Background of Study INTRODUCTION

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B. Study Limitation

This study has three problem limitations. They are related to the designed material, the MI covered, and also the structures of the materials. Those three limitations are made in order to focus the discussion. The first problem limitation is about the material design. The designed material in this research is only limited to a set of English speaking instructional materials. The speaking instructional materials are intended only for the Level I of English Mastery of Titian Foundation, Bayat, Klaten. The participants of Level I are X graders of senior high schools and vocational high schools, starting from 15 to 16 years old. Second, due to the limitation of the time in teaching speaking, not all of the intelligences can be covered and included at once in one topic. To familiarize the teachers with the theory of MI, the intelligences are combined one to another in developing teaching material based on the intelligences which are relevant to the topic discussed. Therefore, one topic covers some intelligences; it can be two or three intelligences in a topic. The intelligences covered are the ones related and relevant to the topic discussion, and also the strongest intelligences or the weakest one. The third problem limitation is about the material structure. The materials are structured only on MI theory. So, the design material focuses only on the English speaking instructional material based on MI theory. 6

C. Problem Formulation

The study aims to answer two main problems. The two problems are stated as follows. 1. How is a set of English speaking instructional materials using MI theory for the Level I of English Mastery class of Titian Foundation designed? 2. What does the speaking instructional material using MI approach for Level I of English Mastery Program in Titian Foundation look like?

D. Research Objectives

The aims of this study are to answer the problems formulated in the problem formulation. The first aim is to find out how speaking materials based on MI theory for the Level I of English Mastery class of Titian Foundation is designed. The second one is to produce the designed set of English speaking instructional material based on MI theory for Level I of English Mastery Program in Titian Foundation, Bayat, Klaten.

E. Benefits of the Study

This research is conducted not only for the sake of researcher’s need. The research was conducted since there are some problems or needs which need solutions. Therefore, the researcher also considers the benefits of the study conducted for others. In this case, there are some benefits of the research for some sides, such as for students, teachers, and also for other researchers in the near future. 7

1. For Students

For the students, the speaking material designed in this research hopefully can help the students to experience MI activities. The activities designed related to MI are activities which can stimulate the students’ dominant and non-dominant intelligences in learning English, especially in speaking English. Therefore, through this experience, the students’ English speaking ability can be improved.

2. For English TeachersTutors

For English teachers and tutors, hopefully the speaking instructional materials can be a beginning point. Therefore, the teachers can teach and learn to develop their students’ intelligences through teaching–learning activities, especially in learning English. Throughout the development of teaching strategies, hopefully the teachers can help their students in increasing the students’ English ability, especially in speaking.

3. For Other Researchers

This research is expected to help other researchers in encouraging their research which related to the topic of this research MI. Therefore, they can make evaluations and more developments on the result of this research. Since the era is changing, the result of this research has to be developed more and more. The development of this research is needed by our education system since the day keeps going on and on, and the need of the education also change. Therefore, they can produce better material design in the future. 8

G. Definition of Terms

There are four terms which need to be defined in order to avoid misinterpretation and misunderstanding. They are design, instructional material, speaking, and MI Four of them will be discussed one by one as explanation below.

1. Design

The term ‘design’ is defined as creating a new set of material which is suitable to the learning objectives and specifics subject are of particular students Hutchinson Waters, 1994, p. 106. It means to say that designing is creating something new, for example creating new speaking instructional material, which is suitable with the particular subject. In another hand, Houle 1978, p. 230 defines design as a developed plan to guide educational activity in a situation. Therefore, the plan is referring to the design itself, which will be used as the guideline of the teaching-learning activities in the class. The term ‘design’ in this study refers to creating a set of speaking instructional materials based on theory of MI proposed by Gardner as a general arrangement of planning. The plan which is made as the design is used for teaching and controlling the class in order to helps the students to achieve their learning objectives, especially in speaking.

2. Instructional Materials

As written in the beginning of this chapter, the material that will be designed is instructional materials. Dick and Reiser 1989, p. 3 suggest that instructional materials are the materials planned or designed by the teacher for the 9 teaching instructions. Besides, Savignon 1983, p. 24 defines instructional materials as resource in pursuing language activities. On the other hand, Banathy 1997, p. 3 also defines instruction as any interaction between learners and environment through which they are making progress toward the attainment of specific purpose, knowledge, skill, and attitude. In this study, the instructional material designed is defined as a set of materials which are consisting of exercises and activities planned and arranged as resource to pursue a language activity. The instructional material is intended to be a material which includes the interaction between the students with the teachers, friends, and their environment. This language activity is teaching English for the tenth grader students who are joining in Level I of English Mastery, especially the speaking ability.

3. Speaking

Speaking ability is the ability to practice language as a system to convey meaning Gastain, 1988, p. 292. Using the language in daily conversation and practice it actively can be an effective way to learn a new language. Besides learning the language effectively through speaking, the speaker produces the message through the language and the hearer receives it. Therefore, speaking is a part of reciprocal exchange in which the reception and production play apart Widdowson, 1978, p. 59. In this study, speaking is defined as an activity which is completely using words with voice to express opinion, ideas, feeling, etc. Therefore, speaking encourages the students to express their ideas and use English meaningfully in their daily life, so the students will be accustom to speak in English spontaneously.