Dealing With The Difficulty in Teaching English To Adults Learners At Rumah Cemara.

ABSTRACT
Tugas akhir ini berisi pembahasan masalah selama masa magang
saya di Rumah Cemara ketika saya mengajar Bahasa Inggris kepada 10 15 orang dewasa. Para peserta yang mengikuti kelas Bahasa Inggris
adalah staf Rumah Cemara dan beberapa orang yang berasal dari pusat
rehabilitasi yang dimiliki oleh Rumah Cemara. Kesulitan dalam mengajar
Bahasa Inggris disebabkan oleh kurangnya pengalaman yang saya miliki
dalam mengajar Bahasa Inggris. Kemampuan Bahasa Inggris para
peserta kursus yang kurang juga merupakan hal yang menyebabkan saya
sulit mengajar Bahasa Inggris. Hal lain ialah, saya belum mengetahui
karakteristik para peserta yang mengikuti kelas Bahasa Inggris.
Kesulitan saya dalam mengajarkan Bahasa Inggris kepada orang
dewasa mengakibatkan lamanya waktu yang saya perlukan dalam
menyampaikan materi kepada para peserta. Akibat selanjutnya adalah
para peserta juga tidak mengerti materi yang saya berikan. Akibat yang
terakhir ialah kemampuan dari para peserta tidak berkembang secara
optimal. Untuk menangani masalah tersebut, saya mempunyai tiga pilihan
solusi. Solusi yang pertama adalah saya akan mempelajari latar belakang
setiap peserta dengan berbicara secara pribadi kepada setiap peserta dan
menyebarkan angket kepada mereka. Solusi yang kedua adalah, saya
akan mengajar dengan berperan sebagai peserta. Solusi yang terakhir
adalah saya akan menggunakan permainan dalam mengajarkan Bahasa

Inggris.
Untuk menanggulangi masalah yang saya hadapi dalam mengajar,
saya akan menggabungkan ketiga solusi diatas. Hal ini saya lakukan
dikarenakan ketiga solusi saling berkaitan dan saling mendukung untuk
menyelesaikan masalah yang saya temui dalam mengajar Bahasa Inggris
kepada peserta kursus Bahasa Inggris di Rumah Cemara.

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

ABSTRACT

i

DECLARATION OF ORIGINALITY

ii

ACKONWLEDGEMENTS

iii

TABLE OF CONTENTS

iv

CHAPTER I. INTRODUCTION
A. Background of the Study
B. Identification of the Problem
C. Objectives and Benefits of the Study
D. Description of the Institution
E. Method of the Study
F. Limitation of the Study
G. Organization of the Term Paper

1

CHAPTER II. PROBLEM ANALYSIS

7

CHAPTER III. POTENTIAL SOLUTIONS

10

CHAPTER IV. CONCLUSION

18

BIBLIOGRAPHY
APPENDICES:
A. FLOWCHART
B. EXAMPLE OF A QUESTIONNAIRE FOR ADULT
LEARNERS AT RC

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APPENDIX A
Flowchart
Causes
1.
2.
3.

I had no experience in
teaching English to adults.
The learners lacked of
English skills.
I did not know the
characteristics of the
learners.

Negative Effects
1.

I will need a lot of time in
learning the background of

the learners.

Effects
I had difficulty in teaching
English to adults at Rumah
Cemara.

1.
2.
3.

Potential Solution 1
I will learn the backgrounds of
the learners by having
personal talk, and giving
questionaire.

Positive Effects
1.
2.

3.

Negative Effects
1.

I might be too dominant
as a participant in class.

Negative Effects
1.

It will take time to play
the game.

Potential Solution 2
I will take a role as a
participant in the class.

Potential Solution 3

I will feel more confident to
teach the learners.
I will be able to choose the
materials which are suitable
to the ability of the learners.
There will be mutual rapport
between myself and the
learners.

Positive Effects
1.
2.

The learners will accept me
as their teacher.
I will enjoy teaching English
to the learners.

Positive Effects
1.

I will use games in teaching.

