STUDENTS’ PERCEPTION TOWARD THE CONTRIBUTION OF GROUP PRESENTATION TECHNIQUE IN SOCIOLINGUISTICS AND MASS MEDIA COMMUNICATION CLASS A THESIS Presented as Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements to Obtain the Sarjana Pendidikan Degree in English Language E

  STUDENTS’ PERCEPTION TOWARD THE CONTRIBUTION OF GROUP PRESENTATION TECHNIQUE IN SOCIOLINGUISTICS AND MASS MEDIA COMMUNICATION CLASS A THESIS Presented as Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements to Obtain the Sarjana Pendidikan Degree in English Language Education

  By Arif Rusna Pratiwi

  Student Number: 06 1214 110

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

  STUDENTS’ PERCEPTION TOWARD THE CONTRIBUTION OF GROUP PRESENTATION TECHNIQUE IN SOCIOLINGUISTICS AND MASS MEDIA COMMUNICATION CLASS A THESIS Presented as Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements to Obtain the Sarjana Pendidikan Degree in English Language Education

  By Arif Rusna Pratiwi

  Student Number: 06 1214 110

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

  

STATEMENT OF WORK’S ORIGINALITY

  I honestly declare that this thesis, which I have written, does not contain the work or parts of the work of other people, except those cited in the quotations and the references, as a scientific paper should.

  rd

  Yogyakarta, August 23 , 2010 The Writer,

  Arif Rusna Pratiwi 06 1214 110

  

LEMBAR PERNYATAAN PERSETUJUAN

PUBLIKASI KARYA ILMIAH UNTUK KEPENTINGAN AKADEMIK

  Yang bertanda tangan di bawah ini, saya mahasiswa Universitas Sanata Dharma: Nama : Arif Rusna Pratiwi Nomor Mahasiswa : 06 1214 110

  Demi pengembangan ilmu pengetahuan, saya memberikan kepada Perpustakaan Universitas Sanata Dharma karya ilmiah saya yang berjudul: STUDENTS’ PERCEPTION TOWARD THE CONTRIBUTION OF GROUP PRESENTATION TECHNIQUE IN SOCIOLINGUISTICS AND MASS MEDIA COMMUNICATION CLASS Beserta perangkat yang diperlukan (bila ada). Dengan demikian, saya memberikan kepada Perpustakaan Universitas Sanata Dharma hak untuk menyimpan, mengalihkan dalam bentuk media lain, mengelolanya dalam bentuk pangkalan data, mendistribusikannya di Internet atau media lain untuk kepentingan akademis tanpa perlu meminta ijin ataupun memberikan royalti kepada saya selama tetap mencantumkan nama saya sebagai penulis.

  Demikian pernyataan ini saya buat dengan sebenarnya. Dibuat di Yogyakarta Pada tanggal: 23 Agustus 2010 Yang menyatakan Arif Rusna Pratiwi

  I dedicate this piece of work to: My Parents “Babe and Ibu” My Beloved Husband “Ayah”

My Son “Ray”

My Little Sister and Brother My Lovely Grandmother

  

ABSTRACT

  Pratiwi, A. Rusna (2010). Students’ Perception toward the Contribution of

  

Group Presentation Technique in Sociolinguistics and Mass Media

Communication Class. Yogyakarta: English Language Education Study Program,

  Sanata Dharma University.

  The source of information in class, traditionally, was the teacher (teacher- centered). The condition should be changed into learner-centered to create the innovative learning methods. One of the innovative techniques which can increase student’s interaction is group presentation. Hence, this study investigates the students’ perception toward the contribution of group presentation technique in learning process. There are two problems formulated in the problem formulation. The first problem formulation is to know students perception toward the contribution of group presentation in learning process and the second is to find out possible suggestions that can be concluded from students’ perception toward group presentation to improve its implementation.

  In order to answer those problems, the researcher employed a survey research. The survey was done in the beginning of May 2010 by distributing questionnaire to the participants. The participants of this study were fifty-seven students of Sociolinguistics and Mass Media Communication class Academic Year 2009/2010. There were twenty-five close-ended statements and two open- ended questions in the questionnaire. To obtain more focused responses, the researcher divided the questionnaire into three sections to obtain more focused responses. The first part was aimed at investigating the students’ perception when they acted as presenter and audience to give the general opinion. The second part was aimed at investigating the students’ perception when they acted as presenter. The third part was questions for the students who acted as the audience. Meanwhile, the open-ended questions were aimed at investigating what a good group presentation is and suggestion in applying group presentation in learning process.

