Teachers` perception on the use of pictures in teaching English to young learners.

A THESIS

Presented as Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements to Obtain theSarjana PendidikanDegree

in English Language Education

By Fl. Juliani

Student Number: 051214139

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

SANATA DHARMA UNIVERSITY YOGYAKARTA

i

TEACHERS’ PERCEPTION ON THE USE OF PICTURES IN TEACHING ENGLISH TO YOUNG LEARNERS

A THESIS

Presented as Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements to Obtain theSarjana PendidikanDegree

in English Language Education

By Fl. Juliani

Student Number: 051214139

ENGLISH LANGUAGE EDUCATION STUDY PROGRAM DEPARTMENT OF LANGUAGE AND ARTS EDUCATION

FACULTY OF TEACHERS TRAINING AND EDUCATION SANATA DHARMA UNIVERSITY

YOGYAKARTA 2010

ii A Thesis on

TEACHERS’ PERCEPTION ON THE USE OF PICTURES IN TEACHING ENGLISH TO YOUNG LEARNERS

By Fl. Juliani

Student Number: 051214139

Approved by:

Major sponsor

Date Christina Kristiyani, S.Pd., M.Pd. 20thSeptember, 2010

iii A Thesis on

TEACHERS’ PERCEPTION ON THE USE OF PICTURES IN TEACHING ENGLISH TO YOUNG LEARNERS

By Fl. Juliani

Student Number: 051214139

Defended before the Board of Examiners on September 20th, 2010

And Declared Acceptable

Board of Examiners

Chairperson : C. Tutyandari, S.Pd., M.Pd. ______________ Secretary : Made Frida Yulia, S.Pd., M.Pd. ______________ Member : Christina Kristiyani, S.Pd., M.Pd. ______________ Member : C. Sih Prabandari, S.Pd., M.Hum. ______________

Member : Drs. Y.B. Gunawan, MA. ______________

Yogyakarta, September 20th, 2010

Faculty of Teachers Training and Education Sanata Dharma University

Dean,

iv

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

Yogyakarta, 20thSeptember 2010 The Writer

Fl. Juliani.S 051214139

v

LEMBAR PERNYATAAN PERSETUJUAN PUBLIKASI KARYA ILMIAH UNTUK KEPENTINGAN AKADEMIS

Yang bertanda tangan dibawah ini, saya mahasiswa Universitas Sanata Dharma:

Nama : Fl. Juliani

Nomor Mahasiswa : 051214139

Demi pengembangan ilmu penegtahuan, saya memberikan kepda Perpustakaan Universaitas Sanata Dharma karya ilmiah saya yang berjudul:

TEACHERS’ PERCEPTION ON THE USE OF PICTURES IN TEACHING ENGLISH TO YOUNG LEARNERS

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, mendistribusikan secara terbatas, dan mempublikasikannya di internet atau media lain untuk kepentingan akademis tanpa perlu meminta ijin dari saya maupun memberikan royalti kepada saya selama tetap mencantumkan nama saya sebagai penulis.

Demikian pernyataan ini yang saya buat dengan sebenarnya.

Dibuat di Yogyakarta

Pada tanggal: 20 September 2010 Yang menyatakan

vi ABSTRACT

Juliani, Fl. (2010).Teachers’ Perception on the Use of Pictures in Teaching English to Young Learners. Yogyakarta: English Language Education Study Program, Sanata Dharma University.

There are a lot of factors that influence the teaching process. Media became one of them. The appropriate media would facilitate learning and help the teachers in teaching. However, the teachers’ perception on the use of certain media influences the behavior and the motivation of the teachers in teaching and finally will affect the teaching and learning process. Picture is one of media used by teachers in teaching to young learners. Because of those reasons, the researcher was interested to seek and explore the teachers’ perception on the use of pictures in teaching English to young learners. There were two research questions in this study: 1) What are the teachers’ perception on the use of pictures in teaching English to young learners? 2) What are teachers’ recommendations the use of pictures in teaching English to young learners?

To answer the problem formulation, the researcher conducted a survey research. The respondents were 20 young learners’ teachers around Yogyakarta and Klaten who graduated from English Education Study Program and had experiences in teaching children at least for six months. The researcher used two instruments in this research. They were questionnaire and interview. The questionnaire consisted of 20 close-ended questions and 1 open-ended question whereas there were 8 questions in the interview. The researcher applied Likert scale to measure the teachers’ attitude toward the questions. The interview was conducted to verify the questionnaire result and to dig out more information.

The findings showed that all the teachers who participated in this research had positive perception toward the use of pictures in teaching English to young learners. All the teachers said that pictures were effective media in teaching to young learners because it was suitable with the concrete cognitive level of children. The teachers also admitted that both the teachers and the students obtained positive outcomes from using pictures in teaching English to young learners. Besides, the teachers became more confident and motivated in teaching because their students enjoyed learning using pictures.

Although all the teachers had positive perception on the use of pictures in teaching English to young learners, they thought that it should still be improved. Therefore, they gave some suggestion both for the pictures and for the teachers. They shared that the pictures should be clear, simple and interesting. They also suggested that teachers should be wise in selecting pictures and to be more creative in giving class activities by using pictures in order to create joyful learning.

vii ABSTRAK

Juliani, Fl. (2010).Teachers’ Perception on the Use of Pictures in Teaching English to Young Learners. Yogyakarta: Fakultas Keguruan dan Ilmu Pendidikan , Universitas Sanata Dharma.

Ada banyak faktor yang memepengaruhi proses pembelajaran. Salah satunya adalah media pembelajaran. Media yang tepat akan memfasilitasi belajar dan membantu guru dalam mengajar. Akan tetapi, persepsi guru terhadap media tertentu mempengaruhi tingkah laku dan motivasi guru dalam mengajar dan pada akhirnya akan mempengaruhi proses belajar dan mengajar. Gambar adalah salah satu media yang digunakan oleh guru dalam pembelajaran bahasa Inggris untuk anak-anak. Karena alasan tersebut, peneliti tertarik untuk mencari dan menyelidiki persepsi guru terhadap penggunaan gambar dalam pembelajaran bahasa Inggris untuk anak-anak. Ada dua rumusan masalah yang dikaji dalam penelitian ini: 1) Bagaimana persepsi para guru terhadap penggunaan gambar dalam pembelajaran bahasa Inggris untuk anak-anak? 2) Saran-saran apa saja yang para guru berikan terhadap penggunaan gambar dalam pembelajaran bahasa Inggris untuk anak-anak?

Untuk menjawab rumusan masalah tersebut, peneliti menggunakan penelitian survei. Para responden adalah 20 guru anak-anak yang berada disekitar daerah Yogyakarta dan Klaten yang menamatkan pendidikan S1 nya di jurusan Pendidikan Bahasa Inggris dan memiliki pengalaman mengajar behasa Inggris untuk anak-anak paling sedikit selama 6 bulan. Peneliti menggunakan dua instrumen dalam penelitian ini, yaitu kuesioner dan wawancara. Kuesioner terdiri dari 20 pertanyaan tipe terutup dan 1 pertanyaan tipe terbuka sedangkan wawancara terdiri dari 8 pertanyaan. Peneliti menggunakan skala Likert untuk mengukur tingkah laku para guru terhadap pernyataan-pernyataan pada kuesioner. Selanjutnya, wawancara dilakukan untuk membuktikan hasil kuesioner dan untuk menggali informasi yang lebih banyak.

Hasil penelitian menunjukkan bahwa semua guru yang berpartisipasi dalam penelitian ini memiliki persepsi positif terhadap penggunaan gambar dalam pembelajaran bahasa Inggris untuk anak-anak. Hampir semua guru mengakui bahwa gambar adalah media yang efektif untuk anak karena sesuai dengan tingkat kognitif anak yang konkret. Para guru juga mengakui bahwa baik para guru maupun para murid mendapat hasil yang positif dari menggunakan gambar. Selain itu, para guru menjadi lebih percaya diri dan termotivasi dalam mengajar karena murid mereka menyukai proses belajar dengan menggunakan gambar.

Meskipun semua guru memiliki persepsi positif terhadap penggunaan gambar, mereka tetap memberikan saran-saran untuk perbaikan, baik untuk gambar itu sendiri maupun untuk para guru. Mereka menyarankan agar gambar yang digunakan harus jelas, sederhana dan menarik. Mereka juga menyarankan para guru agar lebih bijaksana dalam memilih gambar dan lebih kreatif dalam memberikan kegiatan belajar di kelas untuk menciptakan proses pembelajaran yang menyenangkaan.

viii

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

First of all, I would like to thankJesus Christfor giving everything which is the best for me. Jesus is my truly savior because He gave me what I needed instead of what I wanted. Therefore, I could pass all the obstacles and pressure in finishing my thesis. Anyway, there were so many people who gave contributions during the process of writing this thesis and this is the best time to express my deepest gratitude to them all.

I would like to say my deepest gratitude to my major sponsor, Christina Kristiyani, S.Pd .,M.Pd., for her patient, support, guidance, understanding, and corrections that enable me to finish this thesis. I would also like to thank all the educators in English Education Program for giving me knowledge and support and for helping me to be a better student. I am lucky to be their student.

My gratitude also goes to all the young learners’ teachers who became my respondents in this research. I cannot mention them all, but I sincerely thank them for their willingness and their time in helping me finishing my research. Without their help and valuable information, this research could not be done well.

I would also like to express my deepest gratitude to my beloved parents for their support, prayers and loving, so that I could get through all the obstacles. I would also like to thank my brothers and sisters for their prayers, support and patience during the process I wrote this thesis.

ix

My gratitude also goes to someone special, Guntur Andy Saputra, for his loving, patience, support and prayers. I thank him for giving me encouragement and happiness and for helping me passed through difficult moment during I wrote this thesis. I would also thank all my friends, especially Novi for her help, Andre and Putu Verdi for giving corrections on my thesis, Esti for helping me finding some respondents, Mba Ratih for helping me and give me support, Funy, Gendis, Dea, Pram, Wiwin, Dion, Marshel, Sedik, Lidya, Sherly, Christine and all students of PBI 2005 for giving me happiness and support every time I need.

Further, I would also thank anyone whose name cannot be mentioned all for giving me encouragements and prayers. I believe God will bless you all.

x

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Page

TITLE PAGE……….... i

APPROVAL PAGES………... ii

STATEMENT OF WORK’S ORIGINALITY……… iv

LEMBAR PERNYATAAN PERSETUJUAN PUBLIKASI KARYA ILMIAH UNTUK KEPENTINGAN AKADEMIS v ABSTRACT……….. vi

ABSTRAK………. vii

AKNOWLEDGMENTS……….. viii

TABLE OF CONTENTS………. x

LIST OF TABLE………... xiii

LIST OF APPENDICES……….. xiv

CHAPTER I. INTRODUCTION………. 1

A. Research Background……… 1

B. Problem Formulation………. 5

C. Problem Limitation……… 5

D. Research Objectives……….. 6

E. Research Benefits……….. 6

F. Definition of Terms………... 7

CHAPTER II. RIVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE………... 9

A. Theoretical Description……….. 9

1. Pictures……… 9

xi

b. Criteria for Good Pictures………... 11

2. Young Learners………... 13

a. The Definition of Young Learners……….. 13

b. The Cognitive Development of Young Learners……… 13

c. The Learning Strategies of Young Learners………... 16

d. Teaching English to Young Learners……….. 18

3. Perception and Perception Process……….. 21

B. Theoretical Framework……….. 23

CHAPTER III. METHODOLOGY………. 26

A. Research Method………... 26

B. Research Participants………. 27

C. Research Instruments………. 27

D. Data Gathering Technique………. 29

E. Data Analysis Technique………... 31

F. Research Procedure………... 35

CHAPTER IV. RESEARCH FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION……… 36

A. Teachers’ Perception on the Use of Pictures in Teching English to Young Learners………. 36

1. Teachers’ Perception on the Use of Pictures in Teaching English to Young Learners Based on the Questionnaire………... 37

2. Teachers’ Perception on the Use of Pictures in Teaching English to Young Learners Based on the Interview………... 43

3. Discussion ………... 46

B. Teachers Recommendation to Improve and to Maximize the Use of Pictures in Teaching English to Young Learners……….. 49 1. Teachers Recommendation to Improve and to Maximize the Use of

xii

Pictures in Teaching English to Young Learners Based on the

Questionnaire………... 49

2. Teachers Recommendation to Improve and to Maximize the Use of Pictures in Teaching English to Young Learners Based on the Interview……….. 52

3. Discussion……… 53

CHAPTER V. CONCLUSIONS AND SUGGESTIONS………... 56

A. Conclusions………. 56

1. Teachers’ Perception on the Use of Pictures in Teaching English to Young Learners………... 56

2. Teachers Recommendation to Improve and to Maximize the Use of Pictures in Teaching English to Young Learners……… 57

B. Suggestions……… 58

REFERENCES……….. 60

xiii

LIST OF TABLE

Page Table 4.1 The Questionnaire Result of Close-Ended Statements……….. 37

xiv

LIST OF APPENDICES

Page

APPENDIX 1 The Questionnaire Sheet……….. 64

APPENDIX 2 Interview List………... 67

APPENDIX 3 Blueprint of Questionnaire Result (Close-ended

Questions) ………... 68

APPENDIX 4 Students’ Responses on the Open-ended Question………. 71 APPENDIX 5 Blueprint of Interview Result……….. 73

1 CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION

This chapter provides the research background of the study which presents the background information of selecting the subject matter, presents the motivation why the researcher wants to do the research on the subject matter, and the goals of conducting this research.

A. Research Background

In this globalization era it is not strange to hear people communicate using English as their foreign language though it is not their first language. English as an International language has also influenced our education. The Instructional Program Guideline of the English syllabus states that English is the first foreign language in Indonesia and it is considered as an important language to develop science, technology, art and culture to maintain a relationship with other countries (Depdikbud, 1994:1).

The 1994 curriculum states that the goal of teaching English to elementary school students is to motivate or to encourage the students to be more ready and confident at the higher level of study. Students are prepared earlier to have

knowledge, skills and experiences in English before they enter the higher level of study which put them at the higher level of difficulties (Depdikbud, 1994:1).

Being considered that English is needed to be learnt, the government constructed a curriculum which introduced English to the Elementary students of the fourth to the sixth grades. Furthermore, in order to improve our education, the government created a new curriculum in 2006, called School Based Curriculum (SBC).In this curriculum, English has a position as the local content subject which is expected to help the students to recognize themselves, their culture and other people’s culture, to help the students to be able to express their ideas and feeling, participate in the society and to help the students to use their analytic and imaginative ability (Karsidi, 2007).

Nowadays, this improvement can be observed clearly. One of the changes is that English is not only introduced to the elementary students of grade four as the 1994 curriculum stated but also to the earlier ages. It is not strange if we can find easily schools which introduce English to the first or second graders. This means that English teachers should deal with younger learners in which it is not easy and sometimes it arise problems. This situation creates an awareness that we have to learn and recognize their characteristics wisely.

Further, according to Hurlock (1978), there is a big difference between children of five can do and children of ten can do, some children develop early and some children later (Hurlock, 1978). Therefore, it is important to understand clearly the characteristic of children in their ages. Anning (1998) states that teacher must be

adaptable and ready to explore new methods in promoting learning by seeing the learning situation from a child’s point of view (Anning, 1998) . From this point, it can be concluded that learners’s characteristics become a fundamental consideration to determine the teaching and learning process. In this case, the pupils are the children of elementary school at the age of seven to ten who usually want to make sense out of things, find how things work, gain competence and control over themselves (Smith, 1982)

One of the characteristics that should be considered is children cognitive level which also determines the way they receive information. According to Piaget’s periodization of cognitive development, children are included in the concrete operational which begins at age 7 to 11 years old (Clarke, 1985: 308). Faw (1980) also supports Piaget’s theory that he categorizes children in this age into the concreteness period in which children can solve problems that can be experienced in concrete ways (Marjito, 1997). This theory has been investigated by Wasiati (1995: xi-xii) in her thesis on “Picture test for English beginner: design and validity”. She stated that the use of picture test is related to and suitable for children cognitive development according to Piaget’s division (Wasiati, 1995). It can be seen that the existence of picture can accommodate children in understanding things. As Nelson (1989) quoted from Marjito’s (1997) said that by using picture drawing, it can eliminate the necessity for the students to translate from his native language into his second language so that pictures and text altogether enable the students to attain a level to express themselves (Marjito, 1997: 5).

Besides, some efforts on the use of picture in language teaching have been made by several experts in the field which show the advantages of using pictures in teaching process. L Bening Perwitasukci (1991) has done her investigation on the use of pictures in language teaching in 1991. She used pictures to teach English conversation. In her research she concludes that pictures help students focus their attention and avoid boredom. With pictures, teachers can provide students with an interesting atmosphere in the classroom (Perwitasukci, 1991).The same situation can also be found in some schools such as SD Putra Bangsa Klaten. The teachers there used pictures in teaching and learning activities in order to help them when they explain things and it seemed that the pictures as the media help them in the teaching and learning process.