It took extra time after the
class to teach the learners
about the materials.
The English skills of the
learners did not develop
optimally.
The learners could not
understand the materials.

2.
3.

The learners will be motivated
to learn.
The learners will feel relaxed
during English lessons.
I will be able to teach

grammar effectively.

Chosen Solution
I will combine all potential solutions to help
me during the teaching time.

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APPENDIX B
Example of Questionnaire for Adult Learners at RC

1. Nama saya :

2. Umur saya:
3. Alamat saya:

4. Hobi saya:
5. Hal yang paling disuka:

6. Saya berharap dengan mengikuti kelas bahasa Inggris ini saya dapat:

7. Saya ingin belajar bahasa Inggris karena :

8. Saya suka belajar bahasa Inggris dengan menggunakan cara:
9. Saya tidak suka belajar bahasa Inggris dengan menggunakan cara :

10. Materi bahasa Inggris apa yang saya ingin pelajari :
11. Saya mudah mengerti materi tentang :

12. Saya sulit mengerti materi tentang :

Adapted from Woodward, Tessa. Planning Lesson and Courses. Cambridege :
Cambridge University, 2001.
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CHAPTER I
INTRODUCTION

A. Background of the Study
Teaching English to adults can be quite challenging. It is rather
difficult to make them realize how important it is to learn English

nowadays. I notice that some adults complain that learning English at
their ages is the hardest thing for them. From that point of view, I tried
to motivate them by giving English lessons. Althans states, “Often your
adult students are studying English for a specific reason, either they
have to use English at work for meetings and phone calls with
foreigners or plan to travel abroad or communicate more with their
foreign friends” (par 9). Based on his statement, I notice that the desire
of the learners to be able to speak English is the reason for them to
join my English class. Therefore, I was eager to help them realize that
English language is the most spoken language and they deserve to
learn it.
I was teaching English language to adult people during my
internship at Rumah Cemara (henceforth, RC). RC is a community –
based organization which has a goal to increase the quality of life of
people with HIV/AIDS and people who use drugs in Indonesia. I was

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working as an Assistant of Grand – Writing Manager and was in charge
of helping my supervisor in translating the spiritual book for the people
who come from treatment center and the personal hand book for the
foreign intern, and also teaching English. The lesson was held twice a
week. The class was from 2 PM until 4 PM at RC. The learners were
several staff from RC, some people who lived with HIV/AIDS and
former drug users from the treatment center. The range of ages of the
learners was 23- 35 years old and there were 10 to 15 adults joining in
my class. They learnt the materials such as ; the common tenses in
daily live ( Simple Present, Present Continuous, and Simple Past) ,
vocabulary, and simple conversation. The aim of giving them the
lesson is to help the learners speak English language confidently.
Teaching English to adults in RC was my my first experience of
teaching English. The problem that I found was I had difficulties in
teaching adults. I could not deliver the English lesson well. I did not
know how to teach adults without knowing their backgrounds and to
create a conducive situation in the class in my first day of teaching.
Based on the problem that I have already described in the previous
paragraph, I would like to analyze my difficulties in teaching English to
adults at RC as the topic of my term paper. The causes and the effects
of the problem are also presented with the best solutions to overcome
the problem.

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B. Identification of the Problem
The problem that is being discussed is formulated in the
following research questions. The questions are:
1. Why did I find it difficult to teach English to adult learners at
RC?
2. How did the problem influence the teacher, the learners, and
the learning process?
3. How should I handle my difficulty in teaching English to adult
learners at RC?

C. Objectives and Benefits of the Study
The objectives of the study are, first, to find the causes of my
difficulty in teaching English at RC, second is to analyze the effects of
the problem. The last objective is to find the best solution for my
problem.
The benefits of the study are addressed to myself, the institution
and the readers. For myself, by writing this term paper I will learn how
to handle the difficulties in teaching English to less fortunate adults (
people who lived with HIV/AIDS and former drug users).
The benefit for the staff at RC is they will get some some
information related to teaching English when there will be a staff who
continues the English class as a permanent acitivity. The staff at RC
can also apply the same ideas when they face the same problem in
teaching English to other adult learners at RC.

