THE SIGNIF ICANCE OF THE RESEARCH

4 students understandin g o f verb two forms both regular and irregular by using folktales, their und erstanding of negative and interrogative form of simple past tense through folktales, and their ability to use th e simp le past tense both tten and spoken . ” Based on th e backgroun d above, there are some problem s arise: How much does folktale improve the students understanding of verb two forms both regular and irregular? How m uch does fo lk tale improve the stu dents ability in usin g negative and interrogative form of simp le past tense? How mu ch does folktale improve the students ab ility in using simple past tense bo th written and spoken? To kno w wh ether folktale can improve th e students und erstanding o f verb two form s both regular and irregular verbs or no t . To kno w wh ether folktale can imp rove the students understanding of n egative and interrogative forms of simple p ast tense or not . To know whether folktale can improve the students ability to use the simple past ten se both written and spoken or not . For the writer: To fulfill th e requirement o f b achelor degree o f Engli Edu catio n Department. F ORM ULATION OF THE P ROBLEM THE OBJECTIVE OF THE RESEARCH

E. THE SIGNIF ICANCE OF THE RESEARCH

5 For the English teachers: To enrich teachers knowledge in teaching English grammar, especially in teaching sim ple past tense. To encourage the English teacher to be more creative in teachin g grammar, especially in teachin g simple past tense. For the Stu dents To improve students un derstanding o f simple past ten se. To encourage the students to be more active in teachin earning process. In this study the writer uses a Classroom Action Research CAR . Classroom action research designs are systematic pro cedures done y teachers or other individuals in an educational setting to gather information about, and subsequently improve, the ways their particular educational setting operates, their teaching, and their student learning. T here are four steps in action research, they are planning, acting, observing, and reflecting. Those step s are th e element s to make a research cycle. If the result is satisfy, the researcher d oes not need to make a new cycle. On the oth er hand, if the result is n ot satisfied he or she must make new cycles until becom e a good one. Undang-undang Nomor 20 tentang Sistem Pendidikan Nasi nal, Jakarta: PT: Tamita Utama, 2004, P. v Ron Cowan, , Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2008, p. 350 Marcella F rank, , New Jersey: Prentice-Halll, inc, 1972, p. 52 Patricia Wilson Peterson, , Jakarta: PT: BPK Agung Mulia, 1985, p. iii See Appendix 5, p. 74 F. THE METHOD OF THE RESEARCH 1 2 3 4 5 T he Teachers Grammar of English Modern English: A Practical and reference Guide Changing times Changing Tenses 6 CHAP TER II THEORETICAL F RAMEWORK SIM P LE PAST TENSE Definition of Simple P ast Tens e Simple past tense h as many definitions that given by gramm arians. There are some defin itions which have same o pinion. Among oth er, simple p ast tense is defined as “ind icates an activity o r situation began and en ded at a particular time in th e past .” 1 It means that past tense refers to an activity that occurs in definite time in the past. It is in line with Fran k who said that “ the simple past tense rep resents defin ite time, whether a time word is given or not .” 2 So, simple past tense talks abo ut an action or situation that happened in the past whether there is the time signal or not. In ad dition, Cowan stated that “simple past tense frequently occurs with exp ressions that in dicate a specific point in tim e whe the action was carried ou t.” 3 Furthermore, “simple p ast tense refers to a complete a on, activity or state that hap pened or that was true at a certain p oint or at a certain period of time in the past.” 4 It means that, the basic meaning o f simple past ten se is to express an activity o r action in a p rior time of speaking. In an other source, Murcia and Larsen explained that the core meaning o f th e past tense adds is a sense of remoteness. The simple past tense is used when the speaker con ceptualizes a co mplete event factu ally, b ut as remote in some way.” 5 This explanatio n has the same meaning with the earlier definitions above; that is talk abou t a co mplete action or event occurred in the past; the remoteness here com es in the feeling that the action or event is over and d one with. Moreover, according to Seato n and Mew, they point o ut “ simple past tense is 2 used to talk about things that happened in the past.” 6 This definition in line with Leech and Svartvik, they said that simple past ten se is used when the past hap pening is related to a d efinite time in the past. 7 In o th er words, simple p ast tense u sed to express event or activity that happened in the definite time in the past time. From the several statem ents above, the writer takes conclusion that simple past tense is used to talk ab out an action, situation or event that occurred at a defin ite time in the past time . Generally simple past tense is form ed by adding for regular verbs, and for irregular verbs is formed with irregular ways. Som e gram marians have exp lanation abo ut the form of simple past tense. Accord ing to Veit, “ the simple past is formed by adding or to th e present form, examp les: talktalked, bakebaked, and needneeded . In contrast, irregular or strong verbs form the past is irregular way s: do d id, havehad, taketook, and go t. Linking verbs are even less regular, with m ultiple forms in bo th present tense am, are, is and past tense was, were . ” 8 It mean s that sim ple past tense is fo rmed by adding for regu lar verb s, and irregu lar ways for irregular verbs, the of past form is . In addition, Frank stated that “the simple past tense is made by adding -ed in regu lar verbs, internal chan ge in regular verb subject + verb + -ed or irregular past form. It is often accompanied by such exp lanations of definite past time as yesterday, last week, two hours ago, this morning, etc. and irregular verbs which must b e learned and memorize in th is case .” 9 It is in line with Cowan , who said that “the form of simple past tense as “simp le past tense is represen ted by the -ed inflection on regular verbs and by other changes in the case of i egular verbs.” 