5 One of the four skills that is learned by the students is listening skill.
Activating students’ prior knowledge in listening section should not merely introduce the students to the new learning material, but also give them basic knowledge of what
is going to be learned. Therefore, the way to activate the prior knowledge must be more than giving questions to the students before learning new materials. In this
regard, pre-listening material in the form of reading text becomes a special way of constructing students’ prior knowledge. In fact, pre-listening material is necessary to
prepare the students http:teflboot_camp.com120Communicative20teaching.do c, accessed on 16 February 2008.
Vacca 1981: 6 believes that “reading is the vehicle of learning”. It means that reading can be used to support the learning process in each skill, including
listening. The use of reading passages in activating students’ prior knowledge hopefully can help the students to have a description on the topic or material to be
learned. Students will build their prior knowledge through reading passages at home. However, different students may have different perception toward the implementation
of reading text as pre-listening material. The difference perception may due to different expectation, needs, and past experiences Bootzin et al, 1983: 119. By
implementing the use of reading texts to construct students’ prior knowledge in listening section for the third grade science students of a senior high school, the
researcher is interested in finding out students’ perception toward pre-listening material and the influence of the reading text on the students while acquiring listening
skill in the classroom. PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI
6
B. Problem Formulation
The problems are formulated in two questions, as follows: 1.
How do the students perceive pre-listening materials? 2.
What are the influences of reading text to the students’ understanding while listening to the stories in the classroom?
C. Problem Limitation
The research is limited to investigate students’ perception and the influence of reading texts on the students’ comprehension while listening to the stories. It is
implemented in the third grade of Science students of SMA Stella Duce Bantul. The reading texts are intended to help students construct related knowledge for listening
section in the class. Due to the time constraint, the reading texts were to be read at home a week before the listening section in class. Therefore, by the time the students
come to classroom, they have already had knowledge on what to be learned.
D. Objectives of the Study
The research seeks to investigate the use of reading texts to construct students’ prior knowledge. Therefore, this study has several objectives to achieve.
The objectives are as follows: 1.
To identify the students’ perceptions on the use of reading texts as a pre-listening material.
2. To find out the influences of the reading texts to the students’ understanding
while listening to the stories in the classroom. PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI
7
E. Benefits of the Study
The research is expected to give valuable contributions both for the teachers and the students and the next researchers in English language teaching.
1. Teachers
This study will help teachers to realize the importance of prior knowledge in building a new understanding in learning listening skill. Besides, this way of
constructing prior knowledge will become a consideration for the English teachers in teaching listening skill.
2. Students
The students will experience a new learning strategy in learning English listening skill. It is hoped that by constructing students’ knowledge through reading
the materials at home, the students’ ability in acquiring listening skill is improved. Besides, the students will also have the habit of reading which is very useful for
them.
3. Researchers
The result of the research hopefully can be used as background knowledge or reference for the next researchers. They may use the result of this study for their own
research on related issues, i.e. on the use of reading passages to activate students’ knowledge in learning listening skill in classroom.
8
F. Definition of Terms
It is essential to clarify some terms used in this study in order to avoid confusion, misinterpretation and misunderstanding. Therefore, the writer provides the
definition of terms as follows: 1.
Pre-Listening Material Pre-activity is an initial phase of teaching process. This phase “is organized to
arouse interests in the students, to activate students’ prior knowledge, and to prepare them for the language that can be necessary to perform the main task using related
material” http:teflboot_camp.com120Communicative20teaching.doc, accessed on 16 February 2008. In this study, pre-listening material is used as material before
the main learning process, i.e. listening section to construct students’ prior knowledge. The material is in the form of reading text and is to be read at home.
2. Reading Texts
Brown and Yule 1983: 6, as cited in Wallace 2003: 8, describe the meaning of a text as “the verbal record of a communicative act.” Therefore, in this
study, reading text refers to the narrative form which is given by the teacher in order to prepare the students a week before listening section in the classroom.
3. Listening
“Listening means receiving the transfer of images, impressions, thoughts, beliefs, attitudes and emotions from speaker” Rost, 2002: 2. In this study, listening
is one of English language skills that is learned by the students of the third grade of PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI
9 SMU Stella Duce Bantul. In listening section, the students are to listen to narrative
stories.
4. Perception
According to Altman and Hodgetts 1985: 85, perception is defined as “an individual’s view of reality”. In this study, the perception is gained from the students
in order to find out their opinion toward the implementation of reading text as pre- listening material; whether the reading text is positively or negatively perceived.
Positive means that the use of reading text was likely to help the students in many aspects, while negative means that the reading text caused problems to the students.
5. Influence
Influence is “power to produce an effect without using force or authority” Barnhart and Thorndike, 1973: 570. In this study, influence means the effects of
accessing the new knowledge in order to give clear description on the story they are going to listen in the classroom.
6. Extracurricular Class
Extracurricular class means “an activity performed by students that fall outside the realm of the normal curriculum of school”. http:en.wikipedia.orgwikiE
xtracurricular_activity, accessed on 9 February 2007. In this study, the extracurricular activity is carried out after the formal class to facilitate the students to
10 learn English much more considering the time constraint in the regular class. Besides,
the extracurricular class is used to prepare the students to face the final examination.
7. SMA Stella Duce Bantul
SMA Stella Duce Bantul is a private senior high school under the Tarakanita Institution. It is located in Ganjuran, Bantul, Yogyakarta. The total number of
students of the third grade is 53 students. Those students are divided into three classes, namely Science class and two classes of Social class. There are 14 students of
Science class and the rest 39 students belong to Social class. PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI
