47 the best quality of collaborative learning as each of them is responsible for their
own learning and others’ within the group. Johnson, Johnson, and Smith 1991 coined elements that learners should
demonstrate in
the collaborative
learning process,
namely positive
interdependence, individual accountability, face-to-face promotive interaction, as well as appropriate use of collaborative skills and group processing as cited in
Maesin, Mansor, Shafie, Nayan, 2009. Other that those, collaboration in speaking class takes students’ ability to interact and communicate in the target
language in order that they are enabled to exchange opinions and ideas. Otherwise, the collaboration process will not work according to the actual
intention of the speaking class itself. Apart from that, all these collaboration skills can only be performed with students’ willingness and voluntary contributions.
In this action research, one of the learning process components investigated was students’ collaboration skills. Chang 2012 and Lin 2015 note
some characteristics that indicate whether students perform collaborative learning throughout the learning process. First of all, students demonstrate collaboration
when each of them actively contributes in working with peers, so that they share the responsibility for the learning outcomes Lin, 2015, p.14. Secondly, students
realize that their success in learning also depends on others. Therefore, they care about others and support each other regardless of their competence levels, both
inside and outside the classroom Chang, 2012. The forms of support are shown when students read each other’s’ assignment as well as give, receive, and
exchange feedback for peers’ learning development. Finally, students in PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI
48 collaborative learning classrooms realize that everyone has equal opportunity to
succeed, so there is no sense of competition among them. In this study, students’ collaboration skill is observed through their actual
collaborative learning performance inside the classroom. As their collaboration in learning both inside and outside the classroom matter, it is necessary to also
analyze the improvement of students’ collaboration skills based on students’ responses to the pre- and post-program questionnaire.
b. Autonomy
The discussion of learner’s responsibility is raised in collaborative learning environment. A learner’s capability in learning independently and
responsibly deals with the concept of autonomy. The concept of autonomy in education has drawn much of educational researchers’ attention since 1970s Ma
Ma, 2012. Accordingly, in recent language teaching studies, the importance of helping learners to become more autonomous has become a prominent issue. This
is because learning autonomy is one of the keys for learner’s success in language
learning. In its classic definition, autonomy is the ability to take control over one’s
own learning through the ability of making significant decisions about what, how, and when to learn Holec, 1981, as cited in Chan, 2000; Van Lier, 1996, as cited
in Chan, 2000. In other words, it is “the capacity to take charge of, or
responsibility fo r, one’s own learning” Benson, 2011, p.58. To describe
autonomy in language learning context, Benson 2011, p.59-61 intertwines PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI
49 Holec’s 1981 definition of learning autonomy, which covers the main areas of
the learning process controlled by autonomous learner, and Little’s 1991
definitions, which emphasizes on learner’s control over the cognitive processes through a psychological dimension as well as learning content. Based on this, he
argues that “an adequate description of autonomy in language learning should at least recognize the importance of three dimensions at which learner control may
be exercised: learning management, cognitive processes, and learning content.”
Benson, 2011, p.61. In other words , learner’s autonomy is manifested in one’s
ability to self-control over those three dimensions of learning, although there could be various forms of control over learning performed by different individuals
in different contexts and in different times Benson, 2011, p.58. Fostering autonomy in learners can be done by developing a sense of
responsibility as well as encouraging learners to take an active part in making decisions of their learning Scharle Szabo, 2000, p.4. This notion clearly
explains that it is highly potential that student autonomy can be fostered through the principles of collaborative learning applied in this action research, just as Lin’s
2015 argument. Further in her study on collaborative learning conducted in a ESL speaking class Lin, 2015, she found that students were more self-dependent
in their learning both inside and outside the class, which indicated that learners became more autonomous as they actively made contributions in collaborative
learning environment. Students’ autonomy becomes one of the focuses of this study since learner
autonomy is one of the most influential aspects in learning process, particularly in PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI
50 a speaking class of mixed-
competence learners. Students’ autonomous learning, in fact, emerges during the learning process in collaborative learning environment.
Whether or not every student becomes more autonomous during the action research cycles was investigated through direct classroom observation on their
learning performance, as well as their responses to the interview.
B. REVIEW OF RELATED STUDIES
It is not easy to find studies related to teaching mixed-competence classes conducted in Indonesia. Because of this, some related research reports discussed
in this section are from overseas. Research on mixed-ability classes is a fertile ground of study since there are many aspects to investigate Xanthou Pavlou,
2010. In fact, globally, there have been a number of research investigating different aspects of teaching classroom with mixed-competence learners, or what
is commonly addressed with mixed-ability classes. Xanthou and Pavlou are two education researchers from Cyprus who have
been focusing their studies on teaching in EFL mixed-ability class or MAC 2008, 2010. In their 2008’s study, they investigated how EFL teachers in Cyprus deal
with MAC, especially with regard to students with pre-existing knowledge of English PKE. Data were collected from questionnaire responses obtained from
114 state primary school EFL teachers, and observation in level 1 EFL class of an urban primary school consisting of 25 children of mixed abilities. Those different
forms of data were then compared . The study’s main finding was that flexible
grouping mixed and same ability groups, cooperative and communicative PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI
