Designing a set of supplementary english materials using pictures as the media to teach vocabulary to the first grade autistic students of Sekolah Lanjutan Autis Fredofios Yogyakarta - USD Repository
DESIGNING A SET OF SUPPLEMENTARY ENGLISH
MATERIALS USING PICTURES AS THE MEDIA TO TEACH
VOCABULARY TO THE FIRST GRADE AUTISTIC STUDENTS
OF SEKOLAH LANJUTAN AUTIS FREDOFIOS YOGYAKARTA
A Final Paper
Presented as Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements
to Obtain the Sarjana Pendidikan Degree
in English Language Education
By
Bernadeth Christina K
Student Number: 001214045
ENGLISH LANGUAGE EDUCATION STUDY PROGRAM
DEPARTMENT OF LANGUAGE AND ARTS EDUCATION
FACULTY OF TEACHERS TRAINING AND EDUCATION
SANATA DHARMA UNIVERSITY
A Final Paper on
DESIGNING A SET OF SUPPLEMENTARY ENGLISH
MATERIALS USING PICTURES AS THE MEDIA TO TEACH
VOCABULARY TO THE FIRST GRADE AUTISTIC STUDENTS
OF SEKOLAH LANJUTAN AUTIS FREDOFIOS YOGYAKARTA
By
Bernadeth Christina K
Student Number: 001214045
Approved by:
Drs. J.B Gunawan, M.A. July 2, 2007 Major Sponsor
Statements of Work s Originality
I honestly declare that the final paper I wrote does not contain the works or parts of the works of other people, except cited in the quotations and references, as a scientific paper should.
Yogyakarta, July 2, 2007 The writer,
Bernadeth Christina K There's a world where I can go and tell my secrets to In my room, in my room In this world I lock out all my worries and my fears In my room, in my room
Do my dreaming and my scheming Lie awake and pray
Do my crying and my sighing
Laugh at yesterdayNow it's dark and I'm alone
But I won't be afraid In my room, in my room(Beach Boys in my room)
I dedicated this work to:
The One The Loved Ones: Mama, Papa, Abang, Adek Nyon, Inyo and Myself
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
This work is not the end; it’s the beginning of my next journey. For those who are always by my side and accompany me through the hard days, I would like to say thousands of gratitude.
This paper would not come to an end without the guidance from Mr. J.B.
Gunawan, M.A. His suggestions and patience have led me to accomplish this final
work.I also owe everything to my parents, L. Karbana and Leni Veronica, for their greatest love which always brightens up my days and guide my life. We have succeeded to pass all the obstacles, and I promise I will pay all the tears, sweats and everything you both already given me. I also send my thanks to my annoying brother,
Stefanus Karl Christian, and my sister, Anasthasia Christie Marilyn, for
worshipping the ground I walk on although I am horrible to them both.My deepest gratitude goes to my better half, M. Dion Wicaksono, for he completes me with his lingering love, and also to Nirvino, my wet-smell-lovely puppy, for always being such a clown and a funny company through the good times and bad.
I also send my gratitude to my soul sister, Kristina Pia Yeyek Stiani, for all the laughter and tears we share together, and Swantoro s family; Om Babe, Tante
Mak e, Mas Ajik and Peantul, for being my wonderful family.
My special gratitude is given to my wonderful friends, Galuh, for helping me through the hard time in finishing this work, Mas Didik, Rizky, Tekek, Bayu,
Tommy-Ibu-Egan, Tiok Begeng, Yunus, Catax, Albert Mbrot and Bruno with
Beyond Any Recognition for the good times we spend together; I wish all the best
for them.
And my greatest gratitude goes to Jesus Christ, who is always the One in my life. I doubt if I could have carried everything off without His help. His remarkable hands always guide me in living my life.
Yogyakarta, July 2, 2007 Bernadeth Chistina K
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Page
PAGE OF TITLE ............................................................................................. i
PAGE OF APPROVAL ................................................................................... ii
STATEMENT OF WORK S ORIGINALITY ............................................... iii
PAGE OF DEDICATION ............................................................................... iv
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT ............................................................................... v
TABLE OF CONTENTS ................................................................................. vii
LIST OF TABLES ........................................................................................... viii
LIST OF FIGURES ......................................................................................... ix
ABSTRACT ..................................................................................................... x
ABSTRAK ......................................................................................................... xi
CHAPTER I : INTRODUCTION................................................................ 1 CHAPTER II : THEORITICAL REVIEW A. Teaching Vocabulary ......................................................
