improve the student’s prepositions using visual media such as pictures, etc.
2. The Students
The result of this research is expected to be a useful input for the students to encourage them to master and improve their English
Prepositions. 3.
The School Principal The result of this research is expected to be a useful input for the
school Principal to make a policy related and give the facilities and media related to the English teaching and learning process in the classroom
especially in increasing the student’s knowledge.
F. Hypothesis
The statistic hypothesis states, 1
Alternative hypothesis Ha, there is significance difference between students’ preposition score taught by using pictures and without using
pictures. 2
Null hypothesis Ho, there is no significance difference between students’ preposition score taught by using pictures and without using pictures.
G. Definition of Key Term
The following definition are given to make readers have the same understanding or perception for some terms used in this study. They are also
intended to avoid ambiguity or misinterpretation. They are as follows: 1.
Pictures : pictures are useful visual aids for presenting, practicing, and revising preposition or as prompts for other activities.
2. Prepositions: a word or group of words used before a noun or pronoun to
show place, position, time or method.
3. MTs Al-Ghazaly is acronym of the Islamic Junior High School that refers
to “Madrasah Tsanawiyah” which is located in Bogor. Under the supervision of Religion Department Departemen Agama.
CHAPTER II THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK
.
A. Prepositions
1. Definition of Prepositions
It is not sufficient for the students who learn English to know prepositions only without understanding the meaning. Prepositions, in fact,
are given a great deal of attention throughout the teaching process. They occur in all textbooks for beginners, in the very first lessons. This is
understandable, since they are indispensable for presenting even the simplest situation.
5
Therefore, in this case, the writer would like to quote some definition of prepositions defined as follows :
According to the Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary, “Preposition is a word or group of words, such as in, from, to, out of, and on
behalf of, used before a noun or pronoun to show place, position, time or method.”
6
It will be recalled that preposition is traditionally defined as a word that indicates a relation between the noun or pronoun it governs and
another word, which may be a verb, an adjective or another noun or pronoun.
7
Greenbaum defined that prepositions are closed class of items connecting two units in a sentence and specifying a relationship between
them.
8
Since most forms used as prepositions may also occur as other parts of speech, the preposition must be defined syntactically. A preposition is a
word which relates a substantive, its object, to some other word in the
5
Ana heckova, Teaching Prepositions and Adverbial Particles, in English Teaching Forum,No.4 Vol XIX, October 1981,p.42
6
A S Hornby. Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary of Current English. P. 996.
7
Rodney Huddleston, Introduction to the Grammar of English, Cambridge : Cambridge University Press, 1984, p.336.
8
Sidney Greenbaum. A Student’s
Grammar of
the English
Language. London:Longman,1990,p.188.
sentence; the preposition and its object constitute a prepositional phrase, which modifies the word to which the object is related.
9
A prepositions signals that a noun or noun structure follows it: the preposition- noun combination constitutes a prepositional phrase.
Prepositions as well as conjunctions differ from other parts of speech in that 1 each is composed of a small class of words that have no formal
characteristic endings; 2 each signals syntactic structures that function as one of the other parts of speech. For these reasons modern linguists prefer to
classify prepositions as structure words rather than as a part of speech.
10
From those definitions above, it can be said that a preposition is a word placed before noun or pronoun to show its relationship. For example, I
put my pencil in the box . This sentence is complete, but if the word “in” is
omitted, there is no sense of the sentences. The pencil might be placed under the box, on the box, or behind the box, etc. Until some prepositions have
been inserted, the relations between the pencil and the box are unknown. For the student the learning of these meanings is largely a matter of
practicing the association between each word and an observable situation. In other uses, however, the choice of preposition is determined by a
preceding verb to look at the evidence, to listen to it, to believe in it, or noun the investigation of a problem, the remedy for it, the solution to it or
adjective different from the others, similar to them, identical with them.
11
According to the example, prepositions have very important functions. And for some students, it is difficult to learn to use prepositions of
place because most of them have several different function, and different prepositions can have similar use. So, the students are easily to make
mistakes in the placement of prepositions.
