Students` responses to the use of chants to learn English at the fourth grade level in SD Kanisius Demangan Baru Yogyakarta.

PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI

STUDENTS’ RESPONSES TO THE USE OF CHANTS
TO LEARN ENGLISH AT THE FOURTH GRADE LEVEL
IN SD KANISIUS DEMANGAN BARU YOGYAKARTA

A SARJANA PENDIDIKAN THESIS
Presented as Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements
to Obtain the Sarjana Pendidikan Degree
in English Language Education

By
Banu Pratistha
Student Number: 071214098

ENGLISH LANGUAGE EDUCATION STUDY PROGRAM
DEPARTMENT OF LANGUAGE AND ARTS EDUCATION
FACULTY OF TEACHERS TRAINING AND EDUCATION
SANATA DHARMA UNIVERSITY
YOGYAKARTA
2012

PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI

STUDENTS’ RESPONSES TO THE USE OF CHANTS
TO LEARN ENGLISH AT THE FOURTH GRADE LEVEL
IN SD KANISIUS DEMANGAN BARU YOGYAKARTA

A SARJANA PENDIDIKAN THESIS
Presented as Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements
to Obtain the Sarjana Pendidikan Degree
in English Language Education

By
Banu Pratistha
Student Number: 071214098

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

YOGYAKARTA
2012

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When you walk through a storm
Hold your head up high
And don't be afraid of the dark
At the end of the storm
There's a golden sky

And the sweet silver
Song of a lark
Walk on through the wind
Walk on through the rain
Though your dreams
Be tossed and blown
Walk on…
Walk on…
With hope in your hearts
And you'll never walk alone
You'll never walk alone

I dedicate this thesis to
Jesus Christ My Lord
My beloved Bapak and Simak
My beloved Andhika “Wengky” Priyatama
My beloved Lucyana “Momon” Wirati
And all people around me

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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, 17 July 2012

Banu Pratistha

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LEMBAR PERNYATAAN PERSETUJUAN
PUBLIKASI KARYA ILMIAH UNTUK KEPENTINGAN AKADEMIS

Yang bertandatangan di bawah ini, saya mahasiswa Universitas Sanata Dharma:

Nama
Nomor Mahasiswa

: Banu Pratistha
: 071214098

Demi pengembangan ilmu pengetahuan, saya memberikan kepada Perpustakaan
Universitas Sanata Dharma karya ilmiah saya yang berjudul:
STUDENTS’ RESPONSES TO THE USE OF CHANTS
TO LEARN ENGLISH AT THE FOURTH GRADE LEVEL
IN SD KANISIUS DEMANGAN BARU YOGYAKARTA
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 atau
memberikan royalti kepada saya selama tetap mencantumkan nama saya selaku
penulis.
Demikian pernyataan ini saya buat dengan sebenarnya.
Dibuat di Yogyakarta

Pada tanggal: 17 Juli 2012
Yang menyatakan

(Banu Pratistha)

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ABSTRACT
Pratistha, Banu. (2012). Students’ Responses to the Use of Chants to Learn
English at the Fourth Grade Level in SD Kanisius Demangan Baru Yogyakarta.
Yogyakarta: English Education Study Program, Sanata Dharma University.
English is a language that has become important to learn for young
learners in recent years. Elementary school students now must face the reality that
English is a local subject of elementary school levels. Therefore, elementary
school teachers must provide good teaching-learning methods because young
learners have unique characteristics that teachers need to consider. One of the
methods that the writer suggests to apply is using chants. In order to present the
use of chants in elementary school level, the writer conducted a research of the

students’ responses to the use of chants to learn English at the fourth grade level
in SD Kanisius Demangan Baru Yogyakarta.
The research discussed two problems, which were (1) How does the
teacher implement chants to teach English to the fourth grade of elementary
school students? (2) How is the response of the students while having an English
class with chants?
In this research, the writer employed four research instruments, which
were observation checklists, field notes, questionnaire, and interview. All the
instruments were used to answer the research questions. The result of the data
analysis on the first problem reveals that the teacher applied the predetermined
steps of teaching chants to the students. The teaching-learning process was
successfully done and the students actively participated on it. The result of the
second research problem was positive. The students responded in a positive
manner and they enjoyed the teaching-learning process. They enthusiastically did
any activity related to the chant taught by the teacher. Moreover, they also learned
to create their own chants.
Related to the findings of this research, there are some suggestions for the
teachers or the candidates and future researchers. For the teachers or the
candidates, they should consider giving chant to their students, especially at
elementary school level because it includes speech stress and rhythm. The activity

will be fun and enjoyable for the students and it can motivate them motivation to
learn English. For the future researchers, they can expand the objects of the
research. They can also conduct a research at the other school and then compare
the result with this research.
Key words: responses, chants, young learners

