English teachers` perceptions of the text-based syllabus used in SMA Negeri I Bantul and SMA Stella Duce Bantul.

i

ENGLISH TEACHERS’ PERCEPTIONS OF THE TEXT-BASED

SYLLABUS USED IN SMA NEGERI I BANTUL AND SMA STELLA

DUCE BANTUL

A Thesis

Presented as Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements

to Obtain the

Sarjana Pendidikan

Degree

in English Language Education

By

Gregoria Antris Dewanti Student Number: 051214099

ENGLISH LANGUAGE EDUCATION STUDY PROGRAM DEPARTMENT OF LANGUAGE AND ARTS EDUCATION FACULTY OF TEACHERS TRAINING AND EDUCATION

SANATA DHARMA UNIVERSITY 2009

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LIFE WILL NEVER GO THE WAY YOU WANT TO YOU HAVE TO STRUGGLE

TO CATCH EVERY PIECE OF HAPPINESS WITHIN YOUR HEART

I DEDICATED THIS THESIS TO MY BELOVED FAMILY EVERYONE WHO ALWAYS BESIDES ME AND

vi ABSTRACT

Dewanti, Gregoria. 2009. Teachers’ Perceptions of Text-Based Syllabus Used in SMA NEGERI I Bantul dan SMA Stella Duce BANTUL. Yogyakarta: Sanata Dharma University.

English has been taught in various levels of educations, one of which is on the high school. At SMA NEGERI I Bantul and SMA Stella Duce Bantul, the English teachers taught the students by implementing Text-based Syllabus.

This research was attempted to observe the teachers’ perceptions of the implementation of Text-based Syllabus in the teaching-learning process at high school. This research aimed at identifying how the teachers’ perceptions of the implementation of Text-based syllabus were enacted in the teaching-learning process in SMA I Bantul and SMA Stella Duce Bantul.

This research took the five English teachers of SMA NEGERI I Bantul and one English teacher of SMA Stella Duce Bantul as the subjects of the research. The researcher collected data by interviewing the English teachers. The observation was also used in this research to complete the existing data by looking at the situation of the learning process, which consisted of the condition of the teaching-learning process, students’ motivation in learning, students’ speaking fluency, and the students’ understanding on the Text-based material.

The data gathered showed that the teachers’ perceptions of the five teachers toward the implementation of Text-based syllabus are good. They agreed about the implementation of Text-based syllabus because it gave many benefits. However, in the real condition teachers did not make variation in their teaching so that the results of the teaching-learning process were not optimal.

They also stated that the implementation of Text-based syllabus was really helpful in delivering the enjoyable materials. Students were motivated and were able to use their knowledge to communicate in class. However, grammar knowledge should be developed explicitly, as it was not the focus of the Text-based syllabus. This was a positive result that the implementation of Text-based syllabus was good and appropriate for the teaching-learning situation and condition in SMA NEGERI I Bantul and SMA Stella Duce Bantul.

vii ABSTRAK

Dewanti, Gregoria. 2009. Teachers’ Perceptions of Text-Based Syllabus Used in SMA NEGERI I Bantul dan SMA Stella Duce BANTUL. Yogyakarta: Universitas Sanata Dharma.

Pengajaran bahasa Inggris diberikan di berbagai jenjang pendidikan, salah satunya adalah di jenjang sekolah menengah. Di SMA NEGERI I Bantul dan SMA Stella Duce Bantul, guru-guru bahasa ingrris menerapkan Teks-based syllabus.

Penelitian ini dilakukan untuk mengetahui persepsi guru tentang penerapan silabus berbasis teks untuk pengajaran bahasa inggris pada sekolah menengah. Penelitian ini bertujuan untuk mengidentifikasi apakah persepsi guru terhadap penerapan silabus berbasis teks ini tampak dalam pengajaran mereka di SMA NEGERI I Bantul dan SMA Stella Duce Bantul.

Penelitian ini menempatkan lima Guru bahasa inggris dari SMA NEGERI I Bantul dan satu guru bahasa inggris dari SMA Stella Duce Bantul sebagai subyek penelitian. Pengumpulan data penelitian dilakukan dengan mewawancari enam orang Guru bahasa inggris tersebut. Observasi juga digunakan untuk melengkapi data yang ada dengan cara melihat situasi pembelajaran yang terdiri atas kondisi proses pembelajaran dikelas, motivasi siswa dalam belajar, kelancaran siswa berbahasa Inggris, dan pemahaman siswa terhadap materi berbasis teks.

Data yang terkumpul menunjukkan bahwa persepsi lima dari enam guru terhadap penerapan syllabus berbasis teks untuk pengajaran bahasa inggris di SMA NEGERI I Bantul dan SMA Stella Duce Bantul adalah baik. Mereka setuju akan penerapan text-based syllabus karena banyak segi positif yang dapat dicapai dari penerapan syllabus ini. Namun dalam kenyataannya guru kurang memberikan variasi dalam mengajar sehingga hasil proses pembelajaran menjadi kurang optimal.

Mereka juga mengatakan bahwa penerapan syllabus berbasis teks di sekolah menengah sangat membantu untuk menyampaikan materi secara lebih menyenangkan. Siswa dapat lebih termotivasi dan mampu belajar menerapkan materi yang telah mereka serap dalam berkomunikasi di dalam kelas. Namun demikian pembelajaran tentang grammar harus dikembangkan secara eksplisit karena hal ini bukan merupakan fokus dari penerapan Text-based syllabus. Hal ini merupakan fakta positif bahwa syllabus berbasis teks tersebut baik dan sesuai dengan situasi kelas di SMA NEGERI I Bantul dan SMA Stella Duce Bantul.

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LEMBAR PERNYATAAN PERSETUJUAN

PUBLIKASI KARYA ILMIAH UNTUK KEPENTINGAN AKADEMIS

Yang bertanda tangan di bawah ini, saya mahasiswa Universitas Sanata Dharma : Nama : Gregoria Antris Dewanti

Nomor Mahasiswa : 051214099

Demi pengembangan ilmu pengetahuan, saya memberikan kepada Perpustakaan Universitas Sanata Dharma karya ilmiah saya yang berjudul :

English Teachers’ Perceptions of Text-Based Syllabus Used in SMA NEGERI I Bantul and SMA STELLA DUCE Bantul

beserta perangkat yang diperlukan (bila ada). Dengan demikian saya memberikan kepada Perpustakaan Universitas Sanata Dharma hak untuk menyimpan, me-ngalihkan dalam bentuk media lain, mengelolanya dalam bentuk pangkalan data, mendistribusikan secara terbatas, dan mempublikasikannya di Internet atau media lain untuk kepentingan akademis tanpa perlu meminta ijin dari saya maupun mem-berikan royalti kepada saya selama tetap mencantumkan nama saya sebagai penulis.

Demikian pernyataan ini yang saya buat dengan sebenarnya. Dibuat di Yogyakarta

Pada tanggal : 24 Agustus 2009

Yang menyatakan

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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

I am very grateful to have Jesus in my life that always guides me and gives me chance to do my best. I thank God because of his blessing I could finally finish writing my thesis after striving till the last of my sweat to do the biggest project in my study.

I would like to begin my thanks to Bpk. Drs. Concilianus Laos Mbato, M.A. for his guidance, patience and worthy suggestions during the time when I was finishing my thesis. Furthermore, I would like to thank Ibu Made Frida Yulia, S.Pd., M.Pd. for the chance given to me. I really appreciate the kindness and assistance of the lecturers and administrative staff of English Language Education Study Program. It would be impossible without their help.

I also would like to thank the headmaster of SMA NEGERI I Bantul and SMA STELLA DUCE Bantul for the chance so that I could conduct my research. My thanks is also dedicated to English teachers of SMA NEGERI I Bantul and SMA STELLA DUCE Bantul for their cooperation during the time I was conducting my research.

I am grateful to have the best parents in my life. My greatest and my deepest gratitude delivers to my parents, Ig. Setyanto and An. Sri Maryani, who always guide me with love and patience during my study. I give a lot of thanks to my beloved little brother, G. Ronas Renanda, who always cheers me up with his kindness and naughtiness. I would have never finished my thesis without their support.

I feel grateful to have Berlina, Arum and Rindang who always next to me in my ups and down. I thank for their support, kindness, and fabulous experience we have. Furthermore, I give a lot of thanks to Andre, Indro, Ruma, and Yebe who always help

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and give me suggestions during my research. I feel thankful for their support during the time when I was working my thesis so that I could finish it.

I would like to heartily give my deepest gratefulness to Y. Katrio Danu Umbara who has coloured my days. I thank him for his guidance, patience, kindness and his support on my thesis. I would not be this tough in finishing my thesis without his support.

I feel thankful to be the part of HOE (House of English) company. I thank Franz wuri, Bunga, Wuri, Imel, Indro, Angga, and Arum for the cooperation during our working time. I thank them for the chances given to me to finish my thesis. I would also like to thank all of my friends in the English Education Study Program for being my best friends during my study. All of you have cheered up my days.

I would thank people that I could not mention here. I thank them for their encouragement and prayer.

All people who I have mentioned really mean so much to me. Without their support I could not reach this achievement.

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

Page

TITLE PAGE……….. i

APPROVAL PAGES……… ii

DEDICATION PAGE……… iv

STATEMENT OF WORK’S ORIGINALITY……… v

ABSTRACT……… vi

ABSTRACT……….. vii

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS……… viii

TABLE OF CONTENTS……… x

LIST OF TABLE……….... xii

LIST OF FIGURE……….. xiii

LIST OF APPENDICES………. xiv

CHAPTER I. INTRODUCTION A. Research Background ………. 1

B. Problem Formulation ………. 5

C. Problem Limitation ………. 5

D. Research Objective ………. 6

E. Research Benefits ………... 6

F. Definition of Terms………. 7

CHAPTER II. REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE A. Theoretical Description ………... 10

1. The Nature of Perception ………... 10

a. Selection Attention ……… 11

b. Organizing ……….... 13

c. Interpreting Data ………... 14

2. Factors of Perception ………... 15

3. The Nature of Text-Based Syllabus ……… 16

a. School-based Curriculum development………... 16

b. Text-based Syllabus………. 18

1. Syllabus type ……….. 18

2. The view of Language ………... 19

3. Syllabus elements ……….. 20

4. Content ………... 21

5. Methodology ……….. 22

B. Theoretical Framework ……… 23

CHAPTER III. METHODOLOGY A. Research Method ………. 25

B. Research Participants ……….. 26

C. Instruments ……….. 28

1. In-depth Interview ………. 28

2. Observation ……… 29

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E. Data Analysis Technique ………... 31

F. Procedur ………. 32

CHAPTER IV. RESEARCH FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION A. Research Findings ……… 34

1. Teachers’ Perception on the Implementation of Text-based Syllabus ………. 34

a. Teacher Who Agreed with the Use of Text-based Syllabus Design ……….… 35

b. Teacher Who Did not Agree with the Use of Text-based Syllabus Design ………. 40

2. How Teaches’ Perception Are Enacted In Their Teaching ……….. 42

a. The Way Teacher Delivers English Teaching Materials ………... 43

1). The Way Teachers Delivered English Teaching Material at SMA NEGERI I Bantul ……... 43

2). The Way Teacher Delivered English Teaching Material at SMA STELLA DUCE Bantul ….... 47

b. Students’ Involvement in the Learning Process … 49 c. The Students Understanding about the Materials .. 51

B. Discussion ………..………... 55

1. Teachers’ Perception on the Implementation of Text-based Syllabus ………. 55

a. Teacher Who Agreed with the Use of Text-based Syllabus Design ……….… 55

b. Teacher Who Did not Agree with the Use of Text-based Syllabus Design ………. 56

2. How Teaches’ Perception Are Enacted In Their Teaching ……….. 57

a. The Way Teacher Delivers Englis Teaching Materials ………... 57

1). The Way Teachers Delivered English Teaching Material at SMA NEGERI I Bantul ……... 57

2). The Way Teacher Delivered English Teaching Material at SMA STELLA DUCE Bantul ….... 58

b. Students’ Involvement in the Learning Process … 59 c. The Students Understanding about the Materials… 60 CHAPTER V. Conclusions and suggestions……… 62

A. Conclusions ………. 62

B. Suggestions ……….. 65

xiii

LIST OF TABLES

Table 1. Blueprint Interview Guideline ……… 29 Table 2. Check List of Observation ……….. 30

xiv

LIST OF FIGURES

Figure 1. What is it? ………. 12

xv

LIST OF APPENDICES

APPENDIX 1 Letters of Permission of the Research ……… 69

APPENDIX 2 Legalization Page of the Research Proposal ………... 72

APPENDIX 3 Guideline Interview ………. 73

APPENDIX 4 Raw Data of Interview ………. 74

APPENDIX 5 Raw Data of Interview ……… 75

APPENDIX 5 Raw Data of Interview ……… 76

APPENDIX 6 Raw Data of Interview ……… 77

APPENDIX 8 Raw Data of Interview ……… 78

APPENDIX 9 Raw Data of Interview ……… 80

APPENDIX 10 Raw Data of Interview ……….. 81

APPENDIX 11 Raw Data of Observation ………. 82

APPENDIX 12 Raw Data of Observation ………. 83

APPENDIX 13 Raw Data of Observation ………. 84

APPENDIX 14 Raw Data of Observation ………. 85

APPENDIX 15 Raw Data of Observation ………. 86

1 CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION

This chapter presents the introduction of this study. This chapter is divided into six sections; they are research background, problem formulation, problem limitation, research objective, research benefit, and definition of term.

A. Research Background

Several kinds of curricula are used in Indonesia but they do not yet give a good solution for the quality development of Indonesian’s educational system. It is proved with the low standard of the graduates, the lack of teaching learning facilities and media, and other problems of our educational system. Therefore, improvements are conducted especially in the educational field in order to increase the national educational standard. It started from the use of curriculum 1947, which emphasized the students’ character building. It is called as “leer plan”, which was adopted from Holland, which means lesson plan. Second is curriculum 1952. It is called as describing lesson plan curriculum because it gives the detail description of its every subject. The third is curriculum 1968, which is focused on the Indonesians’ character building that based on the five principles. The fourth is curriculum 1975, which emphasized the efficiency and the effectiveness of the educational system. The fifth is curriculum 1984, which is a completion of curriculum 1975. It is focused on the students’ active learning or SAL. The use of this curriculum may give a good benefit for students although in fact there are wrong assumptions on this curriculum implementation. Teachers

2 cannot control their students and the class atmosphere becomes chaos. Therefore, curriculum 1994 is introduced to revise it. It combines curriculum 1975 and 1984 with process approach. There were so many critics for this curriculum implementation such as it provides so much material for students to learn, the teaching materials were considered too difficult, and not relevant with the students’ level of understanding. Hence, changes are needed for the sake of improvement. Then, curriculum of 2004 or we call it as competency-based curriculum is launched. In this curriculum design, every lesson is described based on certain competency that should be achieved by the students. It was applied but the result was not good. Besides, many teachers do not really understand about how to implement this curriculum design. For that reason, Indonesia changed it’s curriculum into KTSP (Kurikulum Tingkat Satuan Pendidikan) or in Australia we knew it as School-based Curriculum Development (SBCD) (Kangjumari, 2007).

“A curriculum is all the planned learning activities involve what should be learnt and how it could be taught successfully (Ansyar, 1989: 12). It implies that it determines all the learning process and determines how the learning process can be taught. Therefore, the frequent changes on the use of curriculum have a big consequence in developing students’ capability in mastering materials given in class.

In this present day, Indonesia uses School-based curriculum development (SBCD) or what so-called as KTSP in Indonesia.By using this curriculum design, every institution can develop their own syllabus based on their need and condition, but the syllabus still follows the big guideline of this curriculum.

Besides, this curriculum design emphasizes the active learning. “Learning is to gain knowledge or skill by studying from experience, from being taught” (Hornby, 2002: 762). Consequently by using this curriculum students are suggested to be more active especially in doing outside-class activities such as doing any experiments, group works, researches, or doing other activities, which can develop their understanding of knowledge. It shows that KTSP trains students to be able to accomplish their need of knowledge independently, so they will have a wider knowledge from any outside-class activity they have. Based on that reason nowadays teachers usually give extra assignments to their students so that they will have the ability of applying their knowledge better.

In English teaching, Text-Based Syllabus is now used in order to achieve the standard of KTSP. It is used as a response to change our views of language or language learning. “It incorporates an increasing understanding of how language is structured and how language is used in social context” (Feez and Joyce, 2002a: 3). Syllabus is the teacher’s guideline in teaching the class. “Syllabus is constructed by selecting and sequencing content and based on explicit objective” (Feez and Joyce, 2002b: 3). Hence, teachers need a method in order to implement the syllabus design that is about how the course outline of teaching learning is studied and learned by the students. According Fees and Joyce, in order to answer the teachers’ need, genre approach is used as the most appropriate methodology to implement the Text-based Syllabus. It means that Text-based syllabus is applied in teaching-learning process in the form of genre.

