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that English is used by the students in academic activities to read academic text and in daily activities to socialize with friends.
Other study is from Verma 2005 about learner‟s attitude and its impact on language learning. She said that there were many factors which demand the
people in India to be proficient in English. She also conclude that English has bright future in India because the students aware about the usefulness of English
as the target language. The next is Bani-
Khaled‟s study 2014. It is about the role of English as perceived of applied English at the University of Jordan. After analyzed the
students‟ perceptions on English in seven areas professional concerns, personal development, education experience, social status, cultural interest, travel
immigration, media technology, he conclude that the result showed majority of positive attitudes of the students toward the role of English plays in their lives.
In her study about English as a global language phenomenon and the need of cultural conceptualizations awareness in Indonesian ELT, Tantri 2013
conclude that “it is important for English teachers in Indonesia to teach cultural awareness of diverse communities and build this awareness among their
students”. Still from academic aspect, Soejatminah‟s study 2009 about internationalization of Indonesian higher education also had a conclusion. It said
that “being informed and highly visible internationally is imperative for local universities to develop their capacity to fulfill their roles in contributing to the
national development, so internationalization in Indonesian higher education is an important agenda that the government suggests for all institutions to participate”.
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The last is Focho‟s study 2011. It is about students‟ perceptions of English as a developmental tool in Cameroon. Her findings showed that the
students‟ awareness on the importance of English in four categories academic success, international job opportunities, international communication, global
education were increase after an English program was given in all school.
III. The Study
1. Context of the Study
This study was conducted in Christian Senior High School 1 and Theresiana Senior High School Salatiga. I chose these schools because I had some
access to the schools.
2. Participants
The participants of this study were 128 students of class XI from Christian Senior High School 1 and Theresiana Senior High School Salatiga. I chose them
because in the belief that they still on their effective level on learning English. It will be easier to collect and analyze the data if the participants are from the same
level.
3. Instrument of Data Collection
This study used a descriptive qualitative method using quantitative data. Likert scale questionnaires were distributed to the participants during the second
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semester of academic session 20152016. Each question had 4 options of answer: “
strongly agree
”, “
agree
”, “
disagree
”, “
strongly disagree
”. I adapted the questions from Focho‟s 2011 and Ekky‟s 2015 studies. The questionnaire
contained 18 items consist of 4 sub-topics. Item number 1 and 2 are general questions about students‟ perceptions toward English. Item number 3-5 are
questions about students‟ perceptions on English for academic success. Item number 6-
9 are questions about students‟ perceptions on English for international job opportunities. Item number 10-
15 are questions about students‟ perception on English for international communication. Item number 16-18 are questions about
students‟ perceptions on English for global education. Indonesian language was chosen to make students understand better about the questions of the
questionnaire. Appendix.
4. Data Collection Procedure
It was started by asking permission from the headmaster of the target school by using a letter faculty. Before giving the questionnaire in the target
school, I did piloting first and found the questionnaires were clear enough for senior high school students. After looking the acceptable result, the questionnaires
were distributed in the target school.
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5. Data Analysis
The results of the questionnaires were analyzed using manual mathematically system. To analyze the data, I counted how many participants
chose “
strongly agree
”, how many chose “
agree
”
,
and so on.
IV. Findings
This section discusses the research findings in order to answer the research question about “What are the Indonesian students of senior high school‟s
perceptions toward English?”
From the responses to question number 1, we can see that the majority of the students liked the English course 76,6. 18,8 of them answered strongly
agree and 57,8 agree. However, there is a significant number of them that disliked the course 23,4, 22,7 disagreed and 0,8 strongly disagreed. For
question number 2, almost all students showed a positive attitude towards the advantages that they got from learning English generally. 97,7 of the
participants agreed 43,8 strongly agree 53,9 agree and only 2,3 of them disagreed with the question number 2.
Table 1. Student s’ perceptions on English generally
No. Questions
SA A
+ D
SD -
1 I like English courses.
18,8 57,8
76,6 22,7
0,8 23,4
2 I agree with the benefit
I got from learning English generally.
43,8 53,9
97,7 2,3
0,0 2,3