10 It can be said that the simple past tense is form ed by adding -d-ed for ular verbs The F orm of Simple P ast Tense -d or -ed -d -ed -d-ed to be was, were 3 and for irregular verbs there is no rule on it and must be learned and mastered by the students. In an other source, Murphy explained that: Very often the past simple ends in regular verbs The police me on my way home last night . But many verbs are irregular; th e past simple does not en d in : Write-wrote : Mozart more than 600 pieces of music. See-saw : W e saw in to wn few days ago. In questions and negatives we u se diddidnt + infinitive enjoyseego , etc.: yo u go out last night? They in vite h er to the party, so she go. T he past of be am, is, are is : the weather good wh en you were holiday? They ab le to come because they so busy. 11 From th e p oint of view above , it can be said that the positive fo rm of simple past tense is formed b y -ed regular verbs and man y different changes for irregular verbs. For negative, it is formed by diddid n ot for infin itive and waswere for , and for interrogative, it is also formed by diddid ot for infinitive an d waswere for . Moreover, Seaton and Mew point out “ t he sim ple past tense is usually formed by add ing to the verb, example: The simple past form of some verb s does n ot end in such verbs are called irregu lar verb s ” . 12 This assumption is in line with Nasrun Mahmud , who said that “th e simple p ast tense is formed with the past form of the verb which may be eith er regular, by adding to -ed -ed waswere to be to be - ed jumped, laug hed . - ed, -ed stopped wrote ros e Did didnt didnt Was werent were 4 infinitive form incidentally most verbs are regular rregular which most be learned and memorized in each case. For examples: . 13 On the other words, the simple past tense is formed with -ed regular verbs and many different ch anges for irregular verbs. Example: There are some forms of the simp le past tense stated b Azar as follows: 14 Statement I-You-She-He-It-We-They yesterday Negative I-You-She-He-It-We-They work yesterday Questio n I-You-She-He-It-We-They work yesterday? Short An swer Yes, I-You-She-He-It-W e-They . No, I-You-She-He-It-W e-They . Statement I-She-He-It busy yesterday. We-You-They bu sy yesterday. Negative I-She-He-It not busy yesterday. We-You-They no t busy yesterday. Questio n I-She-He-It busy yesterday? We-You-They busy y esterday? Short An swer Yes, I-She-He-It . No, I-She-He-It . Yes,We-You-They No, We-You-They Like Murphy, Azar also explained the forms of simple p st tense in detail. It can be said that, th e p ositive form of simple past s formed b y -ed regular verb s, For negative, it is formed by diddid not ver s and waswere for n on- verb , and for interrogative, it is also formed by did id not for verb and waswere for n on-verb. Yes, I did or No, I did not for short answer verb, a d Yes, I was or No , I was not non-verb. In sum up, from the explanation were given by the grammarians related to the form of simple past tense above, it can be conclude that past tense is formed He p layed football yesterd ay. She ate fried rice la st night She washed clothes last week. My father bought a new tie yesterday. Forms of the simple past tense: Verbs Forms of the simple past tense: Non-verbs worked did not Did did did no t was were was were Was Were was was not were were not . 5 by adding fo r regular verbs and for irregular verbs there is no rule on it and must be learned and mastered by the students. For negative and interro gative, it is formed b y diddid n ot verbs and for non -verb. Simple past tense has some uses or function. So me grammarians have exp lanation about the u se of simple past tense. Generally , t he use of simp le past tense is to express a repeated actio n or event in the past, and a comp leted action in the past . According to Murcia and Freeman, the use of simple pas se as b ellow: A d efinite single complete eventaction in the past. Example: I a meeting of that committee last week. Habitual or repeated action event in the past. Example: It almost every weekend last winter. An even t with duratio n that ap plied in the p ast with the implication that it no lo nger applies in the present. Example: Professor Nelson at Yale for 30 years. 15 This is in line with Azar, who explain ed the use of simple past tense as follow: The sim ple past tense is used to talk about activities or situation s that began an d ended in the past yesterday, last night, th e days ago, in 1990. Example s: Marry downtown yesterday. I well last night. To express the duration of an event completed in the p t. Example s: -d-ed waswere The Us e of Simple Past Tense attended snowed taught walked slept 6 I in Paris for two years I am in Jakarta now He in London for ten years but h e does not live th ere n The time signals from the example above are: fo r two y rs. For ten years, for five years. To express the habitual action in the past. Examples: Miss W idi always me a present when I went th ere. Wh en I child, I went swimming every week. 16 From the arguments above, it can be said that the simp e past tense is used to talk ab out the co mpleted action or situation in the past, the habitual or repeated action or event in the past, and duration of a completed event in the p ast. In ad dition, Fran k explained that the use of simple p ast tense may refer to: Examples: I him last night. They two h ours ago. Examples: Last year it frequently in this area. W hen I was young, I swim ming everyday. Examples: He in New York for thirty years and then h e decided to r turn to France. wa s lived gave was sa w left rained went lived One event completed in the p ast. Repeated events completed in the past and no longer happening. Custom Duration of an event completed in th e past 7 In Columbus day, peo ple that earth was flat . 17 In other words, it can b e said that simple past tense n be used to talk a com pleted event o r action in the p ast, repeated event n the past, and duration of an actio n or situ ation in the past. Moreover, Eastwoo d also had same idea of the use o f simp le p ast. He stated several u sages of sim ple past tense belo w: We use the simp le past for an action in the past. Example: The shop last week. We use the simp le past for repeated action. Example: W e to Austria for few times. The simple past is also the normal tense in stories. Example: Once upon a time a Princess in to a wood and down by a stream. 