5
1. Meaning ...................................................................................................................
5 2. The importance of vocabulary .....................................
6 3. The procedure of teaching vocabulary .........................
6 B. Pictures as the Media .......................................................
8 1. The nature of pictures ..................................................
8 2. Pictures as the media to teach vocabulary .....................
9
3. Types of pictures ......................................................... 10
4. Advantages of using pictures as the media .................... 11
C. The Characteristics of Autistic Students .......................... 13
1. The types of Autism Spectrum Disorder ....................... 13
3. The effects in education ............................................... 17
D. Instructional Material Design .......................................... 19
1. Yalden’s Instructional Model ...............................................................
19
2. Kemp’s Instructional Model ........................................ 20
CHAPTER III : DISCUSSION A. The Writer’s Design Model ............................................. 22 B. The Elaboration of the Writer’s Design Model ...............
25 C. Materials Presentation ...................................................... 37
CHAPTER IV : CONCLUSION AND SUGGESTIONS .............................. 40
REFERENCES ................................................................................................44 APPENDICES 1. List of interview question for need survey ..................
45 2. Lesson Plan ................................................................
47 3. Presentation of the Designed Instructional Materials ..
52
LIST OF TABLES
Page Table 1. The Writer’s Topics and Titles .............................................................
30 Table 2. The General Purposes ...........................................................................
31 Table 3. The Learning Objectives ......................................................................
33 LIST OF FIGURES Page Figure 1. Stages in Language Program Development ..........................................
19 Figure 2. Kemp’s Instructional Design Model ....................................................
21 Figure 3. The Writer’s Design Model ................................................................. 24
ABSTRACT
Christina, Bernadeth. 2007. Designing a Set of Supplementary English Materials
Using Pictures as The Media to Teach Vocabulary to The First Grade Autistic
Students of Sekolah Lanjutan Autis Fredofios, Yogyakarta . Yogyakarta: English
Language Education Study Program, Sanata Dharma University.
A set of supplementary English materials using pictures as the media to teach vocabulary was designed to help the autistic students learn vocabulary easily. In designing the supplementary English materials, two problems were formulated: (1) how is a set of supplementary English materials using pictures as the media to teach vocabulary to the first grade autistic students designed?, (2) what does a set of supplementary English materials using pictures as the media to teach vocabulary to the first grade autistic students look like?. Six steps of designing the materials were carried out to answer the first question in the problem formulation and a set of supplementary English materials using pictures as the media to teach vocabulary to the first grade autistic students was designed and presented to answer the second question.
In designing the materials, the writer elaborated six steps that were adapted from Kemp’s and Yalden’s instructional design models as the major answer to the first question in the problem formulation. The steps are the following 1) Analyzing the learner’s needs 2) Considering goals, topics and general purposes 3) Identifying the important characteristics of the learners 4) Specifying the learning objectives 5) Selecting teaching and learning activities and resources, and 6) Evaluating and revising the program.
There are eight units developed in this study to help the students to master English vocabulary which can support them to develop their English skills especially reading and writing skills. Principally, each unit consists of six parts, namely See Me!, Read It!, Name Me!, Learn It!, Do It!, and Let’s Play! which were designed based on the theories stated in Theoritical Review. The presentation of those three units is the answer to the second question in the problem formulation.
ABSTRAK
Christina, Bernadeth. 2007. Designing a Set of Supplementary English Materials
Using Pictures as The Media to Teach Vocabulary to The First Grade Autistic
Students of Sekolah Lanjutan Autis Fredofios, Yogyakarta . Yogyakarta: Program
Studi Pendidikan Bahasa Inggris, Universitas Sanata Dharma.
Penyusunan materi pelengkap yang menggunakan gambar sebagai media pengajaran kosakata Bahasa Inggris bertujuan untuk membantu para siswa autis agar dapat memperkaya perbendaharaan kosakata Bahasa Inggris. Dalam proses mendesain materi pelengkap pelajaran kosakata tersebut, penulis telah merumuskan dua pertanyaan yang terdapat dalam perumusan masalah, yaitu: (1) bagaimana materi pelengkap yang menggunakan gambar sebagai media pengajaran kosakata Bahasa Inggris tersebut disusun?, (2) seperti apakah bentuk materi pelengkap yang menggunakan gambar sebagai media pengajaran kosakata Bahasa Inggris bagi siswa kelas 1 di Sekolah Lanjutan Autis Fredofios Yogyakarta?. Untuk menjawab pertanyaan pertama, penulis memaparkan enam langkah yang dipakai dalam menyusun materi pelengkap tersebut, sementara untuk pertanyaan kedua, penulis menyertakan desain materi pelengkap yang telah disusun.
Sebagai jawaban utama dari perumusan masalah yang pertama, penulis memakai metode enam langkah yang diambil dari model instruksional dari Kemp dan Yalden, yaitu: 1) Menganalisa kebutuhan siswa 2) Mempertimbangkan sasaran, topik dan tujuan umum 3) Mengidentifikasi karakteristik khusus yang dimiliki siswa 4) Menetapkan tujuan pembelajaran 5) Memilih aktifitas belajar dan pembelajaran 6) Mengevaluasi dan merevisi materi.
Dalam studi ini dikembangkan delapan unit pengajaran kosakata Bahasa Inggris yang bertujuan untuk membantu siswa autis dalam mengembangkan kemampuan berbahasa Inggris, khususnya membaca dan menulis. Pada umumnya, setiap unit terdiri dari enam bagian, masing-masing adalah See Me!, Read It!, Name Me!, Learn It!, Do It!, serta Let’s Play! yang disusun berdasarkan teori pada Landasan Teori. Tiga unit yang mewakili dari keseluruhan materi telah disusun sebagai jawaban untuk pertanyaan kedua dalam perumusan masalah.
CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION In Indonesia, education for the disabled students, especially for the autistic
students has been neglected. It is shown from the educational system in Indonesia that there are no special curriculums to formulate the best strategies and materials for those autistic students who, due to their disability, need special strategies in order to develop their main areas of human development: speech, communication, and social interaction.
The autistic students have equal opportunity as ordinary students in terms of education. Based on the philosophy of equal educational opportunity, the disabled students have the same opportunity to implement through individual planning to promote appropriate learning, achievement, and social normalization (Stephen, 1988:1).
There is an important key to help the autistic students to develop their skills. The key is to provide them equal educational opportunity by placing them in the educational environment that best fits their needs.
Based on the Curriculum of 2006, the autistic students are classified as the students of SMPLB C1. They can also be classified as “Tunagrahita sedang” (mildly retarded). This becomes a problem since the autistic students have different characteristics from the “Tunagrahita” (retarded) students in terms of intelligence.
80, which makes them intelligently incapable of learning. On the other hand, autistic students have an IQ above 80 but they have weaknesses in social aspects, which makes them find difficulty learning in an ordinary way.
Sekolah Lanjutan Autis Fredofios Yogyakarta is one of the high schools for
autistic students in Indonesia which tries to give the best education environment to those autistic students. This school provides the students with the materials which are designed by the teachers.
English is one of the subjects that are taught in Sekolah Lanjutan Autis
Fredofios Yogyakarta since Curriculum of 2006 states that English becomes the
obligatory subject that has to be taught in special schools. English also needs to be taught in this school to give the autistic students the same opportunity as ordinary students to develop their knowledge and ability where English is needed. Considering the characteristics of the autistic students that they can hardly understand verbal communication, the school emphasizes on the reading and writing skills. There is a problem that eludes the students’ development of reading and writing skills, that is the lack of English vocabulary mastery of the students.
This situation brings the consideration to the writer to help the autistic students to learn English, especially its vocabulary as one of the important elements in language. Vocabulary is the knowledge of words and word meanings. As Steven Stahl (2005) puts it, "Vocabulary knowledge is knowledge; the knowledge of a word not only implies a definition, but also implies how that word fits into the world." If for him to communicate with other people and understand the language both oral and written.
