Learning Strategy a. Definition of Learning Strategy

SCSS employs the benefits of cards for the learning activities. Cards are a kind of media which are flexible and easy to create. Cards can be designed in many shapes and sizes adjusted with the needs and contents. Harmer 2007 mentions three main uses of cards namely matching and ordering, selecting, and card games. 1 Matching and ordering Cards can be used for an activity like matching questions with the answers. Students can either match them on the table in front of them in pairs or groups or they can move around the class to find their pairs. This matching activity can be based on the topic or grammatical construction. This activity is especially good for kinesthetic learners, but it is also good for everyone else. 2 Selecting In this way, the cards contain some particular words, phrases, or pictures. After shuffling them, the cards are placed in a pile face down. Then, the teacher asks one student to pick one card. The student must use the word or phrase in the cards or describe the picture on the card. 3 Card games There are many possibilities of card games in language learning. The teachers can design the games by themselves based on some considerations such as the number of students in the class, the topic, the learning purpose, and learning activities. Cards help the teacher to deliver the material, so in this way the learning activities become less teacher-centered and less book-dependent. It will minimize teacher’s talk and increase the students’ participation. By using the cards as learning media in the classroom, the learning activity will be more enjoyable. The teachers’ creativity is an essential prerequisite to design some sets of cards. The teachers need to explore their ideas and creativity to decide what the cards contain. Besides, the teacher should design the learning activities properly. By doing these steps of making cards, the teacher’s creativity will also be improved. In relation to the teaching of reading in the classroom, cards can be used in three stages of reading. Cards can be used in the pre-reading stage for certain activities such as predicting and previewing the main text. The cards may contain some lists of vocabulary related to the text, or pictures which give a general image about the text. The cards can also be used in the while-reading stage for a particular activity like rearranging cards of a jumbled text. The final result of this activity is to construct a whole text. Next, cards can be used in the post-reading stage for a particular activity such as discussing some points related to the text. SCSS employs some principles of cooperative learning. Johnson and Johnson 2004: 274 in Orlich et al. 2007 mention some characteristics of cooperative learning like in the followings. a Uses small groups of three or four students micro-groups. b Focuses on tasks to be accomplished. c Requires group cooperation and interaction. d Mandates individual responsibility to learn. e Supports division of labor. This strategy employs the principles of multiple intelligences. Gardner 1993 in Armstrong 2003 proposes eight types of intelligences as follows. 1 Linguistic intelligence It relates to the understanding of language including the phonology, syntax, semantics and pragmatic uses of language. It involves someone’s ability to communicate knowledge, remember information, or reflect to the language itself. 2 Bodily-kinesthetic intelligence This intelligence is related to a person’s ability to control the body movement and handle objects skillfully.