18 It means that simple past tense is used to expresses a ompleted action or event in the past, a repeated event in the past, and duration of a comp leted even t in the past. In ad dition, there are some usages of simple past tense as follows: Use the simple past tense to exp ress the id ea that an tion started and finished at a specific time in the past. Sometimes the speaker may not actually mention the sp ecific time, but they do have o e specific time in mind. Examples: Last year, I to Japan. believed opened went went sat traveled USE 1: Completed Action in th e Past 8 Did finished walked found arrived checked met sat talked went worked you have dinn er last nigh t? We use the simple past to list a series of completed actions in the past. These action s happened first, second, third, fo urth , and so on. Examples: I work, to the beach, and a nice place to swim. He to the airport at 8:00, into the hotel at 9:00, and the other at 10:00. The simple past can be used with a duration wh ich start and stops in the past. A d uration is a longer action often indicated by expressions such as: for two y ears, for five m inutes, all day, all year, etc. Examples: They at the b each all day. We on the phone for thirty minutes. The simple past can also be used to describe a habit w ich stopped in the past. It can have the same meaning as “used to”. To make it clear that we are talking about the h abit, we often add expressions uch as: always, often, usually, never, when I was child, when I was yo ger, etc. Examples: They never to school, they always skipped class. She at the mo vie th eater after school. USE 2: A Series of Completed Action USE 3: Duration in Pa st USE 4: Habits in the Past USE 5: Past Facts or Generalizations 9 The simple past can also be used to describe past facts or generalizations which are no lon ger true. As in Use 4 above, this use of simple past tense is quite sim ilar to the expression “used to”. Examples: She shy as a child, but now she is very outgoing. He like tomatoes before. 19 From this argument, it can be said that simple p ast ten se can be used to talk about a complete actio n o r event happened in the ast, a series actio n in the past, the habit in the p ast, and the facts or generali tions in the p ast. In sum up, from the explanation were given by the gram arians related to the u se o f simple past tense above, it can be seen that simple past tense is used to talk abou t a co mpleted action or event in the past, a repeated even in the past, and duratio n of a comp leted even t in the past. Moreover, simple past also used to talk abo ut the facts or generalization in the past, and as the normal tense in stories. Folktale is the general term of any kinds of narrative tory . According to Hucks and Kiefer “folktale is all form s of narratives, written or oral, which have come to be handed down through the years.” 20 Th is definition is in line with Thompson, he stated th at “folktale is legitimately employed in a much b roader sense to in ude all form s of prose narrative, written or oral, which h come to be handed down through the years . ” 21 It means that folktale is all form s of narratives, written or oral, which have come to be handed down through the years from generation to generatio n. Frequently the story is taken from the people, recorded in a literary document, carried across continents or preserved through centuries, and th en was did not F OLKTALE Definition of Folktale 10 retold to a hum ble entertain er who adds it to his repertory . In ad dition, The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language defined folktale as “ a story or legend forming part of an oral tradition .” 22 In o ther words, it can be said that folktale is o ne of the stories passed o n by wo rd of mouth rather than by writing . In an other source, folktale defined as “oral narratives that do not have a singular, identifiable author, expanded and shaped by the tongues of tellers over time d passed down from one generation to th e nex t; fo lktales o ften reflect the values and customs of the culture from which th ey come . ” 23 It is in line with this defin ition that stated “folktale is a gen eral term for different varieties of traditional narrative. The telling of stories appears to be a cultural univer al, common to basic and com plex societies alike.” 24 It means that folktale is a n arrative story which had a culture or traditional values passed do wn from generatio n to generation , but it does not have an id entifiab le author. Meanwhile, a ccording to Hornby “folktale is a very old traditional story from a particular place that was originally passed on to peop n a sp oken form.” 25 It means that folktale is form of traditional story passed down orally to the people in the particular place. From the defin itions above, th e writer co ncludes that ktale is a general term for any varieties o f traditional n arrative which has a cu ltural values; the story which has b een handed down from one generation to the next either spo ken or written . Some linguists have ex planation about the types of fol le in different ways. According to Th ompson , he divided fo lktale into four kinds, they are: Märchen Types of F olktale 11 Märchen is a tale of some length involvin g a succession of motifs or episodes. It moves in an unreal world without d efinite locality or definite characters and is filled with the marvelous. For examples: Cinderella, and Sn ow W hite. Novella is similar with Märchen . In novella the action occurs in a real world with definite time and place, an d though marvels do ap ear, they are such as apparently call for the hearers belief in a way th the does not. Example: The adventures of Sinb ad the Sailor . Hero tale is a tale which moves in the frankly fan tastic world of the former or the pseudo-realistic world of the latter. Most and novelle, of cou rse, have heroes, but would hardly be called hero tales unless they recounted a series of adventures of the same hero . “Hercu les ” is one of hero tale kind. This form of tale purports to be an account of an extraordinary happening believed to have actually occurred. It expresses the idea of local tradition, local legend , and m igratory legend . It may tell of an encounter with marvelous creatures which the folk still believe in--f iries, gho sts, water- spirits, th e devil, and the like. 26 It means th at there are four kin ds of folktale: Märchen, Novella, Hero Tale, and Sage. Moreover, Hucks and Kiefer explained there are five types of folktale, they are: Cumulative Tales Cumulative tales is an increasing repetition of the details buids up to a quick climax. Example: “Chicken Little”. Pourquoi Tales Pourquoi tales is folktales that explain why