  The results of this research showed that the students had positive perception toward the contribution of group presentation in learning process. It could be proved by the results of the questionnaire that most participants chose ‘strongly agree’ or ‘agree on each statement. Meanwhile, there were also the negative perceptions from the participants because they felt that they did not understand the material presented by others' group.

  From the research result, it can be concluded that group presentation offered the contribution for both presenter and audience. Group presentation trains their critical thinking and creative thinking, promoted their responsibility, and promoted their autonomy in learning process. Meanwhile, the negative perception could be overcome by the suggestions. The suggestions which were interactive situation in presentation, group dynamics, preparation, media, and teacher participation, could improve the implementation of group presentation in learning process.

  ABSTRAK

  Pratiwi, A. Rusna. (2010). Students’ Perception toward the Contribution of

  

Group Presentation Technique in Sociolinguistics and Mass Media

Communication Class. Yogyakarta: Pendidikan Bahasa Inggris, Fakultas

  Keguruan dan Ilmu Pendidikan, Universitas Sanata Dharma.

  Pada awalnya, sumber informasi dikelas adalah guru (teacher-centered). Keadaan ini seharusnya diubah menjadi metode learner-centered untuk menciptakan metode pembelajaran yang inovatif. Salah satu teknik yang dapat meningkatkan interaksi antar siswa adalah presentasi kelompok. Jadi, penelitian ini bertujuan untuk mengetahui persepsi mahasiswa terhadap kontribusi presentasi kelompok dalam proses pembelajaran. Ada dua masalah yang dirumuskan dalam perumusan masalah. Permasalahan yang pertama adalah untuk mengetahui persepsi mahasiswa terhadap kontribusi presentasi kelompok dalam proses pembelajaran dan yang kedua adalah untuk mengetahui saran-saran apa saja yang dapat disimpulkan dari persepsi mahasiswa terhadap kontribusi presentasi kelompok untuk memeningkatkan kontribusi teknik presentasi kelompok dalam proses pembelajaran.

  Untuk menjawab masalah-masalah tersebut, penulis menggunakan metode survei. Survei dilakukan pada awal Mei 2010 dengan menyebarkan kuesioner kepada mahasiswa sebagai partisipan. Partisipan pada penelitian ini adalah 57 mahasiswa yang mengikuti kelas Sociolinguistics and Mass Media

  

Communication Tahun Ajaran 2009/2010. Dalam kuesioner ini terdapat 25

  pernyataan kuesioner tertutup dan dua pertanyaan kuesioner terbuka. Peneliti membagi pernyataan kuesioner tertutup menjadi tiga bagian yaitu pernyataan untuk mahasiswa yang berperan sebagai penyaji, mahasiswa yang berperan sebagai penonton, serta sebagai penyaji dan penonton sekaligus. Hal ini untuk mengetahui persepsi mahasiswa terhadap presentasi kelompok secara spesifik. Sementara itu, pertanyaan dalam tipe kuesioner terbuka bertujuan untuk mengetahui apa yang dimaksud dengan presentasi kelompok yang baik dan saran- saran dalam penerapan presentasi kelompok dalam proses pembelajaran.

  Hasil dari penelitian ini menunjukkan bahwa mahasiswa-mahasiswa mempunyai persepsi positif terhadap kontribusi presentasi kelompok dalam proses pembelajaran. Hal ini dapat dibuktikan dari banyaknya jawaban “sangat

  

setuju ” dan”setuju” dari hasil kuesioner di setiap pernyataan. Sementara itu, ada

  juga persepsi negatif dari partisipan karena mereka tidak mengerti materi yang disampaikan oleh kelompok presentasi yang lain.

  Dari hasil penelitian dapat disimpulkan bahwa presentasi kelompok mempunyai kontribusi bagi penyaji dan penonton. Presentasi kelompok melatih cara berpikir kritis dan kreatif, serta menerapkan sikap bertanggung jawab dan kemandirian dalam proses pembelajaran. Sementara itu, persepsi negatif ini dapat diatasi dengan beberapa saran yang membangun. Saran-saran yang berupa situasi interaktif dalam presentasi, dinamika kelompok, persiapan, media, dan partisipasi

  

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

  First of all, I would like to thank to Allah SWT for blessing me and guiding me in doing this research. I really thank Him for never ending miracles that He always gives. I could do nothing without Him.

  My deepest gratitude goes to my major sponsor, Caecilia Tutyandari,

  

S.Pd., M.Pd. for guiding and helping me finish this thesis. Also, I really thank her

  for encouragement from the beginning of the research until the accomplishment of this thesis. I would like to express my thankfulness to Carla Sih Prabandari

  

S.Pd., M.Pd and Drs. Antonius Herujiyato, M.A., Ph.D. who gave me permission

to conduct my research in their class.

  I am very grateful to my beloved parents, Babe and Ibu, for their endless care, support, and encouragement during my study. Then, I would like to thank my beloved husband, Ayah, who always gives his support and love to me and my lovely son, Ray, who always accompanies me every night in finishing my thesis.

  I would like to express my appreciation to Mbak Danik and Mbak Tari for their helps and services during my study. My thankfulness also goes to my best friends, Rika, Rina, Ida, Ayum, Yeyen, Dani ‘Moron’, and Deinza for their support. Finally, I thank the people that I could not mention here.

  Arif Rusna Pratiwi

  

TABLE OF CONTENTS

  TITLE PAGE .............................................................................................. i PAGES OF APPROVAL ............................................................................ ii STATEMENT OF WORK’S ORIGINALITY ........................................... iv

  LEMBAR PERNYATAAN PERSETUJUAN PUBLIKASI KARYA

  

ILMIAH UNTUK KEPENTINGAN AKADEMIK ………………………... v

  DEDICATION PAGE ................................................................................ vi ABSTRACT ................................................................................................ vii viii

  ABSTRAK ....................................................................................................

  ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ......................................................................... xi TABLE OF CONTENTS ............................................................................ x LIST OF FIGURES .................................................................................... xiii LIST OF TABLES ...................................................................................... xv

  CHAPTER I : INTRODUCTION A. Background of the study ........................................................................

  1 B. Problem Formulation ...............................................................................

  4 C. Problem Limitation .................................................................................

  4 D. Research Objectives ...............................................................................

  4 E. Research Benefits ...................................................................................

  5 F. Definition of Terms ................................................................................

  6 CHAPTER II : REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE A. Theoretical Description ..........................................................................

  8

  2. Group Work ......................................................................................

  10 3. Presentation .......................................................................................

  12 4. Perception .........................................................................................

  17 5. Cooperative Learning ........................................................................

  20 B. Theoretical Framework ..........................................................................

  24 CHAPTER III : METHODOLOGY A. Research Method ....................................................................................

  27 B. Research Participants .............................................................................

  27 C. Research Instruments .............................................................................

  28 D. Data Gathering .......................................................................................

  30 E. Data Analysis ..........................................................................................

  30 F. Research Procedures ...............................................................................

  31 CHAPTER IV : A. Research Results ....................................................................................

  32

  1. Students’ Perception toward the Contribution of Group Presentation Technique in Learning Process ..................................

  32

  2. Possible Suggestions toward Group Presentation to Improve Its Implementation ...........................................................................

  49 B. Discussion ..............................................................................................

  51 CHAPTER V : CONCLUSIONS AND SUGGESTIONS A. Conclusions ............................................................................................

  56 B. Suggestions .............................................................................................

  59 1. Students .............................................................................................

  59

  3. The Next Researchers .......................................................................

  61 REFERENCES ...........................................................................................

  62 APPENDICES ............................................................................................

  65 Appendix 1 Questionnaire ...........................................................................

  66 Appendix 2 Questionnaire Blueprint ...........................................................

  68 Appendix 3 Analysis of Close-Ended Questionnaire ..................................

  69 Appendix 4 Analysis of Open-Ended Questionnaire ...................................

  72

                                 

  

LIST OF FIGURES

  37 4.8 Suitability of the Application of Group Presentation .........................

