THE USE OF SONGS IN TEACHING STUDENTS’ LISTENING ABILITY : A Quasi Experimental Study of the Second Grade Students of a Junior High School in Sumedang.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Page

Abstract...iii

Declaration...iv

Approval page...v

Preface...vi

Acknowledgements...vii

Table of Contents...viii

List of Tables...xi

List of Appendices...xii

CHAPTER I

INTRODUCTION ... Error! Bookmark not defined. 1.1 Background of the study ... Error! Bookmark not defined. 1.2 Statements of the problem ... Error! Bookmark not defined. 1.3 Aims of the study ... Error! Bookmark not defined. 1.4 Scope of the study ... Error! Bookmark not defined. 1.5 Hypothesis ... Error! Bookmark not defined. 1.6 Research Methodology ... Error! Bookmark not defined. 1.6.1 Research Design ... Error! Bookmark not defined. 1.6.2 Data Collection and Techniques ... Error! Bookmark not defined. 1.6.2.1 Population and Sample ... Error! Bookmark not defined. 1.6.2.2 Instrument ... Error! Bookmark not defined. 1.6.2.3 Procedure ... Error! Bookmark not defined. 1.6.3 Data Analysis ... Error! Bookmark not defined. 1.7 Organization of the Paper ... Error! Bookmark not defined.

CHAPTER II

THEORETICAL FOUNDATION ... Error! Bookmark not defined. 2.1 The Nature of Listening... Error! Bookmark not defined. 2.2 Teaching Listening ... Error! Bookmark not defined. 2.3 Difficulties in Listening ... Error! Bookmark not defined. 2.4 Teaching Listening through Songs ... Error! Bookmark not defined. 2.5 Advantages of using Song ... Error! Bookmark not defined. 2.6 Choosing Songs ... Error! Bookmark not defined.

CHAPTER III

RESEARCH METHODOLOGY ... Error! Bookmark not defined. 3.1 Research Methodology ... Error! Bookmark not defined. 3.1.1 Research Design ... Error! Bookmark not defined. 3.1.2 Variables ... Error! Bookmark not defined. 3.2 Hypothesis ... Error! Bookmark not defined. 3.3 Population and Sample ... Error! Bookmark not defined. 3.3.1 Population ... Error! Bookmark not defined. 3.3.2 Sample ... Error! Bookmark not defined. 3.4 Data Collection ... Error! Bookmark not defined. 3.4.1 Research Instruments ... Error! Bookmark not defined. 3.4.2 Questionnaires ... Error! Bookmark not defined. 3.5 Research Procedures ... Error! Bookmark not defined. 3.5.1 Organizing Teaching Procedure ... Error! Bookmark not defined. 3.5.2 Administering Try-out Test ... Error! Bookmark not defined. 3.5.2.1 Validity test ... Error! Bookmark not defined. 3.5.2.2 Reliability test ... Error! Bookmark not defined. 3.5.3 Treatments ... Error! Bookmark not defined. 3.5.4 The Result of the Test ... Error! Bookmark not defined. 3.5.4.1 Validity and Reliability Instrument Error! Bookmark not defined. 3.5.5 Listening Test (pretest and posttest) ... Error! Bookmark not defined.

3.5.6 Normality of Distribution Test ... Error! Bookmark not defined. 3.5.7 The Homogeneity of Variance Test ... Error! Bookmark not defined. 3.5.8 The Calculation of t-test ... Error! Bookmark not defined. 3.5.9 Data Analysis on the Posttest ... Error! Bookmark not defined. 3.5.10 Data Analysis on the Experimental and the Control Group Scores ... Error! Bookmark not defined.

CHAPTER IV

FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION ... Error! Bookmark not defined. 4.1 Test of Research Instrument ... Error! Bookmark not defined. 4.1.1 Test Validity and Reliability of instrument ... Error! Bookmark not defined.

4.2 The Computation of the Pretest Scores ... Error! Bookmark not defined. 4.2.1 Normality Distribution Test ... Error! Bookmark not defined. 4.2.2 Variance Homogeneity Test ... Error! Bookmark not defined. 4.2.3 Independent t-test on Pretest ... Error! Bookmark not defined. 4.3 The Computation of the Posttest Scores ... Error! Bookmark not defined. 4.3.1 Normality Distribution Test ... Error! Bookmark not defined. 4.3.2 Variance Homogeneity Test ... Error! Bookmark not defined. 4.3.3Independent t-test on Posttest ... Error! Bookmark not defined. 4.4. Effect Size ... Error! Bookmark not defined. 4.5 The Computation of the Control Group Scores ... Error! Bookmark not defined.

4.6 The Computation of the Experimental Group Scores Error! Bookmark not defined.

4.7 Questionnaire Analysis ... Error! Bookmark not defined. 4.8 Discussion... Error! Bookmark not defined.

CHAPTER V

CONCLUSIONS AND SUGGESTIONS ... Error! Bookmark not defined. 5.1 Conclusions ... Error! Bookmark not defined. 5.2 Suggestions ... Error! Bookmark not defined.

CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION

This chapter presents brief description of the research including background of the study, statements of the problem, aims of the study, scope of the study, significance of the study, hypothesis, and research methodology.

1.1Background of the study

In learning English as a foreign language, listening is considered as an important skill that has to be mastered. How well someone listens has a major impact on the quality of their relationship with others. Listening skill is also important to be mastered for its benefit in building knowledge.

In building a good communication with others, individuals have to understand the meaning of the messages conveyed by their partners when they have a conversation. In comprehending the message conveyed by others, listening ability is needed. Kirwan (2009) quotes Laurent’s statement (2000) that ‘It is impossible not to communicate’. In humans’ daily life, there will be a communication which involves listening activity. Without listening ability, communication is impossible. This statement is in line with Burnard’s (1992) cited in Kirwan (2009), he states that listening and attending are cited as the two most important elements of communication. Without listening, communication between people will not work smoothly.

Listening is considered as an essential element in a human’s life. Listening is the catalyst that fosters mutual understanding and provides us with insight into

people’s need and desires so that we can connect with them (Lawson, 2007). Rixon (1986) cited in Alam (2009) points out the importance of listening. First, listening could improve the understanding of spoken word. Second, listening provides someone with a model of the spoken language to imitate in oral production.