4 Text-based syllabus is the same with what so-called Genre-based syllabus or Literary-based syllabus, but in this case we will use the term Text-based syllabus. Text-Text-based syllabus is a new term for the teaching-learning process in Indonesia. Therefore, it arises some questions that hesitates teachers about the use of this syllabus design. With the purpose of answering the teachers’ hesitation, the researcher wants to analyze the teachers’ perception on the implementation of the Text-based syllabus so that the reader later will know and have a picture of the use of Text-based syllabus for teaching and learning process in high school. Besides, the researcher wants to know the real condition of classes that use Text-based syllabus as a guideline of its teaching and learning process in order to analyze whether the teachers’ perceptions are enacted in their teaching or not.

Teachers’ perception is important to be analyzed as teachers play a big role in teaching and learning process. They are also the main tools in activating the class and leading the students in order to have a higher knowledge. How students improve their ability and knowledge cannot be apart from the teachers’ role. Consequently, the future generations’ success depends on their professionalism. Therefore, teachers’ perception on the syllabus that is used to help them teach the students is important, as it can be a referential for the government to make an improvement.

For this reason, it is important to find out the teachers’ perception of the use of Text-based syllabus, as through analyzing their perception we can understand the real condition that is faced by the teachers. So that, hopefully, we

will have a better picture on this syllabus design implementation and we can apply it optimally.

B. Problem Formulation

In this research, there are two questions will be discussed. These questions will guide the researcher in finding the expected result of this study. They are:

1. What are the teachers’ perceptions of the implementations of Text-Based Syllabus?

2. How are the teachers’ perceptions enacted in their teaching?

C. Problem Limitation

The research on the teachers’ perception on the use of Text-based syllabus in senior high school is limited to a small sample for about two senior high schools, which are located in Yogyakarta and have different backgrounds. This research will be focused on the teachers’ perception about the Text-based syllabus that is used in their teaching. Therefore, in order to answer this problem, the researcher uses in-depth interview so that researcher can gather the

information that is needed optimally. Based on their perception the researcher will analyze whether or not their perceptions are reflected in their

teaching. Besides, the researcher will analyze the implementation of this syllabus design. Hence, class observation is used to help the researcher analyzing the class activity. It is a kind of comparing the result of interviewing with the result of

6 observing. These two methods are expected to be the most appropriate methods with the aim of answering the research problems.

D. Research Objective

The researcher formulates the aims of the study as follows:

1. to find out the teachers’ perception of the implementation of Text-based syllabus in enhancing the students’ comprehension of English

2. to find out the real condition and situation of the class in order to know whether the teachers’ perception(s) is/are enacted in their teaching or not.

E. Research Benefits

This research is effective to give a clear answer to the problems stated in the problem formulation. By identifying the teachers’ perceptions and observing their class condition and situation, this research may provide a picture about the strength or the weakness of this syllabus design so that teachers will know how they should work with this syllabus. This awareness may be useful for them, as it can maximize their teaching ability. Besides, since Text-based syllabus design is new for Indonesian educational system, this research might answer the hesitation that arises among the teachers about the effectiveness of this syllabus design in teaching and learning process.

To the readers, hopefully, this thesis is able to give a clear picture whether or not teachers from very different backgrounds have the similar opinion on the use of Text-based syllabus in their teaching.

To the teachers, expectantly, it gives them reference about the advantages and disadvantages of this syllabus design so that they can improve their performance in teaching English.

To English teachers’ candidate of Sanata Dharma University, this research may give useful information about Text-based syllabus so that they may have more understanding and knowledge to enrich the way they implement this syllabus design.

To the next researchers, hopefully it may give information and basic understanding on the use of Text-Based syllabus so that they can gain the deeper information of it.

F. Definition of Term

The following part is the explanation of terms that are used in this study. The purpose is to avoid misunderstanding in interpreting the important terms. They are:

1. Perception

“Perception is a conscious mental and cognitive process that enables us to interpret and understand our surroundings” (Kreitner and Kinici 1992: 127). “… perception refers to the process of selecting, organizing, and interpreting sensory data into useful mental representation of the world” (Huffman, 1997: 97).

In this study perception refers to the English teachers’ point of view toward the use of Text-based syllabus in their teaching, which is seen from the implementation of Text-based syllabus. What is meant by teachers’ perception is

8 how the teachers see and think about the Text-based syllabus that is used in KTSP curriculum; whether the Text-based syllabus is appropriate or inappropriate; interesting or not interesting; successful or not successful for English teaching in Indonesia.

2. Text

“In this study, text is every conversation that is found in TV, radio, daily conversation and in written story, which brings communication function to the reader” (Knapp and Watkins, 2005: 23). In this study, text is every conversation that is selected in relation to the learners’ need and social contexts which learners’ whish to access. The aim is to facilitate readers or students in understanding the use of language.

3. Syllabus

“Syllabus is an explicit and coherent plan for a course study” (Feez and Joyce, 2002: 2). “Explicit is the way to utter clearly, exactly, and directly” (Hornby, 2000: 462). Besides, Coherent is logical and well organized; easy to understand and clear. In this study, syllabus is a document with an outline and summary of topic to be covered in a course. Therefore, it is a guideline for teacher, which involves explanation or statement about what should be learnt in a course.

4. Text-based Syllabus

“Text-based syllabus is primarily concerned with what learners do with the language, i.e. what they do with whole texts in context. It is concerned with units of discourse called text” (Feez and Joyce, 2002: 4). Text-Based has the same

meaning with genre-based, and or literacy-Based but in this study we will use the term Text-Based syllabus. In this study, Text-based syllabus is statement for teacher that explains what should be learnt in a course, which uses genre approach to implement the content of the syllabus.

5. Approach

“It is a theory about the nature of language and language learning that serves as the source of practices and principles in language teaching” (Richard and Rogers, 1986: 16). In this study, approach is the way language is taught to the learners. It means that approach facilitate teacher teaching the language to the students.

6. Genre

“Genre is the name given to the type of texts that refers to a social purpose using language to achieve meaning in different situation and has a purpose of this form of written language, e.g. to inform, to persuade, to entertain and to explain…” (Hardy and Klarwein, 1990: 14). In this study genre is used as the approach in implementing Text-based syllabus. Consequently, the teaching-learning process will be developed based on the text that will be discussed.

10 CHAPTER II

REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE

As stated in the chapter one, Text-based syllabus is a coherent plan for a course study that is based on text. Therefore, it is important to understand what Text-based syllabus is because it will be the main point of this thesis. Text-based syllabus may help students to understand the nature of using English in their daily life.

Since it is based on the use of text in English teaching, it cannot be separated from genre, that is, “the various aspects of texts” (Bhatia, 1993: 40) as the approach to apply the Text-based syllabus. Therefore, in this section we will discuss Text-based syllabus and the use of this genre approach.

This chapter consists of two parts, namely theoretical description and theoretical framework. The theoretical description presents a detail explanation of the theories concerning: (1) the nature of perception and (2) the nature of Text-Based syllabus. Besides, the theoretical framework describes about all major relevant theories, which will help the researcher solve the research problems.

A. Theoretical Description 1. The Nature of Perception

Huffman (2000: 107) defines perception as a process of selecting, organizing, and interpreting sensory data into useful mental representation of the world. It means that perceiving is a conscious activity because we have to have

awareness to select and organize the object in order to perceive it. How people perceive an identified object is influenced by the background experience that people have. This background experience will help us to select and organize the object or stimulus. Therefore, perception is about the process itself.

Altman (1985: 85) describes perception as the way stimuly are selected and grouped by a person so that they can be meaningfully interpreted”. How people work with their environment and understand it so that they can have a picture of it. The interpretation of having the picture about a condition refers to the perception itself. It is similar with what is stated by Gibson (1997: 97) “Perception is organizing the information from the environment so that it makes sense”.

Stein (1982) cited in Ponty, M. (1962: 7) stated that “…. The series stimulus – impression – perception is a sequent event at the end of which perception begins”. It is seen that every perception is a new birth of consciousness. This process of perceiving is related to personal sense of perceptual experience, which will be translated so that every person is able to have different interpretation toward an object or stimulus. Hence, it is important to realize that there are many theories, which are relevant with this topic. That is why people need to have a framework as a guideline of knowing perception.

a. Selecting Attention

“Selecting is the process when the brain manages to sort out the important messages and discard the rest” (Huffman, 2000: 108). In this condition

12 people try to give attention to an object, which is considered more important than the others. It means that when people select an object or a sensory data they tend to give their attention to that identified object and ignore the others. For example: when a girl sees so many kinds of flowers in front of her and she chooses a bucket of red rose. The process of selective attention happens here because the girl has chosen the stimuli to which object she will give her attention. Therefore, she finally chooses a bucket of red flower then the others.

Altman, 1985: 86 stated that “the process of selecting occurs when we focus on only a small number of all the stimuli with which we are surround us”. Selecting really influence people in recognizing information, as this is the first step in perceiving object. This activity determines the next impression so that it will decide whether people will give attention to an object or not. It means that if people give attention toward an object they will perceive this identified object. For example, look at this following picture:

Look at the figure 1. People who see this object might say that it is just an unreal object. There are only splotches of light and dark. It can be difficult to realize or perceive that these splotches of light and dark can be a real pattern. In this condition the process of selection happens to help people to have a picture of mind toward the object so that they can see it from different angle. The ability to focus their attention to an angle to understand the meaning of the whole picture will help them to perceive the identified object.

“If we look at the figure long enough, our brain will arrange the stimulus into a recognizable object so that you will see a real pattern” (Huffman, 2007: 108). Based on the figure 1, when the selecting process happens people might see a real picture of a cow but people also can see other things according to their own perception. It is based on which spot people give and focus their attention. It means that the result of perceiving the same object can be varies for every one.

b. Organizing

The second step of perceiving an object is organizing. According to Hornby, A.S (2000: 932) organizing is arranging for something to happen or to be provided. In this case, it is a process of arranging abstract object or random spot into a shape. Related to the figure 2.1, organizing happens after people focusing their sight. This process helps them to arrange the random spot into a line that is continued to one another. It influences the final result of perceiving object. Therefore, if we spend enough time to stare at the figure 2.1. We can see a real figure as follows:

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Figure 2.2 Organize splotches into a real pattern (Huffman. 2000: 108) Related to this study, after experiencing the real use of Text-based syllabus to teach English, hopefully, teachers can organize their impression toward the use of Text-based syllabus then give their opinion in accordance with the real condition of teaching-learning process. In other words, English teachers are suggested to give their perception toward the use of Text-based syllabus objectively so that their opinion can be used as a reflection.

c. Interpreting data

After selecting data through the incoming stimulus and organizing it into a pattern, the brain uses this information to explain and make judgment about the real pattern (Huffman, 2000: 107). The action of making judgment about a condition is what-so called as interpreting. Therefore, perceiving does not suddenly occur in a condition and situation but it needs a process. Besides, perception is very personal because the process of perceiving can be influenced by

personal experiences, cultural factors, and personal motivation and frame of reference.

2. Factors of Perception

According to Robbins (1997a), perception is influenced by three factors. They are perceiver, target that being observed, and context of situation in which the perception is made.

1. Perceiver

The interpretation of a perceiver is influenced by personal charateristic. The personal characteristic includes attitudes, personality, motives, interest, past experience, expectation, emotions and needs (Robbins, 1997b).

Past experience is the most influencing factor of perception. It is because past experienc leads perceiver to have an expectation, which will influence their perception. Besides, the emotion and interest also play as a crucial factor in the teaching and learning process. It is because with emotion and high interest the teaching and learning process will be succeed.

2. Target

The characteristic of the target that are being observed can influence what is perceived by the perceiver. The relationship betweeen the target with its backgrounds also influences the forming of perception. For example teachers’ perception on the use of teaching media can be very different for teacher who teach in an isolated village and they who teach in a city. It might be influenced by the need of the use of teaching media itself.

16 3. Situation

Situational context in factor influencing perceptions can be defined as the context in which the perceiver sees object or event. Time, place, dark, light, and any other situational factors can influence the way people perceive an object. The perception of a teacher who teach in one school as long as his work time toward students’ motivation in finishing their study might be different from a teacher who teach not only in one school. It is influnced by the situation of the school in which they spent their time for teaching.

The theory helps the researcher to find out some causes that make the respondent have such perception toward the use of Text-based syllabus in English teaching-learning process.

3. The nature of Text-Based syllabus

As Text-based syllabus is part of the implementation of the School-based Curriculum Development, the teachers need to understand what is meant by SBCD. Therefore, in this research, the SBCD and Text-based syllabus will be discussed.

a. School-based Curriculum Development

“Curriculum refers to an area of enquiry in higher education that focuses on what is learned and what should be learned in an educative institution or in a lesser extends to what is and should be learned institutionalized” (Schubert, W. 1986: 4). Curriculum helps the educational institution to decide the material that

should be learned by the students. School-based curriculum in Indonesia or it is called, as KTSP is “an operational curriculum, which is arranged and conducted by each of educational institution or school” (Muslich, 2007: 17). It means that every school has right to develop their syllabus based on the condition and the need of the school. The reason is because every school is considered as the educational institution that directly gets in touch with the students. “Teachers are given responsibility for developing the curricula and even allowed to develop their own school curriculum within centrally determines guideline” (Brady, 1992: 5). There is a decentralization system so that the curriculum can cover all the students’ needs optimally in accordance with the environment.

Mulyasa (2008: 178) stated that the implementation of KTSP is a process of implementing opinion, concept, and the curriculum policy in teaching learning activity so that students conquer a bundle of a certain competency as a result of the interaction with their environment.

Based on this theory, it can be seen that trough implementing KTSP curriculum students are expected to have more skills. It means that the students will have more chance to experience the application of the learning materials. They will be trained to be more active in learning the subject study. Therefore, the implementation of KTSP will be more useful when it is developed in every educational institution. It is because teachers who are trusted as the persons who really understand their students’ level of proficiency can arrange the development of this curriculum. As the result, the teaching-learning process will be more effective. Based on the curriculum, syllabus will be designed to implement it,

18 which is a more detail description of the curriculum for the teaching-learning process

b. Text-Based syllabus

“Text-Based syllabus is a response to changing views of language and language learning” (Feez and Joyce, 2002: 3). It integrates how language is structured and used in social context. As the ability to use language relate to the practice of using the language itself, therefore, syllabus that is based on the text is provided. The text itself can be in the form of written text, recording, cassette, video or other sources, which can present the implementation of the target language. It is used to provide students with the use of language in the social context so that they will be able to learn how to use the language in the real context.

The aim of using Text-based syllabus is to adjust students with language in use and to know how to use the language. Huffman (2000: 3) declares that “there are some characteristics of Text-based syllabus such as syllabus type, view of language, syllabus elements, content, and methodology”. The following are the detail information about the characteristics of text-based:

a. Syllabus Type

“A Text-based syllabus can be thought as a type of mixed syllabus. It is because all elements of various others syllabus type can constitute a repertoire from which a text-based syllabus can be designed” (Feez and Joyce, 2002: 3). The

text given can be a mixture of all of the teaching materials. It means that through reading the text students can learn how to use the language in the real condition. The students can have a picture of the implementation of language itself. Besides, the students also can learn the implementation of grammar materials. It is more about how to use the grammar in the real conversation. This explanation shows that by using a Text-based syllabus students can learn grammar of the language, the implementation of grammar and the use of language in a context in a time, as all of those elements can be found within a text. Although many aspects teaching materials can be found in a Tex-based syllabus but it focuses on the development of students’ communicative skill.

“A text is every conversation that is found in TV, radio, daily conversation and in written story, which brings communication function to the reader” (Knapp and Watkins, 2005: 23). Therefore, the purpose of using text-based syllabus is to make the teaching learning activity become as easy as communicating in their daily life. Text-based syllabus focuses on the development of students’ communicative skill. It is because they can understand how to use and how to implement the language through the text.

b. The View of language

Feez and Joice (2002: 3) claim that “language occurs as the whole text, which is embedded in the social context in which it is used”. This characteristic of text-based syllabus aims to introduce the social background of the language that is learned by the students. “Texts are produced in, and determined by social

20 contexts, so that it is possible to identify the determining social elements in the structure and grammar of individual texts” (Knapp and Watkins, 2005: 22). The understanding of the social contexts of a text is needed so that students can see how to use the language. It means that people learn language through working with the whole text of the individual text.