  4.15 Students' Being Able to Promotes the Autonomy through Group Presentation ............................................................................

  42

  41 4.14 Students' Being Able to Promotes Responsibility ............................

  40 4.13 Students' Being Able to Increase Creative Thinking ........................

  40 4.12 Students' Being Able to Increase Critical Thinking ..........................

  4.11 Students' Being Able to Increase Self-confidence when Using English ..............................................................................................

  39

  38 4.10 The Benefits of Group Presentation ...................................................

  38 4.9 Students' Good Progress in Using Group Presentation ......................

  4.6 Students' Understanding on the Material Presented by the Presenter   .............................................................................................. 34   4.7 The Need of Group Presentation to Understand the Material .............

  Figure Page 2.1 Sources of Aims for Group Work .....................................................

  35

  35 4.5 Students’ Motivation to Learn through Group Presentation ...............

  4.4 Students' Enjoyment in Having Group Presentation Technique ............................................................................................

  34

  4.3 Students' Opinion on Group Presentation Technique as the Effective Teaching Technique ............................................................

  34

  33 4.2 Students' Interest in the Use of Group Presentation ............................

  17 4.1 Students' Familiarity of Group Presentation .......................................

  10 2.2 Perceptual Process ..............................................................................

  42

  4.17 Students' Practice before Presentation ..............................................

  44 4.18 Cooperation in Group Presentation ...................................................

  44 4.19 Audience's Attention to Group Presentation .....................................

  45 4.20 Students' Good Performance in Group Presentation .........................

  46

  4.21 Students' Being Able to Answer the Questions from Audiences ..........................................................................................

  46 4.22 Students' Plan before Presentation ....................................................

  47 4.23 Students' Attention to Others' Group Presentation ...........................

  48

  4.24 Students' Understanding on the Material Presented by Others' Group Presentation ...............................................................

  48

  4.25 Students' Satisfactory on the Presenter's Answers ……………....... 49

  LIST OF TABLES

  Table Page 3.1 Table of Participants’ Rating Scale Responses ....................................

  31 3.2 Table of Participants’ Responses on Open Ended Questions ...............

  31

   

CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION The research investigates the students’ perceptions toward the contribution

  of group presentation technique in Sociolinguistics and Mass Media Communication Class. This research presents background of the research, problem formulation, problem limitation, objectives of the research, benefits of the research, and definition of the terms.

A. Background of the research

  Traditionally, a teacher is the only one who becomes the source of information and the only one who handles the class. A teacher is the center of the learning process. The students do not have roles in learning process because they only sit down and listen to what the teacher explains in class. This traditional method is usually said as a teacher-centered method. Teacher-centered method can be defined as a formal lecture, whereby a teacher stands and talks all the time in front of the learner. In this method, the teacher has a dominant role in class. The learners have a lack of participation in class.

  Communication in formal teaching is mostly delivering lesson or lecture to the students. Terenzini and Pascarella (1994) in their research as cited by Huba and Freed (2000 : 2) state that teacher-centered methods are not effective or less effective. From the statement, it can be suggested that a change in teacher- centered method of college teaching is needed to enhance students’ learning. view in higher education should focus on students’ learning rather than teaching in order to improve students’ college experiences and participation. Nowadays, the condition has been shifted from teacher centered into learner – centered. It could be proved by the condition in which there are some classes in English Education Study Program, Sanata Dharma University which use some technique applying students’ participation in class, for example presentation technique.

  Burden and Byrd (1994) state that teacher-centered which is considered as formal lecture should be changed into informal. It means that it is better to change the teacher having a dominant to a nondominant role to create the innovative learning methods. Hadi (2007) states that there are some learning methods which belong to classification of learner-centered method. Those are small group discussion, role-play and simulation, case research, discovery learning, self- directed learning, cooperative learning, collaborative learning, contextual learning, project based learning and problem based learning and inquiry.

  One of the techniques which can increase student’s interaction and play the learners’ dominant role in class is group presentation technique. The relation between group presentation and cooperative learning approach is that learners need to cooperate with other learners in group presentation. It means that group presentation belongs to cooperative learning approach. This group presentation is expected to help the learners become independent learners in class because in this group presentation session, the learners can participate in learning process and interact with other learners.

