The Importance of Interest in Learning English

c. The Importance of Interest in Learning English

At all ages, interest plays an important role in a person’s life and has great impact on the person’s behavior and attitudes. Interest also has an essential part in learning a foreign and second language.

Hurlock (1983: 420) asserts that there are some reasons why interest is important in learning. The first reason is that interest provides strong motivation to learn. Students, who are interested in an activity in language class, whether it is play or work, will give more effort to learn than students who are less interested or bored. The second reason is that interest influences the form and intensity of student’s aspirations. When students begin to think about their future vocations, for example, they will set goals for what they want to be and do when they grow-up. The greater students’ convinced idea of vacation future will create the greater interest in every students’ activity. The final reason is that interest will add enjoyment to any activity that the individual engages in. If students are interested in an activity, the experiences will be far more enjoyable than if they are bored.

Hurlock adds that it is essential to know the characteristics of children’s interest and how it differs from adult interest. Hurlock Hurlock adds that it is essential to know the characteristics of children’s interest and how it differs from adult interest. Hurlock

Elementary Jr.High Sr.High 18-24 25-50 Possessions

Altruistic Achievement

Activities (Recreational)

Figure. 5 Characteristics of children’s interest The above chart illustrates that some changes in interest as children grow up. Strong interest in childhood gives way to weaker interest and vice versa. Interest becomes more stable when growth slows down and a mature development is reached. This chart tells that children can not acquire interest before they are physically and mentally ready to do so. For example, children can not have a real interest in ball games until they have strength and muscle coordination for a ball play.

Having looked at the previous explanation, interest in this research refers to motivating force to pay attention to a person, a thing or an activity for a particular goal. Attention to a person can refer to a teacher. A thing refers to teaching aids used by a teacher. An activity can be in forms of group-discussion, doing tasks, games etc.

There are two factors influencing students’ interest. Those factors are internal and external factors (Crow, 1963: 160). The indicators of internal factors in this research are paying attention in a classroom (including always paying attention to teacher’s explanaition, doing tasks well in a classroom, asking questions to the teacher, and answering questions given by the teacher), having preparations in studying English (including studying for next lesson and doing homework / tasks given), and paying attention to everything related to English outside the classroom (including having interest to read English books, having interest to read English sentences in a public places or English lyric songs, having interest to watch English cartoon film, having interest to listen to English songs, having interest to open dictionary, and having interest to write in English).

Meanwhile, the indicators of the external factors in the research are teacher’s method and teaching aids.

Group-discussion as one of teaching methods is an external factor. The indicators of this method are students’ involvement in a group-discussion (including being active in a group discussion, giving ideas or opinions, asking questions to friends in a group discussion when difficulties are found, helping friends who have difficulties in understanding texts, and feeling of togetherness), supporting members of the group-discussion in learning (including giving somene spirit to learn and being encouraged to learn), and students’ involvement in whole class (including being active in a class discussion) .