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ABSTRAK
Pratistha, Banu. (2012). Students’ Responses to the Use of Chants to Learn
English at the Fourth Grade Level in SD Kanisius Demangan Baru Yogyakarta.
Yogyakarta: Program Studi Bahasa Inggris, Universitas Sanata Dharma.
Bahasa Inggris merupakan suatu bahasa yang penting untuk dipelajari bagi
pembelajar muda pada tahun-tahun belakangan ini. Siswa-siswa sekolah dasar
saat ini harus menghadapi kenyataan bahwa Bahasa Inggris adalah salah satu mata
pelajaran wajib di level sekolah dasar. Oleh karena itu, para guru bahasa Inggris
harus menyajikan metode belajar-mengajar yang baik karena para pembelajar
muda memiliki karakteristik yang unik yang harus dipertimbangkan oleh para

guru. Salah satu metode yang disarankan penulis sarankan untuk diaplikasikan
adalah dengan menggunakan chants. Untuk menyajikan efek dari penggunaan
chants di level sekolah dasar, penulis melakukan penelitian tentang respon para
siswa terhadap penggunaan chants untuk belajar bahasa Inggris di kelas empat SD
Kanisius Demangan Baru Yogyakarta.
Penelitian ini membahas dua masalah, yaitu (1) Bagaimana cara guru
mengimplementasikan chants untuk mengajar bahasa Inggris kepada siswa-siswa
SD kelas empat? (2) Bagaimana respon siswa saat mereka belajar bahasa Inggris
dengan chants?
Pada penelitian ini, penulis menggunakan empat macam instrumen
penelitian, yaitu lembar observasi, catatan penelitian, kuesioner, dan wawancara.
Semua instrumen tersebut digunakan untuk menjawab pertanyaan penelitian.
Hasil dari analisis data pada masalah pertama mengungkap bahwa guru telah
mengaplikasikan langkah-langkah mengajar chants yang telah ditentukan pada
para siswa. Proses belajar-mengajar berlangsung dengan lancar dan para siswa
berpartisipasi dengan aktif di dalamnya. Hasil dari analisis data pada masalah
kedua menunjukkan bahwa para siswa merespon dengan baik pengajaran tersebut
dan mereka menikmati proses belajar-mengajarnya. Mereka secara antusias
melakukan setiap aktivitas tentang chant yang diajarkan oleh gurunya. Lebih lagi,
mereka juga belajar membuat chant versi mereka sendiri.

Sehubungan dengan hasil penelitian tersebut, ada beberapa saran untuk
para guru atau calon guru dan peneliti berikutnya. Untuk para guru atau calon
guru, mereka harus mempertimbangkan untuk memberi chant kepada siswanya,
terutama siswa di level sekolah dasar karena chant berisi penekanan dan ritme
kata. Aktivitasnya akan menyenangkan dan bisa dinikmati dan ini juga dapat
memotivasi mereka untuk belajar bahasa Inggris. Untuk peneliti berikutnya,
mereka dapat memperluas obyek penelitian. Mereka juga dapat melakukan
penelitian di sekolah lain dan selanjutnya membandingkan hasilnya dengan
penelitian ini.
Kata kunci: respon, chant, pembelajar muda

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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

My greatest gratitude is for Jesus Christ My Lord for giving me this
beautiful life. His never ending love and guidance are always the biggest part of
my success. Nothing compares to the promise I have in Him.

