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3 Post Activity of the First Cycle
After doing the whilst activity which consisted of explaining the procedure of using flash cards in learning the recount text, doing a worksheet, and doing a
test, th e researcher checked the students’ understanding again. The researcher
asked the students collectively by reviewing what the students had learnt in the whole meeting. Some students told him that the strategy of using flash cards was
very interesting for learning the past forms of irregular verbs see Appendix 7. According to Charles 2009: 123, flash cards are especially useful for
memorizing vocabulary words and their definition. In fact, they needed extra time to be more fluent in applying the strategy of
flash cards. The researcher then advised them to practice intensively at home by making the simple flash cards like what they had done in the teaching and
learning process. After that, the researcher gave the students an opportunity to ask the difficult things which made them confused. They might be ashamed to ask
something when they had to say in English. In the end of the class, as a closure, the researcher asked the students to pray together based on their own religion.
When the researcher conducted the research, his partner also helped him observe the students
’ behavior and researcher’s performance in the teaching and learning process through the field notes see Appendix 7.
c. Reflecting of the First Cycle
This last step is very important in classroom action research. The researcher made the reflection which was used to examine what went well and
what needed to be improved from this cycle. The result of the reflection would be
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used to plan the action for the second cycle of this classroom action research. The reflection of the first cycle was written based on the result of the test and the
interview. In addition, the researcher also found the data analyzed through field notes which could help him to know the condition of the class in the next cycle.
However, the field notes involved the teacher’s performance and students’
behavior in the teaching and learning process, such as the tea cher’s preparation in
teaching and st udents’ responses in the learning process see Appendix 7. The
researcher found two ways in making a reflection which were the students’ score
test and interview. Firstly, the researcher tried to analyze the data collected from the test. The
researcher asked the students to fill in the blanks in 20 sentences related to the use of the past forms of verbs. The researcher attempted to reflect on some findings
o btained from the students’ test scores. The students’ test scores of the first cycle
are presented see Appendix 8. The researcher found out some evidences which showed
the students’ difficulties in understanding the past forms of irregular verbs in doing the test.
- Joko and Joni stealed Ani’s wallet in the class this morning.
- Roni swang a pail of water.
By looking at the examples, the students faced difficulties in filling the past forms of irregular verbs in the blanks. In fact, they only added
–edd in each verb which showed the past form of irregular verb or changed each verb
haphazardly. Based on the test scores in first cycle, the average of students’ score
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test in VIIIB class had shown a good result which was 81.3. There were only three students who gained 70 which became the passing grade.
Secondly, to know the students ’ opinion about their understanding about
the use of the past forms of irregular verbs was actually gained from the interview which had been done at the end of this meeting. Besides, the result of the
interview became a reflection which helped the researcher to make a planning in the next cycle. The interview was conducted to three students who gained the
highest score, medium score, and lowest score. Conducting interview aimed to know the students’ opinion toward the English lesson in the first cycle, such as the
students’ interests, class situation, students’ behavior, and researcher’s way in teaching. There were some samples of the results of the interview in the first cycle
see Appendix 16. In this cycle one, the researcher decided to have four questions for the
interview which was addressed to the three students who gained the highest, medium, and
lowest test score. The first question is about the students’ understanding about the way of using flash cards in learning the past forms of
irregular verbs. The students who gained the highest and medium test scores stated that the researcher was very clear in explaining the implementation of flash
cards, so the students easier in practicing the flash cards. The students who gained the lowest score
stated that the researcher’s explanation was clear, but he didn’t pay attention. Therefore, he still felt a little bit difficult to understand.
“Ya, saya tahu. Ditambah lagi penjelasan dari guru tentang cara berlatih dengan flash cards juga gampang dimenge
rti soalnya.” Akthe highest score and Mdthe medium score
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Yes, I see. In addition, the researcher’s explanation in practicing flash cards is also clear to understand
“Ya, saya mengerti. Tapi sayangnya, saya nggak memperhatiin, jadi saya agak kurang
jelas.” Msthe lowest score Yes, I know. Unfortunately, I didn’t pay attention to the researcher’s explanation,
so it was not clear for me
The second question is about the students’ feeling after the researcher implemented flash cards in teaching the past forms of irregular verbs. Three
students stated the same answers that they were interested to the researcher’s way in teaching the past forms of irregular verbs. However, it could be easier for the
students to memorize the past forms of irregular verbs. “Saya sangat tertarik belajar dengan menggunakan flash cards. Otomatis, saya
jadi mudah nghafalin kata kerja soalnya ada V1, V2, dan V3 di kartunya. ”
Akthe highest score, Mdthe medium score, and Msthe lowest score I am so interested to use flash cards. Automatically, it makes me easier to
memorize the past forms of irregular verbs because there are the past form and past participle of the verb in flash cards
The third question is about the advantage of using flash cards in learning the past forms of irregular verbs. The students who gained the highest and
medium test scores stated that learning the verbs through the flash cards could make their vocabulary especially verb increased. Meanwhile, the student who
gained the lowest score stated that he could know the verbs which he didn’t know
previously. “Ya, ada keuntungan lain. Seperti vocab saya jadi tambah lebih banyak
khususnya kata kerja.” Akthe highest score and Mdthe medium score. Yes, it is. For instance, I can increase my vocabulary more especially verb
“Ya ada. Saya jadi tahu vocab baru yang sebelumnya tidak saya tahu.” Msthe lowest score
Yes, it is. I can know new vocabulary which I do not know previously
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The fourth question is about the students’ difficulties in learning the past forms of irregular verbs through the flash cards. They generally stated that it is
because the amount of the verb which was larger. Therefore, they sometimes still face difficulties to memorize the past forms of irregular verbs.
“Yes, I do. I still face difficulties to memorize the past forms of verbs because we know that the amount of verb is very larger.” Akthe highest score, Mdthe
medium score, and Msthe lowest score
From the results of the interview in the first cycle above, it could be concluded that the students were very interested in learning the past forms of
irregular verbs through flash cards. However, they still faced difficulties in memorizing the verbs in a large amount.
After the class, the researcher also met the teacher to have a small discussion which aimed to know
the teacher’s view as a reflection. The teacher’s view in looking at the researcher’s teaching in the learning process was very
important because it was very useful to make a planning for the next cycle. Then, the teacher told that the implementation was done successfully. The students paid
attention to the researcher ’s explanation and looked interested joining the learning
activities. It was caused by the strategy of using flash cards in learning the past forms of irregular verbs. The teacher gave a suggestion for the researcher that the
students still needed extra time to be more fluent in applying the flash cards in order to be better in learning the past forms of verbs see Appendix 7.
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3. Second Cycle of CAR