certain a imal traits or Novella Mä rch en Hero Ta le Mä rch en Sage 12 characteristics or hum an custom. For example: How Anim s Got Their Tails. Beast Tales Fable Beast tales is tales in wh ich animals act and talk like hum an beings. Example: Three Little Pigs. Wo nder Tales Fairy Tale Wo nder tales is longer and more complicated tales about magic and the supernatural. Example: Beauty and the Beast. Realistic Tales Realistic tales is stories from the oral tradition tha involve no magic. Example: The boy of the Three Years Nap. 27 In o ther words, it can be said that the types of fo lktales are cumulative tales, pourquoi tales, beast tales fable, wonder tal fairy tale, and realistic tales. Different kinds of folktale include myth, fairy tales, legend , and fable 28 . From the explanation s ab ove, it can be concluded th at there are five kinds of folktale, they are: fairy tale Märch en, novella, myth, legen d, and fable. is a tale of some length involving a succession of motif or ep isodes. It moves in an u nreal world with out defin ite locality or definite characters and is filled with the marvelous . F airytale is a folktale containing fairies, elves, trolls, dwarfs, iants, and other imagin ary creatures . Fairytale is filled with magic and wonder, things hap pen that could not happen in the real life. It is entirely fictional and often b egin with such formulas as Once upon a time … and In a certain c ou ntry there lived …. The popular examples of fairytale are and Fairy Tale Märchen Fairy tale Märchen Cinderella , Snow White, Sleeping Beauty. Novella 13 Novella is almost similar with fairytale. In novella the action occurs in a real world with definite time and place. “The adventures of Sinbad the Sailor” is a kind of a n ovella. Generally Myths are about gods and the creation of things. They tell us why things are the way th ey are. The central c aracters are often gods and goddess, spirits, or other powerful nature an su pernatural beings. Myths treat happenings of a long-ago time; th ey generally concern the adventures of god s and go ddess, giants, heroes, spirits or other powerful nature and supern atural b eings, as well as etiological th emes. Legends are narratives of an explanatory nature concerning cr ation and tribal begin nings, su pernatural beings, and quasi-histo rical figures, heroes and their mighty deed s before the time o f recorded history . They are associated with a particular even t or person. Both myths and legends may have religious content, but myths take place o utsi e time, while legends are rooted in a particular o r specific time and place. is an ex ample of th e legend. Hero tale is a kind of legend . Like the legend , the hero tales also have heroes, but it would hard ly be called hero tales unless they recounted a series of adventures of the same hero. is one o f hero tale kind . Fables are short stories that contain a moral abo ut human beh avior. The central character in fable is usually animals that speak and act like human s. In a very entertaining way, fable tel s us a lot about human natu re. Fables attemp t to teach their aud ience how to b ehave. In fab les, the animal ch aracter is used instead of a human bein g, representing a person, rath er than interacting with them. Myths Legend “ King Arthur” “Hercules” Fable 14 USING FOLKTALE IN TEACHING GRAMM AR The Definition of Grammar Grammar has many definitions th at given by grammarians. There are some definitions which have same opinion. Among other, grammar is defined as “the heart of language and at the same time as mani sted in restricted and con trolled produ ction of correct sentences, based on a atively formal and academic no rm for written language.” 29 It means that grammar is seen as a very important p art of the language and it is used to ize and con trolled the sen tences correctly in a formal situation. Meanwhile, according to Murcia and Hilles, they point ou t that gram mar is “a subset of the rules which govern the con gurations that the morphology and syntax of a language assume. These rule re a part of what is “kn own” automatically by all native speakers of a language; in fact, they do not exist outside of native speakers.” 30 It means grammar is a set of rules which related with the morphology and syntax of a language and its rules exist in the individual brains of native speakers. In anoth er source, Ur said that “grammar might be roughly defined as the way a language manip ulates and combin es words or its of words in order to form longer unit of meaning.” In other words, it can b e said that gram mar is a way to comb ines some words in order to make the meaningful sentence, p hrase, or utterance. In su m up, fro m the point of view related to the defin tion of grammar abo ve, it can be concluded that grammar is a subset of the rules which is very important part of a language and the function is to controlled and organize the sentences correctly . The knowledge of grammar also gai auto matically and familiar with the native speakers of a langu age. 15 The P lace of Grammar in Languag e Teaching For a lon g time, many stu dents and teachers of English language have operated under a static conception of language centered on a limited view of gram mar. There is no dou bt that a knowledge of grammatical rules is essential for the mastery of a language, because we can not use the words unless we know how they should be put together. But there has been some d iscussion in recent years whether grammar should be taught to the students in learning a language or not. There are some arguments or statements which have same opinion and opposite each other. Among other, some lin guists argued that “by studying gram mar, stud ents would learn the makeu p o f the langua and so be able to app ly what they learned as better speakers, writers, an d readers.” 31 It can be said that learning grammar is n eeded in order to guide the stude ts to use or app ly their reading, writing, and speaking. G rammar translation Method pointed out the first way of studyi g a language is th rou gh detailed analysis of its grammar rules, follow by app lication of this knowledge to the task of translati g sentences and tex ts into and out of the target language. 