From the previous researchers and the observation, it is obvious that the existence of pictures in language teaching and learning is important. The presence of picture in teaching and learning can be effective media in the teaching process. According to Vygotsky (1978), teachers work actively in improving children development in learning. Therefore, both the role of teachers and the role of students in the teaching and learning process are important. Those previous studies that have been done by Wasiati and Perwitasukci were investigated in order to see the role of pictures in teaching from students’ point of view. In this research, the researcher wants to seek out the perception of young learners’ teachers on the use of pictures in teaching English and some recommendations to improve and to maximize the use of pictures in teaching English to young learners because the way the teachers perceive

the use of pictures will influence their behavior and will finally influence the teaching and learning process.

B. Problem Formulation

From our discussion on the background of the study, the researcher wants to address two research questions, they are as follows.

1. What are the teachers’ perceptions on the use of pictures in teaching English to young learners?

2. What are the teachers’ recommendations to improve and maximize the use of picture in teaching English to young learners?

C. Problem Limitation

The discussion of the teachers’ perception on the use of pictures in teaching English to young learners is needed to be limited to make the study possible to be investigated in-depth. The researcher focuses on digging and exploring any information related to the teachers’ perception, including opinion attitude and feeling on the use of pictures in the teaching and learning activities and the possible recommendations to improve and to maximize the use of pictures in teaching English to young learners.

Furthermore, the study focuses on the perception of the young learners’ teachers from some schools around Yogyakarta and Klaten. Additionally, the young learners of this research are needed to be limited. Thus, in this research, the young

learners are the group of children in the age of 7-9 years old or students in the first grade to third grade of elementary school. The researcher chose this age in order to seek out Piaget’s theory that is children’s cognitive level in the age of 7-11 includes in concrete level. Therefore, in order to dig richer data, the researcher chose the young learners’ teachers who teach English for the first grade to the third grade of elementary school.

D. Research Objectives

This study is formulated to answer the research questions that are teachers’ perceptions on the use of pictures in teaching English to young learners and the recommendation to improve and to maximize the use of pictures in teaching English to young learners. Therefore, the researcher tends to investigate and to explore teacher’s perception on the use of pictures in teaching English to young learners.

E. Research Benefits

The findings of this research are expected to give positive contribution to these following people.

1. The Young Learners’ Teachers

This research provides clear information about perceptions of the teachers in using picture in teaching English to young learner. It is hoped that the information will be beneficial for the other young learners’ teachers. Furthermore, the researcher

also expects that after knowing the result, the other young learners’ teachers who use pictures will get some beneficial recommendation from this research.

2. The other researchers

Hopefully, the result of this research will give stimulation for the other researchers who have interest in investigating related studies. Moreover, it is also expected that the information of the teachers’ perception in the use of picture in teaching English to young learners will enrich their knowledge.

F. Definition of Terms

There are several terms that need to be clarified related to the research. The terms are as follows.

1. Perception

This study explores teacher perception on the use of pictures in teaching English to young learners. Suparinah (1986) defines perception as an active process in which a person views a stimulus together with his experiences, motivation, and attitude (Suparinah, 1986). According to Kemp and Smellie, perception is the process whereby one becomes aware of the world around oneself (Kemp and Smellie, 1989). They defined perception as a cognitive process in which a person views information and environment through listening, seeing, smelling, feeling, and thinking. They also describe perception as a unique interpretation toward particular phenomenon.

Based on definitions above, in this research, perception deals with the way teachers think, feel and view the use of pictures in teaching English to young learners.

2. Picture

Duffy and Walter (1985: 249) define picture as some hand-made images that relate, however, distantly to the appearance or structure of real or image things. On the other hand, Heinich (1982:84) has a simpler description about picture. He defines picture as photographic representation of people, places, things that are usually taken from books, catalogues, and study prints or magazines.

The pictures in this study deal with the images related to the appearance of real image things, made by the teachers or taken from books which are used in pre activity, main activity and post activity in the classroom.

3. Young learners

According to Suyanto (2007), young learners are elementary students in the age of 6-12 years old. They have learned English since they are at the age of 6-12 years old. They are also known as beginners when they learn English in this age. Another description of young learners is given by Smith (1982:16). He divided the young learners into two levels, namely, the primary grade and the intermediate grade. The primary grade is the level of students in the first three years in elementary school, whereas the intermediate grade is the level of the students in the last three years in elementary school.

In this research, the researcher tends to use the definition of young learners in which they are in the first grade up to third grade of elementary school.

9 CHAPTER II

REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE

In this chapter, the writer would like to provide theoretical description and theoretical framework of this study. The theoretical description discusses some theories related to this research whereas the theoretical framework discusses major relevant theories which help in answering the reaserch questions.

A. Theoretical Description

In this part, the researcher would like to describe some underlying theories related to the study. They are the theory of pictures, the theory of young learners, and the theory of perception.

1. Pictures

In this part, the researcher would desrcribe the theory of pictures in Teaching and learning process and the criteria of good pictures

a. Pictures in Teaching and Learning Process

Pictures are widely used in teaching and learning process. As Heinich (1982) states that concrete experiences facilitate learning and the acquisition, retention, and usability of abstract symbols. Further, he says that pictures as instructional media not only provide necessary concrete experiences, but also help students to integrate their prior experiences (Heinich, 1982: 11).

Rawntree (1990) in his book entitledTeaching through Self Instructionstates ten possible functions of pictures in teaching and learning process. First, pictures can be used as decoration. It is used in order to relieve the monotony of solid print. Almost any kind of pictures can serve the reader a visual break that helps them to be motivated to carry on reading. Second, the use of pictures is amusement in which some pictures, cartoons in particular, can more deliberately motivate the reader by humanizing the subject and showing its lighter side. Therefore, readers can highlight a key point and make it memorable. Third, pictures can be used to show expression in which readers can convey an emotion and feeling expressively. Thus, photographs might be used to involve the reader in some situation of conflict or confrontation. Forth, pictures can be used as persuasion in which pictures can persuade readers towards a change of attitude. Fifth, pictures can be used as illustration. Sixth, pictures can be used as description. The picture is meant to convey a necessary understanding that could not be conveyed in words alone. It shows what something looks like. Seventh, pictures can be used as explanation in which pictures describe what thing looks like. They show how they work, or how they can be operated. Eighth, pictures can be used as simplification in which pictures offers us a means of simplifying reality. Ninth, pictures can help us in quantification in which we need to consider quantities, compare sizes, and recognize changing proportions, thus pictures often help the learner present the data pictorially. The last, pictures can be used in problem solving in which pictures can create a problem or question to learners (Rawntree, 1990: 190-197).

In addition to what Rawntree describes about the functions of pictures, Hamalik (1994) states similar reasons of using pictures in teaching. First, pictures are concrete. Students can see clearly the item being discussed through a picture. Second, pictures overcome the time and space. For example, the teacher can bring Eiffel tower to the class through pictures. Third, pictures can overcome the human senses limitations. For example, we can see small materials clearly through a picture. Fourth, pictures can be used to explain a problem. Fifth, pictures are cheap and are easily gotten. Sixth, pictures are easily used both for individuals or a group of students. b. Criteria for Good Pictures

To achieve the objectives of learning through pictures, the pictures that are used must be good. There are some requirements that must be fulfilled of good pictures. Newby (2000) in his book entitled Instructional Technology for Teaching and Learning states some criterias of good pictures. First, use pictures that can illustrate the ideas. Second, use simple pictures. Third, use harmonious colors. Trisisca (1999) formulates the criteria of good pictures. They are as follow.

1. Simple

The first consideration in selecting pictures is that the pictures should be simple. Using complex and too much details pictures may cause confusion for the children. It will be suitable to select simple pictures as far as they can clarify the explanation.

2. Having no ambiguity

The sources of pictures are abundant but not all of them can be used in teaching and learning process. Many of them have ambiguity. For example, there is a picture of a boy who is sitting and holding a book. It is difficult to decide whether the point is studying or reading. Therefore, we have to use pictures that can illustrate the ideas clearly.

3. Must be in accordance with the students’ level of proficiency

Teachers should be selective in choosing the pictures which is in accordance to the students’ level of proficiency. If the teachers select the pictures which are difficult and not appropriate with the students characteristic, the students will feel frustrate and bored in learning.

4. The size of the pictures depends on the class

The purpose of this consideration is to enable each student to see the pictures clearly. If the students cannot see the pictures clearly, they might misinterpret the pictures and might get bored easily because the pictures do not attract their attention. 5. The pictures must be related to the topic taught

The pictures are used to help the teachers deliver the topic discussion. Therefore, the pictures should be related to the topic discussion in order to avoid confusion of the students.

