A Study on the use of classroom language functions by the biology teacher of SMUN I Sleman Yogyakarta - USD Repository
A STUD DY ON THE E USE OF C CLASSROO OM LANGU UAGE FUN NCTIONS BY THE E BIOLOGY Y TEACHE ER OF SMU UN 1 SLEM MAN YOGY YAKARTA A THESIS S
Present ted as Partial l Fulfillment t of the Requ uirements to o Obtain the Sarjana Pen ndidikan Deg gree in Englis sh Language e Education
By
Dani iel Ari Widh hiatama Student Number: 05 5 1214 065
E NGLISH L LANGUAGE E EDUCAT TION STUD DY PROGRA AM
DE EPARTME ENT OF LA NGUAGE A AND ARTS S EDUCATIION FA ACULTY O OF TEACHE ERS TRAIN NING AND D EDUCATI
ION SANATA D S DHARMA U UNIVERSIT TY YO OGYAKAR RTA 2011
A STUD DY ON THE E USE OF C CLASSROO OM LANGU UAGE FUN NCTIONS BY THE E BIOLOGY Y TEACHE ER OF SMU UN 1 SLEM MAN YOGY YAKARTA A THESIS S
Present ted as Partial l Fulfillment t of the Requ uirements to o Obtain the Sarjana Pen ndidikan Deg gree in Englis sh Language e Education
By
Dani iel Ari Widh hiatama Student Number: 05 5 1214 065
E NGLISH L LANGUAGE E EDUCAT TION STUD DY PROGRA AM
DE EPARTME ENT OF LA NGUAGE A AND ARTS S EDUCATIION FA ACULTY O OF TEACHE ERS TRAIN NING AND D EDUCATI
ION S SANATA D DHARMA U UNIVERSIT TY YO OGYAKAR RTA 2011
DON'T QUIT
by Edgar A. Guest Success is a failure turned inside out- The silver tint of the clouds of doubt,
And you never can tell how close you are; It may be near when it seems afar;
So stick on the fight when you’re hardest hit,
IT’S WHEN THINGS SEEM WORST THAT YOU MUSN’T QUIT
“SEIZE THE DAY OR DIE REGRETTING THE TIME YOU LOST”
(by: Avenged Sevenfold - Seize The Day)
!!
The greatest pleasure in life is doing what people say you cannot do
(by: Walter Bagehot)
This thesis is dedicated to:
9 My beloved father and mother
9 My dearly-loved mbah kung and mbah uti
9 My beloved brothers: Mas Kris and Dek Nico
9 Everyone who has supported me and from whom I learn many things in life
STATEMENT OF WORK’S ORIGINALITY
I honestly declare that this thesis, which I have written, does not contain the work
or parts of the work of other people, expect those cited in the quotations and the
references, as a scientific paper should.
Yogyakarta, February 7, 2011
The Writer,
Daniel Ari Widhiatama
05 1214 065
ABSTRACT
Widhiatama, Daniel Ari. 2011. A Study on the Use of Classroom Language
Functions by the Biology Teacher of SMUN 1 Sleman Yogyakarta. Yogyakarta:
English Language Education Study Program, Sanata Dharma University.This research is aimed to know the use of classroom language functions by the Biology teacher in SMUN 1 Sleman as a RSBI. One of the methods that teachers in RSBI can use to make a good interaction with the students in bilingual class is by applying classroom language function in English. Some classroom language functions which are often used by teachers are greeting, instructing, explaining, conveying the meaning of new language, narrating, correcting, eliciting, prompting, checking learning, giving feedback to students, and closing. This research was aimed to answer two research questions, those are (1) What classroom language functions are used by the Biology teacher of the tenth grade of SMUN 1 Sleman to deliver learning materials in English? (2) What are the difficulties faced by the Biology teacher of the tenth grade of SMUN 1 Sleman in applying classroom language functions to deliver learning materials in English?