In this final paper, the writer would like to present vocabulary materials as a supplement for the autistic students to learn the four language skills, especially reading and writing. The supplementary materials are some extra learning activities which are conducted by means of pictures to teach vocabulary. The supplementary designed materials are needed to improve the students’ vocabulary mastery. As Keidler (1963: 21) states vocabulary as: a stock of words in a language that can support the learners to learn the skill of the language, the supplementary materials will be appropriate for the students to facilitate and support them to learn the English skills. By learning the vocabulary, the students will be able to comprehend the reading materials and they can also write fluently in English. Therefore, this final paper aims to design a set of supplementary English materials to teach vocabulary using pictures as the media that best fits the autistic students’ characteristics and needs.
The participants of the study are the first grade students of Sekolah Lanjutan
Autis Fredofios Yogyakarta whose age span from 10-14. The study is conducted to
find the information which is used as an input which later will be formulated into supplementary materials concerning teaching English vocabulary to autistic students.
The materials should be easy to understand by the autistic students and practical for the teachers. For this consideration, the use of pictures is inevitable, because most instructions. The effort to make them understand is making them close to the reality. A picture is one of the media that can help them understand what the teacher says because a picture is one recognized way of representing a real situation (Kreidler, 1).
This study aims at designing a set of appropriate and well-constructed supplementary English materials to teach vocabulary using pictures as the media to the first grade autistic students of Sekolah Lanjutan Autis Fredofios Yogyakarta.
Based on the background above, the problems which will be discussed in this study can be formulated in two questions. Firstly, how is a set of supplementary English materials using pictures as the media to teach vocabulary to the first grade autistic students of Sekolah Lanjutan Autis Fredofios Yogyakarta designed?, and secondly, what does the designed set of materials look like?
This study is expected to give a brief description of designing the supplementary English vocabulary materials using pictures for the first grade autistic students which can help the students to easily learn to use English as a second language in a practical way.
Moreover, it will give the consideration and solution for the teachers who find difficulties in designing English vocabulary materials for the autistic students and provide them with supplementary materials that can be used as alternative materials to develop the students’ vocabulary mastery.
Information about autism is of benefit to everyone. The common person needs to learn more about autism, in order to recognize and appreciate relationships with the people with autism.
CHAPTER II THEORETICAL REVIEW This chapter deals with some theories that become the bases for the discussion. The purpose of this chapter is to discuss four basic theories of the study, so that the
problems stated in the previous chapter have strong theoretical principles. The theories are teaching vocabulary, pictures as the media, the characteristics of autistic students, and the instructional material design.
A. Teaching Vocabulary
‘The vocabulary is the range of word that can support the students to learn other aspects of language’ (Burton, 1982: 98). The students can manipulate the stock of their vocabulary to perform in the language, either to express their idea or to comprehend new information accurately. The teaching of vocabulary is considered important because it is the basic in teaching other aspects of language. Therefore, vocabulary should be taught before other aspects.
This section discusses the meaning, the importance of vocabulary, and the procedures in teaching vocabulary.
1. Meaning
Based on the mening of vocabulary stated in the definition of term, Keidler (1963: 21) defines vocabulary as: a stock of words in a language that can support the students to learn the skill of the language.
The definition above means that vocabulary, as one of language elements, is a useful means to facilitate and support the students in learning the skills of the language. Burton (1982: 98) states that the larger of vocabulary, the better will be ones’ performance in all aspects of English language work.
2. The importance of vocabulary
Based on the meaning of vocabulary, it can be said that vocabulary can support students to learn the English skills. A large vocabulary helps the students to express their ideas, precisely, vividly (Burton, 1982: 88), because vocabulary really supports students to learn the skills of the target language.
By having much stock of words, the students will be able to comprehend the article or text-books; they can also communicate and write fluently in any other languages. Further, Naggy and Herman state that individuals who know many word meanings know much about the world in general (Mc. Keown, 1987: 4).
Considering the importance of vocabulary role in students’ learning, the mastery of this element should be ensured and developed. It is not done, the vocabulary mastery of the students will be very limited and as the consequence they will find difficulties in learning a language.
3. The procedure of teaching vocabulary
In the past, vocabulary was taught mostly by translation: either a list of words with their translation of the material containing new words at the end (Lado, 1964: 120). However, the teaching process above does not really fit to be applied today
Experiences have been very influential as guide for teaching, but the students will easily forget what the teacher explain if they only sit and hear.