I would like to express my sincere thankfulness to Ibu Veronica
Triprihatmini, S. Pd., M. Hum., M. A. for her guidance, time, suggestions, and
patience in helping me to finish my thesis. I would like to apologize for all
mistakes I have made during the thesis writing process.
I also give my gratitude to the Head of English Education Study Program,
Ibu Caecilia Tutyandari, S. Pd., M. Pd. for her guidance and care during my
study in Sanata Dharma University. I thank also all the lecturers and staff of
English Education Study Program, Sanata Dharma University.
My gratitude also goes to Ibu Josephine Pudji Lestari, S. Pd. for her
guidance and suggestions. I chose this research topic because of her English for
Young Learner (EYL) class. She helped me to find the sources related to this
research topic. I thank Ibu L. Rina Trikurniawati, S. Pd., the English teacher of
SD Kanisius Demangan Baru Yogyakarta, for helping and allowing me to conduct
my research in her class. I give my deepest appreciation also for the wonderful
students of SD Kanisius Demangan Baru. They were very cooperative during
my research.

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My special gratitude goes to my fabulous family: my father, Bapak
Widodo Praptokoesoemo, my mother, Ibu Ery Septiana, and my brother
Andhika Priyatama. I thank them for the endless love and support.
I also give my deepest gratitude for my beloved Lucyana Wirati. I thank
God for her presence in my life. She has become my major spirit to finish this
thesis as soon as possible. I love to live my life with her.
I thank my best friend in PBI, Antonius Yosa “Asoy” Prabawa for his
support and prayers. My gratitude also goes to all PBI students, especially
2007ers. I would also like to thank all my seniors and juniors in PBI.
I would also like to thank Mbak Dhyana Paramita, for the suggestions
and inspirations. I thank Alfons and Agung for their guidance. I thank also all
“Borrowed Beauty” crews, Trah Siesen Insadha Sanata Dharma, Kelompok
5 KKN Kepuh USD Angkatan XLII, GKI Ngupasan Music Team (Sugeng,
Megya, Bayu, Fajar), and SMADA Yogya 2007 Family.
The last but not least, I would send my deep gratitude to all my family
members of Eyang Praptokoesoemo and Eyang Agus Sugimin. I love them all
and I thank them for their prayers and support.

Banu Pratistha

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TABLE OF CONTENTS
Page
TITLE PAGE …………………………………………………………….......

i

APPROVAL PAGES ………………………………………………………...

ii

DEDICATION PAGE………………………………………………………..

iv

STATEMENT OF WORK’S ORIGINALITY ………………………………

v

LEMBAR PERNYATAAN PERSETUJUAN PUBLIKASI KARYA ILMIAH
UNTUK KEPENTINGAN AKADEMIS.........................................................

vi

ABSTRACT……………………………………….........................................

vii

ABSTRAK ……………………………………………………………………. viii
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ………………………………………………….

ix

TABLE OF CONTENTS ……………………………………………………

xii

LIST OF TABLES …………………………………………………………... xiv
LIST OF APPENDICES.................................................................................

xv

CHAPTER I. INTRODUCTION
A. Research Background …………………………………………… 1
B. Research Problem........................................................................... 4
C. Problem Limitation ……………………………………………... 4
D. Research Objectives …………………………………………….. 5
E. Research Benefits ……………………………………………….. 5
F. Definition of Terms ……………………………………………... 7
CHAPTER II. REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE
A. Theoretical Description ……………………………………........

10

1. Theoretical Review on Chant............................................

10

a. Definition of Chant......................................................

10

b. Values of Chant............................................................

11

c. Steps of Teaching Chant...............................................

12

Theoretical Review on Response........................................

13

2.

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3.

Theoretical Review on Young Leaners..................................

4.

Theoretical Review on Teaching and Learning Vocabulary..... 19

B. Review of Related Studies.........................................................

16
19

C. Theoretical Framework …………………………………………... 20
CHAPTER III. RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
A. Research Method ………………………………………................ 22
B. Research Setting ………………………………………………...... 23
C. Research Participants................................................................

23

D. Research Instruments and Data Gathering Technique..................... 24
1. Research Instruments................................................................. 24
a. Observation Checklist............................................................ 24
b. Field Notes.............................................................................. 24
c. Questionnaire....................................................................... 25
d. Interview.......................................................................

25

2. Data Gathering Technique.......................................................... 26
E. Data Analysis Technique................................................................... 26
F. Research Procedure........................................................................... 28
CHAPTER IV. RESEARCH RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
A. The Teacher’s Implementation of Chants to Teach English............ 29
1.

Based on the Observation Sheet and Class Note Taking........... 29

2.

Based on the Interview........................................................