  In group presentation, there should be a presenter who presents the materials and the audiences. The audience gains the information from the presenter. In common teaching, the teacher can be said as the speaker because he/she is the main source in transferring the knowledge. According to Hills (1986), the main idea of group session is that “the students should talk”. Nevertheless, a teacher who applies group presentation asks the learners to transfer the knowledge. Also, he/she has a role as the facilitator who will help the learners whenever they need. This group presentation technique has been applied in some courses in English Education Study Program Sanata Dharma University.

  This research was similar to the research conducted by Hanani ( 2007). Hanani stated that generally the students of Language Teaching Methodology had positive perception toward the use of group presentation in their class. Nevertheless, the researcher intends to know the contribution of group presentation in other classes.

  In this case was Sociolinguistics and Mass Media Communication Class which used group presentation technique in class. Moreover, as the researcher

  th

  experienced in Sociolinguistics class when she was in 6 semester, group presentation was beneficial for her. The researcher intends to know whether group presentation has contribution or not because the students might not know the contribution of group presentation.

  This research is aimed at finding out what the students’ perceptions toward the contribution of group presentation technique in Sociolinguistics and Mass Media Communication Class are and possible suggestions toward group presentation to

  B. Problem Formulation The researcher formulates the problems as followed.

  1. What are the students’ perceptions toward the contribution of group presentation technique in Sociolinguistics and Mass Media Communication Class?

  2. What are possible suggestions that can be concluded from students’ perception toward group presentation to improve its implementation?

  C. Problem Limitation

  Group presentation may lead the students to have some perceptions on the technique. The research will focus on students’ perceptions toward the contribution of group presentation in Sociolinguistics and Mass Media Communication Class and present possible suggestions toward group presentation to improve its implementation.

  The researcher limits the participants of the research in Sociolinguistics Class B and Mass Media Communication Class A Academic year 2009/2010 English Education Study Program of Sanata Dharma University. The researcher chooses the students from these classes because these classes apply group presentation technique in class.

  D. Research Objectives The objectives of this research are as followed.

  1. To know students’ perception toward the contribution of group presentation technique in Sociolinguistics and Mass Media Communication Class.

  2. To find out possible suggestions that can be concluded from students’ perception toward group presentation to improve its implementation.

E. Research Benefits

  The research about students’ perceptions toward the contribution of group presentation technique in Sociolinguistics and Mass Media Communication Class hopefully will be useful to give some contributions to the students, lecturers of English Education Study Program of Sanata Dharma University, and other researchers.

1. Students of English Education Study Program

  The research may be useful for the students of English Education Study Program Sanata Dharma University. The research findings hopefully may help the students to understand the contribution of group presentation. Because of its contribution, they will have high motivation in learning process. They will also increase both their teaching skills and academic achievement. Working in group will increase their cooperation experience in term of presentation 2.

   Lecturers of English Education Study Program

  This research may give an alternative strategy to the lecturers to make the learning process run well. It will also help the lecturers to consider the learning technique namely presentation technique which should be used. Hopefully, the group presentation technique which was implemented by the lecturer could be used to improve the teaching-learning activity in class.

3. Other researchers

  The result of this research will be expected to give clear description of perception toward the contribution of group presentation. This research, also, will encourage other researchers to conduct further research on the contribution of group presentation.

F. Definition of Terms

  In order to make common conception to the readers about some terms used in this research, the researcher defines them as followed:

1. Perception

  Altman, Valenzi, and Hodgetts. (1985: 85) state that “perception is the way stimuli are selected and grouped by a person so that they can be meaningfully interpreted”. It is like person’s view of reality. Meanwhile, Huffman and Vernoy

  107)

  (2000: define perception as “a process of selecting, organizing and interpreting sensory data into useful mental representation of the world”. Each person may have different view about an object. Perception is important because student’s behavior is based on their perceptions. In other words, perception in this research based on those two definitions is what they think and feel about what they have experienced after the process of selecting, organizing, and interpreting stimuli/ sensory data, which in this case is the learners’ perception of the contribution of group presentation in Sociolinguistics and Mass Media Communication Class.

