17 Each student who practices in Microteaching lab gets a video record as the
result of teaching practice. The researcher took the 2009-academic-year students. There are seven classes chosen as the subject. The focus of this research is on one
of the basic teaching skills learnt by Microteaching students especially reinforcement skill. This skill will be discussed further in the next part.
3. Reinforcement Skill
As stated in the introduction of theoretical description, this part will discuss the third specific theory that is reinforcement skill. It will be divided into
two points of theory discussion. The first is about the types and techniques of reinforcement. Another part discusses the principles of reinforcement skill used in
a classroom.
a. Types and Techniques of Reinforcement
The researcher focuses on this skill as the subject in Microteaching class. According to Allen and Ryan 1969, as cited by Asril 2011, there are 14
components of teaching skill. 1 Stimulus variation
2 Set induction 3 Closure
4 Silence and non-verbal cues 5 Reinforcement
6 Fluency in asking questions 7 Probing questions
8 Higher order questions 9 Divergent questions
10 Recognizing attending behavior 11 Illustrating and use of example
12 Lecturing 13 Planned repetition
14 Completeness of communication
18 However, English Language Education Study Program of Sanata Dharma
University considers five basic teaching skills to be trained in Microteaching class. It is proved by Suseno and Gilarso 1986, that are used to be the senior
lecturers and supervisors of IKIP Sanata Dharma, that there are many teaching skills need to be trained but there are only possible five skills taught in
Microteaching course. These are the possible five basic teaching skills. 1 Set induction and closure skill
2 Explaining skill 3 Questioning skill
4 Reinforcement skill 5 Stimulus variation skill
Those experts state that reinforcement skill is one of the basic teaching skills trained in Microteaching course. The other experts also define their ideas
about reinforcement skill. Turney, Cairns, Williams, Hatton and Owens 1973 say “positive reinforcement means positive response to a behavior which
increases the probability of that behavior occurring again” p. 12. Walker, Shea and Bauer 2007 have a similar idea that positive reinforcement is the
presentation of a reinforcer showed because of the exhibition of a behavior that is expected. So, by those definitions, positive reinforcement can be defined as a
means to convey an expression in order to cause a behavior as likely to happen again. Downing, et al. 1991, as cited by Walker, et al. 2007, add that the
process of positive reinforcement causes the possibility of a behavior to occur
19 again by reinforcing the individual with the appropriate and meaningful
reinforcer. Furthermore, there will be other experts’ views about the types and
techniques of reinforcement. Generally, based on Turney, et al. 1973, there are two types of reinforcement that is the primary reinforcement –refers to the
environment that can be as a reinforcer related to the natural biological needs, e.g. foods, drinks, sex– and the secondary reinforcement –the conditioned or learned
reinforcement that is neutral or has no effect on the behavior but it can be a reinforcer when related to other rewarded events– consists of money, verbal praise
and peer attention as the examples. The second one consists of several components of skill. The researcher is going to discuss an expert’s idea about two
components of reinforcement skill and present the other experts’ ideas as the supporting theories.
As stated in chapter I, reinforcement has two forms, positive and negative. Turney, et al. say ‘... the positive response to a behavior which increases the
probability of that behavior occuring again’ 1973: 12. This reinforcement only appears when the students show the positive response the desired behavior. The
researcher emphasizes positive reinforcement to be discussed. Cooper 1982 divides reinforcement into two broad categories, verbal and non-verbal. This
common verbal used is praise such as “okay”, “good”, “nice job”. The teachers often use the verbal form as a simple way as the reinforcer for their students.
Also, the teachers can use the students’ ideas to develop the lesson. Cooper 1982 says this reinforcement technique makes the students have more positive attitudes
20 and higher achievement comparing to a classroom where the teachers do not
involve the students’ ideas in developing the lesson. It can increase the students’ participation in classroom. Turney, et al. 1973 add some components of verbal
form. They are teacher’s comments of praise and encouragement, personalized comments and feedback. Another expert named McNamara 2000 shares
identical thought about the verbal reinforcement consisting of praise by specifying the appropriate behavior such as ‘Well presented work’, personalized positive
comments involving the student’s name, showing an interest when engaging in the non-work conversation and calling the students using positive descriptive phrases
such as “George looks as if he knows the answer.” From those theories stated, the experts have a similar belief that praise is a
reinforcer in the verbal form. According to Sutherland, Copeland and Wehby 2001, as cited by Walker, et al. 2007, praise is regarded as an effective strategy
to support students’ learning and behavior. They also list some guidelines in how to use the effective praise.
1 Praise should be delivered immediately after the behavior exhibited. 2 Praise should be delivered as unobtrusively as possible to avoid an
interruption of the continuous classroom activity. 3 Praise should be delivered in a manner that the teacher is sincere.
4 Praise should include a statement of the positive behavior for which the learner is being praised.
5 Praise should be varied in words and gestures.
21 6 Praise for a new behavior should be frequent and it should be less frequent
when it is habituated in the beginning stages of learning. Praise is faded when the praised behavior becomes the part of a usual behavior.
Reinforcement can be regarded as a reward also. Fontana proves it through his statement that “a reward is something material or non-material that appears
desirable to the person concerned” 1985: 78. It appears desirably caused by the existence of the expected behavior. Non-material reward categorized by Fontana
1985 has a close relation to the other experts’ theories consisting of the teacher attention, the teacher praise, and the teacher encouragement peer-group attention.
The non-material rewards, according to Fontana 1985, are at the most effective point when they are given as immediate as possible, consistently and by a person
who has the prestige and status in the eyes of the recipient. However, the non-verbal reinforcement is not less effective to create a good
classroom atmosphere. Cooper 1982 states the non-verbal reinforcement refers to the physical messages including eye contact, facial expressions and body
positions. He adds the way of teachers smile, frown, remain impassive toward the students’ comments, look at or away from the students, stand by position and
look relaxed or tense can indicate whether the teacher is bored or interested and pleased or displeased with the students’ comment. Those gestural expressions
may stimulate the students as positive reinforcers. McNamara 2000 also lists the non-verbal reinforcement consisting of eye contact and friendly expressions,
standing close to the students and nodding while examine closely to the students’ work, giving the thumbs up sign if necessary or the other esoteric signals, and
22 varying the facial expressions that are friendly and not threatening. Turney, et al.
1973 describe a close definition to the other experts that non-verbal reinforcement contains gestural expressions referring the teacher’s use of smiles,
nods or pointing as the non-verbal responses to the students’ performance or behavior.
However, Fontana 1985 includes the material rewards into non-verbal reinforcement such as good marks, good reports, stars, points or gifts in return of
the students’ behavior. According to Turney, et al. 1973, the reinforcement in forms of ticks, stars, points and written comments are called token reinforcement.
It means the teachers use any symbolic reinforcer in return of the students’ desired performance or behavior. McNamara 2000 states the written form such as
personalized comments in an exercise book is one of the reinforcement forms. This type is not popularly used in Microteaching class since the duration and the
scope of lesson including the activity are reduced. The verbal and non-verbal reinforcement have effects only after it is delivered to the students. Nevertheless,
the written reinforcement may have the effects when each time the students read it, for example, the positive and personalized comments in an exercise book are
potential to have a repeated effect McNamara, 2000. However, negative reinforcement can result in a positive effect. As stated in
chapter I, reinforcement is negative when it is expressed by withholding, corrective feedback and punishment Brown, 1975. He says that besides having
praise as the reinforcement from the teacher, help is a good turn to assist the students for having an expected understanding by giving corrective feedback. The
23 corrective feeedback consists of prompts, probes and giving direction Brown,
1975. It can be combined by positive reinforcement. He adds that the teacher may praise the student at the beginning and give the student information or
feedback as a corrective to hisher behavior Brown, 1975. Cooper 1982 says that giving feeback directly is more effective and one of the reinforcement
techniques that is used to increase the students’ participants. In the discussion of theories and results, the researcher would emphasize both positive and negative
reinforcement since the focused teaching skill is reinforcement.
b. The Principles in the Use of Reinforcement