9
Paul Roberts. Understanding Grammar. New york: Harper Row Publisher,1953, p.222.
10
Marcella Frank, Modern English: A Practical Reference Guide, Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey: Prentice Hall,Inc., 1972 p. 163.
11
Charles W.Kreidler. English Prepositions, ELT Forum Oxford University press, January,1966 p.119.
2.Function of Prepositions
As explained before, the prepositions has function of connecting a noun or a pronoun to another word, usually a noun, verb or adjective.
Sentence : The girl with the red hair is beautiful.
With connects hair with the noun girl. Sentence : They arrived in the morning.
In connects morning with the verb arrived. Sentence : She is fond of roses.
Of connects roses with the adjective fond.
12
3.Types of Prepositions
There are many kinds of prepositions. Some of them are the simplest in form. Many of them are monosyllabic such as in, on, at, by, up,
from, with, down, into, before, after, behind, above, across,etc. According to Frank, the types of prepositions can be divided into :
12
Marcella Frank, Modern English: A Practical Reference Guide, Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey: Prentice Hall,Inc., 1972 p. 171-172.
1. Prepositions showing time
There are three kinds of prepositions that show time, they are : a. One point of time
On I saw him on Saturday. On used with a day of the week
I saw him on September 16 On used with a day of the month
On as a preposition of time may be omitted – I saw him Saturday.
At I saw him at noon or night, midnight. At used with a part
of the day considered as a point. I saw him at five o’clock. At used with an hour of the day.
Occasionally, in informal usage, at may be omitted- I saw him five o’clock.
In I saw him in September. In used with a month
I saw him in 1968. In used with a year I saw him in the morning. or afternoon, evening.In used
with a part of the day. I saw him in the spring. In used with a season.
b. Extended Time. These prepositions showing that the actions starts at one point and
ends at another duration, are as follows : Since
I have not seen him since Monday. Since gives the beginning point. If it is used with the present perfect
tense, the end point is now. By
I can see you by Monday. By implies no later than, at any time up to this point
. From-to
I can see you from ten o’clock to two o’clock. A or Until,till
beginning point with from generally requires an end point with to. But : From now on or from ten
o’clock on, I will study very hard;From ten on I studied very hard. If only the end point is given,
until is used- I cannot see you until five o’clock. In
speech till is frequently heard. For
I can see you for an hour. For gives a quantity of time, it is usually accompanied by a number I
waited for two hours or by an adjective or indefinite quantity I haven’t see him for some
time; He has been working bery hard for many weeks. In informal use, for may be omitted before a
number I waited two hours During
I can see you during the week. During gives a block of time, usually thought of as undivided
In or within I can see you in an hour from now. In gives a
quantity of time before which something will happen.
The population has double in the last ten years. In corresponds to during, but it is used with a quantity
rather than with a single block of time. With a word like decade that denotes an expanse of time, in or
during may be used, depending on whether the time
is felt as a quantity or as a single block of time- The population has doubled in or during the last
decade. C. Sequence of Time
These prepositions showing events that follow one another, are as follows:
Before I will see you before Wedenesday. The event
precedes the time given before phrase. After
I will see you after Wednesday. The event follows the time given after phrase.
Subsequent to this a literary equivalent of after.
Prepositions of time may introduce not only adverbial prepositional phrases, as in those just given, but they may also introduce adjective phrases that
modify nouns or pronouns. For example : The meeting on September 16 has been canceled.
13
2 Prepositions showing the position, or place
There are three kinds of prepositions that show the position or place, they are :
a. The point it self In or inside
Hang your coat in the closet. In gives the area of something enclosed-a container, a drawer, a room, a
building, the world. There was no one inside the house.inside
emphasizes the containment. On
Put the dishes on the table. On indicates the surface of something- a floor, a wall, a ceiling, a desk, a
street. He is standing on top of the desk. on top of
emphasizes the uppermost horizontal surface. It is used with an object that has some height.