Based on the guideline above, the steps of teaching vocabulary are formulated as follow: a. Hearing the word
Teacher pronounces the word and lets the students hear it in isolation and in a sentence. Slow pronunciation, breaking the word into parts and building up to the whole word will help them to recognize the word.
b. Pronouncing the word The students pronounce the word in order to help them remember the word longer and identify it more readily when they hear or see it. A few more repetitions of mispronunciation and the students will not make the mistake like habit.
c. Grasping the meaning The next step is getting the meaning to the class. Picture of many kinds have been successfully used to show the meaning of words and utterances. They are particularly effective to cue the meaning-stimulus. Pictures can be used to illustrate the meaning of the words and later to practice their recall by covering the words and remembering them with the pictures as the only stimuli. It means that the students can recognize and identify the things easily since they have ever seen them in the picture. d. Illustrative sentence It is done by putting the word in sentences in order to illustrate the range and variations of position.
e. Practicing from meaning to expression After knowing certain words, the students are asked to practice the use of the words to reinforce the trace and turn those words into habit. Pictures, realia, and dramatization can be used as stimuli.
f. Writing the word This activity will help students to remember the spelling of the word that they have heard and pronounced.
B. Pictures as the Media
The effectiveness of picture in language teaching has been universally acknowledged. Pictures do not only stimulate the students to practice the language skills but also make the learning enjoyable. This section discusses the nature of pictures, pictures as the media to teach vocabulary, types of pictures, and the advantages for both teacher and students of using pictures as the media.
1. The nature of pictures
Pictures, stated by Heinich (1982: 84) as photographic representations of people, places, and things are available in most subject areas and all levels from Kindergarten to adult. It is also suggested that pictures should be used at all levels starting with the beginning level of English and continuing as long as the students information from the source to the receiver (Trisisca, 1996: 24). Pictures are a kind of language to communicate. They are visual language that is expressed by signs and symbols.
Sometimes students get difficulties in understanding verbal explanation or instruction. The effort to make them understand is making them close to the reality.
Picture is one of the media that can help them understand what the teacher says because pictures are one recognized way of representing a real situation (Kreidler, 1).
Moreover, one picture is worth than a thousand words. Skillful uses of pictures has resulted successful training which proves that teaching may be done much more effectively by pictures than by words alone (Haos, 1946: 1).
2. Pictures as the media to teach vocabulary
Pictures as the media means pictures here may be used by students for individual study, for utilization in study centers and exhibits, and for projection onto a screen when groups of students need to look at and study one or several pictures at the same time (LaMond, 1981: 6).
Two reasons for using pictures as the media in teaching learning are that pictures are easily available and they are inexpensive (Mc. Keown, 1949: 137).
Pictures are so abundant and cheap, that no teacher has to waste time in preparing them. Ideas for getting visual media are everywhere: in magazines, newspaper, brochures, and labels. However, not all pictures can be used in teaching vocabulary. The selection of the pictures should be related to the objectives of teaching
The requirements of good pictures for teaching vocabulary (Trisisca, 1996: 25- 27) are:
a. Simple Simple pictures are useful and can be a good media as far as they can clarify the explanation. Simple and attractive pictures are useful than the beautiful pictures.
b. Have no ambiguity The point of the picture must be clearly in meaning. The illustration of the picture must represent the meaning that is going to be described.
c. Must be in accordance with the students level The pictures used should be appropriate to the students’ knowledge of English.
If the picture shown is too difficult to understand, the students will be frustrated and will not want to learn.
d. The size of the picture The size of the picture depends on the class. The purpose of this consideration is each student is able to see all the necessary details in the picture clearly. If the picture includes only one object or action, it can be smaller than a picture that includes more objects or actions.
3. Types of pictures
There are many types of pictures for teaching-learning processes. Here the writer follows the classification offered by Kreidler (Kreidler,:_:21-15) a. Context-oriented picture Context here refers to the general condition in which an event or action takes place. Context-oriented picture depicts a situation or topic that includes several people and actions such as birthday or beach scene. It may be drawn by hand or people or cut from magazines. Colored pictures are preferable, but not necessary.
b. Structured-oriented picture Structure here refers to anything formed of many parts. Structured-oriented picture depicts one person, or one object like a man or a girl. It should be simple, without distracting background or captions. Individual picture cards can be cut from magazines illustrations or they can be drawn.