This research was included as descriptive qualitative research. In order to answer the two research questions, interview and direct observation were employed in the research. In addition, the research also employed video camera to record the teacher’s performance. The purpose was to complete the data obtained from the fieldnotes. The researcher categorized the problems faced by the biology teacher into three categories. The first category was that the difficulty caused by the teacher’s habit. This category included (1) the teacher’s habit to open the meeting by using Arabic greeting (2) The teacher never tried to use English to close the meeting.
The second category was the difficulty caused by the limited of English proficiency faced by the teacher which included (1) The teacher did not know what question to be used to elicit students’ opinion in English (2) The teacher did not know how to construct a good sentence with an appropriate grammar to convey a new meaning in English (3) The teacher did not know how to instruct students by using English spontaneously (4) The difficulty in narrating a particular event using English with an appropriate sentence structure (5) The teacher did not know how to give a clue to help students remind a particular learning materials (6) The teacher had a difficulty in constructing a correct sentence by using English to explain a certain part of learning materials (7) The teacher still made a mistake in using a correct question in English to measure the students’ understanding level (8) The teacher felt that she was not fluent enough to correct students mistake in English (9) The teacher had a limited of utterance to commend on students’ performance (10) The teacher had a difficulty in memorizing any kind of new words
The third category was the difficulty that was caused by the limited of time to learn English. This category included one problem, which was the limited of time that the teacher had to learn English because she had so many things to do.
Considering the research result, the researcher provided several suggestions that the biology teacher may use in order to solve the problems and improve the biology teacher’s competence in applying classroom language functions in English.
Keywords: classroom language functions, RSBI implementation
ABSTRAK
Widhiatama, Daniel Ari. 2011. A Study on the Use of Classroom Language
Functions by the Biology Teacher of SMUN 1 Sleman Yogyakarta. Yogyakarta:
Program Studi Pendidikan Bahasa Inggris, Universitas Sanata Dharma.Penelitian ini bertujuan untuk mempelajari tentang penggunaan fungsi bahasa kelas dalam bahasa Inggris yang dilakukan oleh guru Biologi di kelas X di SMUN 1 Sleman sebagai Rintisan Sekolah Bertaraf Internasional (RSBI). Salah satu cara yang bisa digunakan oleh guru–guru di RSBI untuk menciptakan sebuah interaksi yang baik dengan para murid adalah dengan menggunakan fungsi bahasa kelas dalam bahasa Inggris di kelas bilingual. Beberapa fungsi bahasa kelas yang sering digunakan oleh guru-guru diantaranya adalah greeting, instructing, explaining,
conveying the meaning of new language, narrating, correcting, eliciting, prompting,
checking learning, giving feedback to students dan closing. Pelitian ini bertujuan
untuk menjawab 2 pertanyaan, yaitu (1) fungsi bahasa kelas apa saja yang digunakan oleh guru Biologi di SMUN 1 Sleman, khususnya di kelas X, dalam menyampaikan bahan ajar dalam bahasa Inggris? (2) kesulitan apa saja yang dihadapi oleh guru Biologi tersebut dalam menggunakan fungsi bahasa kelas untuk menyampaikan bahan ajar dengan bahasa Inggris?
Penelitian ini termasuk deskriptif kualitatif. Peneliti menggunakan 2 tehnik pengumpulan data untuk memecahkan masalah dalam penelitian ini yaitu wawancara dan observasi secara langsung. Selain itu, peneliti menggunakan kamera video untuk merekam penampilan guru untuk melengkapi data dari fieldnotes. Peneliti mengelompokkan masalah yang dihadapi oleh guru biologi menjadi tiga kategori. Kategori pertama adalah masalah yang disebabkan oleh kebiasaan guru dalam membuka pelajaran dengan menggunakan bahasa Arab. Kategori ini meliputi (1) kebiasaan guru dalam membuka pelajaran dengan menggunakan sapaan dalam bahasa Arab (2) Guru tidak pernah menggunakan bahasa Inggris dalam menutup pelajaran.
Kategori kedua adalah kesulitan-kesulitan yang disebabkan karena keterbatasan kemampuan dalam berbahasa Inggris yang dimiliki guru tersebut yang meliputi (1) Guru tidak tahu pertanyaan seperti apa yang digunakan untuk mendapatkan pendapat dari siswa (2) Guru tidak tahu cara untuk menyusun sebuah kalimat dengan grammar yang tepat untuk menjelaskan makna kata baru (3) Guru tidak tahu cara memerintah siswa dengan bahasa Inggris secara langsung (4) Guru mengalami kesulitan dalam menceritakan suatu kejadian dalam bahasa Inggris dengan tepat (5) Guru tidak tahu cara memberikan petunjuk untuk membantu siswa dalam mengingat suatu bahan ajar tertentu (6) Guru mengalami kesulitan dalam membuat sebuah kalimat yang tepat dalam menjelaskan suatu bagian tertentu di dalam bahan ajar (7) Guru masih membuat kesalahan dalam membuat pertanyaan untuk memeriksa tingkat pemahaman siswa (8) Guru merasa tidak cukup lancar
dalam mengkoreksi kesalahan siswa dengan menggunakan bahasa Inggris (9) Guru mempunyai keterbatasan kosakata untuk memberikan komentar terhadap penampilan siswa (10) Guru mempunyai kesulitan dalam mengingat kosakata baru.
Kategori ketiga adalah kesulitan yang disebabkan oleh karena keterbatasan waktu untuk belajar bahasa Inggris. Kategori ini meliputi satu masalah yaitu guru tidak mempunyai banyak waktu untuk belajar bahasa Inggris karena kegiatan lain yang harus ia kerjakan.
Setelah mengamati hasil dari penelitian ini, peneliti memberikan beberapa saran yang bisa digunakan oleh guru Biologi untuk menyelesaikan masalah-masalah yang dihadapi dan untuk meningkatan kemampuan guru dalam menggunakan fungsi bahasa kelas.
Kata kunci: fungsi bahasa kelas, pelaksanaan RSBI
LEMBAR PERNYATAAN PERSETUJUAN
PUBLIKASI KARYA ILMIAH UNTUK KEPERLUAN AKADEMIS
Yang bertanda tangan di bawah ini, saya mahasiswa Universitas Sanata Dharma:
Nama : Daniel Ari WidhiatamaNo. Mahasiswa : 05 1214 065
Demi pengembangan ilmu pengetahuan, saya memberikan kepada Perpustakaan
Universitas Sanata Dharma Karya Ilmiah saya yang berjudul: A STUDY ON THE USE OF CLASSROOM LANGUAGE FUNCTIONS BY THE BIOLOGY TEACHER OF SMUN 1 SLEMAN YOGYAKARTADengan demikian saya memberikan hak kepada Perpustakaan Universitas Sanata
Dharma hak untuk menyimpan, mengalihkan dalam bentuk media lain dan
mengelolanya dalam bentuk pangkalan data, mendistribusikannya di internet atau
media lain untuk kepentingan akademis tanpa perlu meminta ijin dari saya
ataupun memberikan royalti kepada saya selama mencantumkan nama saya
sebagai penulis.Demikian pernyataan saya buat dengan yang sebenarnya. Dibuat di Yogyakarta. Pada tanggal: 7 Februari 2011 Yang menyatakan Daniel Ari Widhiatama
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
It will be a wonderful opportunity for me to express my deepest gratitude to all of those who have supported and facilitated me in accomplishing this thesis. First and foremost, my greatest gratitude is addressed to Jesus Christ and Mother Mary for the blessings which have been given to me so that I can finish my thesis and my study.