At He is at school. at church, at the store.at refers to
general vicinity. Were presence at a place is indicated. At also used for addresses with street
numbers –He lives at 234 Park Avenue but he lives on
Park Avenue. After the verb arrive, at refers to a place smaller than a city or town-
He has arrived at the airport or the station, the library; in refers to a place larger than a city or town – He arrived in California or Brazil, Europe. For
13
Marcella Frank, Modern English: A Practical Reference Guide, Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey: Prentice Hall,Inc., 1972 p. 165
a city, in is more usual, but at may also be used, especially in reference to traveling-the plane arrived in or at Singapore an hour late.
b. Higher or lower than a point 1 Higher
Over The plane flew over the mountains.Over is felt to
be generally higher than a point. Above
He lives on the floor above us. Above is felt to be directly higher than a point.
This distinction between over and above is not always carefully observed.
2 Lower Under
A subway runs under this street. Under is felt to be generally higher than a point.
Underneath He swept the dirt underneath the rug.Underneath expresses the idea of close under, especially so as to
be hidden. Beneath
Beneath a tree laid a dog fast a sleep.Beneath
expresses the idea of directly under, with some space between.
Below He lives on the floor below us. Below is felt to be
directly lower than a point.
3 Neighboring the point Near
He lives near the University. Near has the most general meaning of neighboring a point. By is a
synonym for near. Close to means very near. Next to
The theater is right next to the post office.With nothing else between them.
Alongside The tug pulled up alongside the tanker. adjoining persons or thing considered as lined up, or side by
side. Beside
He sat beside his wife during the party. On one side of a person or thing that has two sides.
Between He sat between his two sons. On each side of a
person or thing are positioned around a point, among
is used-He sat among all his grandchildren. Opposite
The museum
is just
opposite the
post office.Directly facing someone or something else.
3 Prepositions showing the Direction
The kind of movement designed by each prepositions given below is illustrated by the diagram below :
To-From He always walks to school from his home.
To From
Toward s The Pilgrims headed towards to Mecca.
Away-From They moved away from their old neighbor.
Towards Away from
In to-out of He ran into the house quickly. After a few minutes
he ran out of the house with an umbrella under his arm.
into out of
Up-down He climbed up or down the stairs.
up
down Around
The ship sailed around the island.
Around Through
You can drive through that town in an hour. Through
Past or by He walked past or by his old schoolhouse without
stopping.
------------------- Past
As far as up to We will walk only as far as up to the old school house.Then we will turn back.
14
--------- As far as
14
Marcella Frank, Modern English: A Practical Reference Guide, Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey: Prentice Hall,Inc., 1972 p.168.
4. Prepositions of Place in, at, on a. We use in when we think of a place as three-dimensional.
For Example: Simon is in his room.
We also use in when we think of a place as an area.
For example: We went for a walk in the park.
b.We use at when we think a place as a point.
For example : I will meet you at the station. a meeting point
c. We use on when we think of a place as a surface.
For Example : I will put this picture on the wall.
We also use on when we think of a place as a line.
For Example : Memphis is on the Missisipi river.
d. With cities, towns and villages, we use at when we think of the place as
a point e.g. a point on a journey. For example, Our train stops at
Brighton . But we use in when we think of the place itself e.g. He’s got
a flat in Milan .
e. With buildings, we can often use at or in. She works atin the post
office. We normally prefer at when we think of the building quite
generally as a place where something happens.for example, My brother
is at university .But we use in when we think of the building itself.
f. With addresses, we use at when we give the house number; in British English,we use in when we just give the name of the street. For
example, I live at 42 East Street and I live in East Street. We use on for the number of the floor e.g. I live in a flat on the first floor.
15
B. Pictures
1. Definition of Pictures
A picture is not only worth a thousand words, it can also be used in a wide variety of teaching activities.
16
Pictures have motivated the students,
15
Digby Beaumont and Colin Granger, English Grammar, Oxford:Heinemann, 1989,p.252.
16
Robert J. Nielsen. Picture-Based Drills and Exercises, English Teaching Forum XXII,No.3, 1984,p.30.
made the subject clearer, and illustrated the general idea and forms of an object or action which is particular to a culture.