2. Group Presentation

  Mackey (1965: 228) states that “presentation means communicating something to somebody”. Cassie and Constantine (1977) state that presentation means that someone speaks in public. Presentation in this research is one of the learning techniques to present knowledge that the presenter has learned to the audience.

  The presentation in this research is done in group.

CHAPTER II REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE This chapter presents a discussion on related literature as the theoretical

  base upon which the research outlined in Chapter 1 is conducted. There are some important discussions of the main variables that are used in this research.

  Literature review is divided into two parts, namely theoretical description and theoretical framework.

A. Theoretical Description

  In theoretical description, the researcher presents six points: (1) Teaching technique, (2) The definition of group work and its characteristics, (3) The definition of presentation and its characteristics, (4) The definition of perception and perceptual process (5) The definition of cooperative learning and its benefits.

  The second part is theoretical framework.

1. Teaching Technique

  In language teaching, there are three levels of conceptualization and organization (Anthony, 1963). Those are approach, method and technique.

  Approach can be said as a set of correlative assumptions. It deals with the nature of subject matter to be taught. Meanwhile, method is procedural plan for the orderly presentation of language material. It can be said that there can be many methods in one approach. Then, a technique is the implementation of classroom procedure. The technique which is implemented in class must be both consistent with a method and in harmony with an approach.

  Furthermore, Richard and Rodgers (1986) describe that any method in language teaching can be described at the levels of approach, design, and procedure. Approach deals with the theory of the nature of language and language learning. Design deals with a syllabus model, types of learning and teaching activities, learner and teacher roles, and the role of instructional materials. Then, procedure deals with the classroom techniques and practices.

  At the procedure level, we concern with the tasks and activities in classroom which are used as the basis for teaching and learning. It can be the interactional patterns, tactics, and strategies used by the teachers and learners when the method is being used. Thus, procedure focuses on the way a method handling the presentation, practice, and feedback phases of teaching.

  In language learning process, the teachers and the students use some techniques, tactics, and strategies which are appropriate with the method. For instance, the teacher uses group work and jigsaw technique which can be applied in cooperative learning method to make the learning process run well. The teacher applies this technique by forming group first. It relates to the basic of cooperative learning in which the students can cooperate and discuss the materials given by the teacher with their group.

  Furthermore, Gerlach and Ely (1980:16) state that “technique means the procedures and practices used to accomplish teaching objectives, regardless of presentations, and verbal and written reports prepared by students. Group presentation technique in this research belongs to cooperative learning approach.

  Group presentation is as the procedure which is in harmony with cooperative learning approach. It could be explained that among the member in group presentation commit to the common purpose and goal.

2. Group Work

  The researcher also discusses group work to support this research. In group presentation, the students cooperate and work together to prepare the material which will be presented. Thus, it can be said that in group presentation, there is the essence of group work. The discussions of group work are divided into two parts, namely the definitions of group work and its characteristics.

a. Definition of Group Work

  According to Jaques (1991), group can be said as the qualities of interaction between members who influence and respond to each other in the process of communication, whether they are face to face or otherwise deployed. Gibson, Ivancevich, and Donnelly (1973: 201) state that “group is two or more employees who interact with each other in such a manner that the behavior and/or performance of a member is influenced by the behavior and/or performance of other members”.

  Brown (2001) states that group work is a technique in which two or more students are assigned a task that involves collaboration. A collection of students collection of individuals who interact and respond each other to do any tasks. Each member influences other members. Specifically, it is called group work.

b. Characteristics of Group Work

  Specifically, group which is formed in learning process may be viewed as outcomes (Jacques, 1991). He adds that the aim of forming group might be to attain a deeper understanding of educational theory. STUDENTS

  Family Exchange   Reference 

   ideas   Groups  image of  Educational  needs   “professional

  Assessment  “job    Negotiable

   in the  learning  in group 

  SOCIETY TUTORS

  Institutional    Personal         Ideologies     Own  experience  Viability

   studies

Figure 2.1 Sources of Aims for Group Work

  From figure 2.1 above, the society is included to the personal background of tutors and students as well as the wider community. Meanwhile, students draw upon their own background and on their perception of the outside world. students. The tutors are strongly influenced by the climate of learning in the educational setting. Furthermore, most people start their life in small groups, in the family unit. Therefore, there is natural discussion in groups. The aims are transported by the students from society into the educational setting. The aims and ideas of group may be modified through interaction between students in group work.