4. Advantages of using pictures as the media
Both the teacher and students can get advantages from pictures (Gerlach, 1980- 277). There are some advantages that the teacher can get by using picture as the media. Picture helps the teacher in teaching-learning processes, especially in teaching vocabulary by: a. Helping them to create the situations outside the classroom.
Any action can be demonstrated in a classroom, such as closing the door, opening the windows, or meeting a friend. Many objects can be brought into the classroom: toys, books, clock, etc. but not all actions can be easily demonstrated in class, for example catching a bus, shopping in a market, and so on. That is why we need a picture to represent the situation that we are going to explain. b. Helping them to expose reality to what might be understood verbally by the students.
It is not always possible to explain something, because we will lose the time to explain, but not all the students can get what we have already explained. They are still hard to get the point until the teacher shows picture of the situation or action that tried to explain in words.
c. Helping them to discuss more than one subject or point By showing the picture the teacher can discuss the meaning of the picture, the article, or the form in English words.
d. Pictures make the teaching-learning processes more interesting There is an attention-getting factor associated with the picture that the students pay attention on the topic. They experience a new method in learning something not merely by listening to the teacher or by reading books. They invite to get involve because through pictures they feel closer to the reality.
There are also some advantages that the students can get by using picture as the media. Picture helps the student in learning vocabulary by: a. Imagining the object Students will get a great deal of information at a glance in pictures (Lado, 1974:
194). When the students are given a series of pictures, they can absorb the information without any difficulties. They can also imagine the words that are difficult to learn by just taking from textbook or dictionary. b. Learn new words easily The new words learnt will be easier to remember if they have seen the pictures.
It means that the picture is shown first before the students pronounce and write the word. Another day when the teacher represents something by showing the picture, the students will recognize the picture, understand and remember it.
c. Express ideas easily Expressing idea is a difficult thing in learning language. Pictures may aid the students in this case, because they can arrange what they want to say. If they forget what they will say, they can take the picture and they will remember again.
C. The Characteristics of Autistic Students
In designing the materials, it is very important to know the characteristics of the students. By knowing the characteristics of the target students, the design materials are expected to be appropriate with the students’ needs and can help the students to develop their skills in the teaching-learning process.
Having such consideration, knowing the characteristics of autistic students is very crucial. The autistic students have special characteristics which are different from the ordinary students. In this section, the writer would like to discuss about the types of Autistm Spectrum Disorders, the main characteristics of autistic students and the effects in education.
1. The Types of Autism Spectrum Disorders
Autistic is a person who suffers from Autism Spectrum Disorder which is a neurodevelopmental disorder that manifests itself in markedly abnormal social interaction, communication ability, patterns of interests, and patterns of behavior.
Autistic people can be classified into several types based on their special characteristics. In this study, the writer uses three types of autism which represent the main characteristics of the respondents of the study.
a. Early Infantile Autism Early Infantile Autism is a term used to describe a particular developmental trajectory of autistic. The main characteristic of Early Infantile Autism is they never experience typical neurological development. Certain autistic symptoms are present from birth, but the most obvious symptoms are only detectable at an age when the child would be expected to start speaking. Most children suffer from this kind of autistic will ultimately develop very limited or delayed speech.
b. Asperger Syndrome Asperger Syndrome is characterized by defiencies in social and communication skills. Students with Asperger Syndrome may have normal or superior intelligence and standard language development. Asperger Syndrome is often not identified in early childhood but after puberty or when they are adults.
Students with Asperger Syndrome may show advanced abilities for their age in language, reading, mathematics, or music, but these talents may be counterbalanced by appreciable delays in the development of other cognitive functions, such as
Echolalia (the repetition or echoing of verbal utterances made by another person),
and Palilalia (the repetition of one’s own words).Students with Asperger Syndrome can involve an intense and obsessive level of focus on things of interest. In pursuit of these interests, Asperger Syndrome students often manifest extremely sophisticated reasoning, an almost obsessive focus, and remarkably good memory.
c. PDD- NOS (Pervasive Developmental Disorders- Not Otherwise Specified) PDD-NOS (Pervasive Developmental Disorders-Not Otherwise Specified) refers to the psychological and behavioral developmental disorders encompassing many areas of functioning: language and communication, self-help skills, motor coordination, and scholastic achievement.