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The last benefit of my term paper is for the readers. I hope after
reading my term paper the readers will learn the reflection of my
experience to teach adults and have a passion to teach adults. I
believe with my experience, the readers will know that teaching adults
can be challenging, but rewarding.

D. Description of the Institution
Based on RC’s website, RC is a community - based organization
dealing with people who live with HIV/AIDS and people who use drugs.
it was founded on January 1st 2003 by five former drug users, they are
Patrianto Handoyo, Hartanto M. K., Darwis B., Ikbal Rahman, and
Deradjat Ginandjar Koesmayadi.
RC has a goal to embrace people who live with HIV/AIDS and drug
users from all of stigma and discrimination to themselves. With this
goal, all of stigma and discrimination will no longer exists and they
(people who live with HIV/AIDS and drug users) could live properly with
normal people.
Located at Jalan Gegerkalong Girang No. 52 Bandung, RC has
become the largest network of people living with HIV and people who
use drugs in West Java, Indonesia. RC employs 45 staff, 70% men
and 30% women, in the 20-35 year range. Most of them are former
drug users and 85% are living with HIV.
Based on the data from Short –term Internship Orientation Packet,
RC has several programs to run their goal, but the most famous

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programs are The Harm Reduction Outreach Program and Peer
approach program. Harm Reduction Outreach Program is an outreach
program by RC staff to distribute clean syringe and condom for 2,240
injecting drug users, 3,256 prisoners, 214 female sex workers, 264
men who have sex with men (MSM), and 4,375 high-risk men (HRM) to
peer approach. Peer approach is the program to give a support for
drug users or people who live with HIV/AIDS by using simple approach
such as music performance, art and cultural exhibitions, football, fund
raising, and the latest programs are teaching English language, Math,
Writing to less fortune people (e.g homeless people, people who live
with HIV/AIDS and former drug users).

E. Method of the Study
For my term paper the data collection to support the analysis is from
field research and library research. For field research, I use the data
from my internship journal and my internship experience. I also
interviewed several staff at RC. For library research, I read several
books and some articles from the Internet to find some theories for my
analysis. The data is used to analyze the causes, effects, and the
potential solutions.

F. Limitation of the Study
The subject of the research is myself. I was teaching English
language during my internship at RC. I worked as an intern at RC from

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3th January 2012 to 17th February 2012. I worked under Grand-Writing
Manager supervision as an Assistant Grand-Writing Manager. I taught
English class from 4th January 2012 twice a week for about 2 hours.
The people who joined my class were several staff from RC and
people who were from the treatment center. The age range of the adult
learners is 23-35 years old.

G. Organization of the Term Paper
This Term paper starts with the Abstract,Declaration of Originality,
and Table of Content. Then it is divided into five chapters. In Chapter
One there are Background of the Study, Identification of the Problem,
Objectives and Benefits of the Study, Description of the Institution,
Method of the Study, Limitation of the Study, and Organization of the
Term. In Chapter Two, I analyze the causes and effects of the problem
as the Problem Analysis. After I describe the causes and effects of the
problem, in Chapter Three, I describe three potential solutions to solve
the problem along with the positive and the negative effects of each
solution. Chapter Four is the Conclusion, in this chapter I define the
best solution for my problem. In this chapter I also put the reason why
this potential solution is the best solution for my problem.
For the last part, I write the source of all theories in the Bibliography
and put the Flowchart and the example of a questionnaire in the
Appendices.

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CHAPTER IV
CONCLUSION

The problem that I found during my internship is I had difficulties in
teaching English to adults at RC. The causes of the problem are I had no
experience in teaching English to adults, the learners lacked of English
skills, and I did not know the characteristics of the learners. There are also
several effects of my problem. The effects are, it took extra time after the
class to teach the learners about the materials, the English skills of the
learners did not develop optimally, and the learners could not understand
the material. My difficulties in teaching adults lead me to do some
research about the causes and effects of my problem. When doing the
research, I found some potential solutions that I have mentioned in the
previous chapter. The potential solutions are, I will learn the backgrounds
of the learners in my class by having a personal talk and giving s
questionnaire, I will take a role as a participant in the class, and , I will use
games in teaching.
Based on the analysis, I will combine all the potential solutions.
Combining all the potential solutions will help me to overcome my difficulty
in teaching English to Adults at RC.