For the beneficial feedback, encouragement, and patience, I would like to express my heartfelt teacher and my sponsor, Mrs. Dr. Retno Muljani, M.Pd., who is willing to spend her precious time for the dedication to develop her students. I particularly appreciate her detail correction. I am truly indebted to all of my lecturers
in PBI who have educated me very well. I also thank Mbak Danik and Mbak Tari
for giving me a hand in administrative matters.I would also like to address my special gratitude to the principal of SMUN 1 SLEMAN Yogyakarta, Drs. Tulus Raharjo, who has permitted me to conduct my research there. I would also like to address my thanks to the Biology teacher in the RSBI class, Dra. Nunung Sri Nuryani and also Drs. Mujiyatna Basuki, who helped me during the research. Besides, I also want to address my big thanks to the head of curriculum development, Drs. Sulistyo Pranoto, for giving me a lot of information about the development of RSBI program in SMUN1 Sleman.
I am immeasurably grateful to my beloved parents, Heronimus Sudjati and
Yustina Suharni who have supported me through the prayer, companion, hope,
guidance and a lot of affection. I would also like to thank my beloved brothers,
Christianus Kurnia Widhiawan and Nicodemus Yan Prima Widhia Nugraha for
their support during the completion of this thesis.My thanks also go to my best friends in MILESTONE English Course,
Wahyu ‘Joek’, Adit ‘Kothak’, Endru, Datia, Nita, Siska and Rimas for a
wonderful friendship that we have. I am glad to be the part of this solid group. My thankfulness is also given to all friends from PBI Angkatan ’05 for sharing a precious time and great experiences during my period of study in Sanata Dharma University.
I also would like to address my special appreciation to my best friend Fillus for helping me recording the teaching and learning process in RSBI class of SMUN 1 Sleman Yogyakarta when I conducted some observations there. Great thanks also fly to Candra ‘Dewa’ for keeping my data safe and helping me with the troubleshooting when my laptop was damaged. Thanks to Invani Leila, Bangkit Setiyaji and
Stephen Lenghaus for becoming my proofreaders and giving me a lot of
suggestions. My sincere thanks also go to Andre, Maria, Ida, Ade, Antik, Aya’,
Mbak Maya, Mas Wawan, Mbak Lenny, Mas Toro, Mbak Restu, Benny, Anton ,
Dika ‘Plongoh’, Sedik ‘Sedin’, Adit ‘Koel’ and Benny ‘Gondrong’, who always
supported and accompanied me when I was down.Many thanks are also addressed to all of my friends in Language Institute
Sanata Dharma University (LBUSD). They have been accompanying me during
good and bad times, especially when I was engaged in Lembaga Bahasa USD. Their laughter, jokes, hard work and spirit have made things easier.
There are other people whom I cannot mention individually, but surely this thesis could not been completed without their help. May God bless them all.
Daniel Ari Widhiatama
TABLE OF CONTENTS page
TITLE PAGE ………………………………………………………………….. i APPROVAL PAGES ………………………………………………………….. ii MOTTO AND DEDICATION PAGE………………………………………… iii STATEMENT OF WORK’S ORIGINALITY …………………...…………… v
ABSTRACT …………………………………………………………………… vi
ABSTRAK ………………………………………………………………………. viii LEMBARPERNYATAAN PERSETUJUAN PUBLIKASI KARYA x
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ……………………………………………………. xi TABLE OF CONTENTS …………………………………………………….... xiii LIST OF TABLES ……………………………………………………………... xvi LIST OF FIGURES ……………………………………………………............. xviii LIST OF APPENDICES………………………………………………………... xix
CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION…………………………………………........
1 A. Research Background…………………………………………….................
1 B. Problem Formulation………………………………………………..............
5 C. Problem Limitation……………………………………...…………………..
5 D. Research Objectives…………………………………………………............
6 E. Research Benefits……………………………………………………………
6 F. Definition of Terms……………………………………………….................
7 CHAPTER II REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE…………………. 9 A. Theoretical Description……………………………………………………..
9 1. Bilingual Education………………………………………........................