People with PDD-NOS vary widely in abilities, intelligence, and behaviors. Some people do not speak at all, others apeak limited phrases or conversations, and some have relatively normal language development. Repetitive play skills and limited social skills are generally evident as well. Unusual responses to sensory information such as loud noises and lights are also common. However, PDD-NOSs are correlated with poverty, suicides, crimes, and a variety of medical problems.
2. The Specific Characteristics of Autistic Students
Based on Dr. Temple Grandin’s “Autism and Visual Thought” in
there are some specific characteristics of autistic
students as follows:
- repetition of words (echolalia) in place of normal verbal communication.
- hand leading to communicate in place of verbal requests.
- poor use and understanding of nonverbal communication (facial expression and body langu
- taking literally things
- being questioned, may or will have a delayed reaction - odd or monotonous prosody of speech.
b. Difficulty relating to other children and adults: - absence of eye contact.
- lack of interest in other children and what the other children are doing.
no when name is called. - response - avoidance of physical contact.
- indifference to others in distress or pain.
c. Odd behavior: - self-stimulation, spinning, rocking, hand flapping, etc. inappropriate laughter for no apparent reason. - - inappropriate attachment to objects.
- repetitive odd play for extended periods of time.
- insistence on routine and same
- difficulty dealing with interruption or routine schedule and change - possible self injurious or aggressive behavior toward others.
- abnormal responses to the senses.
- a lack of response to pain or an overreaction to something seemingly minor.
e. Social impairment: - lack of observed desire for friendship.
- poor ability to make friends.
- social awkwardness.
indifferent to the feelings of others. -
f. Imaginative impairment and repetitive adherence:
- concrete and literal use of language
- poor understanding of abstract thought, metaphors and symbo
- preference for routine
- absorption in detail; inability to understand meaning or the whole of a concept.
g. Sensory integration disfunction - Hyper- or Hyposensitivity of the various senses.
- peculiar clothing and food preferences
- self-stimulating mannerisms Fine or gross motor discoordination -
3. The Effects in Education
The unusual characteristics of the autistic students set them apart from the everyday normal students. Because they have trouble understanding people’s thoughts and feelings, they have trouble understanding what their teacher may be telling them. They do not understand that special expressions and vocal variations hold meanings and may misinterpret what emotion their teacher is displaying. This inability to fully understand the world around them makes education stressful.
Teachers need to be aware of the students’ disorder so that teachers are able to help the students get the best out of the lesson being taught.
Some students learn better with visual aids as they are better able to understand material presented this way. Because of this, many teachers create visual schedules for their autistic students. This allows the students to know what is going on throughout the day, so they know what to prepare for and what activity they will be doing next. Some autistic students have trouble going from one activity to the next, so this visual schedule can help to reduce stress.
Research has shown that working in pairs may be beneficial to autistic students. Autistic students have problems in school not only with language and communication, but with socialization as well. By allowing them to work in pairs they can make friends, which in turn can help them cope with the problems that arise. By doing so they can become more integrated into the mainstream environment of the classroom.
A teacher’s aide can also be useful to the students. The aide is able to give more elaborate directions that the teacher may not have time to explain to the autistic students. The aide can also facilitate the autistic students in such a way as to allow them to stay at a similar level to the rest of the class. This allows a partially one-on- one lesson so that the student is still able to stay in a normal classroom but be given the extra help that they need.
The effective aide that the teacher can use are pictures. Since the autistic students have difficulties in understanding verbal communication, the use of pictures can help the students in understanding the teacher’s explanation and instruction of the materials given.
D. Instructional Material Design
In designing vocabulary instructional material, a system of instructional program design needs to be followed. This section covers the model of instructional design that can be used in designing supplementary vocabulary material for the first grade autistic students of Sekolah Lanjutan Autis Fredofios Yogyakarta. Here are two instructional design models presented in order to help the writer to observe the instructional program more clearly.
