Research Setting Research Subject Research Method

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CHAPTER III RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

A. Research Setting

This research was conducted for 5 months from January 2010 to May 2010. It included pre observation activities try out and pre-test. This research was conducted in SMP Negeri 1 Tempuran. SMP Negeri 1 Tempuran is one of the junior high schools located in Tempuran district, Magelang Regency. This school is located on Jl. Tempuran-Purworejo Km 11. Physically, SMP Negeri 1 Tempuran has 18 classrooms consisting of 6 classes for 7 th grades, 6 classes for 8 th grades, and 6 classes for 9 th grades. Each class consists of thirty to thirty six students. The facilities in this school are headmaster’s room, administrators’ room, teachers’ room, science laboratory, language laboratory, computer laboratory, skills room, library, BPBK, health room, cooperation room, mosque, OSIS room, kitchen, warehouse, parking areas, garden, and toilets. The researcher used Language Laboratory room in this research because there is no LCD Liquid Chrystal Display in this classroom. There is only one portable LCD in this school. Language Laboratory room is a special room for teachers who want to use audio visual media in their teaching. This room is located between computer laboratory room and VIII D class. There are a white board, 40 chairs and 40 tables and head phones. It is also facilitated with LCD, TV, a set of computer, and an AC Air Condition. Click here to buy A w w w .ABBYY.c o m Click here to buy A w w w .ABBYY.c o m commit to user 23

B. Research Subject

The subject of this research is the eighth grade students of SMP Negeri 1 Tempuran. It consists of thirty six students: 16 males and 20 females.

C. Research Method

The research method used in this study is classroom action research. Nunan 1992: 229 says that action research is a form of self-reflective inquiry carried out by practioners, aimed at solving problems, improving practice, or enhancing understanding. Meanwhile Carr and Kemmis 1982 in Burns 1999:30 states that action research is simply a form of self-reflective enquiry undertaken by participants in social situation in order to improve the rationality and justice of their own practices, their understanding of this practices and the situations in which the practices are carried out. While Mills 2000: 6 states that the action research is any systematic inquiry conducted by teacher researchers, principals, school counsellors, or other stakeholders in teaching or learning environment, to gather information about the ways that their particular schools operate, how they teach, and how well their students learn. Burns 1999: 30 mentions some characteristics of action research taken from some experts’ definitions as follow: 1. Action research is contextual, small-scale and localized. It identifies and investigates problems within a specific situation. 2. It is evaluating and reflective as it aims to bring about change and improvement in practice. Click here to buy A w w w .ABBYY.c o m Click here to buy A w w w .ABBYY.c o m commit to user 24 3. It is participator as it provides for collaborative investigation by teams of colleagues, practitioners and researchers. 4. Changes in practice are based on the collection of information or data which provides the impetus for changes. It can be concluded that action research is a form of self-reflective inquiry by teachers, researchers, principals, school counsellors, or other stakeholders in teaching or learning environment to solve problems in order to get improvement. In this research, the writer used action research because she tried to solve classroom problem in vocabulary mastery. Her purpose was to improve the junior high school students’ vocabulary mastery so that the result would be higher than the previous. The researcher used audio-visualized narrative text to teach vocabulary in communicative activity. The result of the research shows whether or not there was an improvement on the students’ vocabulary mastery and the implementation of audio visualized narrative text in the classroom.

D. Models of the Research