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the past forms of regular and irregular verbs through flash cards, practicing of the flash cards
’ strategy in the group and individual, and doing a test. The description of the process on how flash cards improve the
students’ irregular verb mastery in each cycle is in the following part.
1. Preliminary Study
The researcher conducted an observation before doing the preliminary study on February 19, 2013. The purpose of the observation was to know the real
condition of the students in class VIIIB of SMP N 3 Klaten. The researcher could know the problem when he observed the teacher who was teaching the past forms
of verbs in the teaching and learning process. In observation, the teacher asked the students to read a recount text. Then, she asked them to do an exercise which was
filling the past forms of irregular verbs in the blanks in a recount text. In fact, the students faced difficulties in doing an exercise about the
meanings of verbs and past forms of irregular verbs. Besides, the researcher also observed the
teacher’s performance and students’ behavior in the teaching and learning process. The teacher looked enthusiastic in teaching the students through
explaining a recount text. The teacher used various methods to make the students interested to pay attention to the material given. On the contrary, most of the
students did not pay attention to the teacher’s explanation about the past forms of
irregular verbs see Appendix 4. Afterwards, the researcher played a role as the teacher who taught a
recount text to the students in the preliminary study. The preliminary study was carried out on Wednesday, February 26, 2013. There were 34 students who
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followed this pre-test which became a part of the preliminary study. The total of the students is actually 38 students, but three of them were absent and one of them
was sick in that meeting. The researcher reviewed the materials about recount which was similar to the previous meeting. While the researcher was teaching
recount, he gave some exercises about matching Indonesia – English words and
filling the past forms of regular or irregular verbs in the blanks in a recount text. However, the verbs which were given in exercises had been taught by the teacher
in the previous meeting. In fact, most of the students faced difficulties by answering many questions incorrectly in filling the past forms of irregular verbs in
the blanks in a recount text. The students needed a lot of time to do this part. They found it difficult and confusing in doing an exercise related to the past forms of
irregular verbs. As a result, they only added –edd for the past form.
At the end of the class, the researcher gave a test which aimed to know the students’ ability in understanding the past forms of irregular verbs. The test
consisted of ten sentences of filling the past forms of irregular verbs in the blanks. Through the test in the preliminary study, the researcher could see the result of
each student in understanding the past forms of irregular verbs. From 34 students, the researcher classified the test score into three categories. They were the highest
score, medium score, and lowest score. The highest score was 90, medium score was 50, and lowest score was 20. The test score of the students could be seen in
the table on the next page.
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Table 4.2 The Results of the Test in the Preliminary Study No
The number of students Score
1 1
90 2
3 80
3 2
70 4
6 60
5 13
50 6
2 40
7 6
30 8
1 20
Based on the test results above, there were many students who gained the test scores under the passing grade 70, which was made by the school. From
those, the researcher could conclude that most of the students in VIIIB class had low ability in understanding the past forms of irregular verbs. They faced
difficulties in differentiating between the verbs which had to be added with –edd
regular verbs or changed the original forms from the present forms irregular verbs.
By counting the results of the test through the following formula which was mentioned in the previous chapter, the average score of the
students’ result in the preliminary study was 51. 2. The average score is much lower than the passing
grade that has been stated by the school. However, the passing grade which is made by the school is 70. In conclusion, most of the students had lack of ability in
understanding the past forms of irregular verbs and they were not familiar with the verbs that had been presented in this action research. Therefore, the treatment in
each cycle was important to improve the re sult of the students’ test scores.
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During the teaching and learning process, the partner of the researcher also helped the researcher observe what was happening in the class. The observation
was done when the researcher taught the students in learning the past forms of irregular verbs in a recount text. Overall, the researcher looked well prepared in
teaching the students and showed the good steps in explaining the materials. On the contrary, the students faced difficulties in doing an exercise and a test related
to the use of the past forms of irregular verbs. It might be caused by their own business, such as talking to their friends next to them and sleeping during the
learning process. Most of the students did not actively ask the researcher and answer the questions which were given by the researcher see Appendix 4.
After finishing the lesson, the researcher conducted the interview with three students who gained the highest score, the medium score, and the lowest
score. The purpose of doing the interview was to know the teacher’s performance,
the students’ behavior, and the students’ participation in the teaching and learning process see Appendix 16.
From the result of the interview in the preliminary study, the researcher decided to have five questions which would be addressed to the three students
who gained the highest, medium, and lowest test score. The first question is about the students’ opinion about the kinds of the verb which is used in the learning
process. The students who gained the medium and lowest test scores did not know about the kinds of verbs. Meanwhile, the student who gained the highest test score
understood about the kinds of verbs.
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“Ada 2 yaitu irregular verb dan regular verb.” Drthe highest score. There are two kinds of verbs which are irregular verb and regular verb
“Saya tidak tahu namanya, tapi terkadang ada beda bentuknya. Kemudian, saya tinggal nambahin akhiran
–ed semuaya.” Amthe medium score and Pthe lowest score
I don’t know the kinds of the verbs, but sometimes there are different forms of verbs. Then, I only add
–ed for all of the verbs The second question is about the task which was given by the teacher to
the students in learning English. The three students who gained the highest, medium, and lowest test scores had the same answers. The teacher asked them to
find some vocabularies and then find the meaning of those vocabularies. “Mencari kosakata-kosakata dengan cara menulis dan mengartikannya setiap
pertemuan di buku catatan.” Drthe highest score, Amthe medium score, and Pthe lowest score
They are asked by the teacher to find vocabularies and find the meaning of vocabularies
The third question is about the students’ interest about the way of teaching which was used by the teacher in teaching vocabularies especially the verb. The
three students who gained the highest, medium, and lowest test scores had the same answers. They stated that they were bored with joining the lesson. It was
caused by the way of teaching used by the teacher in teaching the past form of verbs.
“Cara gurunya mengajar kurang menarik, jadi bikin cepat bosan.” Drthe highest score, Amthe medium score, and Pthe lowest score
The way of teaching which was used by the teacher not interested, so it makes me bored
The fourth question is about the students’ difficulties in learning the past forms of verbs. Three students who gained the highest, medium, and lowest test
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scores had the same answers. They stated that they faced difficulties understanding the meaning of the verbs, pronounce the verbs, and write the verbs.
“Sangat merasa kesulitan ketika mengartikan, mengucapkan, dan menulis kata- kata kerja itu.” Drthe highest score, Amthe medium score, and Pthe
lowest score
It is very difficult to understand the meaning, to pronounce, and to write the verbs
The last fifth question is about the st udents’ opinion about the way to
overcome difficulties. Overall, the three students had the same answers. They generally stated that they had often to open the dictionary.
“Dengan membuka kamus untuk menghafal, mengucapkan, dan menulis kosakata-
kosakata.” Drthe highest score, Amthe medium score, and Pthe lowest score.
I have always to open a dictionary to memorize, pronounce, and write vocabularies
Based on the interview above, it could be concluded that the students were bored with following the lesson about the past forms of verbs. It might be caused
by the way which was used by the teacher in the teaching and learning process or the less attention who were shown by the students toward
the teacher’s explanation.
2. First Cycle of CAR