A study conducted by Wilt (1950) also finds that people listen 45% of the time they spend communicating (Wilt, 1950 cited in Guo et al, 2004). These finding shows that human mostly spend listening more than other language skills (speaking, reading, and writing). Considering these facts, the researcher believes that his phenomenon also exists in the classroom. In the classroom, most of the teaching and learning activities spent on listening. This statement is supported by the study conducted by Taylor (1964) cited in Purdy & Borisoff (1997). The study found that close to 90 percent of the class time in high schools and colleges is spent in listening to discussion and lectures. The above explanation proves that listening activity also exists in academic context, where the students have to deal with listening comprehension in the class. Therefore, listening ability in education field has to be mastered especially in EFL class.

In EFL class, the students face difficulties in order to communicate. This problem commonly appeared because they have to listen to what the speaker said clearly to get the meaning. The problem faced by the students in listening ability is not only because of their ability, but also from the teachers. The teachers have to develop several strategies to teach the students especially in listening

comprehension. It is essential for language teachers to help their students become effective listeners (Schwartz, 1998).

Snell (1999) states that the common problem for EFL teachers is dealing with passive class where students are unresponsive and avoid interaction with the teacher. In traditional classroom, the students tended to be more passive in the class. This phenomenon shows that conventional teaching of listening strategy may not help the students to handle the difficulties they faced and may not improve their listening skill. To overcome this problem, the teacher may develop such an interactive way to teach listening so that the students’ interest ‘boosted’ and they will be active and involved in the teaching and learning activity. Since listening is a part of the learning process, teachers also must consider the learning styles of their students when creating lessons, presenting material, and eliciting effective listening (Beall et al, 2008). Particular listening strategy is needed not only to overcome the students’ difficulties, but also to improve their listening abilities. The importance of finding listening strategy also suggested by Wallace et al. (2004), he states that experience with a variety of reading, writing and speaking activities in school can help learners acquire the skills they need to be successful. The teachers have to find particular strategies to make the students overcome their difficulties in listening, because variety of experience in listening comprehension may make them acquire the skills. Hence, the researcher chooses song as the strategy to improve the students’ listening ability.

Murphey (1990) suggests that many English teachers have long recognized that song and music work well in language classes. The statement shows that

teachers can use song as a media to overcome the students difficulties in listening and improve their listening ability. Creative teacher can also use songs to teach English through songs since they provide a break from the textbook and work book. It is new and interesting for them. Therefore, with this situation, they will be motivated especially in learning listening.

Therefore, the present study is aimed to investigate the use of songs in teaching students’ listening ability. Furthermore, the researcher expects that this research will give contribution to the practice of listening teaching and learning in the future.

1.2Statements of the problem

This study aims to answer the following questions:

1) Does the use of songs affect students’ listening ability?

2) What difficulties are faced by the junior high school students in listening comprehension using songs?

1.3Aims of the study

Associated with the research questions above, this study is proposed to identify whether songs can increase listening ability of junior high school students. This study also aims to analyze the difficulties faced by the junior high school students in listening comprehension using song as the media of teaching and learning process.

1.4Scope of the study

The limitation of the study is divided into two main concerns; the use of song as the media of teaching students’ listening skill and the difficulties faced by the students in mastering listening abilities using songs. Moreover, as the subject of the study, the writer chooses the second grade students in one of Junior High School in Sumedang, which divided into two groups; experimental and control group.

1.5Hypothesis

In this study, the writer uses the null hypothesis:

So that the null hypothesis in this study is:

Ho: “there is no significant result in using song as the media of teaching listening to improve the students’ listening ability.”

1.6Research Methodology

Below, there are methods used in this research. This explains the design of the research, the instruments which are used to gain the data, the data collection, and how to analyze data.

1.6.1 Research Design

This research was conducted based on quantitative method. The research used quasi experimental design. The sample is divided into two classes; experimental class and control class. Both classes were tested by pre-test and post-test. Before giving the post-test, songs were given to the experimental class as the treatment. Besides, the control class was taught by conventional methods; the

researcher taught listening by explaining through TOEFL based test and speaking in front of the class (the combination of teaching listening through songs and lecturing learning strategy). Afterwards, the data which are taken from experimental class and control class were compared and analyzed to find out its significance.

The analysis of this study used t-test. Its primary purpose is to determine whether the means of scores of the two groups are different to a statically-significant degree (Kranzler and Moursund ch.7: 89.) The focus of the t-test is to determine whether there is a significant difference between the experimental and control groups’ means (Coolidge, 2000, p. 141).

The experimental design in this research is described as follows:

Sample Pretest Treatment Posttest

Experimental Group V 1E T V 2E

Control Group V 1C 0 V 2C

Notes:

V 1E : Students’ listening scores of experimental group in pretest V 1C : Students’ listening scores of control group in pretest

V 2E : Students’ listening scores of experimental group in posttest V 2C : Students’ listening scores of control group in posttest T : Treatment using songs

1.6.2 Data Collection and Techniques

1.6.2.1Population and Sample

The subject of this study is the students of one junior high school in Sumedang. The study and the subject of the study focused on the second grade students. One class was selected as experimental class and the other class as control class. The population of this study was selected based on purposive sampling which selected based on the classification made by the school.

1.6.2.2Instrument

In collecting data, the study used two kinds of instruments. The first instrument is listening test 1 as the pre-test and listening test 2 as the posttest. Listening test 1 is given to both classes, experimental and control class, based on the syllabus to know the score of the student before the experiment. This test comprises 42 questions of listening based test in the form of multiple choices. Afterwards, listening test 2 were given to both classes. This test was applied to both classes after the treatment given to experimental class. The result of the post-test was compared with the result of the pre-test using t-test formula. In doing so, the research used IBM SPSS 20 for windows software. After testing both classes with listening tests, then the second instrument is used.

The second instrument is questionnaire. Questionnaire is used to gain appropriate data from the students about their difficulties in acquiring listening abilities using songs. Furthermore, this research used close ended questionnaire. Close ended questionnaire presented in such a way so that the respondents were limited to the sets of alternative answers (Foddy, 1993). Hence, this questionnaire

covered a set of questions related to the difficulties of the students in listening comprehension using songs.

