STUDENT WORK SHEET IN THE CLASSROOM (A Comparative Study between Male and Female Students at the Eight Grade of MTs Darul Hikmah Menganti Kedung Jepara in the Academic Year of 20112012)

  

THE STUDENTS’ SATURATION OF DOING ENGLISH

STUDENT WORK SHEET IN THE CLASSROOM

(A Comparative Study between Male and Female Students

at the Eight Grade of MTs Darul Hikmah Menganti Kedung Jepara

in the Academic Year of 2011/2012)

  THESIS Submitted in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirement for Gaining the Degree of Bachelor in English Language Education

  

By:

ZAHRI TAMAM

  Student’s Number: 073411035

  

EDUCATION FACULTY

WALISONGO STATE INSTITUTE FOR ISLAMIC STUDIES

SEMARANG

  

ABSTRACT

  Title :

  The Students’ Saturation of Doing English Student Work Sheet in the Classroom (A Comparative Study between Male and Female Students at the Eight Grade of MTs Darul Hikmah Menganti Kedung Jepara in the Academic Year of 2011/2012)

  Writer : Zahri Tamam Student Number : 073411035

  This study was conducted based on the reason that teaching English is interesting when the student work sheet (lembar kerja siswa / LKS) has been used in nearly the Junior High School nowadays. The existence of this phenomenon is commonly very helpful in one hand, either the teachers or the students to have same portion of material or exercise. On the other hand, the situation inside the class and students’ psychological condition are different when the teacher asks them to do the exercises of their student work sheet. Initially, the researcher suspects the students will feel saturated in learning (learning plateau) if they do the task of student work sheet in the class, but the result proves different.

  The writer chose the male and female students of Eight Grade of MTs Darul Hikmah Menganti Kedung Jepara because they are expected to recognize a problem deals with them, in this case is learning plateau. Hence, it is important to know whether the students can overcome their psychological problem, either

  th

  when in or out the classroom in the future. There are 96 students of 8 grade, divided to 3 classes, which 30 of them are taken as sample in this research.

  The Purpose of this research is to identify both male and fema le students’ saturation in learning and to compare between them in doing student work sheet in the classroom. Comparative study and quantitative approach was used here.

  The researcher gave two hypothesis; alternative ( ) and null ( ) hypothesis. The alternative hypothesis is: male and female students’ saturation is not

  

identical in doing English student work sheet in the classroom. Whereas, the null

  hypothesis is male and female students’ saturation is identical in doing English student work sheet in the classroom. After calculating the results, the researcher categorizes it in Rating scale.

  The result of this study showed that score of = 1,650 and = 1,70. The criteria is

  < , so is accepted and it means that male and female students’ saturation is identical in doing English student work sheet in the classroom. The result then will be categorized in Rating Scale, and from this technique it showed that their saturation in doing English student work sheet is 1163 and that is in “Low Saturation” category.

THESIS PROJECT STATEMENT

  I am the student with the following identity: Name : Zahri Tamam

  : 073411035 Student’s Number Department : English Language Education certify that this thesis is definitely my own work. I am completely responsible for the content of this thesis. Other writer’s opinions or finding included in the thesis are quoted or cited in accordance with ethical standards.

  th

  Semarang, 29 November 2011 The Writer,

  Zahri Tamam

  No. Student: 73411035

  

MOTTO

    

6. Verily, with the hardship, there is relief (i.e. there is one hardship with two reliefs, so one hardship cannot overcome two reliefs).

  ¹ Wasting Time jeopardises The Future

  This thesis is dedicated to:

  

DEDICATION

• My beloved father (Bapak) and mother (Bu’e), thank you very much for your prayer, love, affection, patience and guidance which always support me in all my steps.
• My beloved elderly sisters (Mbak Zunk and Mbak Lia)

  

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

  All thanks is only for the Almighty Allah SWT Who always blesses and gives his loves upon the researcher in his life and enables him to accomplish this thesis entitled

  THE STUDENTS’ SATURATION OF DOING ENGLISH STUDENT WORK SHEET IN THE CLASSROOM (A Comparative Study between Male and Female Students at the Eight Grade of MTs Darul Hikmah Menganti Kedung Jepara in the Academic Year of 2011/2012)

  The prayer and salaams are always for the Prophet Muhammad the most beloved Prophet of Allah who has brought us from the darkness into the lightness, from the stupidity into the knowledge era, his relatives and companions.

  In this occasion, the writer gives his great thanks to: 1. Dr. Suja’i, M.Ag., Dean of Tarbiyah Faculty for providing academicals facilities which supported the researcher in accomplishing this thesis.

  2. Mrs. Dra. Hj. Siti Mariam, M.Pd., and Mr. Ismail SM., M.Ag., as my advisors for providing their valuable guidance, whose encouraging, kindness, and valuable assistance enabled me to complete this research. He will never forget their kindness and patience.

  3. The chief of English department, Mrs. Siti Tarwiyah, M.Hum and all the English lecturers for providing academicals assistance, guidance and support.

  4. The headmaster, the teacher, the students, and other staffs of MTs Darul Hikmah Menganti, who help the writer to obtain the data needed in this research.

  5. My beloved father (Bapak) and mother (Bu’e), thank you very much for your prayer, love, affection, patience and guidance which always support me in all my steps.

  6. My beloved elderly sisters (Mbak Zunk and Mbak Lia) and my only elderly brother-in-law (Mas Krisna), Thanks always supporting protecting me all the time. May God always bless you all and your family.

  7. My niece (Sasa) and my nephew (Azka) who always color my family’s life

  8. The Big Family of BPI S.16: Pak Manshur & Bu Indra, “Rido-Rodi”, Paxyafi’i, El-Capitano, Rijaludin, Iqbal Hanav, Tomi Uwee, Udin, Mimin, Aziz, Wafar, and Ban-199 Unite

  d: Budi, Endy, Pi’i, Dek Azez and all members that I cannot mention one by one. Your joke will be always unforgettable.

  9. The Big Family of TBI 2007, Kopet Gang, Trio Warkop and all my friends there. We ever be in 1 class guys!

  10. The special websitewhich really helps the writer in getting some rare references.

  Finally, the researcher expects that this thesis may be helpful for all. Amin.

  Semarang, December 2011 The writer, Zahri Tamam

  TABLE OF CONTENT

  COVER......................................................................................................... i ADVISOR NOTE...........

  …………………………………………………... ii RATIFICATION.......................................................................................... iii ABSTRACT..

  …………………………………………………………….... iv THESIS PROJECT STATEMENT..

  ……………………………………..... v MOTTO…………………………………………………………………..... vi DE

  DICATION……………………………………………………………. vii ACKNOWLE

  DGEMENT……….……………………………………...... viii TABLE OF

  CONTENT…………………………………………………… x

  

Chapter I: Introduction.............................................................................. 1

A. Background of the Study................................................................... 1 B. Definition of Key Terms.................................................................... 3 C. Reason for Choosing the Topic.......................................................... 5 D. Research Questions............................................................................ 5 E. Objectives of Study ........................................................................... 6 F. Limitation of The Study..................................................................... 6 G. Pedagogical Significance of the study............................................... 6 Chapter II: Review of the Related Literature ( The Students’ Saturation

of Doing English Student Work Sheet in the Classroom) ……….......... 8

  A.

  Previous Researches.......................................................................... 8 B. Theoretical Review........................................................................... 9 1.

  Student and Adolescent............................................................... 9 a.

  The Definition of Student..................................................... 9 b.

  The Definition of Adolescent............................................... 10 c. Adolescent Growth.............................................................. 11

  2. Saturation in Learning.................................................................. 14 a.

  The Definition of Saturation in Learning.............................. 14 b.

  The History of Learning Plateau........................................... 15 c. The Distinction between Saturation in Learning and Learning

  Plateau................................................................................... 16 d. Factors Influencing Saturation in Learning........................... 16 3.

  Student Work Sheet..................................................................... 21 a.

  The Definition of Student Work Sheet.................................. 21 b.

  The Functions of Student Work Sheet................................... 21 c. The Weakness of Student Work Sheet................................... 22 d.

  The Weakness of English Student Work Sheet in Indonesia.. 24 4. Classroom Condition..................................................................... 26 a.

  The Definition of Classroom.................................................. 26 b.

  Classroom Environment......................................................... 26 c. Teacher Roles in the Classroom............................................. 27 C. Hypothesis........................................................................................ 28

  Chapter III: Research Method …………………………………….......... 29 A. Research Design................................................................................ 29 B. Research Setting................................................................................ 32 C. Population and Sample...................................................................... 34 D. Variable and Indicator........................................................................ 35 E. Data Collection Technique................................................................. 36 F. Data Analysis Technique................................................................... 37 Chapter IV: Findings and Discussion... ….............................………....... 40 A. Finding.............................................................................................. 40 B. Hypothesis Test................................................................................ 41 C. Discussion......................................................................................... 46 D. Limitation during the Research......................................................... 47

  

Chapter V: Closing....... ………………………………………………..... 49

A. Conclusion........................................................................................ 49 B. Suggestions....................................................................................... 50 BIBLIOGRAPHY APPENDICES CURRICULUM VITAE

  LIST OF TABLES

  Table 1 The score of male students’ saturation in learning, 40. Table 2 The score of female students’ saturation in learning, 41. Table 3 The score of male and female students’ saturation in learning, 41. Table 4 Whole scores of male and female students’ saturation, 44.

CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION A. Background of The Study Carrol in Ramelan says:

  “Language is an arbitrary system of speech sound which used or can be used in interpersonal communication by an aggregation of human beings and which rather exhaustively catalogues things, processes, and events in the

  1

  human environment.” The presence of language is one of the signs of Allah as a creator. As

  Allah stated in verse ar-Rum 22:

               

  And among his signs is the creation of the heavens and the earth, and the difference of Your languages and colours. Verily, in that are indeed signs

  2 for men of sound knowledge.

  As a means of communication, language allows human being to say thing to each other. By language people can express their ideas, feeling, and desires whether in speaking or writing, in formal or informal situation.

  Language is the most fundamental means of communication. It is used and needed every day. Language can express everything in people mind by using it. Language follows every human works and activities. If people live in society without knowing their language, a lot of difficulties in communication may appear because of dissimilarity of aspect of culture and behavior. Language is considered a social phenomenon because all human beings communicate with their respective speech communities using the language they speak. Through language, day-to-day ₁ Ramelan, Introduction to Linguistic Analysis, (Semarang: IKIP Semarang Press, 1992), p.10. interactions are possible, and with the help of language interpersonal relations are possible as well. After all, language shapes the society and culture.

  Recently, modern people does not only learn a language; their mother tongue. In order to socialize in the society they have to learn another language whether as second or foreign language. Language as a tool for interaction becomes the key point while people want to get wider community/ society. With language, they can socialize with others even they come from different region or country.

  English is a tool used to communicate with other people who do not speak the same language, and obviously the spread of English is continuing. Nowadays, in a great number of countries people are keen to learn English because they realize the importance of English. They not only just regard English as a language which can be used in commerce, science, medical and technology, but also a language which could also be used for international communication. Moreover, it is crucial to use English to do trading with other people who cannot speak the same language. English has become a universal language, and people know its functions and the necessity to learn it. The students should learn English as well as possible in order to take the superiority and to stand confidently in the world stage.

  English is the International Language in the world and people cannot let their next generations leave behind in International competitions just because they are not capable in using English in conversation. Nowadays parents are already aware of that and they use English to their daily conversation with their kids so they are naturally in English conversation. Today and future, the skill in English language is the most important for the future life, because of many science and knowledge which use it. Everyone can get much information from the strange literature through the English translation ability. Nowadays, many products of technology use English language. For example, the man can operate the computer easily when they have skills in English language.

  In Indonesia, the government emerges the program to introduce English education; as compulsory or additional subject. Teaching English itself is attrac tive when the Student’s Work Sheet (lembar kerja siswa / LKS) has been released and be used in nearly the Junior High School nowadays. Students Work

  Sheet is a book that contains a compilation of questions and exercises related to

  3

  the subject at school. The existence of this phenomenon is commonly very helpful in one hand, either the teachers or the students to have same portion of material or exercise. On the other hand, the situation of students’ psychological condition is different when the teacher asks them to do the exercises of their Students Work Sheet.

  Learning plateau or in Indonesia identically called saturation in learning is famous thing for all kind of students, including for middle schooler. Unfortunately, this phenomenon is not widely investigated by Indonesian researchers. Many investigated about motivation. Though motivation is part of learning plateau, the researcher wants to reveal that saturation in learning is really undergone by many students in Indonesia by knowing them whether their motivation is enough or not.

  In this research, the researcher tries to investigate the students’ saturation and conducts a research entitled

  The Students’ Saturation of Doing English Student Work Sheet in the Classroom (A Comparative Study between Male and

  Female Students at the Eight Grade of MTs Darul Hikmah Menganti Kedung Jepara in the Academic Year of 2011/2012). Through this research, the researcher tries to find out the existence of saturation among the students.

B. Definition of Key Terms a. Student

  Student is a person engaged in study; one who is devoted to learn

  

4

  especially one who attends a school. In this research, the researcher deals with ₃ LKS Lembar Kerja Siswa Memasung Kreatifitas Guru dan Siswa,

  (Retrieved on 13 June 2011) the students of MTs Darul Hikmah Menganti Kedung Jepara that are categorized as adolescence. Adolescence is associated with numerous social,

  5

  cognitive, and biological changes. There seems to be a qualitative shift in the nature of thinking such that adolescents are more self-aware and self-reflective

  6 than pre-pubescent children.

b. Saturation Saturation literally means solid or complete so it cannot load any more.

7 It means tired or bored as well. In term of psychology, saturation in learning is

  8

  commonly called learning plateau or plateau only. Plateau is a period of little or no gain in learning. This is like a flat portion on a hill where one walks but

  9

  does not climb. The distinction between them will be clearly explained later in this thesis.

c. Student Work Sheet

  One of learning media is student work sheet, in Indonesia commonly called lembar kerja siswa / LKS. Student work sheet is a book that contains a

  10

  compilation of questions and exercises related to the subject at school. It is usually formed from material summary and multiple choice questions. This is one of learning media which most of schools in Indonesia use it.

  In Indonesian, student work sheet is used as the second material in teaching and learning process besides textbook. A student work sheet is to help the teacher explained the lesson in simple way and makes his or her students easier in understanding the lesson given. ₅ K.S. Douglas Low

  , et.al., “The Stability of Vocational Interests From Early Adolescence

to Middle Adulthood: A Quantitative Review of Longitudinal Studies ”, Psychological Bulletin,

(vol.131, no.5, 2005), p.717 ₆ Sarah-Jayne Blakemore & Suparna Choudury, “Development of the Adolescent Brain:

  Implications for Executive Function and Social Cognition”, Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry , (vol.47, no.3, 2006), p.296 ₇ Muhibbin Syah, Psikologi Pendidikan dengan Pendekatan Baru, (Bandung: PT Remaja

  Rosdakarya, 2010), p.162 _{8 9} Muhibbin Syah, Psikologi Pendidikan dengan Pendekatan Baru, p.162 Bangalore Kuppuswamy, Advanced Educational Psychology, (New Delhi: Sterling Publishers, 2008), p.120 ₁₀ LKS Lembar Kerja Siswa Memasung Kreatifitas Guru dan Siswa,

d. Classroom

  A part of school is classroom. Classroom is a room in a school or college where groups of students are taught.

  11 The physical arrangement of

  your classroom can influence the students’ behavior and learning. The classroom attempts to provide a safe space where learning can take place uninterrupted by other distractions. The furniture of the classroom consists of desks and seats either for the students or the teacher, class cupboard, blackboard and other appropriate classroom accessories. Learning process is dominantly conducted in classroom than outside of classroom.

C. Reason of Choosing The Topi c

  A numbers of considerations are proposed to show the important of conduction this study as follows:

1. The eight grader students are attractive, especially their psychological aspect.

  In learning English, they habitually face some problems in the classroom.

  2. The student work sheet is very helpful, but it is still blurred whether they are really helped or not, whereas its appearance is not occasionally interesting enough.

  The writer chooses the students of Eight Grade of MTs Darul Hikmah Menganti Kedung Jepara as the subject of the research because they are expected to recognize a problem deals with them, in this case is learning plateau. Hence, it is important to know whether the students can overcome their psychological problem, either when in or out the classroom. The writer hopes the result of the research will be useful; not only for the students of Eight Grade of MTs Darul Hikmah Menganti Kedung Jepara, but also for the lecturers and the other students who are learning English.

D. Research Questions

  Based on the explanation above, the research question will be about: 1. How is the male students’ saturation of doing student work sheet at Eight

  Grade of MTs Darul Hikmah Menganti Kedung Jepara? 2. How is the female students’ saturation of doing student work sheet at Eight

  Grade of MTs Darul Hikmah Menganti Kedung Jepara? 3. How is the comparison between male and female students’ saturation of doing student work sheet at Eight Grade of MTs Darul Hikmah Menganti Kedung

  Jepara? E.

   Objectives of Study

  In line with research question, this study has purposes as follow: 1. To identify the male students’ saturation of doing student work sheet at Eight Grade of MTs Darul Hikmah Menganti Kedung Jepara.

  2. To identify the female students’ saturation of doing student work sheet at Eight Grade of MTs Darul Hikmah Menganti Kedung Jepara.

  3. To compare between male and female students’ saturation of doing student work sheet at Eight Grade of MTs Darul Hikmah Menganti Kedung Jepara.

  F. Limitation of the Study

  In order to make the scope of the research not too wide and controllable, researcher necessary gives limitation to the study. In composing the study, the researcher will limit the study to the male and female students’ saturation of doing English student work sheet in the classroom. So, the writer compares their saturation in learning (learning plateau) between male and female students.

  G. Pedagogical Significance

  Because this research is another issue in Teaching English as a Foreign Language (TEFL), its results are theoretically and pedagogically important for researcher, students/readers, lecturers, policy maker in the institution and for the other researchers.

  This research will give reference for lecturers that deals with the students’ ability toward the subject and their psychological condition. It will be useful as a reference, self-reflection and evaluation to improve their teaching after knowing the problems that faced by the students.

  For the students/ readers especially at MTs Darul Hikmah Menganti Kedung Jepara, the analysis of students’ saturation can be used as a reference for them so that they can understand how to overcome their difficulties in learning.

  For the policy makers in the school, the analysis of students’ saturation in this research is significant to decide the material, student work sheet, textbooks or handbook chosen and teaching style.

  Finally, it is hoped that this thesis will help other researchers to do some related researches in deeper, further and better techniques.

CHAPTER II REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE The Students’ Saturation of Doing English Student Work Sheet in the Classroom This chapter presents review of related literature which discusses the ideas

  and theories underlying the subject matter of the study as follow: A.

   Previous Researches Not many researchers conducted in students‟ saturation in the classroom.

  The first research that related closely to the study is the research done by Qing Xu in Asian Social Science, Vol.5, no.2, 2009. The research entitled "Moving beyond the Intermediate EFL Learning Plateau” shows that plateau phase is an unavoidable stage which may happen constantly during the process of English language learning. The study is aimed to teachers that should help the students to understand that in the intermediate phase, they are deepening their knowledge and

  1 gaining confidence.

  The second research is “Classroom Discourse and Student Learning“, by Yani Zhang in Asian Social Science, Vol.4, no.9, 2008. This research asserts that student learning is closely linked to the quality of classroom talk. As teachers, they should attach more importance to spoken discourse during classroom interaction. Oral tasks should be given greater prominence than it is in the traditional ratio of spoken and written tasks. In order to achieve this, teachers

  2 ought to improve self-teaching skills.

  Another previous research was conducted by Hanson Paul LeBlanc III. The title of the thesis is,

  “Students Perceptions of Rules for Classroom Interaction

  ”, (The Department of Speech Communication of Louisiana State University and Agricultural and Mechanical College). In this study, the perception of high school students regarding the rules for classroom interaction is measured. ₁ Qing Xu, “Moving Beyond the Intermediate EFL Learning Plateau”, Asian Social

  Science , (vol.5, no.2, 2009)

  The study found that Black students have more positive attitudes regarding the importance of distraction, laziness, and respectfulness rules than non-Black

  3 students.

  The last previous research; “Students Motivation in Learning English” (a

  th th

  Comparative Study between 10 and 12 Grade Students at SMA N 1 Bobotsari Purbalingga in Academic year 2009/2010)”, was conducted by Titi Rokhmah (Tarbiyah Faculty of ELT Department at IAIN Walisongo Semarang). The study

  th th

  reveals that there was distinction between 10 and 12 grade students motivation

  th

  in learning English. The 10 grade students‟ motivation was in quite category,

  th

  while the 12 grade reached high category in that research. Alternative hypothesis

  th th

  which said that there is significant difference between 10 and 12 students‟

  4

  motivation in learning English is accepted. Although the research above is not identical with this research, the researcher still discovers some similarities; psychological aspect and research method.

B. Theoretical Review 1. Student and Adolescent a. The Definition of Student

  It is clear that MTs Darul Hikmah Menganti Kedung Jepara one of middle schools. In Indonesia, middle school is known as Sekolah Menengah Pertama (commonly shortened as SMP), which includes grade

  5

  7 through 9. A school where many adolescents attend the class there based on their level (class).

  The middle schoolers commonly attain the age of 13-15 years old. ₃ In Indonesia, every citizen who attains the age of 7-15 years old must join

  Hanson Paul LeBlanc III, “Students Perceptions of Rules for Classroom Interaction”, Thesis (Louisiana: The Department of Speech Communication of Louisiana State University and

  Agricultural and Mechanical College, 1992), unpublished thesis. ₄ Titi Rokhmah (Student Number: 3105431), “Students Motivation in Learning English”, Thesis (Semarang: Tarbiyah Faculty of ELT Department at IAIN Walisongo Semarang, 2009), unpublished thesis.

  the basic educations, they are elementary school for 6 years and junior

  6 high school for 3 years.

  Some defined student differently. The following are definitions of student: According to

  Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary student is a

  7 boy or girl at school.

  Cambridge Advanced Learner’s Dictionary 3th Edition (computer

  dictionary) gives more familiar definition of student; it is a person who is learning at a college or university, or sometimes at a

  8 school.

  Abdul Mujib and Jusuf Mudzakkir defined student as individual immature, they need another person to make them mature

  9 therefore.

  Those definitions of student have the same essence that student is involved in educational area that can grow up psychologically and intelligently.

b. The Definition of Adolescent

  To define adolescent is not easy, it depends on the culture that has its own certain criteria of naming adolescent. Adolescent has its period that called adolescence. It is a time of significant physical, social, and emotional changes, accompanied by changes in cognitive and language

  10

  skills. Adolescence is a developmental period that is generally begun in

  11 ₆ approximately 13 years old.

  Sekolah Menengah Pertama, (Retrieved on 12 June 2011) _{7 8 rd} Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary, (USA: Oxford University Press, 2000), p.1187 Cambridge Advanced Learners’ Dictionary 3 Edition – Computer Dictionary; Version

  3.0, (Cambridge University Press, 2008) ₉ Abdul Mujib and Jusuf Mudzakkir, Ilmu Pendidikan Islam, (Jakarta: Kencana, 2006), p.103 ₁₀ Angela Hein Ciccia, et.al., “Adolescent Brain and Cognitive Developments;

Implications for Clinical Assessment in Traumatic Brain Injury”, Top Lang Disorders, (vol.29,

no.3, 2009), p.249

  Middle schoolers are often in a state of confusion, as they want to act like adults, but still feel like children; they also begin to feel the pressures of complicated social interactions, especially with the beginning

  

12

of male and female relationships.

  Westerners mention adolescent with the term “puberty”, on the other hand Americans call it as “adolescent”. Both of them are transition from childhood to adult. While the term “akil balig”, “pubertas” are still used by many people in this country to call an adolescent, and the common

  13 predicate is “remaja”.

  From the definition above, we can conclude that adolescents have their own period, adolescence. It is a period that shows their development continuously by dealing with physical, social, and emotional changes. The relationship between student and adolescent as mentioned above, students of junior high school or sometimes middle schoolers who attain the age of 13-15 years old are belonging to adolescent.

c. Adolescent Growth Adolescence represents a period of significant growth.

  Individually, adolescents experience rapid physical growth and changes, accompanied by shifts in cognitive and emotional capacities. At the same time, the development from childhood into young adulthood brings new cultural and social opportunities and expectations. 1)

  Physical Growth and Change The biological changes of adolescence include hormonal changes leading to growth of secondary sex characteristics, growth in height and weight, and changes in body composition (changes in bone, muscle, and

12 Psychology of Middle Schoolers , http://math-and-reading-help-for-

  (Retrieved on 16 December 2010) fat). The onset of puberty, as marked by hormone changes, starts as

  14 early as age 8 in girls and age 9 in boys.

  2) Cognitive Growth and Change

  Adolescents become more aware of their surroundings and be able to direct their own thinking, learning, and problem solving. Kohlberg theorizes that the capacity to morally reason grows more complex and differentiated over time. Kohlberg argues that in general, data suggest that early adolescents typically reason according to his stage two individualism, instrumental purpose, and exchange, but by about age 13, reasoning progresses to include mutual understandings. Thus, for a 12-year- old, being „„good‟‟ is about following the rules for one‟s own good, whereas in stage three, the capacity to understand another person‟s experiences broadens notions of morality to include a concern for others and the nature of varying circumstances. In short, one‟s frame of reference moves from childhood moral reasoning that is based on per sonal perspectives or „„what is right is what is good for me‟‟ to adolescent moral reasoning that is based in greater appreciation for others‟ perspectives and experiences or „„what is right is for one may

  15

  not be right for another.‟‟ 3)

  Social and Emotional Changes Nakkula & Toshalis in Psychology of Classroom Learning: an

  Encyclopedia states that Adolescents yearn to be themselves both in

  relation and reaction to others, and they need relationships in which experiments with identity will be embraced. The struggle to find a balance between individuation and connection drives identity

  16 ₁₄ experimentation and the fleeting passions that often accompany it.

  Eric M. Anderman, & Lynley H. Anderman, Psychology of Classroom Learning : An Encyclopedia , (Farmington Hills: Macmillan Reference USA, 2009), p.20 ₁₅ Eric M. Anderman, & Lynley H. Anderman, Psychology of Classroom Learning: An Encyclopedia, p.21

  This period is very crucial where adolescences find and undergo new things in their life, not only in physical aspect, but also psychological and social aspect. With this alteration, they want to be noticed their existence despite they are not adults yet.

d. Adolescent in Indonesian Context

  To define adolescent for Indonesian people is same as difficult as to define it in general. The question is because Indonesians consist of various tribes, traditions and social-economic grade along with educational. It can be concluded that there is no same profile of Indonesian

  17 adolescent that is in force nationally.

  Nevertheless, as a reference manual we can use age limitation of 11-24 years old and not getting married yet for Indonesian adolescent with

  18

  the considerations as follow: a.

  11 years old is a time when signs of sexual secondary begin to appear (physical criteria).

  b.

  Either in tradition or in religion, that age is considered as “akil balig” for many Indonesian people, hence they do not consider it as children (social criteria).

  c.

  At that age, perfecting signs of mind developmental begin to exist (psychological criteria).

  d.

  24 years old is maximum age limitation to be independent toward parents. If persons who attain that age do not meet yet the maturity of social and psychological aspect, they are still adolescents.

  e.

  From the explanations above, marriage is crucial. Because the essence of marriage to judge persons as mature although at any age.

  Indonesia has so many cultures and tradition in each region that influenced in defining things, including adolescents, especially dealing with their age.

2. Saturation in Learning a. The Definition of Saturation in Learning

  19

  is referring Basically the word saturation that means “kejenuhan” to Indonesian context. Saturation literally means solid or complete so it cannot load any more. It means tired or bored as well. Saturation in

  20 learning is commonly called learning plateau or plateau only.

  Meanwhile, plateau of learning is a terminology of educational

  21 psychology.

  The “plateau learning theory” was introduced to the

  22 educational arena in the late 1970s.

  The definitions of plateau of learning are many. The following are definitions of plateau of learning: According to The Penguin Dictionary of Psychology, plateau is a period of time during the learning of response when no

  

23

improvement is detected.

  Based on Cambridge

  Advanced Learner’s Dictionary 3th Edition

  (computer dictionary), plateau is a period during there are no large

  24 changes.

  Collins, et.al, in Qing Xu defines plateau as a phenomenon that in the process of learning a new skill, the learner, in spite of efforts

  25 and practice, makes no perceptible progress.

  Saturation in learning or plateau is difficult time for the students as English learners. Some may feel they have arrived at a plateau and making ₁₉ further progress seems elusive, despite the amount of time and effort they

  John M. Echols and Hassan Shadily, Kamus Inggris-Indonesia, (Jakarta: PT Gramedia, 2006), p.501 _{20 21} Muhibbin Syah, Psikologi Pendidikan dengan Pendekatan Baru, p.162 Qing Xu, “Moving Beyond the Intermediate EFL Learning Plateau”, Asian Social Science , p.66 ₂₂ Catherine P. Puttre, “Does the Degree of Implementation of the Components of the Middle School Design Relate to High-

  Stakes Assessment Scores in Grade 8 Reading and Math?”,

Dissertation (Blacksburg: Educational Leadership and Policy Studies Faculty of the Virginia

Polytechnic Institute and State University, 2007), p.3 ₂₃ Arthur S. Reber and Emily S. Reber, The Penguin Dictionary of Psychology, (London: Penguin Books, 2001), p.542 _{24 rd}

  Cambridge Advanced Learners’ Dictionary 3 Edition – Computer Dictionary; Version

  26

  devote to it. It can be a very frustrating experience for the students and unfortunately a lot of them give up learning and move on to something else.

b. The History of Learning Plateau

27 Fossilisation as a phenomenon related to SLA process, first

  discussed by Selinker (1972), is widely accepted as a key attribute to adult SLA. In fact, the term “fossilisation” has been borrowed from the field of paleontology as a metaphor used in SLA studies being an appropriate term

  28

  (IL) of a describing earlier language forms “encased” in interlanguage learner that cannot be changed by special attention or practice of the L2

  29

  being learned. Compared to fossilization, learning plateau is also another phenomenon which differs from the former in that it is temporary and can be overcome by learners provided that they get subjected to certain

  30 pedagogical techniques and effective learning strategies.

  He has defined „fossilisation‟ under the term “fossilize” as “of a linguistic form, feature, rule, etc to become permanently established in the interlanguage of a second

• –language learner in a form that is deviant from the target language norm and that continues to appear in performance

  31

  regardless of further exposure to the target language.” However, recently, it has been looked at the stopping-short ₂₆ characteristic of SLA as plateau effect (Richards, 2008). He has defined

  Jack C. Richard, Moving Beyond the Plateau, (New York: Cambridge University Press, 2008), p.1 ₂₇ Selinker proposed that : “Fossilization is the phenomenon that linguistic items, rules,

and subsystems of speakers of a particular native language tend to persist in their interlanguage

relative to a particular target language. (Moving Beyond the Intermediate EFL Learning Plateau,

p.66) ₂₈ It is a linguistic system between the native language and the target language, used by

foreign language learners. (Probe into the Internal Mechanism of Interlanguage Fossilization, p.75)

₂₉ Mohammed Q. Al-Shormani, Fossilisation and Plateau Effect in Second Language