1. Yalden s Instructional Model
Yalden in her book Communicative Syllabus: Evolution Design and
Implementation (1983: 88-89) states steps in creating an instructional design
1. Needs survey
3. Selection and development of syllabus type
4. Production of a proto syllabus
5. Production of a pedagogical syllabus
6. Development and implementation of classroom procedures
7. Evaluation
Needs Description Selection Production of Production of Development Evaluation Survey of Purpose and a proto pedagogical and development implementation syllabus syllabus of syllabus of classroom type procedures
Figure 1. Stages in Language Program Development (Yalden, 1983)
2. Kemp s Instructional Model
According to Kemp (1977), the instructional design plan is designed to answer three questions which may be considered the essential elements of instructional technology. The questions are:
1. What must be learned? (objective)
2. What procedures and resources will work best to teach the desired learning levels? (activities and resources)
3. How will we know when the required learning has taken place? (evaluation) The eight steps in developing an instructional design:
Part 1 : Consider goals, and then list topics, stating the general purposes for teaching each topic.
Part 2 : Identify the important characteristics of the learners for whom the instructional is to be designed. Part 3 : Specify the learning objectives to be achieved in terms of measurable student behavioral outcomes. Part 4 : List the subject content to support each objective. Part 5 : Develop pre-assessment to determine the student’s background and present level of knowledge about the topic. Part 6 : Select teaching/learning activities and instructional resources that will treat the subject content so learners will accomplish the objectives. Part 7 : Coordinate such support services as budget, personnel, facilities, equipment and schedules to carry out the instructional plan. Part 8 : Evaluate learners’ learning in terms of their accomplishment of objective, with a view to revising and reevaluating any phrases of the plan that need improvement.
Revision
Evaluation Support Services Teaching /Learning Activities
Subject Contents Learning Objectives Learner’s Characteristics
Goal and Topics
CHAPTER III DISCUSSION This chapter provides the discussion which exposes how to design the
appropriate supplementary material to teach English vocabulary using pictures to the first grade of autistic students of Sekolah Lanjutan Autis Fredofios Yogyakarta. This chapter is divided into three parts. The first is developing the writer’s design model, the second is the elaboration of the writer’s design model, and the last is the presentation of materials design.
A. The Writer s Design Model
There are many techniques and models in teaching - learning English. A good instructional design must be simple, applicable, and effective in achieving the purpose of instruction. In designing the materials, the writer uses the combination of Yalden’s and Kemp’s instructional materials design and presents it as the writer’s design model.
1. Analyzing the learner s need
The first step is adopted from Yalden’s model (Yalden, 1987: 101). A study on needs of the learners is conducted to find out the significant needs of the autistic students of learning English. The interviews are conducted to the English teacher in
Sekolah Lanjutan Autis Fredofios Yogyakarta in order to find out the materials used,
the problems in designing the materials, and the problems in delivering the materials conducting the teaching-learning process in order to find out the appropriate techniques to teach vocabulary to the autistic students in such class condition and the students with all their weaknesses.
2. Considering goals, topics and general purposes
This step is adopted from Kemp’s model (Kemp, 1977: 40). It is said that identification of instructional goal is the first point of the instructional design for the goal directs the whole system. The result of identifying the instructional goals will show the minimum requirements of English ability the students supposed to have.
The identification includes goals, list of topics, and general purposes for teaching each topic.
3. Identifying the important characteristics of the learner.
This step is adopted from Kemp’s model (Kemp, 1977: 40), which is very important for the teacher to know the important characteristics of the students to conduct the appropriate teaching material. It is needed to know the students’ factor that will affect plans for their learning. Since the autistic students have some weaknesses in social communication, the material will be emphasize on the non- verbal material and must be appropriate with the students’ needs.
4. Specifying the learning objectives
The model of objective formulation is adopted from Kemp’s model (Kemp: 1977). In this step, General Instructional Objectives that consist of the general purposes of the English course are presented as specific as possible so that the teacher
5. Selecting teaching and learning activities and resources
It is important to select the most efficient and effective methods and materials to provide teaching activities, students learning activities and instructional materials which are appropriate for the students to accomplish the objectives.
6. Evaluating and revising the program