1.6.2.3Procedure

To conduct the research, there are several procedures used by the researcher. The procedures of this research are described as follows:

1. Organizing the research procedures and research instruments. 2. Clustering respondents into experimental and control classes.

3. Trying out the research instrument to check its validity and reliability. 4. Giving test to both classes with pre-test (listening test 1).

5. Giving treatment to the experimental class.

6. Giving test to both classes with listening test 2 as post-test.

7. Comparing the data by using t-test in order to seek out whether the effect is significant or not.

8. Distributing questionnaire to the experimental class to know the difficulties they faced when using song as the media of teaching.

9. Analyzing the collected data. 10.Drawing conclusions.

1.6.3 Data Analysis

In analyzing the data, there are several processes involved, such as:

1. Analyzing the students’ scores in pilot test (try out test) in order to determine the validity and reliability of the instruments.

2. Analyzing the students’ scores of experimental and control group in pre -test and post--test using the t--test formula as is stated in research design section in order to investigate whether or not there was a significant improvement in students’ listening scores.

3. Analyzing the results of the data gained from questionnaire. Since the questionnaire is in the form of close ended questionnaire. The collected data were analyzed by coding or scoring the answers into numbers (Foddy, 1993). The most occurred answers presents on the data will be used to find the most common difficulty faced by the students in listening comprehension using songs.

4. Drawing conclusions

1.7Organization of the Paper

The research paper is organized as follows: I. Chapter I Introduction

This chapter consists of an introduction which provides the information on the background of the study, the scope of the study, statement of the problem significance of the study, research technique that comprises population, sample, instrument, and procedure, clarification of terms, and organization of the paper.

II. Chapter II Theoretical Foundation

This section focuses on the theoretical foundations that are relevant to the present study, with song as the main issue.

III. Chapter III Research Methodology

This part comprises the methodology of the research includes the formulation of the problems, aims of the present study, data collection, scope of the study, analytical frameworks and data analysis.

IV. Chapter IV Findings and Discussions

This chapter provides the results of the research and discussion of the research findings.

V.Chapter V Conclusions and Suggestions

This chapter presents conclusions of the study and also provides for implications and suggestions for further researchers and related institutions.

CHAPTER III

RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

This chapter describes method used in this study to answers the two questions previously stated in chapter one. The chapter covers research design, instruments, hypothesis, population and sample, research procedures and data analysis.

3.1 Research Methodology

This research was conducted based on quantitative method to conclude the data. In doing so, this research used quasi experimental method since it was aimed to investigate cause and effect relationship. Quasi experimental design is an adaptation of true experimental design where one of the elements is missing. Those elements could be manipulation, randomization or control group. This quasi experimental design was used to anticipate those elements that could not be fulfilled. Therefore, the researcher decided to use quasi experimental design to

find out the significance of using songs in improving the students’ listening

ability. While, experimental method applied to test the hypothesis served, for that reason, this research takes two classes; the first class served as experiment class and the second class served as control class. Later, the result of the research was described by putting the description of the result data.

3.1.1 Research Design

Henrichson (1997), a quasi-experimental has some sort of control and

experimental group, but the groups weren’t randomly selected. The group was

classes that have been built or naturally assembled before the research conducted. The groups were given pre and posttest nonequivalent research design. Hatch and Farhady (1982, p. 22) stated that the pretest-posttest nonequivalent-groups design is often used in classroom experiments when experimental and control groups are naturally assembled groups as intact classes which may be similar. For that reason, this research involved two classes which are assigned as control and experimental groups.

The formula is represented as follows:

Based on the design illustrated above, two classes were selected as experimental and control groups. (G1) is experimental group which was given treatment (X) and (G2) is control group which was not given treatment. Pretest (T1) was conducted before the use of song as teaching strategy given to the experimental class as the treatment, and then at the end of the treatment, posttest

was held to assess students’ listening skills.

3.1.2 Variables

There were two variables in this study. The first variable is dependent variable and the second is independent variable. The dependent variable in this

strategy was selected as independent variable and became the major variable to be investigated.

3.2 Hypothesis

The study begins with null hypothesis (H0) where both classes; experimental and control class are similar in listening ability.

H0: µexperimental = µcontrol

There is no difference between experimental class and control class in the mean adjustment level. It means that the mean adjustment level of experimental and control classes are not different. By using null hypothesis, every possibility of the result of the study can be shown.

3.3 Population and Sample

The main criterion of the population and sample of this research is the school where the students have been learning which covers listening. It helped the researcher to use song in the experiment as the media of teaching listening. Because of that, the students of a public Junior High School in Sumedang were chosen as the sample of the research.

3.3.1 Population

The population of the study is the second grade students of a Junior High School in Sumedang. They are chosen because they have been learning English which covers listening.

3.3.2 Sample

Since there were two classes conducted for this research, two classes were chosen for this research by applying purposive sampling. The researcher chooses the classes which exist before the research being conducted. There were control class which is taken by 8-Eand 8-F took part as experimental class. Sixty students were involved in the study. Furthermore, both classes were tested by pre and posttest. During the experiment, the experimental group was given several treatments in period of six meetings.

3.4 Data Collection

3.4.1 Research Instruments

Before applying the first test instrument (listening test) to both classes, the value of validity and readability were sought. In doing so, fifty items of multiple choice items were tested to another class in order to gain questions items which are valid and reliable.

The first instrument of the research is listening comprehension test which

aims to measure the students’ listening ability. As mentioned earlier, at the

beginning of the study, the listening test comprises fifty items of multiple choices. After analyzing it validity, the listening test was narrowed into forty three multiple choices item which was tested to both experimental and control group. This listening comprehension test was given to both classes as pre and posttest. The

purpose of pretest is to measure the students’ listening ability before the treatment, and posttest is used to measure the students’ listening ability after the treatment

using songs.

