65 “In group, I could know my friends’ characters. In fact, each of us is
different from one and another. Hence through project based, I could know how A, B, C, worked, and their personalities as well. A5-E18-E19-UOCH
Moreover, she mentioned that through doing projects, she could be independent, disciplined, and could increase her self-esteem. She stated that
through doing project, she could be more independent since she had to do research, find appropriate theories, and many
other related things. She stated that “Obviously, I became more independent. Since we had to conduct research, find theories by
ourselves A5-E37- INDP”. In terms of being disciplined, she felt that her
discipline increased. She explained that when she studied in the graduate program, she often did many projects individually and in group. Hence she felt more
disciplined compared to when she was an undergraduate student. She stated that “I felt that I became more disciplined. It was very different from when I was an
undergraduate student A5-E66-E67- DCP”. Related to her self-esteem, Evi added
that by doing projects, she could be resilient. She further mentioned that no matter what the conditions were, she had to be really tough when dealing with projects and
the deadline. “I became resilient A5-E68-SEST. For instance, when you felt sick, you
needed to keep struggling to finish the projects and the deadline. No matter how busy you were, you really had to be tough and strong. A5-E69-
SEST” Lastly, Evi, stated that by working on projects, especially her CDA
projects, she could increase or improve her critical thinking skills. She mentions that unconsciously she could be able to analyze the texts critically by not only
looking at the main ideas, but also she could find the power in balance within the texts. She uttered that
“Unconsciously, we could analyze the texts. In other words, we could analyze the texts critically. Usually, I only analyze the texts based on their
66 main ideas. Now, I could also find the power in balance in the texts as
well.” A8-E34-CTS “Not only in analyzing the texts, I could also think in a broader sense.
Moreover, I could also be more critical in facing a problem.” A8-E36- CTS
In conclusion, from her story I found that her CDA group project was her memorable experience when she was in the first semester. In that project, she and
her group consisting of four people had to analyze a text using CDA approach. During the completion of her group project, even though she and her friends,
worked together, each of them could explore their own interest in choosing the steps in CDA approach and had invidual task so that every member of the group could
give contributions. Lastly, by doing CDA projects, she could gain togetherness, team work, new experiences, and also benefits for herself. Additionally, she could
also understand her friends’ characters, be more disciplined, be more independent, be more critical, and could increase her self-esteem.
3. Ata’s Story
Ata, pseudonym, was one of the students in the graduate program in ELS Sanata Dharma University. She was in her third semester and her interest is in
literature. Ata was born in Yogyakarta and her formal education was also in Yogyakarta. After she graduated from senior high school in 2008, she chose to
continue her education to ELESP Sanata Dharma University. She started to study in the ELESP in 2008 until 2012. She said that she chose to enter the ELESP Sanata
Dharma University since she was very fond of English at that time. Regarding her experience in doing projects, she stated that when she was an
undergraduate student, she had ever done quite a lot of individual projects as well
67 as group projects. She mentioned that during her undergraduate study, she often did
the group projects such as in microteaching class when she was in the sixth semester. Moreover, she also mentioned that she also designed materials, created
instructional design, and did CDA project as well. When I asked her about her individual projects she told me that she had ever
designed a syllabus and also a lesson plan for teaching. She further told that she had to create a detailed syllabus as well as lesson planning. However, she did not really
remember how she created the projects in detailed. She felt a bit difficult at the first time she created the projects since it was
supposed to be very detailed. Moreover, from creating the projects, she felt she became more prepared especially in her teaching skill as well as in her teaching
preparation. Besides, she could perform well when she was assigned to teach students since she had ever experience making the syllabus as well as the lesson
planning. After she graduated from her undergraduate study in 2012, she worked as a
vocal teacher. Indeed, it was very much out of her educational background. However, since singing was her hobby, so at that time, she decided to teach vocal
lesson for almost three years. After being a vocal teacher, she decided to continue her education to a
higher level. She decided to enter the graduate program in ELS in Sanata Dharma University in 2015. Her main motivation was because there was a demand from her
parents to be a lecturer. In addition, she also told me that she wanted to broaden her English knowledge. She further mentioned that she often heard that entering the
68 graduate program she could deepen her knowledge which she had gained during
her undergraduate study. When I asked her about her learning experience in ELS, she mentioned that
she often wrote response papers in some of the courses from the first until the third semesters. She further mentioned that she was not only writing the response papers,
but also was doing the group presentations. In addition, she told me that with those experiences she could enrich herself with more knowledge, more vocabularies, as
well as could increase her fluency both in writing and in speaking. In regards to her experience in doing projects in her graduate program, she
mentioned that she had done some projects from the first semester until the third semesters. For instance, she had ever done project in CDA course in the first
semester. At that time, she was doing a research on cigarette logo. In CDA as well, she was assigned to create a group project on analyzing an article about violence
against women. At that time, she mentioned that she and her group was assigned to find a topic and to find a theory as the basis of the analysis. After that she and her
friend were assigned to count the most appearing words in the newspaper. In her second semester she mostly did group presentation in her literature classes. She
admitted that the group presentations in literature class were the most memorable experiences she had.
