Solis Setiyani, 2014 Teaching English to efl young learners trough children poetry
Universitas Pendidikan Indonesia
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Figure 3.1 The result of preliminary study of the EFL young learners’ attitude toward poetry
The figure above shows that the children’s attitude toward poetry was
unfortunately negative. Most of them did not like reading, writing, and talking about poetry. The only one activity with poetry that gained a lot of positive
appreciation was the activity of listening to it. They mostly revealed that poems made them feel positive such as happy and calm while they listened to it. The
negative responses probably were caused by the fact that the children were distant to poetry. They did not own poetry books and did not check out poetry books
from library. They even did not read poems in school. To conclude, the EFL young learners were still distant even to poetry
written in Indonesian language. Their attitudes toward poetry also tended to be negative. Such situation might be influenced by limited experience with poetry.
3.2 Research Design
The research is a qualitative study. Alwasilah 2002:60 explains qualitative approach is best suited for the study which employs interactional
2 4
6 8
10 12
enjoying reading
poetry enjoying
listening to poetry
enjoying writing
poetry enjoying
talking about
poetry owning
poetry books
checking out
poetry books
from library
reading poems
mostly in school
Yes No
Solis Setiyani, 2014 Teaching English to efl young learners trough children poetry
Universitas Pendidikan Indonesia
| repository.upi.edu
| perpustakaan.upi.edu
mechanism between researcher and respondents. That is why qualitative approach is determined since this study intends to understand the teaching-learning process
in the classroom in which teacher gives children poetry to EFL young learners. Teaching English through children poetry to EFL young learners in
Indonesian context seems unfamiliar and little research has been done on it. Although there have been an increasing number of studies done on the use of
literature in the language classroom worldwide, this field is still in its infancy Iida, 2013. Particularly in EFL teaching in Indonesian context, English is
commonly brought into the class based on the expressive and transactional function but the poetic mode seems rarely to be introduced. Young learners has
interacted with many functional texts, yet literary texts including poetry are seemed neglected. For this reason, the instruction of teaching English to EFL
young learners through children poetry needs to be presented. Therefore, besides learning English, the young learners experienced the expression, creativity, and
imagination through the poetic function of language. The description above directs to a decision that a suitable research design
to be employed in this study seemingly should go to exploratory research. The goals of exploratory research are to discover new insights, ask questions, and
assess phenomena in a different perspective Adams Schvaneveldt, 1991; Stebbins, 2001. The purposes are just in line with the objectives of the study.
Parallel to qualitative approach, exploratory study is conducted to provide a better understanding of a situation by providing rich description, meaningful
information, or even definitive explanations. Just like this study which attempts to explore the process of teaching English to EFL young learners through children
poetry, the specific purpose is to satisfy the curiosity regarding the teacher’s role, material selection, classroom tasks and activities, instructional interactions, and
the stude nts’ responses related to the teaching-learning process. Thus, a teaching
methodology combining EFL and poetry study that might be used in the later can
Solis Setiyani, 2014 Teaching English to efl young learners trough children poetry
Universitas Pendidikan Indonesia
| repository.upi.edu
| perpustakaan.upi.edu
be built, and recommendations regarding the likelihood of continuing with additional research on the topic can be made.
Exploratory studies typically involve three components: a review of literature, discussion with experts, and involvement with case studies Adams
Schvaneveldt, 1991:104. Furthermore, exploratory research is not designed to come up with final answers or decisions. Through the preliminary information,
the researcher hopes to produce hypotheses about what is going on in a situation Fox, 2008. Hypotheses are derived from the data obtained by observing a small
group of respondents by using purposive sampling. It also suggests in-depth interview to be conducted to see how the young learners react to their learning.
3.3 Research Site and Participants