The following is the syllabus of Junior High School in listening that were taken as consideration in developing test items (see table 3.1)

Table 3.1

Syllabus of Second Grade of Junior High School

Aspect Competence Standard Basic Competence

Listening Understanding the meaning of simple transactional and interpersonal

conversation to interact with their surroundings

1. Responding expressions of asking, giving and refusing services. 2. Responding expressions

of asking, giving and rejecting information. 3. Responding expressions

of asking, giving and rejecting opinion. 4. Responding expressions

of asking, accepting and rejecting offers.

3.4.2 Questionnaires

In this research, the researcher used questionnaire in the form of rating scales. Rating scales questionnaire is very useful for the researcher for its effectiveness in building degree of sensitivity of response which will generate numbers (Cohen et al. 2007, p. 325). A questionnaire used in this research was basically used to gain information from the respondents.

The purpose of the researcher in using questionnaire is to know difficulties faced by the students in listening comprehension using songs. This would also help the writer in providing a suggestion and to support the result of this study.

3.5 Research Procedures

3.5.1 Organizing Teaching Procedure

The researcher was performed as the teacher in both of control and experimental group. The researcher was conducted two steps; first, the researcher prepares appropriate materials for teaching and learning process during the treatment. Second, the researcher organizes teaching procedures in both of control and experimental groups.

In the experimental group, the teaching materials and procedures were highly related to the implementation of song as a strategy in teaching listening. While in the control group, the combination of listening through songs, and lecturing learning strategy were applied.

Table 3.2

Research Schedule

No

Experimental Group Control Group

Date Material Date Material

1 25-7-2012 Pretest 25-7-2012 Pretest

2 30-8-2012 Song (Can’t smile without you & Hey soul

sister)

30-8-2012 Expressions of asking and giving services

3 2-8-2012 Song (Honey

honey & Skater boy)

1-8-2012 Expressions of refusing services

4 3-8-2012 Song (Just the way you are &

You’re

beautiful)

6-8-2012 Expressions of asking and

giving information

5 9-8-2012 Song (Gone too soon & Your guardian angel)

8-8-2012 Expressions of rejecting information

6 13-8-2012 Song (So far away & When I

see you)

13-8-2012 Expressions of asking, giving

and rejecting opinion

7 16-8-2012 Song (I wanna be with you % I

walk beside you)

15-8-2012 Expressions of asking, accepting and

rejecting offers.

8 20-8-2012 Posttest 20-8-2012 Posttest

3.5.2 Administering Try-out Test

Before the instruments were applied in the research, the researcher was administered try out test to investigate the validity and reliability of the instrument. Try-out test consisted of fifty multiple choice questions related to the simple transactional dialogue based on basic competence in syllabus. The test materials were adopted from internet-based listening test available at www.esl-lab.com. The try-out test was conducted in class VIII of Junior High School in Sumedang before the experimental teaching began.

3.5.2.1 Validity test

To analyze validity of the test, this research was used external validity

analysis by correlating the students’ score of listening test with students’

summative score of English which were taken from their mid-term report book. To correlate them, the formula of Pearson Product Moment Correlation Coefficient Values is used.

Where r is Pearson Product Moment Correlation Coefficient Values, N is number of students who are analyzed, xis students’ listening score (first variable)

and y is students’ summative score (second variable). Afterwards, every item on

the instrument was also analyzed by using Pearson Product Moment Correlation Coefficient Values gained by distributing the data to statistical program; Anates v.4 to determine correlation index for every items. This analysis was conducted through correlating every single item of instrument (x) with total score of instrument (y). Next, the r is interpreted as follows:

Table 3.3 Index of Validity Level

Coefficient Interval (r) Validity Level

0.800 – 1.000 Excellent (Ex)

0.600 – 0.799 Good (Gd)

0.400 – 0.599 Satisfying (St)

0.200 – 0.399 Poor (Pr)

0.000 – 0.199 Very Poor (Vp)

(Adopted from Riduwan 2004:110)

3.5.2.2 Reliability test

This research used KUDER RICHARDSON-20 (KR-20) method to analyze reliability of instrument. The purpose of using this method is to gain a higher reliability value, since the result of KR-20 tends to give a higher value than the other methods such as KR-21, Anova Hoyt, and Alpha. (Arikunto 1999). Every single right answer is valued 1 and every wrong answer is 0.

KUDER RICHARDSON-20 (KR-20) formula:

r11 = Internal reliability coefficient for all items

K = sum of question item

P = proportion of subjects who answer right

q = proportion of subjects who answer wrong (q = 1 – p)

s2 = variance total

Afterward, the value of r11 is compared with index of Pearson Product Moment Correlation Coefficient Values to see whether the value is reliable or not.

3.5.3 Treatments

Two first grade classes in Junior High School in Sumedang, VIII F as the experimental group and VIII E as the control group, were selected as the subject of the research. The experimental group was exposed to the song strategy in listening while the control group was taught by using conventional technique in teaching listening.

3.5.4 The Result of the Test

Before using the instruments to the targeted respondents, the validity and reliability of the instrument was sought. The result is shown as follows.

3.5.4.1 Validity and Reliability Instrument

The first step of the experiment is administering validity and reliability of the tests. As the researcher mentioned earlier, this research used external validity to seek correlation value. The test comprises of fifty question items which applied to the respondents, students of a public junior high school in Sumedang, on July 23, 2012. From the calculation, the instrument is valid in level 0.01 which has minimum value 0.393 with r = 0.790135953

The second step is instrument item validity; the instrument item was analyzed using SPSS v.20. From the calculation it is shown that:

Table 3.4 Index of Validity for Question Items

Coefficient

Interval (r) Validity Level

Question Item number

0.800 – 1.000 Excellent (Ex) -

0.600 – 0.799 Good (Gd) -

0.400 – 0.599 Satisfying (St) 1, 16, 37

0.200 – 0.399 Poor (Pr) 2, 6, 10, 13, 17, 20, 22, 23, 24, 26, 31, 32, 33, 35, 36, 41, 43, 46, 50 0.000 – 0.199 Very Poor (Vp) 4, 5, 7, 8, 9, 11, 12, 14, 15, 19, 21, 25,

<0.00 – 0.000 Invalid 3, 34, 38, 39, 40, 48, 49.

(Adopted from Riduwan 2004: 11)

The calculation shows that from fifty question items of listening comprehension tested, there are forty three items categorized as valid and seven items categorized as invalid. So that forty three items of listening comprehension test are taken as the instrument of this research.

