally accepted that the practice of reflection is deeply rooted in critical thinking and is connected to external realities, enfolded with the practitioner‘s inner feelings.‖ Kabilan, 2007: 683. The fact of their preference of having tea party, STAD and role play enables the teacher to do similar activities on different topics because it is believed that their choices bring more motivation and involvement toward the English learning activities which results to their English improvement. The participants‘ preference toward specific learning activities has been resulted from their experiences to interact or communicate using English which improves their English competence. The fact is in line with one of the stages of learning cycle which involves experience and action in doing reflective thinking as stated by Kolb, 1984 as in Grinnell, 20l3: 7-9 that ‖Concrete experience in which learners 94 begin the learning process by experiencing some activity or event that has the potential to add to or change the knowledge or skills of the learner‖. The researcher also found evidence that the low achievers who used to be passive during the learning process were able to confidently use the English expressions in the learning activities. The fact is in line with what Cisero found in his study that reflective journal writing help students especially those who are not high achievers acquire the skills of self-reflection or press them to put more effort into learning‖ Cisero, 2006: 2. In short, it supports the principle of learning empowerment which becomes one of the priorities in the study besides improving the participants‘ communicative competence. ―According to the research literature, teachers must create learning environments in which learners can acquire confidence through motivation, and a sense of ownership and control over their own learning and themselves Duit and Treagust, 2003 as in Francis et al., 2010: 17. The third finding associates with the students‘ opinion on the use of small group work activities as suggested in cooperative learning. From the questions number seven and eleven, all of them stated that they liked working in small groups and they interacted with the whole members in the group. Through the group works, they did not only work on things together but also discuss, practice, and share the lesson within the groups. The enjoyment and interest to interact with other friends during the learning process has been resulted from the lack of exposures to use English like in a natural setting in their schools as experienced by all the participants joining the program. ―Many foreign language learners 95 experience limited exposure to authentic discourse in the target language‖ Oxford and Lin, 2011:163. In relation with learning empowerment, the opportunity to take part in the learning process is in line with the idea of empowerment which puts high appreciation to each individual to make progress. The characteristics of learning which empowers learners are that it is student-centered, it supports mutual learning, and it refers to an outcome-based learning Francis, 2010. The fact that the high achievers assist the lower ones and the fact that the passive learners are able to motivate and encourage themselves to be more active in the learning are evidences to create learning empowerment among the research participants. The forth finding relates with how one of the cooperative learning activities that is STAD is able to promote equal participation and to give positive results to the students‘ achievement. When learning about money, they are put in groups and quizzed about the topic in which students are competed with those of similar level. For example, the third grader is against other third graders. Before they are quizzed, they are given opportunity to review the lessons within the groups. The higher graders or higher achievers have to make sure that all the members are able to comprehend the lesson or topic being tested. By doing this, they cooperate and interact with one another because the group success does not depend on the high achievers but on each member ability on the topic. Therefore, each group has to make sure that their members are ready for the quiz. The fact also confirms that each member enthusiastically participates in the quiz which is shown from their expressions and gestures that they are looking forward to being 96 tested. The enthusiasm of learning is expected to enhance the learners‘ motivation which leads to the improvement of learning. It is one way to deal with the unsuccessfulness of learning English experienced by the country. ―Although a lot of effort has been put into the development of ELT programs, they have been largely unsuccessful in meeting even their limited goals‖ Kaplan and Baldauf, 2003:97. Creating learning environment which involves every individual to participate like in the cooperative learning strategy supports the English programs to be more successful in their learning. The information on the participants‘ encouraging behaviors toward STAD also confirms what Vaughan in his research found that cooperative learning had positive effects on the achievement and attitude levels in mathematics for the students of color Vaughan, 2002:362. It is also in line with what Peterson and Miller obtained in their study that participants reported higher levels of degree of engagement through cooperative learning activities. Peterson and Miller, 2004:129. In terms of authenticity, the finding supports one of the precedents of authenticity that is humanistic approach that stresses on human development Mishan, 2005: 1. It means that every learner should make improvement in their learning to make it authentic. In relation with learning empowerment, the finding supports the idea of mutual learning in which every learner has equal opportunity to succeed so that everyone makes progress in their learning. The characteristics of learning which empowers learners are that it is student-centered, it supports mutual learning, and it refers to an outcome-based learning Francis, 2010. 97 The finding supports the idea of learning empowerment which is against the view of teacher-direct method as experienced by many English learners in the country. ―An empowered teacher will rather act as a facilitator and make learners realize that they have a share not only in their own learning process but in the learning process of others as well‖ Carl, 1995: 2. The last finding is closely related to the tea cher‘s role during the learning process. It is obtained from their answers that the teacher gives equal attention to all the students through the use of cooperative learning. The use of heterogeneous groups also benefits the students in learning from the diversity among the members of the group. The teacher as a result is able to manage her time more productively to focus on students‘ learning activities and to those who need special attention. Cooperative learning eventually enhances the affective factors as stated in Jacobs and Hannah, 2004: 104: a. When working in supportive CL groups, students may feel less anxious and more willing to take risks. b. When students feel that group mates are relying in them, they may feel more motivated to make the effort needed to maximize learning Dornyei, 1997. When teacher does not dominate the class, the students are able to interact and motivate each other through cooperative learning activities and they are able to meet the standards for authenticity in language learning as stated by Mishan, 2005: 1 The precedent for authenticity in language learning can be seen to fall into three groups: ‗communicative approaches‘ in which communication is both the objective of language learning and the means through which the language is thought, ‗materials-focused‘ approaches, in which learning is centered principally round the text, and ‗humanistic approaches‘ which address the ‗whole‘ learner and emphasize the value of human development. 98 It can be summarized that cooperative learning is effective to improve the participants‘ communicative competence and their learning empowerment. The following table is the outline of how the learning strategy relates with authentic communication based on the students‘ written reflection. Table 4.5 The outline of how cooperative learning is able to build authentic communication based on students’ written reflection. No Category Descriptors 1 Experience real communication  Students practice communicating by integrating speaking and listening with their interlocutors using the language expressions learned. Questions 1 – 4  They enjoy discussing and interacting with their friends in groups. Questions 7 8  They practice interacting with friends of different ages Question 13 2 Practice using the language  Students practice using the language on asking about price, asking about possession, and thanking. Question 2 3. 3 Use materials which are based on the relevant environment  Students practice communicating in a role play on buying and selling. The selection is based on the fact that most of their parents are either street vendors or small sellers. Question 5  They enjoyed the role play on buying and selling Question 6 4 Promote humanistic approach  Everyone has different role to play during the learning activities. Question 9  They have equal opportunity to practice communicating using the target language. Question 10  They feel less anxious when working in groups Question 6 11  They have equal attention from the teacher Question 12 99 5 Practice using the key grammar and vocabulary in real – world text.  They practice the vocabulary on vegetables using the grammar pattern on asking questions Question 2 3.

2. Students’ Authentic Tasks