10 2. Language Functions Theory ……………………………..........................
11
3. Classroom Language Functions………………………..…………............
12 4. Teacher Talk………………………………..…………………………….
22
a. The definition of Teacher Talk……………………………………
22 b. The roles of teacher talk in managing classroom…………… ……..
23 c. The functional features of Teacher Talk……..................................
24 5. The Role of Interaction in Bilingual Class……………………………….
24 6. SBI (Sekolah Berstandar Internasional) Curriculum…………………….
25 B. Theoretical Framework……………………...………………........................
26 CHAPTER III. METHODOLOGY…………………………………………..
28 A. Research Method …………………………….……………………………...
28 B. Research Participant……………………….………………………………...
29 C. Research Instruments…………………….………………………................
30 D. Data Gathering Technique…………………………………………………..
33 E. Data Analysis Technique……………………………………………………
34 F. Research Procedure …………………………………………………...........
39 CHAPTER IV RESEARCH FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION…………….. 41
A. Classroom Language Functions Used by the Biology Teacher in Tenth grade of SMUN 1 Sleman in Delivering Materials in English…………………………… ……………… ………………………..
41 B. The difficulties faced by the Biology teacher of grade tenth in SMUN I Sleman in using classroom language functions in English………………….
51
1. The difficulties faced by the biology teacher in grade tenth in applying classroom language functions caused by the teacher’s habit to always use Indonesian………………………………………
51
2. The difficulties faced by the Biology teacher of grade tenth in applying classroom language functions caused by her limited of
English proficiency…………………………………………………. 52
3. The difficulty faced by the Biology teacher in grade tenth in applying classroom language functions caused by a limited of time to learn English……………………………………………...
59 CHAPTER V CONCLUSIONS AND SUGGESTIONS……………………
60 A. Conclusions…………………………………………………..……………. 60
B. Suggestions………………………………………………………………... 62
1. The suggestions based on the teacher’s difficulties caused by the teacher’s habit to use Indonesian frequently…………………….
2. The suggestions based on the teacher’s difficulties caused by her lack of English language proficiency ………………….............
3. The suggestion based on the teacher’s difficulty caused by her limited of time to learn English……………………………………
62
63
69 REFERENCES ………………………………………………………………….
71
LIST OF TABLES
TABLE Table 3.1 Observation Checklist……………………………………………….
30 Table. 3.2 The Categorization of the First Interview Results with the Biology
th Teacher, 10 Grade …………………………………………………………….
35 Table 3.3 The Use of Classroom Language Functions
th
in Biology Class, 10 Grade……………………………………………………
36 Table. 3.4 The Categorization of the Second Interview Results with the
th Biology Teacher, 10 Grade…………………………………………………….
38 Table 4.1The Findings on the Use of Classroom Language Functions in
th
Biology Class, 10 Grade………………………………………..………………
42
LIST OF APPENDICES
Appendix APPENDIX A Permission Letters
1. Permission Letter from Sanata Dharma University….............................................................................
74 2. Permission Letter from BAPPEDA…………………………...
75 APPENDIX B Statement Letter from SMUN 1 Sleman Yogyakarta….............
76 APPENDIX C Statement Letter from Direktur Pembinaan Sekolah Menengah Atas about Penetapan Sekolah Penyelenggara Program Rintisan Sekolah Menengah Atas Bertaraf Internasional (R SMA BI)…………………………...
77 APPENDIX D The Interview Guidelines for the Biology Teacher,
th 10 Grade……………………………………………………..………………..
81 APENDIX E The Categorization of the First Interview Result with
th
the Biology Teacher, 10 Grade ……………..…………………………………
83 APPENDIX F The Categorization of the Second Interview Result with
th the biology Teacher,10 Grade…………………..……………………………..