2. Young Learners

In this part, the researcher would describe the theories of young learners, including the definition of young learners, the cognitive development of young learners, the learning strategies of young learners, and the teaching English to young learners.

a. The Definition of Young Learners

Acording to Suyanto (2007) young learners are the elementary students in the age of 6-12 years old. They can be categorized into two groups, namely, younger group in which the students are in the age of 6-8 years old and older group in which the students are in the age of 9-12 years old. Based on the grade level, they also can be put into two groups. They are lower classes and upper classes. The lower classes are including students from grade 1, 2, and 3, whereas the upper classes include students from grade 4, 5 and 6 (Suyanto, 2007). Additionally, Smith (1982: 16) also categorize into two different levels: the first three years are called the primary grade whereas the last three years are called intermediate grade.

b. The Cognitive Development of Young Learners

The young learners of this study are about 6-8 years old. According to Piaget’s periodization of cognitive development, they are included in the concrete operational which begins at age 7 to 11years old (Clarke, 1985: 308). The term concrete deals with the fact that child can reason only about touchable objects, such as milk and cookies. The term ‘operational’ deals with a mental activity that transforms or

manipulates information for some purpose. It is also an integral part of an organized network of related thinking.

Faw (1980), as quotes from Marjito (1997: 20) states the characteristics of middle childhood’s cognitive development. They are as follows.

1. Concreteness: initially the world of middle childhood is still concrete. Problems that can be solved are those that can be experienced in concrete ways

2. Egocentrism: children in the middle childhood no longer view the world from their own unique vantage point. They have capability to realize that others perceive the world differently. As the children become older, they may even seek out an understanding of other perspectives in order to appreciate more fully the problems.

3. Centration: children in the middle childhood can consider more than aspects of a problem at the same time and their attention are not dominated by the perceptual characteristics of a stimulus array. In essence, they can look from one tree to another rather than focusing on the biggest tree. Thus, they can see the forest as well as the individual trees.

4. Attention to transition as well as states: an important acquisition in the cognition of middle childhood is the ability to conceptualize both the states through which one moves in getting from one situation to another and the process that allows for those changes to take place.

5. Reversibility: the understanding of the concept of reversibility is one critical consequence of the child’s ability to conceptualize the transition that exists

between states as well as the states themselves. In addition, to the symbolizing the transition from state one to state two, the child can symbolically represent the reverse transition, which returns things to their original state (Marjito, 1997:20)

Clarke (1985: 320) explains three important aspects in the concrete operational development. First is reversibility. It refers to a major advance of concrete operational thinking. Children in this stage can realize that milk poured from one glass to another can be poured back again. They can perform inversion. It means that children can recognize that the effect of one manipulation can be reversed by applying the opposite. Second, is decenter. Decentering is focusing on and coordinating two or more dimensions for example height and width. Children at this stage recognize reciprocity – that one dimension, go beyond the narrowness of the glass, may make up for or compensate for its other dimension, height. Third is the ability to put manipulation of objects in symbolic form. In this period, children are able mentally to represent and remember events and objects in symbolic forms.

From the quotations above, it is clearly stated that children in the middle childhood can solve more than one problem at a time. In addition, Siegler (1991: 37) adds that although children in concrete operational have capability in solving problems, sometimes children find difficulties in certain types of abstract reasoning. Consequently, the presence of concrete object such as picture will help them to overcome this difficulty.

c. The Learning Strategies of Young Learners

The way of children learning strategies will be different from adult learners. According to Anning (1991), behaviorism gives strong influence to our views on how children learn language. They said that the view lead us to see children as a blank slate who learned by giving reaction passively to different kinds of stimuli and also positive and negative feedback they received. In contrary, Piaget said that children are actively constructing his or her own thinking by acting upon the physical and social environment. Children learning strategies are influenced by their physical and their environment. Accordingly, it will be difficult to teach children if they are not ready yet to learn (Anning, 1991). Hence, it can be accepted that Piaget thought that the role of language and the role of adults did not influence the way children learn something.

As Vygotsky (1978) said as the contrary of Piaget theory that the role of the adult and language in children’s learning are very important. There is a difference of both theories Piaget and Vygotsky. Piaget believes that children learn through his or her own individual action and exploration, whereas Vygotsky believes that adults/ teachers work actively to improve children development in learning (Vygotsky, 1978).

According to Anning (1998), in the early 1990’s most British teachers of the young learners believe some theories as follows.

1. Children develop in sequential stages. According to Anning, children learn from the concrete to the abstract level of learning. She thinks that teachers need to

recognize the learning level of children to help them in understanding things. By understanding the learning level as well as understanding children characteristics, teachers are able to select the appropriate media, activities, learning style and materials.

2. Most teachers believe that children learn through concrete experiences, particularly structured play. Children need to think in a simpler way rather than complicated one. This can be accommodated by the existence of pictures. In order to remember the name of some animals, teachers can help the children by showing the pictures when students visited the zoo. By looking at the pictures, the children will memorize the name of the animals.

3. In social development, children move from egocentrism to be more socializing. In the school, children learn how to become social being. Teacher’s role is needed in encouraging children to realize the value of working together in a group or pairs. In teaching young learners, creative teachers are needed in creating a good atmosphere of learning. In order to create a joyful learning, teachers can select some media, activities, technique, as well as materials.

4. Children need to develop competence in their first language to function efficiently as learners. In order to understand the second language, in this case English, children have to master their first language to help them in communication and understand things.

5. Every child is an individual learning in their own unique way. It implies that every child is a unique individual learning that brings a unique set of experiences

and understanding to each new learning situation. Anning (1991) adds that it is important to keep insight into the uniqueness of each child to respect their individuality but we also need to concern and to recognize the similarities.

Multiple intelligences are also known as one of learning styles. Berman (1998) said that we take in information in line with our learning style. If students are visual learning, they will mainly gain the information through eyes. In other case, if students have mainly auditory learning style; therefore information will be learned through hearing, whereas if students have mainly bodily kinesthetic learning style, they will easily learn something through movement or manipulating things. These three learning style provided by Berman (1998) are also suggested by Gardner (1993) in his theory of multiple intelligences. They are linguistic intelligence, logical-mathematical intelligence, spatial intelligence, musical intelligence, kinesthetic intelligence, interpersonal intelligence, and intrapersonal intelligence (Gardner, 1993) d. Teaching English to Young Learners

Berman (1998) mentions about learning style, he states there learning styles, such as visual learners, auditory learners and kinesthetic learners. There are some teaching activities that can accommodate the learning styles.

a. Visual learners

The learners understand the content of the lesson by seeing through their eyes. Therefore, teachers can present something that can be seen by the learners, such as pictures, diagrams, videos and hand-outs. The techniques for this style can be games through pictures and watching movie.

b. Auditory learners

The learners will learn best through their ears. Therefore, the technique for this style can be through songs. Children can learn something easily through songs. By listening to the songs, they can learn the pronunciation of words, numbers, and animals.

c. Kinesthetic learners

The learners will learn best by doing something and moving their body. The technique for this style can be TPR (Total Physical Response). For example, children can learn parts of body by touching their body and they can learn something by dancing or acting.

In addition to 7 intelligences introduced by Gardner (1993), Campbell et al. (1996) elaborates the intelligences into learning styles that consider children’s characteristics. They are as follows.

1. Linguistic Intelligence

Teachers can provide models by playing with words. Therefore, story telling becomes one of familiar styles of linguistic intelligence in which young learners can develop their intelligences in linguistic by using their ability in selecting words and language. 2. Logical Mathematical Intelligence

This intelligence is related with mathematic, science and logic and numbers. The most interesting technique which can be implemented to develop this intelligence is problem solving.

3. Visual-Spatial Intelligence

This intelligence includes an aggregate of related skills that encompasses visual recognition. In the ages of young learners, many visually oriented learners respond well to movies, television, slides, posters, colorful images (Campbell et al, 1996). To develop this intelligence there are techniques that can be implemented, such as, puzzle building, watching movie, drawing, coloring pictures, and observing pictures. 4. Bodily-Kinesthetic Intelligence

This intelligence is described as the ability to unite body and mind to perfect physical performance. The technique for this intelligence are TPR (Total Physical Response), dancing, acting, and sports.

5. Musical Intelligence

Children immediately respond to music either appreciating or criticizing what they hear. The techniques for this intelligence can be singing, playing instruments and remembering melodies.

6. Interpersonal Intelligence

This intelligence enables us to deal and communicate with others. In the age of young learners, it is a bit difficult to develop this, since they are more comfortable working by their own. That is why the teacher’s role is really important to encourage the learners to works with others. Grouping will be the best way to develop this intelligence in teaching to young learners.

7. Intrapersonal Intelligence

This intelligence deals with personal activities. Teachers may ask the learners create a thing that they are interested in, drawing a picture to express their feeling, and coloring pictures to show what they feel.