In the second interview, I asked her about her memorable experiences about doing projects in her second semester. She admitted that the group presentations
were in British and American Literature BAL as well as in Literary Criticism LC courses. In BAL class, she did the presentation with her peer. The same thing also
69 happened in LC class. She remembered that the topic she presented in BAL class
was about Post-American Literature and in LC class was about the Eco-Criticism. During the second interview she told me how she and her peer did the
presentations from the beginning until the end. She mentioned that both of the presentations either in BAL or LC classes were the same. When in LC class, the
topic was divided into two authors. Since, she was only with one peer, so they could share the topic evenly. However, they both did their own parts and find the sources
individually. Hence, when doing the presentation, they both created their own power point presentation and presented their parts at their own. When in BAL class,
she mentioned that since the class was very interactive, and they had the chance to freely choose their own topic, Ata and her friend decided to use video as an
additional medium. She admitted that when she was doing her group presentation in BAL class she rarely met her peer to discuss their topic. Nevertheless, they both
had shared and worked with their own parts as well. When doing the presentation in BAL class, Ata told that she and her friend had prepared their own presentation
outline. Moreover, both of them had also discussed their ideas together before the presentation day via
whatsapp
mobile application talking about their topics, dividing the topics, and the details. After they agreed with one and another, they
compiled their ideas and edited their own parts. “So basically, both presentations were the same. At that time, in literary
criticism class, the topic was divided by two authors and it was about Eco- Criticism. We divided the topic and each of us gained one author. After that,
we found our own materials, created our own power point presentation, and we presented together A9-A2-IA. When in British and American
literature, since the format of the class was very interactive, and we were given a chance to freely choose the topic, we decided to use a video as an
additional medium for our presentation. A9-A2-UOR. Even though we had chosen the topic for our presentation, we still shared and worked with
our own parts. However, we previously had discussed our presentation
70 outline via
whatsapp
talking about our topic, who would do this and this and the details. Finally, we compiled our ideas and
edited our own parts.” A9- A2-IA-EFCOM
During the process of creating the group presentation, she felt that she was
helped by her peer and the other way around. For instance, when her peer could not find the video as the medium for their presentation, Ata helped her peer find the
video. Likewise, her peer also helped her when she was confused about finding the examples for her presentation.
“I felt that it was very helpful. It might be because she was because a helpful person as well. For example, at that time, she was not able to find a video
and she asked me to help her find one. In addition, when I was confused about finding examples, she helped me find some and give some ideas for
me.” A9-A8-FtFP Additionally, when sharing or distributing the task or topic, Ata mentioned that her
peer initiated to start working on their project A9-A9- INTV. With her peer’s
initiative, Ata felt eager to start working on the project and they started to share their topic evenly who chose the first material and the second materials based on
their own interest A9-A9-EXIN. Moreover, in terms of sharing of the topic or the materials, Ata were aware that she and her peer had different capabilities. Ata stated
that “In terms of knowledge, perhaps, I was aware of our capability. In which part
we both were strong or good. The main point was we both maximized what we had” A9-A32-DINT. However, in terms of the way presented our part it
might also be different. Perhaps my friend was good at the introduction or the explanation part. Or it could be about the distribution of the topic that we both
liked. A9-A33-ENOP
Having explained about her experience in doing the project in the graduate program, Ata further mentioned that she was happy with her projects. She could
also learn how to appreciate her peer as well as could have the courage to deliver