Pictures are versatile and useful resources for teaching aspects of grammar that require a structure-meaning match. They can be used in all
phases of a grammar lesson for example in presentation, focused practice, communicative practice and for feedback and correction. Interesting or
entertaining pictures motivate students to respond in ways that more routine teaching aids, such as a textbook or a sentence on the board, cannot.
Although they can be used to advantage at all levels of proficiency, they are especially useful with beginning and low-intermediate learners, who
sometimes have trouble understanding long or complicated verbal cues. Pictures can also be used in various configurations to enhance
learning a nd practice. They introduce a great deal of variety into the classroom. Pictures can be presented in pairs: the same object or person on
two different occasions or two different objects or people. Pictures can be grouped into semantically related sets that contain from ten to twenty items,
representing animals,vehicles,flowers, fruits,etc.
17
From the statements above, it shows that picture is one of the visual media that can be used as a tool for explaining material presented or
the real things that can give a clear description about the problem described. In order to be understood, teaching and learning process will go more
effectively if there is a picture.
2. Types of Pictures There is a wide variety of uses to which pictures can be put to
provide meaningful practice in the classroom at different levels of linguistics attainment. They can be used at the practice stage of a lesson,
for review, or as a stimulus for discussion. There are some kinds of picture
17
Marianne Celce-Murcia. Techniques and Resources in Teaching Grammar.England: Oxford University Press, 1988,p.73.
which are useful as teaching aids. In this case, the teacher does not hesitate to use any kinds of pictures.
According to Grazyna Szyke, there are two kinds of pictures that are useful as teaching aids: pictures of individual presons and objects and
pictures of situations in which persons and objects are “in action”.
18
a. Pictures of Individuals
Pictures of individual persons or things may be used, mainly at the elementary level, to introduce or test vocabulary items, for example, a
man , a car. They may be used in pairs, for example: The man goes to
work by car.How does he go to work? Portraits, that is, pictures that show a person in close detail, are useful
for intermediate and advance learners. The students can be asked questions about the age and profession of the person, whether heshe is
married, hisher interests and traits of character. b.
Situational pictures Situational pictures that show or suggest relationships between objects
andor people can be perfect teaching aids for introducing, practicing, or reviewing grammatical structures,from the simplest to the most
complex. Mary Finocchiaro said that pictures are divided into three kinds.
First, pictures of persons and single objects. Second, pictures of people engaged in activities presenting the relationship between individuals and
objects. Third, a series of six to ten pictures mounted on one chart of count nouns as pieces of furniture or mass nouns as foods or of sports or
work activities.
19
18
Grazyna Szyke, Using Pictures as Teaching Aids, English Teaching Forum,October,1981,p.45.
19
Marry Finocchiaro, Visual Aids in Teaching English as a Second Language, Washington: Hunter College,English Teaching Forum.Vol XIII 34,1975.p.265.
3. The Use of Pictures in Teaching and Learning Activities
One way pictures can be used in drills and exercises is to cue a student to make a question. The picture determines specifically what is
asked. The answer, on the other hand, can be anything that is true.Used this way, pictures are valuable in any exercise or drill, because they are
provide an alternative to pictureless exercises, thus adding variety to classroom activities and they can force the student to verbalize what he
sees-a helpful skill and they can reduce the quantity of teacher talk, allowing the students more opportunities both to reflect and to speak.
20
Teachers have always used pictures or graphics-whether drawn, taken from books, newspapers and magazines, or photographs- to facilitate
learning. Pictures can be in the form of flashcards, large wall pictures, cue cards, or illustrations. Some teachers also use projected slides, images
from an overhead projector or projected computer images. Teachers also draw pictures on the board to help with explanation and language work.
Pictures of all kinds can be used in a multiplicity of ways, as the follows: 1.