3. Perception and Perception Process

Perception is the process whereby one becomes aware of the world around oneself (Kemp and Smellie, 1989). In perception we use our sense to catch objects and event. Through our senses, such as eyes, ears, skin, and so on, we maintain contact with our environment.

Kemp and Smellie (1989) also provide to major importance of perception. First, any perceptual event consists of many sensory massages that do not occur in isolation but are related and combined into complex patterns. These become the basis of person’s knowledge of the world. Second, an individual reacts to only a small part of all that is taking place at any one instance. The part of an event to be experienced is selected by a person on the basis of desire or what attract his or her attention at any one time (Kemp and Smellie, 1989).

Kemp and Smellie (1989) argue that the experience of perception is individual and unique. The perception of two different people will not similar because a person perceives an event in terms of individual past experiences, present motivation, and present circumstances. Additionally, they state that while any one perceptual experience is uniquely individual, a series of perception by different persons can be

related to become nearly identical. Thus a succession of individual experiences enables us to agree upon what we have experienced, even though the individual experiences are somewhat different.

Fleming and Levie (1978) mention the basic principles of perception. First, perception is relative rather than absolute since it provides reference points to which unknown objects or events can be related and it also presents a difficult concept through small steps. Second, perception is selective, since it will limit the range of aspects being presented to essential factors. Third, perception is organized. It uses numbering and verbal clues to give order to a massage. Forth, perception is influenced by expectation. It provides instructions that call attention to elements or directions for finding an answer in an illustration.

Fleming and Levie (1978) also state the relation between perception and cognition. The better an object or event is perceived (by means of applying the perception principles), the more feasible and reliable will be memory, concept formation, problem solving, creativity, and attitude change.

Perception is also defined as an active process of selecting, organizing, and interpreting their sensory impression in order to give meaning to their environment (Robbins, 2001: Huffman, Vernoy& Vernoy, 2002) together with his experiences, motivation, and attitudes (Suparinah, 1986). There are three basic perceptual processes based on Huffman, Vernoy& Vernoy (2002). The first basic perceptual process is selection. Every person may select certain stimuli as incoming information of an object or event and the stimuli may be different from one to another. In this

case, motivation, personal needs, and interests have a role in selecting stimuli. The second basic perceptual process is organization. In order to form a meaningful pattern, the selecting stimuli should be organized. The last basic perceptual process is interpreting. After selecting stimuli and organized it into pattern, then make an interpretation. Interpretation is influenced by some factors; they are life experiences, perceptual expectation, cultural factors, and personal motivations, needs, and interests (Huffman, Vernoy& Vernoy, 2002; Bootzin, Loftus & Zajonc, 1979)

After selecting certain stimuli, someone can organize then interpret the stimuli meaningfully. Furthermore, as the response of the stimuli, people will react to the stimuli in the form of behavioral response or attitudes whether the response is negative or positive.

B. Theoretical Framework

Pictures have been implemented as media in teaching and learning process. The presence of pictures can help the teachers in creating a joyful atmosphere in the classroom, especially for young learners. Based on the School Based Curriculum’s socialization, English learning for elementary school should be active, creative, effective and joyful learning. Besides, pictures are also believed as effective media in helping the children in learning things. According to Pieget, children at the age of 7-11 years old are categorizing in the concrete levels (Clarke, 1985) in which children can solve problem in a concrete way. On the other hand, Hamalik (1994) states one of the reasons in choosing pictures as media in teaching that is the level of pictures’

concreteness. He also believes that pictures can accommodate the children’s characteristics.

The other theories which also supported Hamalik’s theory are the functions of pictures. Rawntree (1990) mentions that amusment and description become two of the pictures functions in which those functions can more deliberately motivate the learners in learning and can help the learners understand something that cannot be explained in words alone. Therefore, these theories can help the researcher understands the role of pictures in teaching process especially teaching English to young learners.

Furthermore, in answering the first problem formulation, the researcher used the theories about perception. The researchers need to know the definition of the perception to help the researcher in understanding how the perception is formed. However, the way the teachers perceive something, whether it is in positive or negative way, influences the teachers’ behavioral responses (Altman et.al, 1985: 86). Therefore, the behavioral responses could be positive responses or negative responses and it depends on the teachers’ perception. If the teachers perceive the use of pictures in teaching English to young learners in a positive way, the teachers’ behavioral responses would be positive, whereas, if the teachers perceive the use of picture in teaching young learners in a negative way, the teachers’ behavioral responses would be negative. Besides finding the teachers’ perception on the use of pictures in teaching English to young learners, the researcher also wants to find out the teachers’

recommendations on the use of pictures to maximize and to improve the use of pictures in teaching English to young learners.

26 CHAPTER III METHODOLOGY

This chapter presents specific discussion about the methodology of this study. There are six sections, including description of the research method, research participants, research instruments, data gathering technique, data analysis technique and research procedure.

A. Research Method

In this research the researcher attempted to found the teachers’ perceptions on the use of picture in teaching English to young learners. To accomade the study, the resercher conducted survey research. According to Wiersma (1995), survey is also used to answer the study, which is related to social and emotional aspects. In addition, Ary, Jacobs and Ravazieh (2002:381) define a survey as a kind of research method for gathering data ranging from physical counts and frequencies to attitudes and opinions by asking some questions of a group of people called respondents The survey of this study took the form both the questionnaire and interview. In order to obtain clear information, the researcher collected the information from sample rather that from every member of population.

B. Research Participants

The participants of this research were 20 young learner’s teachers who graduated from the English Language Education Study Program. The participants are also teachers who have at least six-month experiences in teaching young learners. The researcher believed that by having more experiences, the participants would give depth information about their perception on the use of pictures in teaching English to young learners. In order to obtain representative sample of population, the researcher used purposive sampling technique. As Guba and Lincoln (1981) states that sampling is almost never representative or random but purposive, intended to exploit competing views and fresh perspectives as fully as possible. Consequently, the researcher chose the 20 teachers purposively around Yogyakarta and Klaten as the subjects of this research.

C. Research Instruments

In this study, the researcher utilized two instruments, namely, questionnaire and interview guide. The researcher employed quantitative and qualitative data. The quantitative data were taken from the close-ended questions whereas the qualitative data were taken from open-ended question and interview result.

1. Questionnaire

According to Ary, et al. (1990), questionnaire as a data gathering device is not expensive and time-consuming. It is possible to comprise large number of the subjects and can guarantee confidentiality, which may elicit more truthful responses.

By making use of a questionnaire, the researcher intended to assess data about the teachers consisting of their thought and perception in accordance with the implementation of pictures in teaching English to young learners.

In this questionnaire, the researcher provided two types of questions. They are open-ended question and close-ended question. For the close-ended question, the researcher provided 20 statements related to the teachers’ thought, feeling and view on the use of pictures in teaching English to young learners while for the open ended questions, the researcher only provided 1 question related to the suggestions of the young learners’ teachers on the use of pictures in teaching and learning process.

In this study, the researcher used Likert scale, a scale with a number of points that provides ordinal scale measurement (Wiersma, 1995). The score of each column is from 1 to 4. The high score represent positive answer in responding the questionnaire while the low score represent the negative answer. To make the explanation of the score clearer, the researcher provided the score of each column concerned the following agreements,

 1 was for totally disagree

 2 was for disagree

 3 was for agree

2. Interview

In order to verify the result of main instrument, the researcher used interview as the second devices to collect the data. Fatterman in Fraenkel and Wallen (1993: 385) stated that interview is the most important data gathering technique a qualitative research possesses. The interview was set to make certain of the data and also to recheck the teachers’ answer in the questionnaire. According to Cohen et al (2000), “the use of interview in research marks a move away from seeing human subjects as simply manipulable and data somehow external to individuals and toward regarding knowledge as generated between human, often through conversation”. To make the interview effective, the researcher chose three participants as the representative of all participants. They are teacher who has the highest score on the questionnaire, teacher who has the lowest score on the questionnaire and teacher who has the most interesting answer on the questionnaire. In the interview, the researcher provided some questions to investigate the teachers’ perception on the use of pictures. The questions were about the teachers’ thought and feeling when they used pictures, the reasons in choosing pictures in teaching process, the advantages and disadvantages of using pictures, and the suggestions on the use of pictures in teaching process.

D. Data Gathering Technique

The first data were collected from the questionnaires. In this research, there were 20 respondents who were selected by purposive sampling method. The researcher chose the 20 respondents from different elementary school. The 20

respondents were young learners’ teachers who have experiences in teaching English to young learners using pictures. As Huffman and Vernoy say that the previous experiences will influence the perception of the perceiver (Huffman, Vernoy & Vernoy, 2002). Therefore, the researcher believed that by having at least six month experiences in teaching English to young learners, they would able to perceive the use of picture in teaching and learning process.

