Monotonous teaching techniques Some students that need special attention

57 1 The Implementation of Genre-Based Approach In applying the Genre-Based Approach, the materials were presented in small chunks and sequenced from easy to difficult, from simple to more complex. This way, students learned little by little, but the level of difficulty was increased gradually until finally, ultimately they were able to produce a text. The handout thus included tasks focusing on vocabulary, singularplural noun, noun phrases with adjectives, prepositions, and simple sentences. The way the materials were sequenced and presented followed the scaffolding concept, and it was an effective way of presenting materials. The teacher commented: ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Teacher : … Terus kemarin dikit-dikit to ngajarnya ini ini ini diulang-ulang jadi yo anak-anak yo paham . … [You] taught slowly little by little and the materials were repeated. So the students could understand. see appendix, interview ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Giving the materials in small chunks was meant to make it easier for the students to digest. The fact that the teacher realized that applying the scaffolding concept in the teaching and learning process this way showed that the teacher has gained some awareness of the importance of adjusting the teaching pace with the students‟ speed in learning. Teaching objectives could not be achieved unless the teacher is able to accommodate and facilitate the students‟ needs. The students also got the benefit from the implementation of the scaffolding concept in a way that it was easier for them to comprehend the materials. The conclusion was based on the fact that most students could follow the teaching pace. Furthermore, an interview with one of the students showed that 58 they prefer a-lot-of-easy tasks to a-few-but-difficult tasks, as illustrated in the following interview script. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- R : Miss Tika mau tanya, menurutmu gimana tadi pelajarannya? Mudeng nggak? Let me ask you something. What do you think about the class earlier? Do you understand what I taught you? S : Ya mudeng sih Miss soalnya ngajarnya dikit-dikit dan tugasnya gampang. Tapi tugasnya banyak e Miss . Yes, I do. Since you teach little by little and the tasks are easy. But there are so many task, Miss. see appendix, interview ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- a Building Knowledge of the Field ɒuilding knowledge of the field was aimed at building students‟ background knowledge about the topic they were going to write in terms of content and vocabulary. This phase was carried out in a set of activities focusing on introduction of the field and examples of text type. The topic for cycle I was „my school‟. The topic was decided upon consideration that school is the closest environment in which where the students spent a lot of time. Therefore, they must have been familiar with it. Learning about school meant that the whole environment could be use as a teaching media; an authentic teaching media. Using their own environment as the teaching media also at the same time solved the English teacher‟s problem in terms of the lack of financial source to provide media. The activities on BKOF were initiated by asking the students to notice their surroundings. The activity then proceeded to giving a handout to each