93 APPENDIX G The Observation Sheet for the Biology Teacher,
th
10 Grade…………………..……………………………………………………
99 APPENDIX H Fieldnotes………………………………………………………. 101
CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION In this chapter, the writer would like to discuss the background of the study,
problem formulation, problem limitation, research objectives, research benefits, and the definition of terms used in this research.
A. Research Background
The need of being able to master oral and written English is essential in this globalization era, where people from all over the world use English as the main language of communication. English has become an international language for most people (Lewis and Hill, 2002). In this era, English mastery is an important requirement for someone to be referred to as a high quality human resource. Indonesia government has also realized the importance of mastering English language in recent years since English is also a universal language. That is why the government has decreed English as a compulsory subject to learn from the level of elementary school until the level of senior high school.
Nowadays, many schools in Indonesia have declared to change their status into Rintisan Sekolah Berstandar Internasional (RSBI) as a preparation to be a
Sekolah Berstandar Internasional (SBI). One of the Government acts regulating SBI
is government regulation number 20, year 2003 on National Education System of
Indonesia, article 50 verse 3 which states that “the national government together with the local government initiate at minimum one school in the level of Elementary School, Junior High School and Senior High School to be developed into SBI
2009
(Sekolah Berstandar Internasional) ”. Chodidjah ( ), a British Council education
advisor, states that SBI is a national school which adopts an international standard curriculum, hence, the teaching and learning process at the school is conducted using bilingual instruction. Through bilingual instruction, the government hopes that both teachers and students are able to learn English while the teaching and learning process occurs. Mackey (1971) as cited by Hoffman (1991) says that “bilingualism is the alternate use of two or more languages by the same individual”.
In RSBI, English has already been pointed out as a second language to use in the classroom. It has been explained on the explanation to the Act on National Education System of Indonesia, National Gazette of the Republic of Indonesia Number 78, 2003, article 37, verse 1, which states that “local language can be used as the mother-tongue of the learner. Foreign languages, especially English language, can be used as a means, in global dealing”. This situation challenges every teacher of RSBI schools to be able to deliver the materials by using both Indonesia and English as an international language. So, there should be a guarantee that teachers have first mastered English well, at least when they instruct students to do something, so that they would be able to convey the knowledge correctly to avoid ambiguity of
meaning. The teachers and also the students of RSBI are expected to be able to communicate well using Indonesian and English.
There are some problems which need to be solved concerning the process of preparing a bilingual class in a particular school. One of the important problems towards the development of RSBI in Indonesia which are often discussed in many media, such as internet or newspaper is about the RSBI teacher’s competence in using English. Dharma (2010) states that as many as 60% of 600 headmasters and teachers of RSBI school in Indonesia do not have a sufficient TOEIC score to be a RSBI teacher. Some non English teachers only learn to improve English in short courses and it seems that they still have problems in using English as the medium of interaction in the teaching and learning process.
The interaction between teachers and students is also important because without any interaction, teacher would not be able to transfer the teaching materials perfectly. The ability of teachers to communicate with students also becomes an important thing to consider. They will use some classroom languages, which are defined as Teacher Talk (Ellis, 1985, as cited in Xiao-yan, 2006), to support the communication process between teachers and their students. It is obvious that classroom languages will be frequently used to gain some purposes, such as to manage learning activities, to explain learning points, to move step by step from one stage of a lesson to the next and many other purposes. These purposes are commonly known as classroom language functions.
According to Harmer (2007), “language function is a purpose people wish to achieve when they say or write something. By performing the function, people are performing an act of communication”. Language function is also used by teachers in classroom when they are delivering learning materials. Spratt, Pulverness, and Williams (2005) argue that in order to be able to manage the class well, teachers should apply some classroom language functions which are frequently used in an appropriate way, such as: instructing, explaining, conveying the meaning of new language, narrating, correcting, eliciting, prompting, and checking learning. Besides, Davies and Pearse (2000) also add some other classroom language functions such as greeting, closing and giving feedback to students.