Furthermore, every question item was analyzed using KR-20. From the calculation, it is shown that the reliability value (r11) is 0.30423. This result is reliable at level .001 which has minimum value 0.257. It can be concluded that the selected question items which have higher validity and reliability than the

minimum value, is presumed can be used to measure students’ ability in listening.

3.5.5 Listening Test (Pretest and Posttest)

As the researcher mentioned earlier, 30 question items were taken as the

instrument to measure students’ ability in listening. The question items were taken

from three question items which are classified as satisfying items, nineteen question items which are classified as poor items, and nine question items which are classified as very poor items. Those question items can be seen on Appendix. Then, the selected question items were given to the respondents as pre-test and post-test.

The aims of pretest are to investigate the students’ initial ability and to the

equivalence between the groups. In doing so, the researcher used t-test formula, Case II studies or independent sample test. In order to meet the requirement of t

test formula, there are three conditions that must be done. In line with this statement, Hatch & Farhady (1982, p. 114) states that there are three assumptions underlying the t-test, among other: (1) The subject is allotted to one group in

experiment, (2) The variances’ scores are equal and normally distributed, and (3)

The scores on the independent variable are continuous. For that reason, the researcher did the normality distribution and variance homogeneity test before analyzing the data using t-test formula.

3.5.6 Normality of Distribution Test

In this study, the researcher used the SPSS 20 for windows to analyze the normally distribution of the scores with the steps as follows:

1. Stating the hypothesis and setting the alpha level at 0.05 (two tailed test)

H0= the scores of the experimental and control group in pretest are not normally distributed

2. Analyzing the normality distribution using Kolmogrov-Smirnov formula in SPSS 20 for windows.

3. Comparing the Asymp Sig with the level of significance to test the hypothesis.

If the Asymp Sig < level of significance (0.05), then the null hypothesis accepted; the scores are not normally distributed. While, if the Asymp Sig > level of significance (0.05), then the null hypothesis is rejected; the scores are normally distributed.

3.5.7 The Homogeneity of Variance Test

In analyzing the variance homogeneity of the scores, the researcher used the Levene Test formula in SPSS 20 for window. The analyzing of variance homogeneity follows the steps below:

1. Stating the hypothesis and setting the alpha level at 0.05

H0= the variance of the experimental and control group in pretest are not homogenous

After the null hypothesis stated, then the research continued by analyzing the variance homogeneity using Levene Test formula in SPSS 20 for windows.

2. Comparing the probability with the level significance for testing the hypothesis.

If the probability < level of significance (0.05), then the null hypothesis is accepted; variance of the experimental and control group are not homogenous. While, if the probability > the level of significance (0.05) the null hypothesis is rejected; variance of the experimental and control group are homogenous.

3.5.8 The Calculation of t-test

After analyzing the normally distribution and the homogeneity of variance, the next step of the research is the t-test calculation (The calculation were performed in SPPS 20 for window), the calculation is as follow:

1. The calculation started by stating the hypothesis and setting the alpha level at 0.05 (two tailed test)

H0 = there is no significant difference between pretest and posttest scores in experimental group

2. The second step is finding the t value

3. And the last step is done by comparing the probability with the level of significance for testing the hypothesis. If the probability is more than or equal to the level of significance, the null hypothesis is accepted; the two groups are equivalent. While, if the probability is less than the level of significance, the null hypothesis is rejected; there is significant difference between pretest and posttest scores in experimental group.

3.5.9 Data Analysis on the Posttest

In calculating the posttest data, the researcher used the same steps as in calculating the pretest data. The researcher used t-test formula, Case II studies or independent sample test.

3.5.10 Data Analysis on the Experimental and the Control Group Scores

In analyzing the data, the researcher analyzed the pretest and posttest scores of experimental and control group using the matched t-test to investigate whether or not the difference of the pretest and posttest means of each groups is significant. In doing so, the steps are as follows:

1. The first step is stating the hypothesis and setting the alpha level at 0.05 (two tailed test)

H0 = there is no significant difference between the pretest and posttest scores

2. The second step is finding the t value

3. The last step is comparing the probability with the level of significance for testing the hypothesis. If the probability is smaller than the level of significance, the null hypothesis is accepted; there is no significant difference between pretest and posttest scores. While, if the value of probability is larger than or equal to the level of significance (0.05), then the null hypothesis is rejected; there is a significant difference between pretest and posttest scores. (The calculations were analyzed by SPSS 20 for window).

The scores of pre- and post-tests for the experimental group were also being analyzed to find out the level of listening comprehension mastery before and after learning song strategy or before and after treatment. Computing the average of each test was necessary to find out the mastery of listening comprehension. In doing so, the average scores of each test were calculated, so the mastery of each test will be known. The formula to compute average is as follows:

Where:

∑x = the sum of x scores (pretest)

N = the number subjects

And

Where:

My = average y (after treatment)

∑y = the sum of y scores (posttest)

N = the number subjects

After finding the average of each test, then the next step is interpreting what it means. The interpretation of the average lead us to knowing to what extent the mastery of listening comprehension before and after treatment will be. In line with this, Arikunto (1999) classifies the range of scores with its probable class performance. The classification is as the following:

Table 3.5

Test scores Probable Class Performance

80 – 100

66 – 79

56 – 55

40 – 55

30 – 39

Good to excellent

Average to good

Relatively

Poor to average

CHAPTER V

CONCLUSIONS AND SUGGESTIONS

This chapter presents the conclusion of what has been investigated in this research and the suggestion for further research. The conclusions part provide an interpretation of conducted research results, while suggestions provide some ideas addresed to English teacher and further research relating to the use of songs in English teaching and learning process especially listening.

5.1 Conclusions

Difficulties of some English teacher in teaching listening encourage the researcher to conduct this research. This research was applied to second grade students in one of public Junior High Scool at Sumedang. It is aimed at finding out whether or not songs could significantly improve the students’ listening comprehension. Moreover, the difficulties faced by the students in listening comprehension using songs are also discussed.

