20 from students‟ point of view, the value of L1 used by the teacher to check students‟
understanding is needed. From the data discussed, the students showed positive perceptions to the value of
their teacher‟s uses of Indonesian as a tool to check students‟ understanding. It can be implied the students feel that they can understand better if the English teacher also
discusses their exercises result in Indonesian. The students also perceived that they will understand better if the English teacher uses Indonesian to check their understanding about
hisher explanation given.
c. L1 as a tool to explain new vocabularies
Question No. 8: In my opinion, the English teacher should use Indonesian to explain new English vocabularies see Appendix 1.
Question No. 9:
In my opinion, the teacher’s uses of Indonesian to e
xplain English vocabularies makes me remember the vocabularies better see Appendix 1.
Question No. 10: When the teacher uses Indonesian in English classroom, it helps me to understand English idioms and expression better see Appendix 1.
In this section, the data discussed is about students‟ perceptions toward the teacher‟s uses of Indonesian as a tool to explain new vocabularies. From the Q8 see figure 4 data,
the number arose was 90 which means that most of the students confirmed their agreement that the English teacher should use Indonesian to explain new English
vocabularies. This probably the students find difficulties in inferring the vocabularies if it is explained by using English. It can be inferred that most of the participants showed
positive perceptions toward the teacher‟s use of Indonesian to explain new vocabularies. It means that using Indonesian to explain new vocabularies is necessary.
Q10 Q9
Q8 7
9 10
93 91
90
Figure 4. Students perceptions toward the teachers use of L1 as tool to explain new vocabularies
Agree Disagree
21 Then, for the Q9 see figure 4 about the
students‟ opinion that the teacher‟s uses of Indonesian to explain English vocabularies makes them remember the vocabularies better,
most of the students confirmed their agreement 91 of the statement. This means that the students perceived positively that Indonesian used by the teacher is beneficial to remember
the English words better, because they probably find that recalling the English words using Indonesian will be helpful.
It is believed that L1 vocabulary allows learners to use language which they may not yet possess in L2 in order to process ideas and reach higher levels of understanding
Morahan, 2002. As it has been explained before, that Indonesian used by the teacher is beneficial to remember the English words better, because they probably find that recalling
the English words using Indonesian will be helpful. This learning model is probably useful for the students who learn English in Indonesian context, as English is still considered as a
foreign language, and it is not really used in daily life. Next, for the Q10 see figure 4 disc
ussion is about the students‟ perceptions that the teacher when uses Indonesian in English classroom, it helps them to understand English
idioms and expression better, almost all of the students 93 confirmed their agreement. So, it can be inferred that
most of students found that the teacher‟s use of Indonesian to explain English idioms and expressions is necessary, because the students probably can
recall their Indonesian knowledge to grasp the meaning of the idioms or expressions. As Cole 1998 and Gill 2005 mentioned about the role of mother tongue for
discussing the cross-cultural issues like
idioms
, if students have little or no knowledge of the target language, L1 can be used to introduce the major differences between L1 and L2
that they should be aware of. This may because the students find difficulties in understanding what the idioms mean, so the teacher uses L1.
Thus, from the data result, it showed that Indonesian used by the teacher in explaining new vocabularies is beneficial for the students, since they perceived that the
22 English teacher should use Indonesian to explain new English vocabularies. They also
perceived that the teacher‟s uses of Indonesian to explain English vocabularies makes them
remember the vocabularies better the teacher when uses Indonesian in English classroom, and also helps them to understand English idioms and expression better. As Atkinson
1987 and Burden 2000 found in their research study that they believe L1 is important in explaining new vocabularies. From the data result above, it showed that what they stated
were proven, since the students confirmed their positive perceptions that Indonesian used by the teacher to explain English vocabularies is helpful.
d. L1 as a tool to explain grammar