Considering this condition, the researcher will analyze the English classroom language functions which are used by non English teacher and after that the researcher also intends to discover the difficulties faced by the non English language teachers especially in bilingual class. The researcher decides to conduct the research in Biology class especially in tenth grade of RSBI class in SMUN 1 Sleman Yogyakarta. The researcher chooses SMUN 1 Sleman Yogyakarta because this school already developed RSBI curriculum for about 2 years. Knowing this situation, the researcher decides that this school is appropriate to be used as a place to conduct a research. By conducting this research, the researcher expects that the research findings will be able to help the teacher in solving the problems that the teacher has by providing some suggestions later.
B. Problem Formulation
The problems of the research are formulated as follows:
1. What classroom language functions are applied by the Biology teacher of the tenth grade of SMUN 1 Sleman Yogyakarta to deliver learning materials in English?
2. What are the difficulties faced by the Biology teacher of the tenth grade of SMUN
1 Sleman in using the classroom language functions to deliver learning materials in English?
C. Problem Limitation
The focus of the study is on the use of English in applying classroom language functions by non English teacher in tenth grade. The researcher chose Biology teacher as the research subject because the researcher considers that the teachers in Biology class tend to be more often in using verbal explanation compared with other science subjects, such as Physics, Chemistry and Mathematics. The other focus of this study is the difficulties that the Biology teacher has in using classroom language functions. As what Spratt et al. (2005) and Davies and Pearse (2000) say, classroom language functions will cover some uses of language, such as greeting, eliciting, conveying the meaning of new language, instructing, narrating, prompting, explaining, checking learning, correcting, giving feedback and closing. After discovering the answers, the researcher will try to discover the possible solutions in order to help the Biology teacher in SMUN 1 Sleman Yogyakarta solve the problems that she has.
D. Research Objectives
This research attempts to discover the following aspects:
1. The classroom language functions which are applied by the Biology teacher of the tenth grade of SMUN 1 Sleman Yogyakarta to deliver learning materials in English.
2. The difficulties faced by the Biology teacher of the tenth grade of SMUN 1 Sleman in using the classroom language functions to deliver learning materials in English.
E. Research Benefits
This study is expected to give benefits for:
1. The Biology Teacher Hopefully, this finding will be able to help the Biology teacher to solve the problems that the teacher has, especially in using classroom language functions in
English.
2. English Language Education Study Program Students The research is expected to give some clear information for the non-English teacher’s difficulties in applying classroom language functions in English. Thus, the other English Language Education Study Program students are expected to go on with other research on non English teachers’ difficulties in delivering their materials in English.
F. Definition of Terms
Below are the list of the terms that are used in this research and the definitions of the terms:
1. Classroom Language Functions In this study, classroom language functions refer to “the purpose for which teachers and learners use language in the classroom” (Spratt et al., 2005). Harmer
(2007) also states that “language function is a purpose that a teacher wishes to achieve when he says or writes something”. There are some classroom language functions which are often used by teachers, those are: instructing, explaining, conveying the meaning of new language, narrating, correcting eliciting, prompting, and checking learning. In addition, Davies and Pearse (2000) state that there are still some other functions of classroom language such as greeting, closing, and giving feedback. Each of those aspects has its own functions. In this study the researcher will analyze the use of classroom language functions including greeting, instructing, explaining, conveying the meaning of new language, narrating, correcting eliciting, prompting, checking learning, giving feedback and closing, which are used by the Biology teacher in tenth grade class.
2. Biology Teacher Biology teacher is the non English language teacher who was chosen as the research participant in this study. According to Wikipedia.org (2009), “Biology is a
natural science concerned with the study of life and living organisms, including their structure, function, growth, origin, evolution, distribution, and taxonomy.