  Brown (2001) explains some advantages of group work in English language learning classroom. The advantages of group work are generating interactive language, offering an embracing affective climate, promoting responsibility, autonomy and individualizing instruction. Generating interactive language means that group work provides opportunities for students for face-to-face giving and taking, practicing negotiation of meaning, and extending conversational exchanges. Moreover, offering an embracing affective climate means that it can help the students to cooperate each other in gaining common goals.

  After knowing some definitions group and group work, in the following discussion the researcher will discuss the essence of presentation in learning process above which will be related to the essence of group work.

3. Presentation

  The main thing discussed in this research was group presentation. To support this research, the researcher presents the definitions of presentation and its characteristics in the following discussion.

a. Definition of Presentation

  Presentation means communicating something to somebody (Mackey, 1965). It has a meaning that presentation is a means of communication to convey a message to other person. Moreover, Cassie and Constatine (1977) state that presentation is speaking in public. It means that presentation facilitate a person to speak in front of public. In this research, the presentation is done in group. Based on the two definitions, it can be concluded that group presentation in this research is collection of individuals who work together to complete then present a particular task or project to the audience.

  Student's presentation in the classroom becomes an important element in delivering positive learning experiences. It will improve communication skills and to train students to talk to a group of people. Similar to Cassie and Constatine, Burden and Byrd (1999:91) describe that “a lecture is an instructional strategy in which the teacher gives an oral presentation of facts and principles, with the students frequently being responsible for note-taking”. In a lecture, teacher is as the center of the learning process. It can be said as teacher-centered. It is useful to alternate class time with various presentation techniques that require active involvement by the students (Burden and Byrd, 1999).

  Burden and Byrd (1999) state that classroom presentation will draw students’ attention to the new learning activity or topic. Moreover, mini-lectures or a presentation is one of the ways in encouraging students’ awareness of successful language learning in classroom (Brown, 2001). It means that it will encourage the students to have the willingness to examine the needs to create successful learning.

  Jing (2009) states that oral presentation is an important skill because students can convey one’s ideas through this kind of learning technique.

  Moreover, Jing adds the advantages of presentation done in classroom by the students. Presentation increases student's self-confidence when using English and it provides learning experience and will be beneficial for the learners in all subjects matter. Also, it is a good practice for student’s critical thinking, creative thinking and integration of skills. Furthermore, it is an excellent generator of . spontaneous discussion

  In the following discussion, the researcher will discuss the characteristics of group presentation.

b. Characteristics of Presentation

  Petrequin (1968: 15) states that “presentation situation is presenter dominated”. When the teachers ask the students to present the topic material, it can be defined as presentation technique. The students replace the teacher’s role as the main source of knowledge in transferring the material.

  There are two elements which should be in presentation. There are the presenter and audience. The presenter is the person who presents the materials and the audiences are the people who gain the information from the presenter. A presenter has the responsibilities to make the audience understand the material that a presenter must prepare to show as well as talk (Petrequin, 1968). It will gain students attention. Meanwhile, Petrequin (1968: 15) states that “the audience role is watching, hearing, and noting what happens during the presentation”. The audiences can response the material which is presented. They can ask questions and/or give suggestion about the subject matter.

  Hanani (2007:11) states that “a presenter can be said as the speaker of the presentation”. It means that a presenter is a person who speaks in front of audience. Hasling (1988) elaborates some mechanisms which should be prepared by the speaker in public speaking. There are six mechanisms to do, namely goals, limitations, assets, previous experience, topics for speeches, and affirmation.

  First mechanism is goals. The speaker of presentation should decide what they are able to do. It means that the students, in this case who play the role as the speaker, should get a picture of it in their mind as they write it down. The clear goal will lead to clear presentation. Second is limitation. The speaker has to limit what he/she is going to say to avoid confusion. This second mechanism will also avoid unimportant things to say.  