32 It means that the grammar translatio n method assu med that grammar is impo rtant thing that must be studied by the students in learning a language. In anoth er source, Veit stated that grammar study also has some more immediately p ractical benefit. Knowledge of gramm ar can give us a tool for analyzing our writing and a vocabulary for discussing t. 33 It m eans that gram mar has an impo rtant ro le in learning language, because we can use it in other asp ects of lan guage, such as writing, speaking, and vocabulary. Moreover, Richards mentioned that “ a central goal for rammar ped agogy will b e for the learn er to build up a gramm atical repertoire, over 16 time, an u nderstanding of the functions o f th at gram matical repertoire in various context of commu nication. For successful language use, the learner will also need to acquire the ability to ap ply various grammatical structures in com municational context. ” 34 From this argument, it can be seen that grammar is needed not o nly in theory but also in co mmunication context; so the students sho uld have ability to apply grammar in the real com munication. On the other hand, Ur argu ed that: The place of grammar in the teaching of foreign langua is con troversial. Most people agree th at knowledge of a l guage means knowing its grammar; but this kno wled ge may be intuiti as it is in our native language, and it is not n ecessarily true that grammatical structures need to be taught as such, or that formal rules need to be learned. 35 In other words, it can be said that it is not necessar to teach grammar to th e learner, because th e grammar kn owledge is in tui ve and canno t be taught. In ad dition, acco rding to Audio-lingual Method, the explanation of rules of grammar are therefore not given until students h ave practice a attern in a variety of co ntext. Hence , the approach to the teaching of grammar is essentially inductive rather that deductive. 36 So, it can be said that th is method wou ld teach grammar but it did not really concern on it. Their main focus in language teachin g is to make the students use the language communicative y. From the arguments above, it can be said that grammar as important place in language learning or teaching , because gram mar allo w us to create the number of sentences out of a finite nu mber of words b spoken and written. 17 Us ing F olktale in Teaching Grammar Folktale is traditional in almost all cu ltures. W e can tap into that tradition for a very portable resource an d a con venient and flex ble techniqu e for teach ing any phase of a grammar lesson . A story provides a realistic context for presenting gram mar points and holds an d fo cuses students attenti n in a way that no other technique can. So, it will make the students easy to study and rememb the lesson. In ad dition, folktales make it easy for students to remember the vocabulary and grammatical structures contain ed in th em . Murcia and Hilles said “ Everyone loves a story, includ n g ESL students. Stories are used in contemporary ESL materials to p ro m ommunication and exp ression in the classroom.” 37 It means that stories, including folktale, are used as a material in teaching learning activity especially in English as a Secon d Language ESL classroom in ord er to make communication activity in the class. It also explained that: Stories can be used for both eliciting and illustratin mmar points. The former employs inductive reaso ning, while th e latter requires deductive though t, and it is u seful to include both approaches i lesson planning. In add ition, a well-told sto ry is perfect context for a structure-discourse match, but the technique can also be used effectively for a structure-social factor match . Story telling is one o f th ese extremely versatile techniques, and once you get the h ang of it, it can be a co nvenien d natural gram mar teaching tool. You may even find that it is th chniqu e that holds students attention b est, as well as the o ne the enjoy most. 38 From this point of view, it can be said th at sto ries i app rop riate to use as a media or material in teaching grammar poin ts. It is good technique in teach ing gram mar because can attract students attentio n and m ake them enjoy the cl ss. On the other hand, Hucks and Kiefer stated “ folktales offer children many opportunities to hear rich qualitative language and a wide variety of language pattern . 39 It means that the students can hear and see the language pattern directly 18 from the folktale. In an other source, Davies also argu ed that: Storytelling helps with listenin g and speaking skills. ildren will learn the importance of listening, or how to communicate ideas a d interact with others. They will develop their vocabulary and learn w en or where to use words an d phrases. Storytellin g entertains and excites, which is an important part of learning. Storytelling also can be used acro ss the curriculum to breakdown subjects that are difficult to learn . 40 It means that, stories can guide and help the students to com municate their ideas and to interact each other. It also can ap lied in the curriculu m to breakdown the difficult lesson, because it can entertain and make the studen ts fun. So, they can develop their vocabulary and practic their listening, speaking, and reading. This argument is in line with Murcia and Hilles, who said “grammar points can be contextualized in stories that are absor ing an d just p lain fun if they are selected with the in terest of the class in mind, a d told with a high degree of energy.” 41 So, the teacher can exp lain grammar po ints by usin g stories folktale because it can make fun and joy in the classroom. In sum up, form the point of view above, it can be sai that the story including folktales can b e an interesting an d good m ia or resou rce in teaching gram mar. Folktales are universal and not timeless; they are deligh t and appeal to the human mind and heart. Folktale can captivate the students, so they love hearing, reading , and d iscussing the story . So, it makes the students rem ember the lesson long after it is over, they fun and enjoy the l son more, and also make them become more active and creative; because by u sing folktale, we can develop man y activities during teaching learning pro cess, su ch as have discussion with other students, storytelling, and sto ry retellin g. 19 RELEVANT STUDY THE CONCEPTUAL DEVELOPM ENT OF ACTION P LANNING The research about simple past tense had been done by Nuruhum that was “ ”. 