After conducting series of procedures in this research, it can be concluded that the null hypothesis of this research is rejected which means the use of songs can make likely significant difference in improving the students’ listening ability (6.542 > 2.021, α = 0.05, df = 58). The result is obtained through comparing the means scores of experimental group and control group which were 67.27 and 50 (paired sample t test using SPSS 20). Hence, it can be concluded that the use of songs is likely to be significant in improving the students’ listening comprehension.The following elaborations are expected to give explanation

concerning to factors that should be considered in order to make the use of songs is likely effective in improving the stdents’ listening ability.

The media of teaching and learning process, in this case songs, not only help the teacher to teach listening but also provide and interesting way for the students to achieve the learning goals. The media has contibuted a lot in making the students understand well the delivered lesson. Thus, a good media should has rich input and support the teaching and learning process. For this reason, songs are choosen as the media of English learning especially listening.

The content of the songs may become one of influential factors which may determine the improvement of the students’ listening ability. The songs which can be choosen as learning source and evaluation help the teacher to deliver learning material and assess the students’ progress effectively. The use of songs should consider students’ need so that it will help students to learn and achieve the learning objective. Songs used in teaching lietening comprehension are songs that can be a good model for language learner.

The teacher ability in selecting teaching material will influence the use of songs in improving the students’ listening ability. Besides, the teacher creativity in arranging good lesson plan also determine the success of using songs as the media of teaching and learning. In addition, the teacher’s ability also required in organizing classroom situation and operating multimedia tools so that the process of using songs as the media of teaching will be efffective. Therefore, it can be conclude that the use of songs in teaching the students’ listening ability is

influenced by some factors such as teacher’s creativity and the media used by teacher in listening comprehension.

The students agreed that the use of songs is effective in comprehending the listening comprehension. This activity enriches their vocabulary and helps them easily understand the material served by the teacher. Furthermore, it makes them motivated to learn. In conclusion, it is essential for the teacher to find effective way of teaching listening through songs so that the students gain the learning objectives. In doing so, the teacher creativity in developing the material, in this case song, is needed. The teacher should follow the principles criteria when they choose song as media of teaching listening. As it stated by Coromina, (2000) and Lynch, (2005), songs must have clear and understandable lyric. Thus, they suggest to avoid song which is too fast-paced and song in which the music buried the singer’s voice. The teacher must choose songs which are understandable; not too fast in term of rhythm so that the students could follow the material based on what they hear from the songs. The researcher believed that by following this principle, the difficulties faced by the students will be overcome and as the result, the teaching and learning process will be more interesting.

However, there are some difficulties faced by the students in listening comprehension using songs. The difficulties in listening ability mastery may be caused by new vocabularies, songs which are too fast-paced and the accent of the singer. Those matters become the main difficulties faced by the students in listening comprehension using songs. In addition, those difficulties do not become serious problem for the students in acquiring listening ability. It is evidenced by

the students’ response toward the use of song. The students are motivated to engage in teaching and learning process and also the good scores achieved by the students in posttest.

5.2 Suggestions

Considering what have been done in this research, there are several suggestions for further research in the field of the use of songs as the media in teaching and learning English. The suggestions are expected to be taken as consideration for the researchers who are willing to do the research at the same field.

English teachers are suggested to select appropriate songs to play. Songs whic are suitable for the teaching and learning process have been elaborated in previous section. For that reason, it is important for the teacher to select appropriate songs which can help the students learn the language and gain learning objectives

Besides, the teachers are suggested to arrange a good lesson plan which which consider the activity of checking the students’ attention so that the listening comprehension will be effective. It is not suggested to let the students enjoy listening to the songs in a long duration without checking their attention. The teacher could check the students’ attention by identifying their assignment.

The next point is, since this research concerned on listening skill only, it is suggested for further researcher to pay attention to other language skills; speaking, writing, and reading. Focusing on the teacher’s performance in this research, it is

recommended for the teacher to develop their creativity and ability to present interesting and enjoyable learning activities. The teachers are suggested to develop these creativities since the students will not be engaged in the activities if the learning activity is not interesting and enjoyable. To make it more interesting, the teacher can present the teaching and learning process in such a fun way as games, teamwork or discussion. Giving rewards also appropriate in the teaching and learning process. With rewards, the students will also encuraged to give more attention to the material presented by the teacher.

The teacher is also required to consider the situation where the teaching and learning process take place. Finding a way to overcome this situation also becomes challenge for the teacher when using song for the media of teaching listening. The use of language laboratory would be necessary when the teacher wants to use songs as the media of teaching listening. Basically, songs involve sound which the learner required to comprehend. By using language laboratory the material would be delivered to the students and take no consideration of the noises which disrupt the teaching and learning process

However, due to the limitation of this research, the result of this research cannot be generalized. The samples and time are limited since this research employed quasi-experimental research design. Hence, conducting true-experimental research which involves larger samples and longer time is suggested for further research.

References

Alam, Z. (2009). Developing Listening Skills for Tertiary Level Learners, a Dhaka University Journal of Linguistics. Bangladesh: Daka University. Arikunto, S. (1999). Dasar-Dasar Evaluasi Pendidikan. Jakarta: Bumi Aksara. Bae, S, Y. (2006). Facilitating Second Language Learning with Music. Retrieved

on 29 November, 2011 from http://web.ebscohost.com/ehost/detail?sid =f913dfb8-7861-459c-8584-541dabe66c42%40sessionmgr110&vid= 1&hid=104&bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWhvc3QtbGl2ZQ%3d%3d#db=ehh&AN =22997497

Beal, M, L. et al. (2008). State of the Context: Listening in Education. Routledge, Taylor & Francis Group, LLC

Brown, S. (2006). Teaching Listening. New York: Cambridge University Press. Camilo, M, N. (2008). Using Rock Music as a Teaching-Learning Tool. Sede

Bogotá, Colombia: Universidad National de Colombia

Cohen, L., Manion, L., Morison, K., Morison K, R, B. (2007). Research Method in Education: Sixth Edition. _{New York: Routledge.}

Coolidge, F, L. (2000). Statistics: A Gentle Introduction. Wilshire: Great Britain: The Cromwell Press Ltd, Trowbridge.