  Third mechanism is assets. It is something like a list of characteristics and abilities that the speaker of presentation has. It will assist the speaker in achieving our goal. Fourth is previous experience. Even if the students do not have any experiences in doing presentation or never play the role as the speaker in presentation, they can recreate in mind of small discussion with their small group in which they have ever done. It can reinforce a good feeling to do presentation.

  Fifth mechanism is topics. In language learning presentation, sometimes the teacher has chosen the materials to be presented by the students. Burden and Byrd (1999) give the example related to this mechanism. The teachers, for example, ask the students to prepare a printed report and then to make a presentation to the rest of the class in group. The topic will help the students to focus on the subject matter. The last mechanism is affirmation. Hasling (1988) states that affirmation is a positive and realistic statement. It will reinforce the best characteristics.

  Rosenshine and Stevens (1986) as cited by Burden and Byrd (1999) described several aspects of clear presentations: (a) clearly state goals and main points, (b) provide step-by-step presentations, (c) use specific and concrete procedures, and (d) check for students’ understanding. In presentation technique, the presenter should state the goal of his/her presentation first before presenting the material to the audiences. Then, as a presenter, he/she should provide step-by- step presentations. It means that the presenter begin the presentation from the introduction by giving clear explanation of the topic of the presentation briefly, then content by giving deeper explanation of the material. Last, the presenter ends the presentation by summarizing what has been presented.

  There are four parts of good oral presentation, namely preparation, beginning, body, and peroration (Cassie and Constantine, 1977).

  a. Preparation The students who get the turn in presenting the material should make a detail of plan of the presentation. The steps in preparing the presentation include the presentation. The presenter should decide what he/she is trying to achieve and fix the aim firmly in mind. Preparation is the essential thing in presentation to make a perfect presentation.

  b. Beginning The most important part is the beginning step. In this step, the presenter should gain audiences’ attention. The beginning may take in forms of illustration, question or statement which relates to the main topic subject matter.

  c. Body This body step should contain the arguments and main ideas. The presenter should be able to develop the main idea and the accurate arguments which are presented. The presenter should master the material which is presenting. Also, the visual aids in the form of slides, films or an overhead projector would help the presenter to get over a particular point. Moreover, to maintain the interest of audience, the presenter can use some interesting technique, namely personal experience, incidents, or humor.

  d. Peroration Peroration means that the presenter makes the conclusion or enforces the argument he/she convey. The presenter can conclude the material which is presented in a variety of ways.

  In the following discussion, the researcher discusses the definitions of perceptions and the factors which influence someone’s perception arising in mind to support this research.

4. Perception

  Since this research is aimed at knowing students’ perception toward the contribution of group presentation in Sociolinguistics and Mass Media Communication Class, the researcher presents the definitions of perception and perceptual process according to some experts in the following discussion.

a. Definitions of Perception

  Huffman and Vernoy (2000: 107) define perception as “a process of selecting, organizing and interpreting sensory data into useful mental representation of the world”. The first process of perception is selection. This first step in creating perception is choosing the stimuli which we will pay attention to. We generally direct to attention to only one thing because it is difficult to understand more than one thing at the same time. The next process in creating perception is organization. We should organize the stimuli into patterns or shapes and principles that will help us to understand the world. The last process is interpretation. This process deals with making judgments and explanation which is influenced by several factors such as life experience and personal motivation.

  by

  Similar view on the meaning of perception is presented Gibson, Ivancevich, and Donnelly. Altman, Valenzi, and Hodgetts (1985) define perception as the cognitive process that individual used to interpret and understand the world around them. This explains that organizing perception is involving cognitive process in our mind whereby a person learn about something before giving perception on it. The cognitive and the learning process can be

  After knowing the definitions of perception, the researcher will present how perceptions arise in someone’s mind in the following discussion.

b. Perceptual Process

  Altman, et al. (1985) state that perception is the way stimuli which are selected and grouped by a person so that he/she can be meaningfully interpreted.

  It is like person’s view of reality. Figure 2.2 shows how perceptual process is defined.

  Perception, Sensors’ organization, Behavioural stimuli selection of and response stimuli interpretation of stimuli  

  Figure 2.2

Perceptual Process

  According to the figure 2.2 above, the input is the stimuli. Then, the stimuli are selected. Each person will select different stimuli based on his/her own needs.