Furthermore, before the researcher distributed the questionnaires to all the respondents, the researcher had to make an appointment first to make sure that the researcher met the respondent. Besides, the researcher also provided brief explanation about the research and asked for permission to the respondent to be willing to participate to this research. The researcher preferred to distribute the questionnaire in the end of the class, so that it would not disturb the teaching activities in their classroom. Being realized that the teachers were busy with their own tasks, the researcher distributed the questionnaire and made a new appointment with the respondents to collect the questionnaire. However, some of the respondents preferred to submit the questionnaire to the researcher on the same day.

The second data were collected by conducting the interview. The interview was conducted after the respondents filled the questionnaires in order to recheck and enrich the data from previous instrument. The researcher only chose three young learners’ teachers as the interviewee. Therefore, the researcher chose the interviewee based on young learners’ teachers who had interesting answer on their questionnaire and certainly who had free time to participate in the interview. The interviewee were

representatives of both who has positive and negative answer in their questionnaire. The researcher interviewed the young learners’ teachers one by one on different day to avoid the researcher from being exhausted and to respect the participants’ schedule. During the interview, the researcher chose to use tape recorder in order to avoid missed data and the researcher also took notes to make sure that the researcher had reserve data in order to avoid unexpected condition.

E. Data Analysis Technique

After gathering the data, the researcher analyzed the data by discussing them based on two categories that were related to the problem formulation in this study. The total response score helped the researcher in determining the perceptions of young learners’ teacher on the use of pictures in teaching English to young learners. The teachers who tended to choose the totally agree and agree column showed that they had positive perception on the use of picture in teaching English to young learners. On the other hand, teachers who tended to choose disagree and totally disagree column showed that they had negative perception on the use of pictures in teaching English to young learners.

In this study, the researcher made some classifications on perceptions of young learners’ teachers based on questionnaire results. The categories of making these classifications were based on the following consideration.

 The maximum total score of agree was 60 (3x 20 items)

 The maximum total score of disagree was 40 (2x 20 items)

 The maximum total score of totally disagree was 20 (1x 20 items)

There are three classifications on perception of young learners’ teachers. They are classifications to measure the perception of each respondent, classification to measure perception of young learners’ teachers on each questionnaire statements, and classification to measure the perception of total respondents.

1. Classification of perception based on each respondent

Based on the total score of each questionnaire, the classification on perception of young learners’ teachers was described below.

 20-35 : very bad perception

 36-50 : bad perception

 51-65 : good perception

 66-80 : very good perception

From description above, it could be classified that the young learners’ teachers had positive perception on the use of picture in teaching English to young learners if he/she had total score x, in which 51≤ x ≤80 and the young learners’ teachers had negative perception on the use of picture in teaching English to young learners if he/she had total score x, in which 20≤ x ≤50. This classification was used by the researcher to choose the three young learners teacher to be interviewed.

2. Classification of perception based on each statement

In this study, the researcher investigated 20 young learners’ teachers, so that the total response of each statement ranged from 20 to 80. The score 20 was calculated from 20x1 (the total amount of respondent x the score of totally disagree column (if all the respondents answer “totally disagree” on the statement)) while the score 80 was calculated from 20x4 (the total amount of respondent x the score of totally agree (if all the respondents answer “totally agree” on the statement)). This classification was done by the researcher in order to see the response of each statement. The response could be very bad, bad, good, or very good. The classification of response ranges of young learners’ teachers was described as follows.

 20-35 : very bad response

 36-50 : bad response

 51-65 : good response

 66-80 : very good response

From description above, it could be classified that the young learners’ teachers had positive perception on the use of picture in teaching English to young learners if he/she had total score x, in which 51≤ x ≤80 and the young learners’ teachers had negative perception on the use of picture in teaching English to young learners if he/she had total scorex, in which 20≤x≤50.

3. Classification of perception based on total respondents

In order to conclude the perception of the young learners’ teachers on the use of pictures in teaching English to young learners, the researcher analyzed total response score of all the respondents. The total response score ranged from 400 to 1600. The score 400 was calculated from 20 x 20 x 1 (the total amount of respondents x the amount of statements x the score of “totally disagree” column (if all the respondents answer “totally disagree”)). The score 1600 was calculated from 20 x 20 x 4 (the total amount of respondents x the amount of statements x the score of “totally agree” (if all the respondents answer “totally agree”)). Furthermore, the classification on perception of young learners’ teachers was described below.

 400-700 : very bad perception

 701-1000 : bad perception

 1001-1300 : good perception

 1301-1600 : very good perception

From description above, it could be classified that the young learners’ teachers had positive perception on the use of picture in teaching English to young learners if he/she had total score x, in which 1001≤ x ≤1600 and the young learners’ teachers had negative perception on the use of picture in teaching English to young learners if he/she had total score x, in which 400≤ x ≤1000. After doing these three classifications from close-ended questions, the researcher analyzed the two open ended question and discussed the result in the form of paragraph.

Furthermore, the researcher analyzed the data from the interview that was done to verify and to enrich that data that the researcher already had. Then the researcher triangulated all the data from questionnaire result and the interview.

F. Research procedure

First, the researcher decided the topic of the research and formulated the research questions. In order to answer the research questions, the researcher designed a set of questionnaire as one of the instruments which contained with several statements. After designing the questionnaire, the researcher distributed the questionnaire to the respondents. After distributing the questionnaires, the researcher read the questionnaires and classified the data into some categories. In order to verify and enrich the data, the researcher conducted interviews by selecting three respondents who had the most interesting answer on their questionnaire. The last step was the data analysis. All the data that the researcher had were gathered and triangulated.

36 CHAPTER IV

RESEARCH FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION

This chapter presents detail information about data gathered in this study. As mentioned in Chapter 1, this research was conducted to seek out teachers’ perception on the use of picture in teaching English to young learners and teachers’ recommendations to improve and to maximize the use of pictures in teaching English to young learners. The findings were divided into two parts. They were part A that explained the teachers’ perception and part B that explained the teachers’ recommendations.

A. Teachers’ Perception on the Use of Pictures in Teaching English to Young Learners.

The data in this research were gathered by combining two instruments, they were questionnaire and interview. The researcher would explain these instruments separately. The researcher would present the teachers’ perception on the use of pictures in teaching English to young learners based on data from questionnaire and would continue presenting based on data from interview.

1. Teachers’ Perception on the Use of Pictures in Teaching English to Young Learners Based on the Questionnaire

In order to answer the first problem that was teachers’ perception on the use of pictures in teaching English to young learners, the researcher analyzed the 20 statements in the questionnaire in the form of table. The Table 4.1 is the distribution of the close-ended statements and the results.

Table 4.1. The Questionnaire Result of Close-Ended Statements

No Statements Total

score

Classification

1 Pictures are effective media in teaching English to young learners

75 Very good

2 Pictures are easily used both for the teacher and the students

63 Good

3 Teachers are interested in using picture in teaching English to young learners

72 Very good

4 Teaching by using pictures helps the teachers in giving new English vocabularies to young learners

70 Very good

5 Teaching English to young learners using pictures motivated the teachers in teaching

64 Good

6 Teachers feel easier in explaining objects/things using pictures than the other media

64 Good

7 Teachers feel easier in explaining situation of using pictures than the other media

58 Good

8 Teachers feel more confident when they use pictures in teaching

No Statements Total score

Classification

9 Teaching using pictures spend more time in preparation

61 Good

10 Teaching using pictures spend more money in preparation

58 Good

11 Young learners will be happier in studying when they are taught by using pictures

68 Very good

12 Young learners will be happier in studying when 66 Very good they are taught by using pictures (based on

teacher’s experiences)

13 Young learners will be more excited in studying when they are taught by using pictures

67 Very good

14 Young learners will be more excited in studying when they are taught by using pictures (based on teacher’s experiences)

66 Very good

15 Children will understand easily the material of discussion by using pictures

65 Good

16 Children will understand easily the material of discussion by using pictures

65 Good

17 The teaching atmosphere were more fun when teachers use pictures (based on teacher’s experiences)

64 Good

18 Pictures are more concrete in which students can see clearly the items being discussed through pictures than other media

62 Good

19 Pictures in classroom can represent situation (e.g. pictures of zoo)

No Statements Total score

Classification

20 Teachers often use pictures in teaching to young learners

72 Very good

Notes:

20≤x≤35 : very bad response, categorized as negative perception 36≤x≤50 : bad response, categorized as negative perception 51≤x≤65 : good response, categorized as positive perception 66≤x≤80 : very good response, categorized as positive perception

Based on the questionnaire result above, it was clear that most of teachers have positive perception toward the use of pictures in teaching English to young learners. It could be seen from the classification on the table 4.1. Almost all of the teachers had very good responses toward the effectiveness of the pictures as media, teachers’ interest, the outcomes of using pictures for the teachers, the outcomes of using pictures for the students, and the frequency of using pictures in teaching (statements number 1, 3, 4, 11, 12, 13, 14, and 20). They also gave good responses on the implementation of the pictures for the teachers and the students, teaching motivation, the effects of using pictures for the teachers, the class’ atmosphere, the concreteness of pictures and the function of pictures (statements number 2, 5, 6, 7, 8, 15, 16, 17, 18, and 19). It could be seen clearly that there were only two statements in

which teachers gave bad responses, which were statements number 9 and 10 about the time and money consumed during the preparation.