“Texts cannot occur without any context, as within a context the grammatical function of the text can be learned” (Hejlmselv, 1961 cited in Knapp and Watkins, 2005: 21). It is concerned with stratifying language. He proposes that there were many strata and at each stratum, there were the variables “form of content” and “form of expression” operating at the same time. Based on this explanation, a text can help the students to learn language not only for learning the grammatical aspect but also for learning how to use their grammatical knowledge in the real context or in the daily life.

c. Syllabus elements

“All the elements of a text-based syllabus are given unity and direction by being organized with reference to holistic models of content and methodology” (Feez and Joice, 2002: 3). Text-based syllabus presents the structural interpretation of a text that is differentiated by its genre. Through learning the genre the students can analyze the real implementation of English teaching. They can have examples of the use of English in their daily context so that they can imitate it to make their own text.

Based on the characteristics of genre, Hardy and Klarwein (1990: 3) divide it into two types of text. They are literary genres and non-literary genres. Non-literary genres contain report or factual objective description such as short description, history report, geography report, and science report. While literary genres consist of short stories, which are presented in the form of narrative, recount, procedure, and newspaper report. The detail explanation about genre will be presented in the next discussion.

d. Content

“The content of text-based syllabus is based on the whole text which are selected in relation to learners needs and the social context which learners wish to access” (Feez and Joyce, 2002: 3). It means that text-based syllabus emphasizes on the strength of text, which covers the condition and the social context that is faced by the students. It represents “the unit work of a text is designed completely relate to the text, so that later students can work in a sequence of it. It is cited in Feez and Joyce” (2002: 22) that

“The process of text-based syllabus design can be initiated from the perspective of the following elements:

a. topic and related contexts of language use

b. texts type and related language features (discourse features at the level of the whole text, grammatical and lexical features at the level of the clause) c. skill and strategies

d. activities”

Therefore, we can see that by using Text-based syllabus teachers can provide text that is appropriate to deliver the material that should be discussed for the students. The text also can be a basis of teaching-learning activities, as by

22 using text teachers can discuss the language use or vocabulary that are used in the text, and create activity to understand the language application in the real condition. For example: in order to discuss a procedural text a teacher can create an activity, which implements the text-based such as learning about how to make a kite so that students can really understand the expressions that are used in procedural text. Based on the explanation above, we can notice that text-based syllabus serves a text within a context and completely with its grammatical function and the unit work that will facilitate students to apply their understanding of the text with the right grammar.

e. Methodology

The methodology, which supports text-based syllabus, is based on a model of teaching and learning in which the learner gradually gains increasing control of text-based. “Methodology refers to the underlying approach which influences how students work with syllabus content in the class room” (Feez and Joyce, 2002: 2). Therefore, genre approach is suggested to apply the text-based syllabus, as it occurs in the form of text.

“Genres are classified according to their social purpose and identified according to the stages they move through to attain their purpose” (Knapp and Watkins, 2005: 22). Therefore, genres classification or the social purpose relates to the text’s grammatical function. For example a text which social purpose is used to retell the story that happened before in the form of narrative. The use of past tense type of grammar is needed, as it is used to retell the events that

happened in the past. The use of grammatical function will change if the social purpose of a text is also changed. Hence, text, genre, and grammar have a good relationship to each other in order to build a good text.

B. Theoretical Framework

There are two research questions in this study. The first question concerns with the teachers’ perceptions toward the implementation of Text-based syllabus used in Senior High School’s teaching-learning process. In researching the teachers’ perception there are some theories to be noticed. Firstly, the nature of perception. It is used to help the researcher understand the meaning of perception. The second point is the factors influencing perception. It is used to help the researcher find out factors influencing teachers in perceiving the syllabus design.

In order to answer the first research question, the researcher uses the theory of perception that is stated by Huffman. The process of perception itself includes selecting attention, organizing, and interpreting. Besides, perception is influenced by the perceiver, target, and the situation of the object of perceiving. It is supported by the theory of factors of perception presented by Robins. Therefore, how teachers perceive the implementation of Text-based syllabus will depend on themselves. It means that the teachers will select, organize and interpret their own.

With the purpose of answering the second question the researcher uses the theory of curriculum stated by Schubert. The theory explains about the meaning

24 of curriculum. It is supported by theory of the implementation of KTSP, which is declared by Mulyasa. This theory focuses on the how the implementation of KTSP is, as a result of the interaction with the environment. It is appropriate with the principle of Text-based syllabus that is to develop the class based on the text. It is supported by Knapp and Watkins about the meaning of the text itself. In this case text is every conversation that brings communication function. It can be in the form TV, newspaper, magazine, or many other sources. The implementation of the Text-based syllabus will be reflected in the teaching-learning process, which is based on the text materials. The purpose is to give chance for the students to experience the use of the language. This condition can be found in the implementation of Text-based class in schools.

25 CHAPTER III METHODOLOGY

This chapter deals with relevant points concerning the methods of answering the research problems. They are: (1) Research Method, (2) Research Participants, (3) Research Instrument, (4) Data Gathering Technique, (5) Data Analysis Technique, and (6) Research Procedure.

A. Research Method

The rationale for choosing a methodology over the others is the nature of the subject study and the theory underlying the research objectives. Since this research is aimed at analyzing the teachers’ perception on the implementation of Text-based syllabus at SMA Negeri I Bantul and SMA Stella Duce Bantul, the method used in this research was a descriptive research. A descriptive study describes and interprets what is. “It is concerned with the condition and relationship that exist, opinions that are held, processes that are going on, effect that are evident, or trends that are developing” (Best, 1977a: 116). More about descritipve research, Best described it as “the real result of the research as it does not propose or test hypotheses and does not deal with the many variables underlying the achievement or lack of achievement of those observed” (Best, 1977b: 117). Therefore, the research would only analyze the teachers’ perception without trying to solve the problem.

26 In order to find the answer of the problems formulations that were stated in the first chapter, the researcher used two methods called: in-depth interview, and observation. In-depth interview is a method that was used to fulfill the information, which was needed to clarify the real perception of the participants on the implementation of the teaching-learning process. Besides, observation was used to see whether the teachers’ perceptions were enacted on their teaching or not.

B. Research Participants

In this research, English teachers of SMA 1 Bantul and teachers of SMA Stella Duce Bantul who had at least three years experiences of teaching were taken as the participants. The purposive sampling was used as the method of this research. With the teachers’ experiences in teaching using several kinds of syllabus designs and curriculums, they were expected to be able to give the information that was needed to conduct this research. Therefore, they were able to differentiate the effectiveness of using the text-based syllabus with the other syllabus designs.

Teachers of SMA 1 Bantul were chosen, as this school is considered as one of the favorite schools located in Bantul city. It uses high standard for the new students who want to join in this school. The consideration is students with high motivation in learning tend to join in this school. Therefore the teachers just needed to develop their motivation and skill that they already had in learning the subject studies in senior school.

Compare to the others educational institution, SMA Stella Duce Bantul was one of the Private schools in Bantul city with “A” standard of accreditation. This school had different background toward another sample as the different basic of students’ motivation in learning. Here, the teaching-learning activity was considered to be in a high level also although not all of the inputs have high ranks. Most of the students were in average level of cleverness. Based on the English teacher of this educational institution’s perception, their skills of English were also in a range of average until medium level. On the other words, teachers in this educational institution have to work harder than the other one to compete with others private and state senior high schools and create out puts with the same quality with other educational institutions’. That is why, English teachers’ perception on the use of Text-Based syllabus design, which was used nowadays is important to see the effectiveness of this syllabus design.

Therefore, Text-based syllabus that was implemented in English teaching learning was used to facilitate the students with the various background knowledge so that they could learn the material better. It affected their motivations in learning the subject materials. The aim of using these schools as the sample of this research was to know the teachers’ of these institutions perceptions on the use of Text-based syllabus in teaching their students in such conditions and to see whether or not teachers from different background of schools have the same perception toward the use of Text-based syllabus.

28 C. Instruments

In order to answer the reseacrh questions that were stated in chapter I, the researcher used in-depth interview to know the teachers’ perception. Besides, the researcher used observation to complete and to compare the finding data with the reality of the teaching-learning process.

