reading and writing exercises, basic grammar can be mastered by junior high school students especially at the grade eight students as stated in the
Core Competence and Basic Competence. It can be noticed that the more thoroughly a learner masters the grammatical system of the language, the
more effectively they can use the language for communication.
B. Identification of the Problems
The textbook used in Grade Eight of SMP Negeri 4 Magelang is a textbook entitled “When English Rings a Bell” from Kementerian
Pendidikan dan Kebudayaan Republik Indonesia 2014. The contents of the textbook are based on Curriculum 2013 with the scientific approach based
on the Peraturan Pemerintah Nomor 17 Tahun 2010 tentang Pengelolaan dan Penyelenggaraan Pendidikan. It is stated that the implementation of
learning process is focused on the exploration, elaboration, and confirmation completed with the process of Observing, Questioning,
Collecting Data, Analyzing Data, Communicating, and Creating. The textbook contains twelve chapters for two semesters. Each
semester has six chapters. In the first semester, students have six chapters including materials about expressions with some examples of dialogues
and short functional texts such as personal invitations and greeting cards. The main model of the materials is a conversation and dialogues. Because
the students are still young learners, the teacher gives basic English like greeting, introduction, asking something, and responding something.
While in the second semester, there are six chapters consisting of the
learning texts such as descriptive texts, recount texts, and narrative texts. There are some tasks about short functional texts like short message and
notice. In the end of every chapters there is a production made by the students. Like a reflection, the teacher needs to make sure that the
materials given are well understood by the students. Based on Basic Competence in Curriculum 2013 for grade eight
students of junior high school, language functions which are needed to be taught in the first semester are expressions of asking and giving attention,
asking and giving opinion, greetings, giving and responding to instructions, giving and responding to invitations, giving and responding to
prohibitions, and making personal invitations and greeting cards. While in the second semester, there are making oral and written texts about
expression of giving instructions, giving and asking for facts, describing people, animals and things. Making some texts such as descriptive texts,
recount texts, and narrative texts is also needed to be taught. The elements of language such as tenses, kinds of nouns, adverbs,
and adjectives are needed to be well understood by the students. In fact, the activities from the materials available in the textbook are not
comprehensible enough. The textbook does not provide sufficient inputs which reinforce students understanding. Besides, the explanation of the
language function is not always found in the textbook in every chapters.
C. Limitation of the Problems