Coromina, I, S. (2000). An Original Approach to the Teaching of Songs in the Classroom. Retrieved on December 1, 2011 from

http://exchanges.state.gov/englishteaching/forum-journal.html.

Foddy, W. (1993). Constructing Questions for Interviews and Questionnaires: Theory and Practice in Social Research. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Guo, N. & Wills, R. (2004). An Investigation of Factors Influencing English Listening Comprehension and Possible Measures for Improvement, a research Paper: Australia

Hatch, E, M., & Farhady, H. (1982). Research Design and Statistics for Applied Linguistics. Rowley: Newbury House

Henrichsen, L. (1997). Research method in TESL and Language Acquisitions. Retrieved on April 15, 2012 from http://linguistics.byu.edu/ faculty/henrichsenl/researchmethods/RM_1_01.html

Hornby, A, S. (2000). Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary. New York: Oxford University Press

Kamin, R. (1997). Music: An Appreciation. Mc Graw-Hill College; 3rd edition. Retrieved on 12 February 2012 from http://online.sagepub.com/

Kirwan, M. (2009). Veterinary Communication Skills.Oklahoma: Blackwell Publishing Ltd.

Kouri, T., & Telander, K. (2008). Children's reading comprehension and narrative recall in sung and spoken story context. Los angeles: Sage Publication

Kranzler, G., & Moursund, J. (1999). Statistics for the Terrified. Second Edition.

Prentice Hall, Upper Saddle River, New Jersey

Lawson, K. (2007). The Importance of Listening. Lansdale: Lawson consulting. Lynch, M, L. (2005). Using Popular Song to Improve language Listening

Comprehension Skills. Retrieved on November 29, 2011 from http://ezinearticles.com/?Using-Popular-Songs-to-Improve-Language-Listening-Comprehension-Skills&id=104984

Mizener, C, P. (2008). Enhancing Language Skills through Music. A National Association for Music Education journal. Retrieved on April 19, 2012 from http://gmt.sagepub.com/content/21/2/11

Murcia, M, C. (2007). Rethinking the Role of Communicative Competence in Language Teaching. United States of America: University of California Murphey, T (1990). Song and Music in Language learning. New York: Bern,

Frankfurt and Main.

Purdy, M., & Borisoff, D. (1997). Listening in everyday life: a personal and professional approach. United States: University Press of America.

Rafiee, M. (2010). The Application of Humorous Song in EFL Classrooms and Its Effects on Listening Comprehension, an English Language Teaching

Journal. Retrieved on December 1, 2011

http://web.ebscohost.com/ehost/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?vid=4&hid=127&sid =8db1a34f-2628-4ec4-b8a5-65c2063d5cfd%40sessionmgr115

Richard, J. (1990). Designing Instructional Material for Teaching Listening Comprehension. Retrieved on December 1, 2011 from http://www.teachingenglish.org.uk

Riduwan. (2004). Metode dan Teknik Menyusun Tesis. Alfabeta: Bandung

Roy, K., & Amanda, S. (2005). A pilot Study: The Effect of Music Therapy Interventions on Middle School Students’ ESL Skill. United States of America: ProQuest Education Journal.

Saricoban, A., & Metin E. (2000). Songs, Verse and Games for Teaching Grammar: Ankara, Turkey: Hacettepe University & Cankaya University.

Retrieved on December 11, 2011 from

http://iteslj.org/Techniques/Saricoban-Songs.html

Schwartz, A, M. (1998). Listening in a foreign language: Modules for the professional preparation of teaching assistants in foreign languages. Washington DC: Grace Stovall Burkhart, ed.

Snell, J. (1999). Improving Teacher-Student Interaction in the EFL Classroom: An Action Research Report. Retrieved on November 7 2011 from http://iteslj.org/Articles/Snell-Interaction.html

Spitzberg, B, H. (1988). Progress and Pitfalls in Conceptualizing and Researching Intercultural Communication Competence. Paper presented at the Speech Communication Association Conference. New Orleans: Los Angeles. Trinick, R, M. (2011). Sound and Sight: The Use of Song to Promote Language

Learning. A National Association for Music Education Journal. Retrieved on April 19, 2012 from http://gmt.sagepub.com/content/25/2/5

Ur, P. (2000). A Course in Language Teaching: Practice and Theory. Cambridge UP.

Wallace et al. (2004). Teaching Speaking, Listening, and Writing, an International Academy of Education journal. Retrieved on November 7 2011 from http://www.curtin.edu.au/curtin/dept/smec/iae

Xu, F. (2011). The Priority of Listening Comprehension over Speaking in the Language Acquisition Process. Canada: Canadian Center of Science and Education.

the students’ response toward the use of song. The students are motivated to

engage in teaching and learning process and also the good scores achieved by the students in posttest.

5.2 Suggestions

Considering what have been done in this research, there are several suggestions for further research in the field of the use of songs as the media in teaching and learning English. The suggestions are expected to be taken as consideration for the researchers who are willing to do the research at the same field.

English teachers are suggested to select appropriate songs to play. Songs whic are suitable for the teaching and learning process have been elaborated in previous section. For that reason, it is important for the teacher to select appropriate songs which can help the students learn the language and gain learning objectives

Besides, the teachers are suggested to arrange a good lesson plan which which consider the activity of checking the students’ attention so that the listening comprehension will be effective. It is not suggested to let the students enjoy listening to the songs in a long duration without checking their attention. The teacher could check the students’ attention by identifying their assignment.

The next point is, since this research concerned on listening skill only, it is suggested for further researcher to pay attention to other language skills; speaking, writing, and reading. Focusing on the teacher’s performance in this research, it is

recommended for the teacher to develop their creativity and ability to present interesting and enjoyable learning activities. The teachers are suggested to develop these creativities since the students will not be engaged in the activities if the learning activity is not interesting and enjoyable. To make it more interesting, the teacher can present the teaching and learning process in such a fun way as games, teamwork or discussion. Giving rewards also appropriate in the teaching and learning process. With rewards, the students will also encuraged to give more attention to the material presented by the teacher.