1. In-Depth Interview

In-Depth interview was conducted as the researcher intended to obtain the data about teachers’ perceptions of Text-based syllabus used in their class. “In-depth interview is an open-ended discovery-oriented, that is well suited for describing both program processes and outcomes from the perspective of the target audience or the key stakeholder” (Guion, L. A., 2006). It was aimed to know how far the syllabus design could help their students to have a higher ability in learning English. It was also used to analyze whether or not teachers from different background of schools had the similar perception on the use of Text-based syllabus. As cited in Seidman, I. E (1991: 3) “The purpose of in-depth interview is not to get answers to questions, nor to test hypothesis, and not to ‘evaluate’ as the term is normally used”. Hence, this method was used to analyze the real condition of teaching-learning process so that, hopefully, it would be appropriate to answer the research problem number one that is stated in the chapter one. Although the questions that would be used for the interview would be unpredictable or based on the teachers’ explanation, the researcher made a blue

print of the questions that would be asked for the teachers. It could be seen in table bellow:

Table 3.1 Blueprint of Interview

Number Questions Description

1. 1 to 3 These questions gathered the information about the characteristic of the students and their motivation in learning English

2. 4 to 11 These questions gathered information about the teachers’ opinion on the Text-based syllabus design and its implementation

3. 12 to 18 These questions collected data about the teachers’ perception on the students’ achievement and difficulties that were usually found in the Text-based syllabus class design

4. 19 to 21 These questions gathered information about the teachers’ perceptions on the positive and the negative aspects of using Text-based syllabus in English teaching

2. Observation

Since the second problem of this research is how the teachers’ perception is enacted in their teaching, the researcher used class observation to find out and complete the data. It was used to support the finding data that was gathered by conducting in-depth interview and to answer the research question number two that is stated above. The observation was conducted in order to get the data about the real situation of teaching-learning process. It was used to compare every teacher’s perception with the real condition of his or her own class. The researcher

30 did not make any effort to communicate with the class so that the class could walk as it did. The researcher prepared a checklist as a guideline of conducting the class observation. The class observation’s guideline is followed:

Table 3.2 Check List of Observation No. Points of observation Descriptions

1. Teachers’ teaching style This checklist of observation used to guide the researcher in observing the way teachers taught their students based on Text-based syllabus. It was used to compare whether their perception about the way they teach their students using Text-based syllabus was enacted in their teaching or not.

2. The use of

communicative language

This checklist of observation was used to see the implementation of the teachers’ perceptions on the language that was used to communicate in their class and how it could develop the use of Text-based syllabus.

3. Students’ motivation It observed whether or not the students were motivated to learn English.

4. Students’ enjoyment It observed if the students enjoyed the class 5. Students’ understanding It observed whether the students could grasp

the material by being able to answer questions and respond the class activities.

D. Data Gathering Technique

The data was collected by coducting in-depth interview to the teachers from different school backgrounds in order to know their perceptions toward the

use of Text-based syllabus. The in-depth interview was conducted for several times for every teacher until the researcher could gather all of the information that was really needed for developing her research. Then, after conducting the interview, the researcher conducted a class observation. The observation was conducted once for every teacher in order to know the condition and the atmosphere of the implementation of Text-based syllabus and in order to see the suitability of the teachers’ perception with the condition of the class. On the other hand, it is used to evaluate the implementation of the teachers’ perception. The purpose was to analyze the detail information that was given by teachers and compare it with the data that was obtained from the field. Then, the researcher would analyze whether teachers’ perception is enacted in their teaching or not and discuss it in the chapter IV.

E. Data Analysis Technique

The analysis technique would be conducted based on the data that was obtained before by looking at the differences of the teachers’ perception and the implementation of their perception. The purpose was to see how teachers’ perception on the use of text-based syllabus was really reflected on their teaching. It was aimed to answer the teachers’ hesitation on the use of text-based syllabus, which was a new syllabus design for Indonesian Educational system.

The researcher would analyze whether teachers’ perception from the different background of school were the same or not. Besides, she would analyze whether or not their perceptions were reflected in their teaching. Through their

32 perception we would understand the effectiveness of using this syllabus design in our educational teaching-learning process.

1. Procedure

As stated before, this thesis was concerned with two major problems to solve. However, the study must follow the procedure of this research. It was divided into three main activities; those were:

a. Preparation

This activity consisted of asking permission to the headmaster of the schools where the research was conducted. Firtsly, the researcher went to the regional govermement of Bantul to have a permission to conduct a reserarch in SMA Negeri 1 Bantul. Then the reseracher went to the headmaster of SMA 1 Bantul and SMA Stella Duce Bantul to have permission to conduct this research.

Then the researcher tried to build a good relationship toward the English teachers through conducting pre-interview. Hence, hopefully, the researcher could successfully conduct In-depth interview and get all of the information needed for the research. Next, the researcher came to the teachers to arrange a schedule about when the In-depth interview would be carried out.

b. Gathering the data

It consisted of two main stages. The first was In-depth interview toward the teachers’ perception then the second was observation, which was conducted in order to complete the data that was obtained by interviewing. The in-depth

interview was conducted for more than once based on the information that was needed. While classes observation was conducted at least once for every teacher in order to compare their perception with the real condition and atmosphere of the class.

c. Result

This activity analyzed the data that were collected by comparing the data from the interview and observation. Based on the comparison, the correlation between the teachers’ perception with the condition of the field could be determined. In the other words, it could be seen whether or not the teachers’ perception were enacted in their teaching-learning activity.

34

CHAPTER IV

RESEARCH FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION

This chapter discusses the findings and the data analysis of the study. The researcher interprets the data and answers the research questions, which are previously discussed in chapter I based on the research findings.

A. Research Findings

1. Teachers’ Perception on the Implementation of Text-Based Syllabus

In-depth interviews were used to gather all the information about the teachers’ perceptions on the implementation of Text-based Syllabus. It was considered as one of the most effective research instruments to gather the data based on the teachers’ perceptions. There were six participants in this study. One of the participants was teacher from SMA STELLA DUCE Bantul and the others were from SMA NEGERI 1 Bantul. The researcher conducted the interview at least two times for every teacher. It was based on the information that still needed to be collected by the researcher. Based on the finding data, the following discussion would describe the result of the interview.

The researcher gathered information about the teachers’ perceptions, which was conducted start from March 17th until April 16th. The researcher gave some questions about Text-based syllabus, its implementation in the class and the result. The researcher then named those six participants as the first teacher, the second teacher, the third

teacher, the fourth teacher, the fifth teacher, and the sixth teacher. They taught students from the tenth grades until the twelfth grade of senior high school.

Based on the teachers’ perceptions, the researcher categorised the following discussion into two parts. The first discussion was based on the teachers’ perceptions who agreed with the use of Text-based syllabus in English teaching and learning process. Then, the second discussion would be based on the perceptions of teachers who did not agree with the implementation of Text-based syllabus design.

a. Teachers Who Agreed with the Use of Text-based Syllabus Design

Stein (1982) cited in Ponty, M. (1962: 7) stated that “…. The series stimulus – impression – perception is a sequent event at the end of which perception begins”. It meant that perception did not suddenly arise but it needed a process and took time. In this process past experiences were really influence the perceiver to perceive a target. There were many kinds of syllabus designs had ever been implemented in English teaching. Based on their past experiences, the teachers led themselves to have perceptions toward the use of Text-based syllabus in English teaching.

English teachers of SMA NEGERI I Bantul and SMA STELLA DUCE Bantul also had experiences in teaching using several syllabus designs. Based on their past experiences and their experiences in implementing Text-based syllabus, the teachers perceived that the Text-based syllabus could facilitate teachers to deliver materials easier. The students also enjoyed the class when teachers taught them by using Text-based syllabus. As the syllabus emphasized on the development of the communicative skill, it could motivate students to be able to speak up. Besides, through giving materials in the

form of text, students were trained to understand the language in the real use. These impressions directed the teachers to have perceptions on the implementation of Text-based syllabus design. Therefore, five of six participants perceived that the implementation of the syllabus was appropriate for English teaching in Indonesia, while the other participant did not agree about it.

The second teacher stated that “Text-Based syllabus is suitable for English teaching in Indonesian Educational Institution because the text gives students language context and mind mapping.” For example; the ducks were so funny; her duck was appeared. The meanings of these two words were different. In the first example the ducks were so funny the word duck meant gees or kinds of birds. While in the second sentence her duck was appeared the word duck meant bow. These differences caused by the language context.

It implied that a text could be more flexible to teach a language for foreigners. It could facilitate the students to understand the use and the implementation of the language itself in the real use or in the daily life. Through reading a text, the students could have many examples about how to use the language so that they could easily learn and imitate the example to create their own text. On the other hands, a text gave a frame-work for the students, which stimulated them to think and predict the meaning of new vocabulary that were found in the text. This activity could give a good effect for their long term memory because they had struggled to understand the meaning of the words by themselves.