The statement number 1 asked whether the teachers agreed that pictures were effective media in teaching English to young learners. The score for this statement was 75 in which almost all of the teachers had positive perception by admitting that pictures were effective media in teaching English to young learners. The next statement, which was statement number 2, asked whether the teachers admitted that pictures were easily used by both the teachers and the students. The response for this statement was good and categorized as positive perception in which teachers agreed that both the teachers as well as the students could use pictures easily.

The statements number 3 wanted to seek out whether the teachers were interested in pictures as media in teaching English to young learners. They gave very good responses toward this statement in which the score was 72. This meant that the teachers themselves are interested in pictures as media in teaching to young learners.

The statements number 4 up to number 8 showed the implications on the use of pictures in teaching English to young learners for the teachers. The statement number 4 showed that all the teachers admitted that the use of pictures helped them in giving new vocabularies to young learners. This could be seen from the score of this statement that was 70, which meant teachers had very good responses. The next statement gave clear information that most of the teachers agreed that they were motivated to teach better when they taught English to young learners by using pictures as media. They also had positive perception by giving good response on the

statement number 7 and 8. Most of the teachers agreed that they felt much easier to explain object and situation to young learners by using pictures.

The next two statements that were statement number 9 and 10 showed that most of the teachers had positive perception toward these two statements. This was indicated by number 61 and 58 as their total score of response obtained. These statements asked the teacher whether they agreed that using pictures did not spend much time and money in preparation. Moreover, based on the results, most of the teachers agreed toward these two statements. They argued that they did not have to spend more time and sometimes more money in preparation.

The statement number 11, 13, and 15 gave clear information about teachers’ opinion on the effects of using pictures for the young learners. The total score for statements number 11 and 13 were 68 and 67 in which most of the teachers gave very good responses to these two statements. From these results, it was clear that most of the teachers had positive perception by believing that the young learners would be happier and more excited in learning when they were taught using pictures. The statements number 15 showed that most of teachers gave good responses to this statement. The score for this statement was 65, which was not as big as the score for the statement number 11 and 13. This meant that teachers believed that young learners would understand easily the material being taught by using pictures.

The three statements, that were statements number 12, 14, 16, and 17 showed the effects of using pictures in teaching to young learners based on teachers’ experiences. The total responses for the statements number 12 and 14 were very good

in which the scores were 66 and 66. This results gave clear information that what the teachers believed in the use of pictures were similar to the reality they faced in the classroom. They shared that based on their experiences; young learners were happier and more excited in learning when they were taught by using picture. However, the statements number 16 and 17 showed that the teachers’ responses for these statements were not as optimistic as the responses for the statements number 12 and 14. The responses for these two statements were only good in which it could be seen from the total scores. The total score were 65 and 64. This meant that teachers shared that young learners could understand the material easily and the atmosphere were more fun. However, the effects were shown more significant from children’ enthusiasm.

The statements number 18 and 19 asked the teachers whether they believed that pictures were concrete and could represent situation. The total score for these two statements were 62 and 56 and classified as good responses. It was clear that teachers had positive perception toward these two statements by agreeing that pictures were concrete; therefore children could see clearly items being discussed and believed that pictures could represent situation, for example, the pictures of zoo could represent the situation of the zoo.

The last statements gave clear information that almost all of teachers had positive perception on the use of pictures in teaching English to young learners and this supported them in showing positive attitudes by almost all the time using pictures in teaching to young learners. It could be observed from the very good responses given by the teachers.

To conclude teachers’ perception on the use of pictures in teaching English to young learners based on the questionnaire, the researcher analyzed total responses score from all respondents and the score was 1296. Based on the classification, mentioned in Chapter 3, this total response was classified as good perception. Because good perception was categorized as positive perception, it can be conclude that the teachers’ perception on the use of pictures based on questionnaire was positive.

2. Teachers’ Perception on the Use of Pictures in Teaching English to Young Learners Based on the Interview

The interview was conducted to verify the data on the questionnaire and to enrich the data. In this research, the researcher chose 3 interviewees. In chapter 3, the researcher explained the classification for being the interviewees. The interviewees were the teacher who had the highest score for the questionnaire, the teacher who had the lowest score for the questionnaire, and the teacher who had the most interesting answer on the questionnaire.

All the teachers had the same perception that was positive perception on the use of pictures in teaching English to young learners. They argued that using pictures in teaching English was helpful and interesting. One of the interviewees said that pictures help her in teaching English, especially in giving new vocabularies. She said,

Media untuk pembelajaran itu kan macam-macam, contoh nya ya gambar. Menurut saya, media itu sangat membantu kita, apalagi untuk mengajarkan bahasa sebagai second language. Misalnya saya mau mengajarkan “things in

media dan materi nya tapi hal ini bisa dimengerti dan diminimalisasi. Saya memang mempersiapkan materi dengan gambar sendiri dan memang sangat repot. Saya suka mengambil gambar-gambar dari buku anak-anak yang saya beli, lalu saya perbanyak. Tapi kan kadang yang dibuku itu terlalu kecil, jadi saya perbesar. Lalu saya beri warna biar menarik, dan itu memang makan waktu ya. Biar tahan lama, Saya laminating dan harus mengeluarkan uang lagi, tapi menurut saya tidak masalah karena saya masih bisa menggunakan gambar untuk mengajar keahlian lain. Contohnya saja, saya menggunakan satu gambar untuk melatih anak berbicara, menulis kalimat, dll.

There are a lot of advantages of using pictures. As I mentioned before, pictures are simple, interesting and easy for children to understand, so that it really helps me in teaching. The negative side of pictures is just the preparation. It is quite difficult because I have to prepare the media and material by my self. Hence, it can be understood and it can be minimized. I do prepared the pictures material by my self and it was difficult. I used to take some pictures from children’s book that I bought before then I copied the pictures. However, sometimes the size of the pictures on books was too small, so that I copied it and increased the size. Then, I colored the pictures and it took times actually. To make it long-lasting, I covered the pictures with plastic and I had to pay more for that, but I did not considered that as problems because I can use the pictures to teach different skills. For instance, I can use the same pictures to improve students’ skills in speaking, writing sentences and so on. So that, we do not have to create new pictures and spend more time and money.

8. Apakah anda mempunyai saran dalam penggunaan media gambar dalam pengajaran bahasa inggris untuk anak-anak?

Secara umum penggunaan media gambar sudah baik. Tapi ada beberapa hal yang harus di perhatikan seperti ukuran gambar, dan harus sesuai dengan karakter anak-anak, dan guru juga harus kreatif dalam menentukan aktifitas di kelas. Kadang saya meminta anak-anak untuk mewarnai gambar yang saya berikan biar mereka juga terlibat dalam kegiatan pembelajaran, apalagi untuk anak-anak yang masih kelas 2. Mereka kelihatan senang dan bersemangat. Nah, saya punya kebiasaan untuk meningkatkan motivasi anak-anak saya. Saya akan meminta mereka mengumpulkan pekerjaannya dan memilih gambar yang paling menarik untuk ditempelkan di papan pengumuman kelas.

In general, the use of pictures is already good. However, there are some points that should be considered such as, the size of pictures, the appropriateness and the creativity of the teachers in determining the class activities. Sometimes I asked my students to give colors on the pictures given in order to involve them in the learning activities especially for students in the second grade. They seemed happy and enthusiastic. In order to raise their motivation in learning, I asked them to submit their drawing and for the most beautiful drawing will be attached on the notice board as a reward.

Interviewee 3

1. Apa pendapat anda tentang penggunaan media dalam pengajaran?

Media dalam pembelajaran itu banyak dan akan sangat membantu dalam mengajar kalau kita bisa memilih media yang tepat.

There are a lot of media in teaching. Moreover, those will be very helpful in teaching if we can select the appropriate media.

2. Apa pendapat anda tentang penggunaan media gambar dalam pengajaran bahasa inggris untuk anak-anak?

Media gambar itu sesuai dengan kebutuhan dan karakter anak-anak karena pada dasarnya anak-anak suka melihat gambar.

Pictures as media are suitable with children’s need and characteristic because in general, children love seeing pictures.

