Background of the Study

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CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION

This study deals with developing speaking instructional materials for first grade students of SMK Paramitha 2. This chapter consists of six points. There are background of the study, problem formulation, problem limitation, objectives of the study, benefits of the study, and definition of terms.

1.1 Background of the Study

Indonesia is trying to make a better image of vocational school. This is done due to the stereotype that vocational schools are not as favorites as the senior high school ones. In Indonesia, the vocational schools are referred to as Sekolah Menegah Kejuruan SMK, while the senior high schools are referred as Sekolah Menengah Atas SMA. There are so many students in this country who consider SMK as “number two”, because SMK students are regarded as students that do not have enough qualifications to enter SMA and therefore have lower qualities than those who enter SMA. This stereotype has been mentioned and countered in the “SMK Bisa” commercial break in Indonesian Television by Mr. Bambang Sudibyo MBA., the minister of education at that time, and Mr. Timothy Siddik, one of the owner of national computer company. Through the commercial break, they tried to erase the stereotype and they delivered message to Indonesian society that vocational school can make people have a better life. There are several reasons that support the statement above. A vocational school offers training in PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI 2 careers that require practical expertise. Practical expertise here refers to the expertise used in the certain working environment such as engineering, accounting, and tourism. The examples of the working environment mentioned above are commonly found in many countries, including Indonesia. From all the three, tourism is one of the Indonesian fundamental sectors. As the consequences, the tourists will need people that could become the bridge between them and the world before their eyes. SMK graduates are not only those who are more ready to fill the position or apply to the job vacancies offered by tourism and other working environments than the SMA graduates, but also can be the ones who gain more advantages in the real working environment because they focus more on the learning-by-doing than common curriculum offered in SMA education. One of the competencies in the travel sector is a guide. The job of a guide is to describe the tourism objects to the tourists, whether they are domestic or foreign ones. When the guide describes the object to the domestic tourist, there will be no problem at all. The reason is that the guide and the domestic tourist speak the same language, for example: Indonesian guide talking to the Indonesian tourist. On the contrary, the problem occurs when the guide describes the object to foreign tourists. The reason is that the guide and the foreign tourist speak different language, for example: Indonesian guide and England tourist. Therefore, the guide should master the speaking skills of different language, like English. In SMK Paramitha 2 , there is a guiding lesson. It prepares the students to be ready to be guide after they graduate. PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI 3 SMK Paramitha 2 is one of examples of tourism vocational schools in Jakarta, which has good potential for improving the tourism sector in Indonesia. The school applies Kurikulum Tingkat Satuan Pendidikan KTSP as the curriculum. The school has two programs, the regular one and the international one. The regular program deals with the hotel sector, while the international deals with the travel sector. Both programs require English communication skills, because the graduates will directly interact with the foreigners. SMK Paramitha 2 compared to the other vocational schools, is the one that demands the direct use of English very much. It is due to the fact that travel service requires the students to speak English actively. Based on the result of interview with the teacher, there were three main problems in SMK Paramitha 2. The first problem was the limited time allocation for speaking practice whereas speaking skill is important to be mastered by the students. In delivering the materials, the teacher usually focuses on the vocabulary and grammar. Meanwhile, the students had an opinion that they needed various activities more than vocabulary and grammar. The second problem was SMK Paramitha 2 did not have any fixed handbook. Recently, the materials for the students were compiled from Lembar Kerja Siswa LKS and websites on the internet. As the fixed handbook’s purpose is to make the learning process more structured and well- controlled, so the teacher should use a fixed handbook. The third problem was that the teacher did not have any creativity in varying teaching techniques to deliver the materials, thus the students felt bored and did not have motivation to learn. It PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI 4 happens because they have no specific speaking text book for tourism students. Therefore, the writer chooses SMK Paramitha 2 as the subject of the research.

1.2 Problem Formulation