In learning English, not only the understanding of the theory of language itself that was needed by the students but also the time to practice what they had learned. It

showed that practicing the students’ skill of language had a high relationship with the fluency of using the language itself.

Based on the teachers’ experiences in teaching English, by using Text-based syllabus, the students would have more chance to practice their skill of speaking. As it was possible for teachers to choose media for teaching, so variations in the teaching-learning process could be obtained. This condition might motivate the students to practice using the language. In this case, teachers from the two different educational institutions used some sources such as entitled “Look A Head”, which was published by Erlangga and “Linked to The WORLD”, which was published by Yudhistira.

However they did not always use the source books when they were teaching. Instead using the text books, they sometimes combined the materials with their creativity to make the class alive. Therefore some additional sources like English newspaper, articles from the Internet, English magazine, clipping, English songs, cassette-recordings and films were used by the teachers to develop their teaching.

The purpose of using so many kinds of teaching medias was to facilitate the students in getting familiar with the function of the language usage and to stimulate the students to be able to express themselves. Besides, the teachers inquired the students to have more practice rather than to listen to a long explanation. It aimed to check their students’ understanding directly when they were doing the practice.

A different condition happened when Text-based syllabus had not been used. There was a time, English teaching-learning process emphasized on the grammar and the sentence pattern. The result was that students became the passive receiver of learning. They did not have any confidence to practice using the language. They were not trained

to use it in their daily life. The teachers believed that, by using Text-based syllabus design, the students would have more confidence to speak up in their area or in public. The syllabus development does not pay attention on the accuracy of their speaking but their fluency in expressing their idea stated the third teacher. Therefore, most of the students were able to use the language actively. Although their speaking was not accurate but, at least, they dared to use it. Some of the teachers stated this condition implied that the students’ ability to use the language had increased, as they had learned about how the language was used in the daily context.

The teachers believed that Text-based syllabus was the most useful one compared to the previous syllabus designs like structural syllabus. According to the teachers, there were many advantages could be earned from the use of Text-based syllabus design in the teaching-learning process, such as; enjoyment, chances to use the language, students’ confidence, the real implementation of the language, sharpening students’ soft skill and improving teachers’ creativity. Although grammar was no longer the focus of the syllabus design, it was useful to make the students familiar with the target language.

The sixth teacher stated that most of the students enjoyed joining the English class as they did not need to really focus on the grammar. They just needed to try to be familiar with the target language by practicing to use it actively. One of the English teachers from SMA NEGERI I Bantul stated that Text-based syllabus made students feel easier in learning English. As the materials given in the form of text, so students did not realize that there were many kinds of important points such as grammar, vocabulary, and

expressions, which were including in the text. Therefore, they could learn English more relaxing.

Most of the teachers agreed that the basic problem in implementing the syllabus design was in teacheres’ creativity. It was a basic problem, as it influenced the students’ motivation to learn the material and to follow the class. The teachers’ creativity was really important to make their class alive. It was because the material was always in the form of text that could bring boredom to the class if it was monotonous. Therefore, the teachers had to make the materials appropriately and adjust with the condition of the class. The fourth teacher stated that “I’m happy to use Text-based syllabus design because I can vary the class activities like what I want.” I usually ask them to sing, do a speech and debate.” These kinds of activities could help them understand the text and the expression within the text in a different experience.

However, the teachers had almost the same opinion about the Text-based syllabus that could not facilitate students to really understand the grammar. Based on the teachers’ opinion the students could not yet identify and use the right grammar to express what was in their mind. Hence, “teachers should clearly explain as long as needed” stated the third teacher. It was because grammar was no longer the focus of the syllabus design. It emphasized more on the students’ fluency in using English. Therefore, the teachers had to work hard also to understand their students’ weaknesses in understanding the grammar so that the teachers could help them preparing TOEIC Test and tests for attending the universities or what so-called as UMPTN. In these tests grammar is one of the most important points that are considered.

b. Teacher Who Did Not Agree with the Implementation of Text-based Syllabus Perception is influenced by three factors. They are perceiver, target and situation (John, 1996 and Robbins, 1997). In this case the perceiver was the teacher, the targets were the students, and the situation was the teaching-learning process. Based on her experiences on teaching by implementing Text-based syllabus, the sixth teacher could analyze the effectiveness of the syllabus design. In her opinion, Text-based syllabus gave good benefits for English teaching. The students could be more active in responding the class and in speaking up to express their idea using the target language. The teacher could make variations in her teaching and the students enjoyed the class and the material given.

Although the teacher understood that the syllabus gave benefits for English teaching-learning process but the teacher did not agree if it was considered as the most appropriate one. It was because the syllabus just served in the form of text. She stated that by using Text-based syllabus students just trained to understand texts, nothing more. Hence, students would learn materials not more than what the context of the text given.

She explained more that the effectiveness of the teaching-learning process would really depend on the variation of the syllabus design’s implementation. Therefore, the teachers had to work harder as they had to be creative in preparing their class. Another problem was about the function of Text-based syllabus in teaching grammar, which was very low, as the focus of Text-based syllabus was not on the grammatical knowledge but on the development of the students’ communicative skill.

There was no demand for the students to really master the grammar but to understand the text’s message. However, the understanding of grammar was aloud because this is important to deliver the meaning of text of conversation. If the syllabus

design did not pay attention on the grammatical problem, the English learning would not be balance. Although in the national examination, grammar was not considered to be tested but it was one of the most important points in English test for attending the universities. It became the teachers’ homework to really guide and control their students’ ability in understanding the grammar. “Teachers had to work hard on It,” she explained. “They had a responsibility for the future of their students.” On the other hands, the syllabus design could not cover this problem well.

Based on her opinion, the students’ understanding about English enriched but it was not deep enough yet. She thought that it was because the materials served in the form of text that had been categorized in the kinds of genre. It made the students did not have deep understanding of English out of the topics that were available in the books, genres and the expressions that were used in the text. Therefore, when the students were asked to make their own text they would make the similar one as the example given. The use of the text was useful for the students but the need of knowledge was more than what was already given.

According to her opinion, another difficulty that could not be covered by Text-based syllabus was how to make students really able to measure their understanding if the text that was given for their daily material and text that would be used for examination day were really different. It could make the students confuse because they could not predict the vocabulary’s scope that would be used in the examination.

Although she did not really agree with the use of Text-based syllabus in English teaching-learning process in Indonesia, the teacher admitted the effectiveness of Text-based syllabus to make the class active. Based on her opinion and experiences students

became more enthusiastic in joining English class. The students did not complain about the teaching methodology. Moreover, they really liked whenever they were allowed to watch “Beauty and The Beast” movie in the learning process. They enjoyed the class very much.

Therefore, she suggested teachers to make their own module so that it could cover the need of the educational institution they were placed. It was because every educational institution had their own characteristic such the students’ background of knowledge, students’ motivation to study, and students’ habit that could influence how deep the material that would be taught is. These conditions could be understood only by teachers from the same institution. So that teacher would have a big responsibility on the school’s output.

2. How Teachers’ Perceptions are Enacted in Their Teaching

Observation was used to gather the field data about the implementation of Text-based syllabus. Observation was considered as the most appropriate research instruments to gather data about the real condition of the classroom. The reseracher collected the data started from April 4th until May 2nd. The observation was done minimum once for every teacher.

The intention of conducting the observation was for matching what the teachers perceived about text-based syllabus with what happened in the real condition of the classroom. The researcher gathered some information based on the teachers’ opinions that were gathered by interviewing, which had been conducted before the observation. The information were about the way teachers delivered teaching materials, the students’

motivation in learning English, the students’ speaking fluency, and the students’ understanding of English reading texts.

The discussion below would be based on the way the teachers taught their students so that it would bring different output for the students’. Therefore, the researcher categorized the findings into three parts consisting of the way teachers delivered English teaching materials, students’ involvement in the learning process and the students’ understanding about the materials.

a. The Way Teachers Delivered English Teaching Materials

1). The Way Teachers Delivered English Teaching Materials in SMA NEGERI I BANTUL

There were six teachers who were taken as the participants from this educational institution. Those were teachers who taught students at tenth until twelve level. The class development was based on the four skills. They were listening, speaking, reading, and writing. SMA NEGERI I Bantul also had an additional subject, which concerned on the grammar with the aim of facilitating students to be better in understanding English’s grammar. However, from five teachers who participated in giving their opinions about the implementation of Text-based syllabus, there were only three of them whose classes could be observed. It was because the other two taught the twelve level classes, which were no longer discussed about new materials but only did some trial tests. Therefore, the researcher could not do any observation in their classes.