42 This research explains abo ut the application of narrative story in teaching simple past tense. She con ducted the observation started on September 14 th , 2008-October 20 th , 2008. She used narrative story to teach the simple p ast tense in order to minimize the students errors and difficu lties in learning simple past tense, because th is meth od mad e the studen ts know and see the simple past sentenc from the text directly , so they do not need to memorize the rule anymore. Moreover, it could made students to app ly and create a new sen tence of simple past tense easily. In fact, the result o f analysis of interp retation of the data shows that teaching simple past tense b ecame more effective b y using narrative story; it can be seen from the result of the test. By using folktale narrative sto ry, the researcher hopes that the students will improve the students un derstanding of simp le past tense, and improve their ability in using simple past ten se both written and sp n. Grammar is a description of the way langu age works. Th kn owledge of gram matical rules is essential for the mastery of a langu age; we cannot use words unless we know how they should be put together. It is th e stu dy of the way words are put together to make correct sentences. Grammar does not only affect how units of language are combined in order to “ look right”; it is also affects their meaning. The simple past ten se is used to talk about an action, situation or event that occurred at a definite time in th e past time. It also used to talk a rep eated event in the past, and d uration of a completed event in the pas Moreover, simple past also Teaching Simple Past Tense by Using Narrative Story 20 used to talk about the facts or gen eralization in the p ast, and as the normal tense in stories. Meanwhile folktale is a general term for any varieties of traditional narrative which has a cultural values; the story which has been handed down from one generation to the next either spoken or written. The application of folktale in teaching simple pat tense which is addressed by researcher should based o n the m aterial which will e given to the stu dents, until folktale drill has b een prepared by researcher in improving students understand ing of simple p ast tense can ru n well, suitable with the goal that will be reached . As the statement above that folktale make the students easy to understand when they learn the simple past tense, because th ey can find and know the forms of Verb 2 d irectly and easily both regular d irregular verbs, so they can identify and memorize the verb forms easily. They n also see how is the form of simple p ast tense positive, negative or interrogative. This is done to know how much d oes fo lktale improve stud ents understan ding of simple past tense . From the statements above the researcher conclu des that folktale in teaching grammar simple past ten se can improve teaching learnin g activity in the classroom. So, the more teachers use folktale the more quality will be taken by them . Action hypo th esis is proposed in this research has a formula as follo ws: by using folktale in teaching simple past tense can improve students understandin g of simple past tense and improve th eir ability in using p t tense both written and spoken at the Second grade of Marketing major Class 2.3 SMK Nusantara, Ciputat, Sou th Tangerang. ACTION HYP OTHESIS 21 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 Betty Schramper Azar, , New Jersey: Prentice Hall, Inc, 1989, p. 24 Marcella F rank, , New Jersey: Prentice-Hall, inc, 1972, p. 73 Ron Cowan, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2008, p. 359 Jakarta: Pusat Bahasa Universitas Islam Negeri Jakarta, p.27 Marianne Celce Murcia and Dian Larsen Freeman, Newbury: Heinle Heinle Publisher, 1999, p. 114 Anne Seaton and Y.H. Mew, Irvine: Saddleback Education Publishing, 2007, p. 98 Geoffrey Leech and Jan Svartvik, , Harlow: Pearson Education Limited, 2002, p. 69 Richard Veit, , Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company, 1986, p. 150 Marcella Frank, …, P. 49 Ron Cowan, p. 358 Raymond Murphy, , Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1994, p. 11 Anne Seaton and Y.H. Mew, p. 100 Nasrun Mahmud, , Jakarta: P usat Bahasa dan Budaya IAIN, 2000, p. 88 Betty Schramper Azar, , New Jersey: Prentice Hall, Inc, 1989 p. 26 Marianne Celce-Murcia and Diane Larsen- Freeman, , Newbury: Heinle and Heinle P ublisher, 1999, p. 114 Betty Schramper Azar, …. P. 18 Marcella Frank, …, P. 49 John Eastwood, Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1994, p. 87. http:www.englishpage.comverbpagesimplepast. Charlotte Hucks and Barbara Z. Kiefer, , New York: McGraw Understanding and Using English Grammar Modern English: A Practical and Reference Guide T he Teachers Grammar of English, EP T Preparation Program “Structure”, T he Grammar Book, B asic English Grammar for English Language L earner, A Communicative Grammar of English Discovering English Grammar M odern English: A Practical and reference Guide The Teachers Grammar of English … English grammar in Use Basic English Grammar for English Language Learner … English for Muslim University Students Fundamental of English Grammar The Grammar Book Fundamental of English Grammar M odern English: A Practical and reference Guide Oxford Guide to English Grammar, Childrens Literature 22 Hill, 2010, p. 227 Stith Thompson, , New York: Dryden Press, 1946, p. 4 Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company, 2000, p. 682 http:www.eve-tal.com Finding Folktales to tell.html http:en.wikipedia.orgwikiFolktale A.S Hornby, Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2003, p. 521 Stith Thompson, , … P. 8 Charlotte Hucks and Barbara Z. Kiefer, … p. 228 http:www.eve-tal.comF olktales.html Jack C. Richards, , Alexandria: Teachers of English to Speaker of Other Languages, Inc, 1995, p. vi Marianne Celce-Murcia and Sharon Hilles, Techniques and Resources in Teaching Grammar, Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1988. p. 16 Richard Veit, … p. 252 Jack C. Richard and Theodore S. Rodgers, Cambridge: Cambridge University P ress, 1992, p. 3 Richard Veit, p. 2 Jack C. Richards, … p. ix Penny Ur, , Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1996, p. 76 Jack C. Richard and Theodore S. Rodgers, p. 51 Marianne Celce-Murcia and Sharon Hilles, , Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1988. p. 51 Marianne Celce-Murcia and Sharon Hilles, P . 52 Charlotte Hucks and Barbara Z. Kiefer, … p. 234 Alison Davies, , London: Sage P ublications Company, 2007, p. 6. Marianne Celce-Murcia and Sharon Hilles, p. 