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I choose to combine all the potential solutions because they are
related to each other. It can be seen that all the potential solutions is a
serie of teaching process to adults. If I do not combine all of them, I will not
be able to teach the adult learners effectively. In “General Teaching Tips”
it is stated, “Effective teaching begins prior to the teacher entering the
classroom...Once in the classroom, the teacher must be able to apply a
number of different methods of teaching to reach students with different
learning styles” (par. 2). For instance, I will use the first potential solution
to know the background of the learners as the first step in teaching adults.
With this potential solution I will be able to know the characteristics of the
learners and make myself comfortable in teaching adults. Afterwards, in
the second potential solution, I will decide the role suitable for myself to
teach adults by taking a role as a participant. Without using the second
potential solution, the student will not accept me as their teacher and I will
not enjoy teaching English in class. The last step is determining how to
choose the acitivity in class. In the third potential solution I will use games
in teaching. With games I could make the learners be motivated to learn.
In the end, the combination of all potential solutions will help me in
teaching English to adults and communicating with them.
Finally, the combination of these solutions will help me to deal with my
difficulty in teaching English to Adults at Rumah Cemara. And I hope, if
there will be people who want to teach the adults at RC, they can apply
the solutions and will not face the same problem.

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BIBLIOGRAPHY

Printed Sources
Harmer, Jeremy. The Practice of English Language Teaching. Harlow:
Pearson Education Limited, 2001.
Rumah Cemara: Short – Term Internship Orientation. Bandung: Rumah
Cemara, 2011.
Woodward, Tessa. Planning Lessons and Courses. Cambridge:
Cambridge University Press, 2001.

Electronic Sources
Althans, Jim. “Should I Teach English to Adults or Yound Learners ?”.
Goldstarteachers.com. 30 March 2012. Goldstar TEFL Recruitment.
16 Sepetember 2012. < http://goldstarteachers.com/should-i-teachenglish-to-adults-or-young-learners/>.
“Games to Teach English Learners”. Teflcertificatecourses.com. 2001 –
2012. International Teacher Training Organization. 2 November 2012.
.

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“General Teaching Tips”. http://www.ndt-ed.org. 2001-2012.
NDT Education Resource Center. 25 November 2012.
.
Jiamu, Chen. “The Right Methods for Adults on English
Acquisition/Learning”. Análise Psicológica. 1997. 14 October 2012

Knowles, Malcom S. “The Modern Practice of Adult Education; Andragogy
Versus Pedagogy”. Hospitalist.cumc.columbia.edu. The Association
Press, 291 Broadway, New York, N.Y. 1007, 1970. 12 October 2012

Patel, Jeegisha. “Using Game Format in Small Group Classes for
Pharmacotherapeutics Case Studies”. ncbi.nlm.nih.gov.
15 February 2008. U.S. National Library of Medicine.
28 November 2012. .
Polson, Cheryl J. “Teaching Adult Students”. Center for Faculty Evaluation
And Development”. 1993. 14 October 2012.

Powell, William, and Ochan Kusuma-Powell. “How to Teach Now”.
ascd.org. 2011. ASCD. 28 November 2012.
.
“Rumah Cemara”. Rumahcemara.org. Rumah Cemara. 2010.
20 September 2012. .
Simwanza, Shally. “TEFL Teaching Beginners”. teflcorp.com. 2007.
ITTT Sitemap. 27 December 2012. .
“Teacher – Student Relationship”. Questia.com. 2012. Cengage
Learning. 20 October 2012. .
“Teacher Quality and Student Achievement”. Education.com. 2007.
Center for Parent/Youth Understanding. 17 October 2012. .
Vernon, Shelley. “Why English Language games are essential in a
teacher’s toolbox”. teachingenglishgames.com. 2006-2009.
Teaching English Games. 9 November 2012. .

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