3. SMUN 1 Sleman Yogyakarta SMUN 1 Sleman Yogyakarta is one of the RSBI schools in Yogyakarta. It is located in Jl. Magelang Km. 14, Mlati, Sleman Yogyakarta. The researcher chooses
SMUN 1 Sleman as the place to conduct this study because it is one of the RSBI schools in Sleman regency which has bilingual class program, especially for the tenth grade and eleventh grade In recent times, the bilingual classes are only for science classes, such as chemistry, physics, mathematics and biology. SMUN I Sleman is a state school which is also considered as school that has a good quality. It can be seen from the achievements gained by its students compared to others public schools in Yogyakarta, especially in Sleman regency.
CHAPTER II REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE This chapter discusses the theoretical description and the theoretical
framework. The theoretical description discusses some theories related to the study, while the theoretical framework discusses most relevant theories which help the researcher to answer the research problems.
A. Theoretical Description
The theoretical description consists of six parts, namely theories on (1) Bilingual Classroom, (2) Language Functions Theory, (3) Classroom Language Functions, (4) Teacher Talk, (5) Classroom Interaction of Second Language Acquisition, (6)SBI Curriculum
1. Bilingual Education
The development of bilingual education in many countries increases rapidly which is started from any grade of education. In the field of education, many schools and universities in some developing countries have applied a program namely bilingual classroom program. Bilingual education has been used to improve students’ language proficiency because they can learn language through subject matter.
Mc Groarty (as cited in Murcia, 2001) defines her point of view about bilingual approach. She states that bilingual approach as one in which two languages are used as media of classroom instruction for the same group of students, so that students receive some of their instruction in one language and one in the other, with the nature and proportion of each language varying according to program type, instructional goals, and various contextual influences.
Some universities in India, as said by Ghosh as cited by Boey (1980), have used bilingual education as a program to learn a language through subject matter.
This situation is the same as what is happening in Indonesia since many schools in Indonesia also start applying bilingual program even though only for some particular subjects in order to develop the students and teachers’ English language competence as they are in a process of gaining SBI (Sekolah Berstandar Internasional) status.
Bilingual education has several positive effects for the learners who want to develop their foreign language mastery. David as cited in Boey (1980), a researcher who has examined the feasibility of bilingual program at the Central institute of English and Foreign Languages, Hyderabad, discovers that “bilingual education improves students’ proficiency in English slightly, without causing any subject matter deficiency”. She also states that “a certain level of English language proficiency is a prerequisite to the successful of participation in a bilingual education program”. Anne also argues that there should be special prepared materials which were necessary to be taught effectively on the selected subjects in English.
Bilingual education seeks to develop the learners’ ability in their first language while building both social and academic language proficiency in their second language. This type of setting allows them to keep up academically with others by way of first language instruction in the core curriculum until such time as they have gained sufficient cognitive and second language development to allow them an opportunity to succeed in their second language.
2. Language Functions Theory
Brown (1987) states that “the result of language learning is not simply in the mastery of the forms of the language, but the mastery of the forms in order to accomplish the communicative functions of language”. He adds that forms of language generally serve specific functions. For example, “How much does it cost?” is usually a form functioning a question, and “He bought a car” functions as a statement.
Since the term function has been variously interpreted, Halliday (1973) as cited by Brown (1987) uses the term to mean the purposive nature of communication, and outlines seven different functions of language.
a. The first function is known as the instrumental function. Instrumental function is the use of language to get things.
b. The second function is the regulatory function. People use regulatory function of language in order to control other’s behaviors.
c. The third function is the representational function. It is the use of language to make statements, convey facts and knowledge, explain or report.
d. The fourth function of language is the interactional function. People use interactional function of language in order to ensure social maintenance.
e. The fifth function of language is the personal function. People usually use this function when they want to express feelings, emotion and personality.
f. The sixth function of language is the heuristic function, which is used to acquire knowledge and to learn about the environment. Heuristic functions are often conveyed in the form of question that will lead to answer.
g. The last function of language is the imaginative function. People will use imaginative function to create imaginary system or idea. People use this function, for instance, when they are telling fairy tales, joking or writing a novel, which require their imagination to create a fantasy.