3. Task-Based Learning Willis 1996 stated that “In task based learning, communication tasks
involve learners in an entirely different mental process as they compose what they want to say, expressing what they think or feel” p.18. Skehan 1998 as cited by
Brown 2001: p. 50 defined a task as an activity in which there is some sort of relationship to comparable real-world activity.
Using the previous principles, the writer wants to clarify task-based learning in this study as a learning activity that uses tasks which are close to real-
life situation to help students compose what they want to say and express their thought, feeling, and ideas.
4. Junior High School Junior high school is a level that students have to go through after they
pass their elementary school. It is compulsory for Indonesian students to go through elementary and junior high school. The junior high school takes three
years of study. The students start the junior high school in grade seven. 5. Self-development Activity
A self-development activity is an integrated part of curriculum structure, conducted once a week for two hour learning, equals to 2 x 40 minutes. This is
aimed to provide students with an opportunity to develop and express themselves based on their needs, talent, and interest according to the school condition Body
of Education National Standard, 2006, p.8. In this study, a self-development activity refers to an activity that provides students with more opportunities in
speaking and a bit of writing as a method to help them express themselves. PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI
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CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION
This chapter is aimed to give explanation on the problems in this study. It consists of the background, problem identification, problem limitation, problems
formulation, research objectives, research benefits, and definition of terms.
A. Background
In the recent years, our government has been trying to develop better curricula to improve quality of education, for students and teachers. The
government tried to design Competence Based Curriculum CBC which was firstly implemented in 2004. In 2006, the government tried to perfect the CBC by
making some changes, reducing some aspects, as well as making some addition. In the revised CBC, there is an addition in the curriculum content. The curriculum
contains regular subjects, a local subject, and a self-development activity Body of Education National Standard, 2006, p.8.
A self-development activity is an activity which is aimed to give opportunities to students to develop and express themselves based on their needs,
talent, and interest according to their school condition Body of Education National Standard, 2006, p.8. This activity seems similar to an extracurricular
activity. However, this is different from the extracurricular activity in a way that this is a compulsory activity, while the extracurricular activity is an optional
activity. It means that students have to follow an activity out of some activities offered by their school. The self-development activity is an integrated part of the
curriculum structure in the level of elementary and high education. This activity is equivalent to two-hour learning per week.
Many students have understood the importance and benefits of mastering English for their lives. More students are now interested in learning English.
Many schools that are able to see the situation then offer English learning as one of the self-development activities. This activity can also help students to support
the achievement of their regular subjects since English is included in the regular subjects. Therefore, English teachers should be able to design an activity that can
increase students’ interest in learning English. Even though students choose English as their self-development activity, which means that students are already
interested in English, it is better for teachers to provide interesting topics so that the students are more enthusiastic in expressing themselves. By this, teachers can
accomplish the aim of the activity. To support the learning activity, teachers are required to design
appropriate materials. To produce the appropriate design, teachers should know the characteristic of learning English. When a student learns English, it means that
he learns a means of communication that is used to communicate with other people. The book of 2004 curriculum wrote that “we could not say that a student
had mastered English if he could not use English to communicate even though he got good grades in vocabulary and grammar mastery” p. 556. Even though
grammar mastery can help a student to express their thought correctly, teachers should understand that grammar is only an aid to help students master language
skills. By knowing this and using students’ enthusiasm in expressing themselves, PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI
