Use of Rewards to Motivate Kindergarten Students in Learning English: A Case Study in a Kindergarten in Bandung.

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ABSTRACT

Penelitian in dilatarbelakangi oleh permasalahan yang timbul pada saat para murid mempelajari bahasa Inggris. Topik penelitian ini adalah pemberian reward yang digunakan untuk memotivasi murid-murid tingkat Taman Kanak-Kanak (TK) dalam mempelajari bahasa Inggris. Tujuan dari penelitian ini adalah untuk mengetahui jenis-jenis reward yang digunakan oleh guru untuk memotivasi para murid di dalam kelas dan untuk mengidentifikasi efek-efek dari pemberian reward terhadap motivasi murid dalam mempelajari bahasa Inggris. Teori yang digunakan dalam penelitian ini adalah Ryan et al. (2001) dan Pintrich & Schunk (2002).

Metode yang digunakan dalam penelitian ini adalah studi kasus. Pengambilan data yang digunakan adalah observasi yang dilakukan di dalam kelas TK di Bandung dan wawancara dengan guru bahasa Inggris yang bersangkutan. Hasil penelitian yang didapatkan yaitu terdapat dua jenis reward yang guru gunakan di dalam kelas untuk memotivasi murid-murid yang memberikan efek terhadap motivasi murid dalam mempelajari bahasa Inggris.

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ... i

TABLE OF CONTENTS ... iii

ABSTRACT ... v

CHAPTER ONE: INTRODUCTION 1.1 Background of the Study ... 1

1.2 Statement of the Problem... 2

1.3 Purpose of the Study... 3

1.4 Method of the Study ... 3

1.5 Significance of the Study ... 3

1.6 Limitation of the Study ... 3

1.7 Organization of the Study ... 4

CHAPTER TWO: THEORETICAL REVIEW 2.1 English for Young Learners ... 5

2.2 The Characteristics of Very Young Learners ... 6

2.3 Rewards ... 6

2.4 Kinds of Rewards ... 7

2.5 Effects of Rewards ... 8

2.6 Motivation ... 9

2.7 Previous Studies ... 10

CHAPTER THREE: RESEARCH DESIGN 3.1 Participants and Setting ... 12

3.2 Data Collection Techniques ... 12

3.3 Data Analysis ... 13

CHAPTER FOUR: DATA PRESENTATION AND DISCUSSION 4.1 Findings from Observation ... 14

4.1.1 Kinds of Rewards ... 15

4.1.2 Effects of Rewards... 18

4.2 Findings from Interviews ... 23

4.2.1 Kinds of Rewards ... 24

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CHAPTER FIVE: CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATION

5.1 Conclusion ... 26

5.2 Recommendation ... 27

BIBLIOGRAPHY ... 29

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CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

1.1Background of the Study

Most teachers use various ways to help students pay attention to the lessons. Students can easily get bored with the lesson that the teacher gives them. This is especially true for kindergarten students, who cannot concentrate on one thing for a long period (Mustafa, 2010, p. 5). Consequently, they can easily get distracted because they are not interested in the lesson. In this situation, teachers need to have a strategy to help the students focus on the lesson.

Nowadays, most kindergartens have accommodated the students with English for their learning. It is included in the lesson because based on Oxford Advanced

Learner’s Dictionary 8th

edition, English is “… used as a language of international

communication throughout the world…” (Hornby, 2010, p. 504). Therefore, teachers

need to give interesting lesson that can help the students to build up their motivation in learning English.

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Teachers sometimes only focus on giving their students some activities and assignments. Teachers think that the students will not get bored with the lesson by learning English through activities. However, the result is the students still get bored with the lesson. Teachers have to find a solution to this problem.

Instead of giving a lot of activities, a teacher can give feedback or compliments to motivate the students when they are learning English. By getting compliments, students can gain confidence in their English learning. The students will not feel embarrassed to give answer when the teacher asked them about something.

Teachers sometimes forget to give compliments or praise to all of the students. Using rewards such as stickers and drawing stars on their worksheet can

also be a way for students to get praise. Based on Oxford Advanced Learner’s

Dictionary 8th edition, reward is “a thing that you are given because you have done something good, work hard,…” (Hornby, 2010, p. 1313). Moreover, it can make the students pay more attention to the teacher. The students answer the question that the teacher asks. Thus, rewards can make students motivated in learning. This study will investigate the use of rewards to motivate kindergarten students to learn English.

1.2 Statement of the Problem

This study is guided by these research questions:

1. What kinds of rewards does the teacher use to motivate the kindergarten students in the classroom?

2. What are the effects of giving rewards on the kindergarten students’ motivation in learning English?

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1.3 Purpose of the Study

The first purpose of this study aims at finding out the kinds of rewards that the teacher uses to motivate the kindergarten students in the classroom. The second purpose of this study is to identify the effects of giving rewards on the kindergarten students’ motivation in learning English.

1.4 Method of the Study

The research method used in this study is a case study. This method is chosen because it can illustrate the real people in the real situation that occurs in this study. There are two types of data collection that this study will use: observation and interview.

1.5 Significance of the Study

There are two significant points of the study. First, the teacher will be informed of the types of rewards that he or she can use in the classroom to motivate his or her students in the future. Second, the teacher will find out the effects of using rewards on kindergarten students.

1.6 Limitation of the Study

This study will focus on the use of reward to motivate the kindergarten students in learning English. This study will be conducted at one kindergarten school in Bandung. This study takes the data from observing a class and interviewing the English teacher. The result should not be generalized as there are other factors, such

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as students’ learning goal and interest affect the students’ motivation in learning

English.

1.7 Organization of the Thesis

The first chapter is Introduction, which includes Background of the Study, Statement of the Problem, Purpose of the Study, Method of the Study, Significance of the Study, Limitation of the Study, and Organization of the Thesis. The second chapter deals with theoretical framework and literature review related to the research. Chapter Three covers the research methodology. Chapter Four presents the data analysis. Finally, Chapter Five contains conclusion and recommendation for this study. This thesis ends with Bibliography and Appendices.

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CHAPTER FIVE

CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATION

5.1 Conclusion

Based on the findings in Chapter Four, it can be seen that the teacher used two kinds of rewards, namely, verbal and tangible rewards. The verbal rewards used were saying “good,” “thank you,” “good and thank you,” and “good job.” The teacher also gave tangible rewards, namely, stickers and drawing stars on the students’ worksheets. From the findings, it can be seen that the kinds of rewards that the teacher used is consistent with the theory from Chapter Two, as Ryan et al. explains that there are two kinds of rewards, “verbal rewards and tangible rewards” (2001, p. 3). From the results, the teacher used the rewards as the best tool in motivating the students.

Moreover, it can be seen that the teacher gave the rewards to the students because the teacher thought the children usually listened and studied better when they were promised to be rewarded. For example, some of the students changed their behavior when they heard the teacher complimenting their friends. The students paid more attention to the teacher, tried to answer the teacher’s question, and looked excited in the lesson. In addition, the students could get information

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about their learning progress when the teacher praised them, for example, one girl was praised by the teacher because she could answer the question correctly once. From the findings, it can be seen that the effects of giving rewards to kindergarten students are consistent with the theory from Chapter Two: according to Pintrich and Schunk (2002, p. 265), rewards can control students’ behavior and give information to the students about their achievement in learning. Moreover, rewards can increase extrinsic motivation that can lead to intrinsic motivation; for example, when the students were eager to learn more, paid more attention to the teacher, and also tried to answer the teacher’s questions. Arends explains that intrinsic motivation makes people do something that comes from his or her own interest (2001, p. 80).

5.2 Recommendation

There are two recommendations that the researcher makes based on this study:

1. For the teacher:

Based on the findings, the teacher usually said “good”or “good job” to the students. There are a lot of verbal compliments that the teacher can use to praise the students. The teacher can praise the students by saying “amazing,” “great,” and “incredible” so that the students can increase their intrinsic motivation more. Besides, there are some tangible rewards that the teacher mentioned in the interview, such as stars, good marks, stickers, and stamps, yet the teacher just used stickers and stars in the classroom. The teacher can use stamps as a substitute for drawing stars on the students’ worksheets.

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2. For further research:

It is recommended that further researchers use this study as their references. All of the theories can be used as the references for a similar study. This study can also be at other levels, such as elementary school, junior high school, and senior high school. There are more data collection instruments that can be used to get more information about the study such as interviewing students and students’ learning records.

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BIBLIOGRAPHY

Arends, R. I. (2001). Learning to teach. 5th ed. Singapore: Mc Graw-Hill Companies.

Brumfit, C., Moon, J., & Tongue, R. (1995). Teaching English to children from

practice to principle. Ed. Malaysia: Longman.

Ching, G. S. (2012). Looking into the issue of rewards and punishment in students.

International Journal of Research Studies in Psychology, 1 (2), 29-38. doi :

10.5861/jrsp.2012.vli2.44.

Cohen, L., Manion, L., & Morrison, K. (2007). Research methods in education. 6th ed. Canada: Routledge.

Deci, E. L., Koestner, R., & Ryan, R. M. (2001). Extrinsic rewards and intrinsic motivation in education: reconsidered once again. Review of Educational

Research, 71 (1), 1- 27. Retrieved from

http://selfdeterminationtheory.org/SDT/documents/2001_DeciKoestnerRyan. pdf

Drexler, J. (2010). Teachers’ attitudes about reward systems in the classroom.

Retrieved from

http://digitalcommons.brockport.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1024&cont ext=ehd_theses

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Fredericks, A. D. (2005). The complete idiot’s guide to success as a teacher.

London: Penguin Group.

Harmer, J. (2002). The practice of English language teaching. 3rd ed. Malaysia: Pearson Education Limited.

Hoffmann, K. F., Huff, J. D., Patterson, A. S., & Nietfled, J. L. (2009). Elementary

teacher’s use and perception of rewards in the classroom. Teaching and Teacher Education, 25, 843-849. doi: 10.1016/j.tate.2008.12.004.

Hornby, A S. (2010). Oxford advanced learner’s dictionary. 8th ed. New York:

Oxford University Press.

Howlin, C. A. (2015). The merits of using rewards strategies in the classroom and how to maximize their effectiveness. South East Education Centre Research

Journal, 1, 69-77. Retrieved from

http://ecwexford.ie/images/journal_issues/2015paper4.pdf

Lawlor, F. X. (1970). The effects of verbal rewards on the behavior of children in the primary grades at a cognitive task typical of the new elementary science curricula. Journal of Research in Science Teaching, 7 (4), 327-340. doi: 10. 1002/tea.3660070407.

Musthafa, B. (2010). Teaching English to young learners in Indonesia: essential requirements. Educationist, 7 (2), 120-125. Retrieved from

http://file.upi.edu/Direktori/JURNAL/EDUCATIONIST/Vol._IV_No._2-Juli_2010/07_Bachrudin_Musthafa.pdf

Pintrich, P. R., & Schunk, D. H. (2002). Motivation in education. 2nd ed. Ohio: Merril Prentice Hall.

Universitas Kristen Maranatha 31

Reeve, J. (2014). Rewards. In E. T. Emmer & E. J. Sabomie’s (Eds.), Handbooks of classroom management (2nd ed; pp. 496- 515). Philadelphia, PA: Taylor

& Francis. Retrieved from

http://johnmarshallreeve.org/yahoo_site_admin1/assets/docs/Reeve2014_Ch pt26_Rewards.80225946.pdf

Skinner, B. F. (2014). Science and human behavior. The B. F. Skinner Foundation. Retrieved from http://bfskinner.org/store/

Slattery, M., & Willis, J. (2009) English for primary teachers: a handbook of

activities and classroom language. New York: Oxford University Press.

Sukarno. (2008). Teaching English to young learners and factors to consider in designing the materials. Jurnal Ekonomi & Pendidikan, 5 (1), 57- 73. Retrieved from

http://journal.uny.ac.id/index.php/jep/article/viewFile/603/460

Wallace, M. J. (2001). Action research for language teachers. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Williams, M., & Burden, R. L. (2010). Psychology for language teachers: a social

CHAPTER FIVE

CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATION

5.1 Conclusion

Based on the findings in Chapter Four, it can be seen that the teacher used two kinds of rewards, namely, verbal and tangible rewards. The verbal rewards used were saying “good,” “thank you,” “good and thank you,” and “good job.” The teacher also gave tangible rewards, namely, stickers and drawing stars on the

students’ worksheets. From the findings, it can be seen that the kinds of rewards that the teacher used is consistent with the theory from Chapter Two, as Ryan et al. explains that there are two kinds of rewards, “verbal rewards and tangible rewards” (2001, p. 3). From the results, the teacher used the rewards as the best tool in motivating the students.

Moreover, it can be seen that the teacher gave the rewards to the students because the teacher thought the children usually listened and studied better when they were promised to be rewarded. For example, some of the students changed their behavior when they heard the teacher complimenting their friends. The students paid more attention to the teacher, tried to answer the teacher’s question, and looked excited in the lesson. In addition, the students could get information

about their learning progress when the teacher praised them, for example, one girl was praised by the teacher because she could answer the question correctly once. From the findings, it can be seen that the effects of giving rewards to kindergarten students are consistent with the theory from Chapter Two: according to Pintrich and Schunk (2002, p. 265), rewards can control students’ behavior and give information to the students about their achievement in learning. Moreover, rewards can increase extrinsic motivation that can lead to intrinsic motivation; for example, when the students were eager to learn more, paid more attention to the teacher, and also tried to answer the teacher’s questions. Arends explains that intrinsic motivation makes people do something that comes from his or her own interest (2001, p. 80).

5.2 Recommendation

There are two recommendations that the researcher makes based on this study:

1. For the teacher:

Based on the findings, the teacher usually said “good”or “good job” to the students. There are a lot of verbal compliments that the teacher can use to praise the students. The teacher can praise the students by saying “amazing,” “great,” and

“incredible” so that the students can increase their intrinsic motivation more. Besides, there are some tangible rewards that the teacher mentioned in the interview, such as stars, good marks, stickers, and stamps, yet the teacher just used stickers and stars in the classroom. The teacher can use stamps as a substitute for

2. For further research:

It is recommended that further researchers use this study as their references. All of the theories can be used as the references for a similar study. This study can also be at other levels, such as elementary school, junior high school, and senior high school. There are more data collection instruments that can be used to get more information about the study such as interviewing students and students’ learning records.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Arends, R. I. (2001). Learning to teach. 5th ed. Singapore: Mc Graw-Hill Companies.

Brumfit, C., Moon, J., & Tongue, R. (1995). Teaching English to children from practice to principle. Ed. Malaysia: Longman.

Ching, G. S. (2012). Looking into the issue of rewards and punishment in students. International Journal of Research Studies in Psychology, 1 (2), 29-38. doi : 10.5861/jrsp.2012.vli2.44.

Cohen, L., Manion, L., & Morrison, K. (2007). Research methods in education. 6th ed. Canada: Routledge.

Deci, E. L., Koestner, R., & Ryan, R. M. (2001). Extrinsic rewards and intrinsic motivation in education: reconsidered once again. Review of Educational Research, 71 (1), 1- 27. Retrieved from

http://selfdeterminationtheory.org/SDT/documents/2001_DeciKoestnerRyan. pdf

Drexler, J. (2010). Teachers’ attitudes about reward systems in the classroom. Retrieved from

Fredericks, A. D. (2005). The complete idiot’s guide to success as a teacher. London: Penguin Group.

Harmer, J. (2002). The practice of English language teaching. 3rd ed. Malaysia: Pearson Education Limited.

Hoffmann, K. F., Huff, J. D., Patterson, A. S., & Nietfled, J. L. (2009). Elementary

teacher’s use and perception of rewards in the classroom. Teaching and Teacher Education, 25, 843-849. doi: 10.1016/j.tate.2008.12.004.

Hornby, A S. (2010). Oxford advanced learner’s dictionary. 8th ed. New York: Oxford University Press.

Howlin, C. A. (2015). The merits of using rewards strategies in the classroom and how to maximize their effectiveness. South East Education Centre Research Journal, 1, 69-77. Retrieved from

http://ecwexford.ie/images/journal_issues/2015paper4.pdf

Lawlor, F. X. (1970). The effects of verbal rewards on the behavior of children in the primary grades at a cognitive task typical of the new elementary science curricula. Journal of Research in Science Teaching, 7 (4), 327-340. doi: 10. 1002/tea.3660070407.

Musthafa, B. (2010). Teaching English to young learners in Indonesia: essential requirements. Educationist, 7 (2), 120-125. Retrieved from

http://file.upi.edu/Direktori/JURNAL/EDUCATIONIST/Vol._IV_No._2-Juli_2010/07_Bachrudin_Musthafa.pdf

Pintrich, P. R., & Schunk, D. H. (2002). Motivation in education. 2nd ed. Ohio: Merril Prentice Hall.

Reeve, J. (2014). Rewards. In E. T. Emmer & E. J. Sabomie’s (Eds.), Handbooks of classroom management (2nd ed; pp. 496- 515). Philadelphia, PA: Taylor & Francis. Retrieved from

http://johnmarshallreeve.org/yahoo_site_admin1/assets/docs/Reeve2014_Ch pt26_Rewards.80225946.pdf

Skinner, B. F. (2014). Science and human behavior. The B. F. Skinner Foundation. Retrieved from http://bfskinner.org/store/

Slattery, M., & Willis, J. (2009) English for primary teachers: a handbook of activities and classroom language. New York: Oxford University Press. Sukarno. (2008). Teaching English to young learners and factors to consider in

designing the materials. Jurnal Ekonomi & Pendidikan, 5 (1), 57- 73. Retrieved from

http://journal.uny.ac.id/index.php/jep/article/viewFile/603/460

Wallace, M. J. (2001). Action research for language teachers. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Williams, M., & Burden, R. L. (2010). Psychology for language teachers: a social constructivist approach. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.