The teacher is also required to consider the situation where the teaching and learning process take place. Finding a way to overcome this situation also becomes challenge for the teacher when using song for the media of teaching listening. The use of language laboratory would be necessary when the teacher wants to use songs as the media of teaching listening. Basically, songs involve sound which the learner required to comprehend. By using language laboratory the material would be delivered to the students and take no consideration of the noises which disrupt the teaching and learning process

However, due to the limitation of this research, the result of this research cannot be generalized. The samples and time are limited since this research employed quasi-experimental research design. Hence, conducting true-experimental research which involves larger samples and longer time is suggested for further research.

References

Alam, Z. (2009). Developing Listening Skills for Tertiary Level Learners, a Dhaka University Journal of Linguistics. Bangladesh: Daka University. Arikunto, S. (1999). Dasar-Dasar Evaluasi Pendidikan. Jakarta: Bumi Aksara. Bae, S, Y. (2006). Facilitating Second Language Learning with Music. Retrieved

on 29 November, 2011 from http://web.ebscohost.com/ehost/detail?sid =f913dfb8-7861-459c-8584-541dabe66c42%40sessionmgr110&vid= 1&hid=104&bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWhvc3QtbGl2ZQ%3d%3d#db=ehh&AN =22997497

Beal, M, L. et al. (2008). State of the Context: Listening in Education. Routledge, Taylor & Francis Group, LLC

Brown, S. (2006). Teaching Listening. New York: Cambridge University Press. Camilo, M, N. (2008). Using Rock Music as a Teaching-Learning Tool. Sede

Bogotá, Colombia: Universidad National de Colombia

Cohen, L., Manion, L., Morison, K., Morison K, R, B. (2007). Research Method in

Education: Sixth Edition. _{New York: Routledge.}

Coolidge, F, L. (2000). Statistics: A Gentle Introduction. Wilshire: Great Britain: The Cromwell Press Ltd, Trowbridge.

Coromina, I, S. (2000). An Original Approach to the Teaching of Songs in the Classroom. Retrieved on December 1, 2011 from

http://exchanges.state.gov/englishteaching/forum-journal.html.

Foddy, W. (1993). Constructing Questions for Interviews and Questionnaires: Theory and Practice in Social Research. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Guo, N. & Wills, R. (2004). An Investigation of Factors Influencing English Listening Comprehension and Possible Measures for Improvement, a research Paper: Australia

Hatch, E, M., & Farhady, H. (1982). Research Design and Statistics for Applied Linguistics. Rowley: Newbury House

Henrichsen, L. (1997). Research method in TESL and Language Acquisitions. Retrieved on April 15, 2012 from http://linguistics.byu.edu/ faculty/henrichsenl/researchmethods/RM_1_01.html

Hornby, A, S. (2000). Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary. New York: Oxford University Press

Kamin, R. (1997). Music: An Appreciation. Mc Graw-Hill College; 3rd edition. Retrieved on 12 February 2012 from http://online.sagepub.com/

Kirwan, M. (2009). Veterinary Communication Skills.Oklahoma: Blackwell Publishing Ltd.

Kouri, T., & Telander, K. (2008). Children's reading comprehension and narrative recall in sung and spoken story context. Los angeles: Sage Publication

Kranzler, G., & Moursund, J. (1999). Statistics for the Terrified. Second Edition.

Prentice Hall, Upper Saddle River, New Jersey

Lawson, K. (2007). The Importance of Listening. Lansdale: Lawson consulting. Lynch, M, L. (2005). Using Popular Song to Improve language Listening

Comprehension Skills. Retrieved on November 29, 2011 from http://ezinearticles.com/?Using-Popular-Songs-to-Improve-Language-Listening-Comprehension-Skills&id=104984

Mizener, C, P. (2008). Enhancing Language Skills through Music. A National Association for Music Education journal. Retrieved on April 19, 2012 from http://gmt.sagepub.com/content/21/2/11

Murcia, M, C. (2007). Rethinking the Role of Communicative Competence in Language Teaching. United States of America: University of California Murphey, T (1990). Song and Music in Language learning. New York: Bern,

Rafiee, M. (2010). The Application of Humorous Song in EFL Classrooms and Its Effects on Listening Comprehension, an English Language Teaching

Journal. Retrieved on December 1, 2011

http://web.ebscohost.com/ehost/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?vid=4&hid=127&sid =8db1a34f-2628-4ec4-b8a5-65c2063d5cfd%40sessionmgr115

Richard, J. (1990). Designing Instructional Material for Teaching Listening Comprehension. Retrieved on December 1, 2011 from http://www.teachingenglish.org.uk

Riduwan. (2004). Metode dan Teknik Menyusun Tesis. Alfabeta: Bandung

Roy, K., & Amanda, S. (2005). A pilot Study: The Effect of Music Therapy Interventions on Middle School Students’ ESL Skill. United States of America: ProQuest Education Journal.

Saricoban, A., & Metin E. (2000). Songs, Verse and Games for Teaching Grammar: Ankara, Turkey: Hacettepe University & Cankaya University.

Retrieved on December 11, 2011 from

http://iteslj.org/Techniques/Saricoban-Songs.html

Schwartz, A, M. (1998). Listening in a foreign language: Modules for the professional preparation of teaching assistants in foreign languages. Washington DC: Grace Stovall Burkhart, ed.

Snell, J. (1999). Improving Teacher-Student Interaction in the EFL Classroom: An Action Research Report. Retrieved on November 7 2011 from http://iteslj.org/Articles/Snell-Interaction.html

Spitzberg, B, H. (1988). Progress and Pitfalls in Conceptualizing and Researching Intercultural Communication Competence. Paper presented at the Speech Communication Association Conference. New Orleans: Los Angeles. Trinick, R, M. (2011). Sound and Sight: The Use of Song to Promote Language

Learning. A National Association for Music Education Journal. Retrieved on April 19, 2012 from http://gmt.sagepub.com/content/25/2/5

Ur, P. (2000). A Course in Language Teaching: Practice and Theory. Cambridge UP.

Wallace et al. (2004). Teaching Speaking, Listening, and Writing, an International Academy of Education journal. Retrieved on November 7 2011 from http://www.curtin.edu.au/curtin/dept/smec/iae

Xu, F. (2011). The Priority of Listening Comprehension over Speaking in the Language Acquisition Process. Canada: Canadian Center of Science and Education.