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 T he folktale The American Heritage Dictionary of English Language fourth Edition Oxford Advanced Learners Dictionary, T he folktale Childrens Literature New Ways in Teaching Grammar Discovering English Grammar Approaches and M ethods in L anguage Teaching, Discovering English Grammar … New Ways in Teaching Grammar A Course in Language Teaching Approaches and M ethods in L anguage Teaching… T echniques and Resources in Teaching Grammar T echniques and Resources in Teaching Grammar… Childrens Literature Storytelling in the Classroom Techniques and Resources in T eaching… 23 50 Nuruhum, skripsi, Jakarta : FITK UIN, 2008, p. 15 42 Teaching Simple Past Tense By Using Narrative Story, 1 CHAP TER III RESEARCH M ETHODOLOGY THE METHOD OF RESEARCH SUBJECT OF THE RESEARCH In this research the writer used a Classroom Action Re rch. Classroom action research designs are systematic procedures d one by teachers or other individuals in an educational setting to gather information about, and subsequently improve, the ways their particular edu catio nal setting operates their teaching, and th eir student learning. 1 It means th at classroo m action research is a research which is done by the teacher or other people in educational situation to get the information or data abo ut anything in teach ing learning p ro cess. Meanwhile, Arikunto ex plained that classro om action research is “suatu pen cermatan terhadap kegiatan b elajar berupa sebuah ti dakan, yan g sengaja dimunculkan dan terjadi dalam sebuah kelas secara bersama, tindakan tersebut diberikan oleh guru atau dengan arahan dari guru yan g dilakukan oleh siswa”. Classroom action research is an observation in learn ing activity at is done intentionally by an action an d happen s in the classroom, that actio n is given or directed by the teacher and then done by the students. 2 It means that action research is a research which collects the informatio n out teaching and learning activity in ord er to improve the teach ers kn owled ge and to solve the students problems in learning. In su m up, Classroom Action Research is a research which conduc by the teacher to develop their teaching skill, to improve their kn owled ge and to solve the students problem in learning. 2 ` The sub ject of the research is the Second grade students of Marketing Major Class 2.3 SMK Nusantara, Cipu tat, South Tangerang Academic year 20102011. There are 38 students in the classroom . The research was cond ucted at SMK Nusantara, Ciputat, South Tan gerang. T he research was held for 1 month and three weeks from 4 December 2010 - 27 January 2011. In this research, the writers role is as the teacher n teaching learning activities, and the English teach er of class 2.3 Marke ng majo r acts as the observer. Moreover, the writer acts as th e observer and interviewer in coll g the data and she also makes plannin g such as lesson pl n, tests before an d after CAR, th en she co llects an d analyzes the data, and then she make a reports of the research. There are many m odels of Action Research, such as Lewi s, Kemmis , Elliots, and Ebbutts models. But, in this research the writer used Kemmis model. Kemmis has d eveloped a simp le model of the cy clical na u re of th e typical action research process. Each cycle has four steps; they are plann ing, acting, observing , and reflect ing, t he model described bellow: P LACE AND TIM E OF THE RESEARCH THE WRITERS ROLE IN THE RESEARCH RESEARCH DESIGN 3 F igure 3 .1 Stephen Kemmis Design Adapted from Rochiati Wiriatmadja 3 4 Based on the Stephen Kemmis design above, the writer concludes that there are fou r steps in action research: Plan ning In this step, the researcher determines th e research q tion, goal or purpose. This process involves writing action plan to de the research and prepare the instrumen ts and facilities to record and analyze the data. Acting Acting is the implementation of the plan ning. In th is p, the researcher does the action in the class. She must follow the plan ing that is made before. In this stage, the writer work s collaboratively with the English teacher of class 2.3 Marketing Major. Observing In this phase, the researcher observes the activity th happen ed during the research. The observation is don e when the action is b ing do ne. The researcher also observes the multiple sources of data quantitative and qualitative. Next, the data are analyzed and interp re . Reflecting Reflection is an activity to reflect or evaluate wh at ave been done, it includes no te and analyze the result of the observation. This activity is done after the action. If the result is satisfy, the r searcher does not need to make a new cycles. On the other h and, if the result is ot satisfied he or she must make new cycles until b ecom e a good one. THE INSTRUMENTS OF THE RESEARCH 5 In this research th e writer used observation, interview, and test as the instruments to get data. Observation For observation, the researcher made field notes in ea meetin g from cycle I-III to record and know the students improveme t during the research. She wrote the studen ts p rob lems and difficulties during teaching learning activities, their p articipation and response, the researcher also noted the lack of the meeting in each meeting to sup port the data. Interview In interview, th e researcher interviewed the English teach er of Class 2.3 of the Marketing Major twice. In the first, the writer had interview with the English teacher before the Classroom Action Research d e. The goal was to kno w the situation during teaching learning activities, the teachers technique and method in teaching En glish, and also to ow th e students ability, skills, and in terest in English. The last interview was done after the researcher finished the Classroom Action Research proc . Test The test was done to know the achievement of the students in learning simple p ast tense by using folktales. Th e test not only covered the grammatical skill of the students in this case is the simple past tense, but also other skills such as reading, writing, and speaking. In grammar simple past tense th e writer gave a test about the verb form s both regular and irregular and of simple past tense, and changed a sen tence into positive, negative or interrogative forms of simple past tense. In reading skill, the writer gave reading comp rehension like determining the topic or title, finding the main idea, supporting id ea and specific information, to be 6 knowing the mean ing of the words, and finding p ron oun ce and so on. Wh ile in writing skill , the writer asked the stu dents to create a narrative , like