Drills With lower-level students a traditional use for pictures-
especially flash cards- is in cue-response drills. We hold one up the cue before nominating a student and getting a response. Then we
hold up another one, and nominate a different student and so on. Flashcards are particularly useful for drilling grammar items, for
cueing different sentences, or practicing vocabulary. Sometimes teachers use larger wall pictures, where pointing
to a detail of a picture will elicit a response such as There is some milk in the fridge
, etc. Sometimes teachers put students in pairs or groups and give
them some cue cards so that when a student picks up the top cue card in a pile he or she has to say a sentence that the card suggests.
20
Robert J. Nielsen, Picture-Based Drills and Exercises,English Forum, Vol XXII3,July,1984,p.30.
2. Communication Games
Pictures are extremely useful for a variety of communication activities, especially where they have a game like feel, such as
describe and draw activities where one student describes a picture and a paired classmate has to draw the same picture without looking
at the original. We can also divide a class into four groups and give each group a different picture that shows a separate stage in a story.
Once the members of group have studied their picture, we take it away. New groups are formed with four members each-one from
group A, one from group B, one from group C, and one from group D. By sharing the information they saw in their pictures, they have to
work out what story the pictures together are telling. Teachers sometimes use pictures for creative writing. They
might tell students to invent a story using at least three of the images in front of them on cue cards,for example. They can tell them to
have a conversation about a specified topic, and at various stages during the conversation, they have to pick a card and bring whatever
card shows into the conversation. 3.
Understanding One of the most appropriate uses for pictures is for the
presenting and checking of meaning. An easy way of explaining the meaning of the word aeroplane, for example, is to have a picture of
one. In the same way it is easy to check students’ understanding of a piece of writing or listening by asking them to select the picture out
of, say, four which best corresponds to the reading text or the listening passage.
4. Ornamentation
Pictures of various kinds are often used to make work more appealing. In many modern coursebooks, for example, a reading text
will be adorned by a photograph which is not strictly necessary, in the same way as in newspaper and magazine articles. The rationale
for this is clearly that pictures enhance the text, giving readers or students a view of the outside world.
Some teachers and materials designers object to this use of pictures because they consider it gratuitous. But it should be
remembered that if the pictures are interesting they will appeal to at least some members of the class strongly. They have the power at
least for the more visually oriented to engage students. 5.
Prediction Pictures are useful for getting students to predict what is
coming next in a lesson. Thus students might look at a picture and try to guess what it shows are the people in it brother and sister,
husband or wife, and what are they arguing about-or are they arguing?etc. They then listen to a tape or read a text to see if it
matches what they expected on the basis of the picture. This use of pictures is very powerful and has the advantage of engaging students
in the task to follow. 6.
Discussion Pictures can stimulate questions. Pictures can also be used
for creative language use, whether they are in a book or on cue cards, flashcards, or wall pictures. We might ask students to write a
description of a picture; we might ask them to invent the conversation taking palce between two people in a picture, or in a
particular role-play activity, ask them to answer questions as if they were the characters in a famous painting.
21
According to Ann Raimes, the use of pictures in the classroom might be useful :
1 Whole-class discussion, which then leads to writing, can be
generated by many types or pictures, such as posters, textbook pictures, magazine pictures pasted onto stiff cardboard and displayed
21
Jeremy harmer. The Practice of English Language Teaching,3th Edition.England: Longman, 2001, p.
at the front of the room, simple pictures drawn on the blackboard, or duplicated drawings.
2 To provide a student audience for student writers, give half the class
one picture, the other half another. A range of communicative tasks for small groups opens up now, with students conveying real
information to others. 3
With students working in pairs or small groups, give each student of the pair or give each group a different picture to work with.
4 Real communicative tasks can be developed by using in the
classroom pictures that the students themselves provide. 5
Do not limit classroom work to what the students can actually see in the picture. Remember that the students can make inferences,
predictions, and suppositions about the world beyond the frame of picture. Ask the students to use their imagination to visualize what
happened just before the moment in the picture and what will happen next and what the result will be.
22
From the descriptions above, it can be denied that there are many things that will influence the result of teaching and learning process
such as material to be taught, the environment of teaching and learning process, the instruments used in explaining material, method and
techniques of teaching and so on.