3. Apakah anda sering menggunakan media gambar ketika mengajar bahasa inggris untuk anak-anak?

Ya, lumayan sering

Yes, it is quite often.

4. Apa alasan-alasan yang melatarbelakangi anda dalam memilih media gambar dalam pengajaran bahasa inggris untuk anak-anak?

Kedua, media gambar itu gampang didapat. Apalagi dengan teknologi sekarang, saya bisa dapat gambar apa saja yang saya butuhkan.

First, children loves pictures and they are really excited to study. Second, pictures can be easily founded especially with the latest technology; I can easily find pictures that I need.

5. Apa yang anda rasakan ketika anda menggunaka media gambar dalam pengajaran bahasa inggris untuk anak-anak?

Saya merasa senang karena anak-anak cepet ngerti dan itu membuat saya lebih bersemangat lagi dalam mengajar. Biasanya kalau muridnya susah ngerti, gurunya jadi tidak semangat.

I feel happy because my students can understand easily and it makes me feel more excited in teaching them. It commonly happens when the teachers become less excited because their students cannot understand the material.

6. Dapatkah anda menceritakan salah satu pengalaman anda yang tak terlupakan ketika anda menggunakan media gambar dalam pengajaran bahasa inggris untuk anak-anak?

Kadang suka terjadi kesalahpahaman dan ambigu waktu saya kasih vocab baru. Soalnya mereka bingung itu gambar apa. Pernah waktu itu saya kasih gambar seorang anak laki-laki yang sedang bermain bola. Kan waktu itu saya sedang mengajarkan aktivitas, jadi saya menuliskan kata “kick” dibawah gambar. Murid saya ada yang bilang kalau itu kan gambar anak laki-laki yang sedang bermain bola, jadi harusnya bukan “kick” tapi “play”.

Sometimes, there was misunderstanding and ambiguity occurred when I gave them new vocabularies using pictures because they are confused with the pictures. Once, I gave them pictures in which a boy playing a ball. At that time, I taught them “activities”, and then I described the pictures with the word “kick”. One of my students complained and said that it was a picture of playing ball, so it should be “play” instead of “kick”.

7. Dapatkah anda menyebutkan nilai positif dan negatif yang anda dapatkan ketika anda menggunakan media gambar dalam pengajaran bahasa inggris untuk anak-anak?

Kalau nilai positifnya banyak, seperti yang saya sebutkan tadi anak-anak cepat mengerti karena sesuai dengan karakter anak dan mereka suka dengan gambar. Selain itu gambar itu gampang didapat. Kalau nilai negatifnya, kadang ada gambar-gambar tertentu yang bisa bikin anak-anak bingung.

There are a lot of positive sides by using pictures, as I mentioned before that children understand easily because it is suitable with children’s characteristic and they like seeing pictures. On the contrary, sometimes there are some pictures that can confuse children.

8. Apakah anda mempunyai saran dalam penggunaan media gambar dalam pengajaran bahasa inggris untuk anak-anak?

Kita harus benar-benar selektif dalam memilih gambar sesuai dengan karakter anak dan kita harus kreatif dalam menggunakan gambar tersebut. Contohnya, selain untuk materi, gambar nya bisa kita gunakan untuk games dan lain-lain.

We have to be selective in choosing pictures based on children’s character and we have to be creative in using the pictures. For example, beside as materials, pictures can be used for games and so on.

ABSTRACT

Juliani, Fl. (2010).Teachers’ Perception on the Use of Pictures in Teaching English to Young Learners. Yogyakarta: English Language Education Study Program, Sanata Dharma University.

There are a lot of factors that influence the teaching process. Media became one of them. The appropriate media would facilitate learning and help the teachers in teaching. However, the teachers’ perception on the use of certain media influences the behavior and the motivation of the teachers in teaching and finally will affect the teaching and learning process. Picture is one of media used by teachers in teaching to young learners. Because of those reasons, the researcher was interested to seek and explore the teachers’ perception on the use of pictures in teaching English to young learners. There were two research questions in this study: 1) What are the teachers’ perception on the use of pictures in teaching English to young learners? 2) What are teachers’ recommendations the use of pictures in teaching English to young learners?

To answer the problem formulation, the researcher conducted a survey research. The respondents were 20 young learners’ teachers around Yogyakarta and Klaten who graduated from English Education Study Program and had experiences in teaching children at least for six months. The researcher used two instruments in this research. They were questionnaire and interview. The questionnaire consisted of 20 close-ended questions and 1 open-ended question whereas there were 8 questions in the interview. The researcher applied Likert scale to measure the teachers’ attitude toward the questions. The interview was conducted to verify the questionnaire result and to dig out more information.

The findings showed that all the teachers who participated in this research had positive perception toward the use of pictures in teaching English to young learners. All the teachers said that pictures were effective media in teaching to young learners because it was suitable with the concrete cognitive level of children. The teachers also admitted that both the teachers and the students obtained positive outcomes from using pictures in teaching English to young learners. Besides, the teachers became more confident and motivated in teaching because their students enjoyed learning using pictures.

Although all the teachers had positive perception on the use of pictures in teaching English to young learners, they thought that it should still be improved. Therefore, they gave some suggestion both for the pictures and for the teachers. They shared that the pictures should be clear, simple and interesting. They also suggested that teachers should be wise in selecting pictures and to be more creative in giving class activities by using pictures in order to create joyful learning.

ABSTRAK

Juliani, Fl. (2010).Teachers’ Perception on the Use of Pictures in Teaching English to Young Learners. Yogyakarta: Fakultas Keguruan dan Ilmu Pendidikan , Universitas Sanata Dharma.

Ada banyak faktor yang memepengaruhi proses pembelajaran. Salah satunya adalah media pembelajaran. Media yang tepat akan memfasilitasi belajar dan membantu guru dalam mengajar. Akan tetapi, persepsi guru terhadap media tertentu mempengaruhi tingkah laku dan motivasi guru dalam mengajar dan pada akhirnya akan mempengaruhi proses belajar dan mengajar. Gambar adalah salah satu media yang digunakan oleh guru dalam pembelajaran bahasa Inggris untuk anak-anak. Karena alasan tersebut, peneliti tertarik untuk mencari dan menyelidiki persepsi guru terhadap penggunaan gambar dalam pembelajaran bahasa Inggris untuk anak-anak. Ada dua rumusan masalah yang dikaji dalam penelitian ini: 1) Bagaimana persepsi para guru terhadap penggunaan gambar dalam pembelajaran bahasa Inggris untuk anak-anak? 2) Saran-saran apa saja yang para guru berikan terhadap penggunaan gambar dalam pembelajaran bahasa Inggris untuk anak-anak?

Untuk menjawab rumusan masalah tersebut, peneliti menggunakan penelitian survei. Para responden adalah 20 guru anak-anak yang berada disekitar daerah Yogyakarta dan Klaten yang menamatkan pendidikan S1 nya di jurusan Pendidikan Bahasa Inggris dan memiliki pengalaman mengajar behasa Inggris untuk anak-anak paling sedikit selama 6 bulan. Peneliti menggunakan dua instrumen dalam penelitian ini, yaitu kuesioner dan wawancara. Kuesioner terdiri dari 20 pertanyaan tipe terutup dan 1 pertanyaan tipe terbuka sedangkan wawancara terdiri dari 8 pertanyaan. Peneliti menggunakan skala Likert untuk mengukur tingkah laku para guru terhadap pernyataan-pernyataan pada kuesioner. Selanjutnya, wawancara dilakukan untuk membuktikan hasil kuesioner dan untuk menggali informasi yang lebih banyak.

Hasil penelitian menunjukkan bahwa semua guru yang berpartisipasi dalam penelitian ini memiliki persepsi positif terhadap penggunaan gambar dalam pembelajaran bahasa Inggris untuk anak-anak. Hampir semua guru mengakui bahwa gambar adalah media yang efektif untuk anak karena sesuai dengan tingkat kognitif anak yang konkret. Para guru juga mengakui bahwa baik para guru maupun para murid mendapat hasil yang positif dari menggunakan gambar. Selain itu, para guru menjadi lebih percaya diri dan termotivasi dalam mengajar karena murid mereka menyukai proses belajar dengan menggunakan gambar.

Meskipun semua guru memiliki persepsi positif terhadap penggunaan gambar, mereka tetap memberikan saran-saran untuk perbaikan, baik untuk gambar itu sendiri maupun untuk para guru. Mereka menyarankan agar gambar yang digunakan harus jelas, sederhana dan menarik. Mereka juga menyarankan para guru agar lebih bijaksana dalam memilih gambar dan lebih kreatif dalam memberikan kegiatan belajar di kelas untuk menciptakan proses pembelajaran yang menyenangkaan.