The first teacher mostly used English in teaching her students but sometimes she used Indonesia language to make sure that her students understand what she explained.

She perceived that “the students would be bored if the teaching learning process was conducted based on text only without any other activities that could motivate the learners to study. It needs teachers’ creativity to make the class active.” Through observing her class the researcher could see that her perception was enacted in her teaching. She used media to facilitate students to practice the listening skill. However, she did not have a good preparation for it so that when the tape recording got a problem she did not have another plan to do. Therefore, she wasted too much time to play the recording.

Besides using tape recording as the teaching media, she also asked the students to work in group to make a drama that should be performed in the next two meeting. This strategy was used in order to make the students able to understand text-based material with genre folktales. The students looked very enthusiastic to do their job. They were busy discussed their project with their friends. It was seen that the teacher allowed the students to do free conversation with the aim of giving a comfort area for the students to speak. On the other hand, some of the students were busy chatting in their group and did not make any progress.

School-based curriculum development is one of curricula that was used in our educational system in these present days. “Teachers are given responsibility for curriculum development, and even allowed to develop their own school curriculum within centrally determines guideline” (Brady, L. 1992: 5). The theory served as a basis for developing the teaching-learning process. Therefore, teachers could vary the materials by taking teaching material texts not only from the textbook but also from many other sources such as Internet, English magazine, radio or news paper with considering the students’ level of ability.

The second teacher who taught reading used English all the time in the class. Her class was so silent, as the students looked confused and nervous to express their opinion. Based in the gathered data, she usually created the class to be fun by having some group works, which result could be performed. For example: students were asked to be newscasters and practice the way they read the news in order to understand news item material or reporting the condition of their environment in order to learn a report text. This activity could help the students understand the materials better. It related to her statement that “every class activity should support the learning process.” However, whenever the researcher conducted the observation in her class, she did not create her class as that creative that could support the learning process.

Although the teaching-learning process was conducted without using any teaching media, the students had motivation to learn. They always tried to think hard to be able to answer some questions given by the teacher in English. Therefore, the class moved slowly because the students were lack of vocabulary.

The same teacher argued that a different condition would be found when she was teaching in another class. In her opinion, another class with the same level of study had different characteristics. The students tended to be more active and better in understanding the materials that was given by their teacher. Therefore, the class would be fun. In this class teacher just needed to give a little stimulus then the students would give good responds for that.

The third teacher emphasized her teaching on grammar. She delivered the material mostly in English but whenever her students looked confused about her explanation she would re-explain it in Indonesian language. She stated that “Text-based

trained students to be accustomed to use the target language as fluent as they use their first language.” It was used in order to make the students understand the real use of English and be able to use it in their daily life. Therefore, teachers also had to give a good example in using English so that the students would become familiar with the target language.

Based on the observation data, it was seen that the students really enjoyed her class. Although in this class students learnt more about grammar, they could follow the class with full of enjoyment. Hence, the material could be grasped by the students easily so that they could answer some questions given by the teacher related to the grammar functions and could make a good sentence.

In order to make sure the understanding of her students about the teaching material the teacher asked students to combine a sentence directly one by one. This was one of the students’ answers. The teacher stated:

First sentence : “call the dentist office”. Second sentence : “I make an appointment”.

The student’s answer : “Yesterday, I called the dentist office in order to make an appointment.”

The student who had the turn should combine the sentences into one sentence and change the tense into past. The students were allowed to add an adverbial of time for the sentence.

The third teacher believed that the process of understanding a new vocabulary or a new material that was experienced by themselves could keep their long term memory. Therefore, the researcher could see that her perception was applied in the way

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vi

ABSTRACT

Dewanti, Gregoria. 2009. Teachers’ Perceptions of Text-Based Syllabus Used in SMA

NEGERI I Bantul dan SMA Stella Duce BANTUL. Yogyakarta: Sanata Dharma

University.

English has been taught in various levels of educations, one of which is on the high school. At SMA NEGERI I Bantul and SMA Stella Duce Bantul, the English teachers taught the students by implementing Text-based Syllabus.

This research was attempted to observe the teachers’ perceptions of the implementation of Text-based Syllabus in the teaching-learning process at high school. This research aimed at identifying how the teachers’ perceptions of the implementation of Text-based syllabus were enacted in the teaching-learning process in SMA I Bantul and SMA Stella Duce Bantul.

This research took the five English teachers of SMA NEGERI I Bantul and one English teacher of SMA Stella Duce Bantul as the subjects of the research. The researcher collected data by interviewing the English teachers. The observation was also used in this research to complete the existing data by looking at the situation of the learning process, which consisted of the condition of the teaching-learning process, students’ motivation in learning, students’ speaking fluency, and the students’ understanding on the Text-based material.

The data gathered showed that the teachers’ perceptions of the five teachers toward the implementation of Text-based syllabus are good. They agreed about the implementation of Text-based syllabus because it gave many benefits. However, in the real condition teachers did not make variation in their teaching so that the results of the teaching-learning process were not optimal.

They also stated that the implementation of Text-based syllabus was really helpful in delivering the enjoyable materials. Students were motivated and were able to use their knowledge to communicate in class. However, grammar knowledge should be developed explicitly, as it was not the focus of the Text-based syllabus. This was a positive result that the implementation of Text-based syllabus was good and appropriate for the teaching-learning situation and condition in SMA NEGERI I Bantul and SMA Stella Duce Bantul.

vii

ABSTRAK

Dewanti, Gregoria. 2009. Teachers’ Perceptions of Text-Based Syllabus Used in SMA

NEGERI I Bantul dan SMA Stella Duce BANTUL. Yogyakarta: Universitas Sanata

Dharma.

Pengajaran bahasa Inggris diberikan di berbagai jenjang pendidikan, salah satunya adalah di jenjang sekolah menengah. Di SMA NEGERI I Bantul dan SMA Stella Duce Bantul, guru-guru bahasa ingrris menerapkan Teks-based syllabus.

Penelitian ini dilakukan untuk mengetahui persepsi guru tentang penerapan silabus berbasis teks untuk pengajaran bahasa inggris pada sekolah menengah. Penelitian ini bertujuan untuk mengidentifikasi apakah persepsi guru terhadap penerapan silabus berbasis teks ini tampak dalam pengajaran mereka di SMA NEGERI I Bantul dan SMA Stella Duce Bantul.

Penelitian ini menempatkan lima Guru bahasa inggris dari SMA NEGERI I Bantul dan satu guru bahasa inggris dari SMA Stella Duce Bantul sebagai subyek penelitian. Pengumpulan data penelitian dilakukan dengan mewawancari enam orang Guru bahasa inggris tersebut. Observasi juga digunakan untuk melengkapi data yang ada dengan cara melihat situasi pembelajaran yang terdiri atas kondisi proses pembelajaran dikelas, motivasi siswa dalam belajar, kelancaran siswa berbahasa Inggris, dan pemahaman siswa terhadap materi berbasis teks.

Data yang terkumpul menunjukkan bahwa persepsi lima dari enam guru terhadap penerapan syllabus berbasis teks untuk pengajaran bahasa inggris di SMA NEGERI I Bantul dan SMA Stella Duce Bantul adalah baik. Mereka setuju akan penerapan text-based syllabus karena banyak segi positif yang dapat dicapai dari penerapan syllabus ini. Namun dalam kenyataannya guru kurang memberikan variasi dalam mengajar sehingga hasil proses pembelajaran menjadi kurang optimal.

Mereka juga mengatakan bahwa penerapan syllabus berbasis teks di sekolah menengah sangat membantu untuk menyampaikan materi secara lebih menyenangkan. Siswa dapat lebih termotivasi dan mampu belajar menerapkan materi yang telah mereka serap dalam berkomunikasi di dalam kelas. Namun demikian pembelajaran tentang grammar harus dikembangkan secara eksplisit karena hal ini bukan merupakan fokus dari penerapan

Text-based syllabus. Hal ini merupakan fakta positif bahwa syllabus berbasis teks tersebut baik dan sesuai dengan situasi kelas di SMA NEGERI I Bantul dan SMA Stella Duce Bantul.