4. Strength and Weakness of Using Pictures
In applying teaching prepositions using pictures, on the one hand, there are always obstacles or problems that should be faced by a teacher.
In this case, it is usually called as weaknesses. Pictures has several weaknesses as a medium in teaching learning
process. It can be caused by the size and distance. May be it is too small and the distance is too far. So, it is too difficult to be seen clearly by the
22
Ann Raimes, Techniques in Teaching Writing, England : Oxford University Press, 1983, p. 28.
students. The lack of color in some pictures will also restrict proper interpretation. Besides, students do not always know how to read pictures.
Those reasons above that can cause misunderstanding as stated below : 1. Sizes and distances are often disorted
2. Lack of color in some pictures limits proper interpretation 3. Students do not always know how to read the pictures.
23
On the first hand, there are some things that make teacher become easier to teach goal of teaching and learning process. Then, it is called the
strength of pictures. The possibilities of using pictures in teching a foreign language are practically unlimited, and success comes to teacher with
foresight, ingenuity, and imagination. Many of the advantages are obvious. Pictures provide necessary variety, are popular, and foster a high degree of
interest.
24
Tang Li Shing said that teaching English through pictures is not only effective and interesting, but also practical and economical.
25
According to Grazyna, the advantages of using pictures are indisable. They add variety, providing a change space important in
maintaining a high level interest. To give a clear concept of what a word or structure may mean, they are much simpler and more vivid than a long
explanation would be.
26
There are some strength of using pictures in teaching learning English, are as follows :
a. Easy to prepare.
b. Easy to organize.
c. Interesting.
d. Meaningful and authentic.
23
Vernon S. Gerlach, Teaching and Media, A systematic approach,2
nd
Edition,New Jersey,1980,p.273.
24
Marie Ernestova, How to Use Ready-Made Pictures, English Teaching Forum,Vol XIX 4,October,1981,p.9.
25
Tang Li Shing, English Through Pictures,English Teaching Forum XIX,October 1981,p.15.
26
Grazyna Szyke, Using Pictures as Teaching Aids, English Teaching Forum XIX, October 1981, p.46.
e. Sufficient amount of language.
27
Pictures can be used to provide students with either the general context or to illustrate particular points. Pictures also can be used by the
students to show their understanding non-verbally for example by pointing to detail in a picture or adding information to a drawing. It helps the
teacher in order to send the massages of the materials to their students as good as possible. The use of pictures is helpful when pupils have limited
experiences and when they are just beginning to develop a stock of words. Therefore, some of the teachers use this approach to get the purpose of
teaching-learning process and make the class alive.
27
Andrew Wright. Pictures for Language Learning. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press,1989,p.3.
CHAPTER III RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
This chapter presents the description of the research methodology used in the study. It consists the reseach design, place and time of the study, population
and sample, procedure of using pictures in teaching preposition of place, research instruments, technique of collecting the data, and technique of data analysis.
A. Research Design
Research method in education and the other social sciences are often divided into two main types : quantitative and qualitative methods. In this
study, the writer used the quantitative methods which can be defined as: quantitative research is obstrusive and controlled, objective, generalisable,
outcome oriented, and assumes the existence of ‘facts’ which are somehow external to and independent of the observer of researcher.
28
In quantitative research, there are two main types of design, experimental design and non
experimental design. Based on the explanation on the previous chapter that the writer
investigated an effort of using pictures in teaching prepositions of place , so the writer took the experimental method.
In this research, the writer taught the students in experimental class by using pictures and controlled class without using pictures. The research was
done for five meetings. After five meetings the writer gave the post-test to both of the class. Test was the same in qualities and quantities to keep the
reliability of the research. It was given to know how the using of pictures to prepositions knowledge of the students.
When all the researches have done, the writer used the t-test to master the gain of experimental class and controlled class. This research investigated
the using of pictures in teaching prepositions of place at the eight grade of Islamic Junior High School Al-Ghazaly Bogor.
28
David Nunan, Research Methods in Language Learning, New York : Cambridge University Press, 1992 p.3.
B. Place and Time of the Study