write their last activities . The test con sists of 35 items and an essay for writing skill minimum 50 words. The 35 items above are divided in to three parts. The first part con sists of 15 items for Fill in change th e verbs in to past tense forms . The second consists of 5 items for transformation change nto positive, negative and interrogative forms. The last part consists of 15 items for Multiple Choices to test reading comp rehension of th e students included determining the title or topic of the tex t, finding the main idea f the paragraph, finding supporting and detail idea, knowing the meaning of the word s, and finding pronoun reference, etc. For scoring, each question has 2 po int. In Fill in p art there were 15 questions, so the point for fill in is 30. For reading compreh ension, there were 15 questio ns and each q uestion has 2 po int, so the poi t for reading com prehension part is 30. Next, there are 5 questions in transformation part, but each question has two answers. So, each qu estion h s 4 point, it means there is 20 poin t fo r transformation part. In th e last part, that is writing, there is 20 point on it, the criterion of writing scoring is below : 4 Mechanics : 20 Vocabulary cho ice : 20 Grammar an d usage : 30 Or ganization : 30 So, the total score for the test is 100 if the student can answer all the questions co rrectly. 7 TECHNIQUE OF DATA COLLECTING In this research the writer used o bservation, interview, and test to get the data: Observation The writer made observation before the classroom action research done. Moreover, when she conducted the classroom action research, she also ob served an d monitored students im pro vement in many aspects includes th e skills, achievement, beh avior, etc to supp ort the research process. She made a field not to record students progress, participatio n, and problems during teaching learning activities. Interview The writer interviewed with the English teacher of Class 2.3 of the Marketing Major to kno w the situation during teaching earning activities, the teachers technique and method in teac ing English, and also to know the students ability, skills, an d their terest in English. She made the interview twice; they were before and after the Classroom Action Research done. Test Pre-test The pre-test was given by the writer in the beginning attending the class to kno w the students knowledge of th e material that will be taught. Post-test The writer gave the students post-test after the cycle finish ed in order to know the improvem ent of the students achievement. There were three cycles in this research, so the students would get 8 the post-test three times, they were post-test 1, post test 2, and p ost- test 3 in the end of each cycle. There are two data in this research; they are q ualitative and quantitative data. The qualitative data get from observation and in rview, while quantitative get from tests. For qualitative data, the writer analyzes the notes that were written du ring the pro cess o f classroom action research in each meeti g. She an alyzes the students participation and performance progression in aching learning process in every cycle, and the studen ts response. She analyzes e progress of the students and some lacks of the process. For interviews data, the writer also makes analysis between the in terview before and after the Classro om action research was do ne. In analyzin g the quantitative data, the writer puts on the average students tests score per cycle, and the students who pass the KKM score. It is used to measure the students performan ce on understand ing of simple past tense. In analyzing the data, the writer used the formu la below 5 : X : Mean x : Individual score TECHNIQUE OF DATA ANALYSIS ? x X = - - _ _ n 9 n : Number of students P : The class percentage F : Total percentage score N : Number of students The writer uses three way s to know the trustworthiness of e data as follow: A test is said to be valid if it measures accurately what it is intend ed to measure. Generally, there are th ree kinds of validity; they are construct validity, con tent validity, and criterion-related validity . 6 In this research, th e writer use con tent validity to know or measure th e validity of the test. A test is said to have content v idity if its con tent con stitutes a representative sample of th e language sk lls, structure, etc. with which it is meant to be concerned . 7 So, the test items should relate to th e knowledge and a proper sample o f th e relevan t skills. F P = - - X 100 N TRUSTWORTHINESS OF STUDY Validity Dis criminating Power Item Discrimination 10 A good test item should have a d iscriminating power. Discriminating Power or Item Discrim ination is a statistic that indicates the degree of which an item sep arates the students wh o performed well from th e who d id poorly on the test as a wh ole 8 . To kno w the Item discrimination index, the writer uses the fo rmu la: 9 ID : Item discriminatio n for an ind ividual item IF upper : Item facility difficulty for the upper group IF lower : Item facility difficulty for the lower group The writer uses the criterion of discrim inating power as o llow: 0.6 - 1.0 Very good 0.4 - 0.6 Goo d 0.1 - 0.3 Ok -1 - 0.0 Bad Item facility or Item difficulty is a statistic used to examine the percentage of students who co rrectly answer a given item. 10 A good test I D = IF upper - IF lower N Table 3 .1 The Clas sification of Dis criminating P ower DISCRIM INATING POWER REMARK Difficulty Item Item F acility 11 item must have a degree of difficulty item. To measure the difficulty item, the writer uses formula below: 11 IF : Item facilityd ifficulty N correct : Number of students an swering correctly N to tal : Total number of students taking the test Here is the criterion of the item facilitydifficulty: 12 1. 0.00 - 0.30 Difficult 2. 0.31 - 0.70 Medium 3. 0.71 - 1.00 Easy This criterio n is used to decide whether this research is success or not. The research will succeed if there are 75 of the students wh o p ass the KKM scores from the pre-test until the third Post-test in cycle I I, the KKM of SMK Nusantara is 70. So , when there are 75 of stud ents get score 70 from the test, it means that this research is success. Afterward, the next action would be stopped, but if th is con dition has not been reach ed yet, the alternative action would be d one in the IF = N correct N total Table 3.2 The Class ification of Difficulty Level NO INDEX THE TEST RESULT

J. CRITERION OF THE ACTION SUCCESS