The Nature of Perception
39 The third statement
was about the students’ motivation to learn English subject. From the respondents’ answers, the researcher found that 26 students
89.65 agreed, 2 students 6.89 disagreed, 1 student 3.44 strongly agreed, and none of the student 0 who chose strongly disagreed. The data
showed that the students were highly motivated in learning English subject. However, there were two students who were not highly motivated. Motivation is
actually something which energizes someone’s behavior Rhodes Steers, 1981. In this case, the students were motivated to learn because they were accustomed to
listen to western song or watching movies and also interested on the new teaching method which was used by the researcher. However, Altman and Valenzi 1985
states that motive which a person has for a particular action cannot be seen; it can only be inferred p. 146. It means that even when the student looks active in
class; it cannot definitively shows that heshe is highly motivated to learn. The statements numbers 4-6 are
about the students’ interaction that support their learning experienced that will be explained further in the paragraphs below.
The fourth statement was about the roles of the teacher in teaching and giving explanation about the English subject in class. From the respondents’
answers, the researcher found that 23 students 79.31 agreed and 3 students 10.34 strongly agreed. It means that the teacher has the important roles based
on the students’ perception. However, responding to the fourth statement, 2 students 6.89 disagreed, and 1 student 3.44 strongly disagreed. It showed
that some of the students were not satisfied with the teacher’s explanation. The
data showed that 80 students satisfied with the teacher’s explanation about the
40 English subject in class. However, the result from FGD was against this result.
The students said that the teacher’s explanation was not clear. The method that she used in the class was only giving assignments and then left the class. She
rarely explained it until the students understood about the material. It will be explained further on the fifth statement about the teacher
’s explanation in the class.
The fifth statement was about the students’ ability to understand the
teacher’s explanation. From the respondents’ answers, the researcher found that 19 students 65.31 agreed and 2 students 6.89 strongly agreed. Meanwhile,
7 students 24.13 disagreed and none of the student 0 strongly disagreed. The data showed that even though the teacher tried to explain the material, some
of the students could not really understand it well. However, the data from FGD was against this result, it has been mentioned that the teacher rarely explains the
material until the students understood. In FGD, the students said that they just made their facial expression look like they understood, but the fact was they were
still confused. This action could be defined as their rationalization. Altman and Valenzi 1985 see rationalization was defense mechanism of someone to make
excuse for failure p. 148. The students said that they were not satisfied by the teacher’s method in teaching and it was affecting their motivation in learning
English subject. This statement could be their excuse to show their frustration because their need of satisfaction was hard to accomplish alongside with the
teacher ’s inability to motivate her students in learning.
41 The sixth statement was about the roles of the classmates in influencing
the students’ motivation and interest in mastering English subject actively. From the respondents’ answers, the researcher found that 12 students 41.37 agreed
and 3 students 10.34 strongly agreed. Meanwhile, 11 students 37.93 disagreed and 3 students 10.34 strongly disagreed. From the data, the results
showed that it was almost equal between the agreement and the disagreement on the importance of the classmates’ role in influencing their motivation and interest
in mastering English subject actively. The result of FGD showed that the students’
interaction with their friends to learn English was very limited. The students was having very limited opportunity to speak in English to have interaction with their
friends. They would ask the way to solve the problem in doing the assignments or just cheating. They chose to give up with active interaction which is not
motivating them Alman Valenzi, 1985, p. 149. The seventh statement was about the environment that might affect the
students’ motivation and interest in mastering English subject. The statement was about the roles of the students’ future chances on their job field, whether it will
influence their motivation and interest in mastering English subject or not. From the respondents’ answers, the researcher found that 17 students 58.62 agreed,
3 students 10.34 strongly agreed, 7 students 31.03 disagreed and none of the student 0 strongly disagreed with the statement. It showed that the
students’ future goal on their job field was not necessarily influence their motivation and interest in mastering English subject, especially speaking skill.
42 The researcher related those 7 statements to the theory that would
strengthen the data. Ahen 2009 states that the ability to communicate in a second language enables people to interact with each other and changes the way they
perceived things and matters happening to them. Proficiency in the English language is determined by the students’ motivation and attitude in learning the
language. In the statements numbers 1 up to 3 indicated the students’ eagerness in
learning based on the students ’ motivation. More than 80 of the students were
motivated in learning English subject. According to Gardner and Lambert as cited in Brown, 1994, p. 168, motivation is a construct made up from certain
attitudes. In t his case, the students’ motivation in improving their speaking skill
could be affected by their attitude in learning. Hence, the students’ performance in
the learning process will be determined by their motivation in learning process which results from their perception and attitudes Ahen, 2009, p. 2. According to
Gardner and Lambert as cited in Ahen, 2009, the positive or negative attitude is derived from individual
’s perception toward certain objects or matters. Campbell 2001 as cited in Ahen 2009 states that perception is a process where one will
form an impression about someone or something. The input that is gained through one’s observation will produce certain judgment or belief which influenced the
attitudes of an individual toward certain things or events occur around them p. 3. The researcher also found out another meaning of perception according to
Hardy and Heyes on Kurniy ati’s journal 2006 as it is cited in Ferianda 2013
that perception is a form of behavior that allows individuals to interact with or adjust to the varying demands of environment p. 69. The researcher concluded
43 that perception could also be determined by looking at the interaction and the
environment. On the following paragraph, the researcher would give further explanation about factors that influence the
students’ perception especially on their problems in speaking skill.