36 school should teach students the right work an
d moral habits.” It can be said that the vocational high schools promote students to have good skill and good habit to
prepare for working. The vocational education does not only teach students but also educates students so that students can have good personality, attitude and
behavior. The reason is that moral habit is considered in the vocational education. Formatting good habit will help students behave in their future.
In conclusion, the vocational high school theory is used in this research because the Communication Practice Model is intended for students of vocational
high school. By knowing what vocation school is, the Communication Practice Model can be prepared well and be suitable with the target of this research which
is the Communication Practice Model for the vocational high school s’ students. It
can be said that this theory is useful for designing the Communication Practice Model.
8 Adolescent Learners
Here, the theory of adolescent learners is presented. There are two main focuses. They are the nature of adolescence and adolescent learning.
a. The Nature of Adolescence
Since this research refers to students of the vocational high schools, this research focuses on adolescent learners. The reason is that the target learners here
are categorized as adolescents. Bastable and Dart 2007: 21 state “Adolescence
refers to 12- 19 years of age and marks transition from childhood to adulthood.”
37 Thus, students of the vocational high schools belong to adolescence. However,
Harmer 2007: 83 says, “Adolescents are seen as problem students.” Adolescents are sometimes difficult to be handled because they are still teenager.
Furthermore, adolescents have some characteristics. Students of the vocational high schools have characteristics similar to adolescent learners.
Consequently, students of the vocational high schools tend to be adolescent learners. Harmer 2007, 83 explains the characteristics of adolescents which are
most of them recognize their learning need, most of them know the goal of their learning, they may be responsible enough to do what they are asked to do, and
they look for their identity and need for self esteem. Those characteristics show what and how the adolescents are. When
students have those characteristics, they belong to adolescents. Students who are responsible enough, know their need and goal, and find their identity are
categorized as adolescent learners. Thus, students of the vocational high schools refer to adolescents.
b. Adolescent Learning
In this part, situation that may influence the learning process of adolescences is explained. Knowing the situation that influences the learning
process can be helpful for teachers to create effective learning process so that students can gain the goal of learning. Thus, this part discuss the situation that can
influence adolescent learning
38 Learning may be different for each learner. The learning process is also
influenced by some factors. Since they are teenagers, adolescences seem difficult to learn. However, it does not mean if they cannot learn. Some certain situations
may support them to learn. According to Beamon 2001 explains conditions which support adolescent learning. Those conditions can be summarized as
follows.
Figure 2.4 Conditions that support adolescent learning Beamon, 2001:6
Figure 2.4 discusses situations that maintain adolescent learning. Adolescents should have adolescent environment or situation in the learning to
create good learning process. Teachers may not treat them as children so adolescent learning is suitable for them. Considering and concerning the
conditions, learning process will work well and adolescence may be encouraged to learn. Teachers should pay attention to those kinds of situation in order to
create learning environment which is enjoyable and comfortable for adolescence.
Conditions That Support Adolescent Learning
Adolescents learn better when they… • encounter learning that is appropriate to their developmental level and is
presented in multiple ways and in an enjoyable and interesting manner. • are intellectually intrigued by tasks that are “authentic” and perceived as
challenging, novel, and relevant to their own lives. • are allowed to share and discuss ideas, and to work together on tasks,
projects, and problems. • are afforded multiple strategies to acquire, integrate and interpret
knowledge meaningfully, to demonstrate understanding, and to apply knowledge to new situations.
• are provided opportunities to develop and use strategic thinking skills, such as reasoning and problem solving.
• are given guidance and feedback about their work, yet are permitted to monitor personal progress and understanding.
• are in a safe, supportive environment where value is given to personal ideas and negative emotions, such as fear of punishment and
embarrassment, are minimized.
39 It can be concluded that theory of adolescent learners is discussed as
theory to identify the target learner for the Communication Practice Model. This research invites adolescent learners as the research participants because the