32

B. Students’ Responses of Chants in the English Class....................... 33
1. Based on the Questionnaire..................................................

33

2. Based on the Observation Sheet............................................

35

3. Based on the Interview........................................................

37

4. Based on the Class Note Taking............................................

39

CHAPTER V. CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS
A. Conclusions....................................................................................... 40

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B. Recommendations.............................................................................. 41
REFERENCES ……………………………………………………………….... 43
APPENDICES..................................................................................................

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LIST OF TABLES

Table

Page

4.1. The Results of Questionnaires for Fourth Graders of
SD Kanisius Demangan Baru...................................................................... 33

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LIST OF APPENDICES

Page
Appendix A : Surat Ijin Penelitian.................................................................. 45
Appendix B

: Surat Keterangan Penelitian...................................................... 46

Appendix C

: Interview Checklist............................................................

47

Appendix D : The Result of Observation Checklist......................................... 48
Appendix E

: Field Notes........................................................................

Appendix F

: The Questionnaire for Fourth Graders
in SD Kanisius Demangan Baru..........................................

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CHAPTER I
INTRODUCTION

In this chapter, the writer would like to discuss six parts of the thesis:
research background, problem formulation, problem limitation, research
objectives, research benefits, and the definition of terms used in this study.

A. Research Background
English is a language that has been used for many decades internationally.
It is not only the matter of communication, but English has become a lifestyle for
most people. Many countries, which their first language is not English, try to add
English to be their second language. And in Indonesia, formal education has been
the major factor to make Indonesians know about English. Teaching a foreign
language or a second language is important when learners are still young for they
learn a new language much easier than adults do in the critical period. It is also
important to consider that giving a lesson of English as early as possible in order
to make students have a good basic of English.
English is taught as one of the elementary school subjects in Indonesia.
Therefore, some teaching strategies are needed in order to convey any information
of this language clearly from the teacher to the learners, especially in elementary
school. Young learners are very critical to something new, and if they get a good
impression in the beginning of the lesson, the teaching learning process will be
successful. Learning English vocabularies will be the most important thing for
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2

young learners to get. McKeown and Mary (1987:47) claimed that “vocabulary is
important to learn because students need to learn more words meanings and learn
more about the words meaning that they already know in order to become better
comprehenders.” Good interaction and approach between teacher and students are
highly needed. That is why, using chants to teach English is recommended to use
in the class of elementary school. In this research, the writer will focus on the
fourth graders of elementary school and try to get the result of how they respond
the use of chants to learn English.
The writer chooses this topic after having some lessons in the EYL
(English for Young Learners) class about teaching young learners a foreign
language. In the lessons, it is explained how to teach and to give good teaching
approach to young learners. Teachers need to be more sensitive in the young
learner classes. Many methods are available to use by English teachers. One of
those methods which interests the writer is using chants to teach young learners.
Chant is a short, simple series of syllables or words that sung on or intoned to the
same note or a limited range of notes (“The Free Dictionary”, 2009). Sometimes,
it is followed with some movements based on the type of the chants used. The
writer feels that by using this method students are easier to catch the meaning of
words or new vocabularies. They will unconsciously learn new words by singing
them in a song. It is fun and educating. A well-known type of chant is jazz chant.
In this method, students not only learn about new words or vocabulary, but they
also learn the stress and rhythm of each sound of words.

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Repetition is something that young learners like in order not to forget the
lesson in the class. Cole (1956: 292) states
“Constant repetition and drill are necessary for the average child. He has to
repeat the same item over and over in order to learn it, and thereafter he
has to repeat it at intervals or else he will forget it. Most children,
however, like to learn things by heart and to repeat them in a singsong
manner, enjoying their mastery of the situation, but they are not
particularly efficient learners.”
Based on the theory above, the writer believes that the use of chants as a
method to teach English for young learners is beneficial, especially because they
are still in the process of repeating any idea comes to their minds.
The research that will be brought is related with Total Physical Response
(TPR) method. Developed by James Asher (1982), a professor of psychology at
San Jose State University, California, Total Physical Response can be defined as a
language teaching method built around the coordination of speech and action; it
attempts to teach language through physical (motor) activity.
Asher (1982) stated that he shared with the school of humanistic
psychology a concern for the role of affective (emotional) factors in language
learning. A method that is undemanding in terms of linguistic production and that
involves gamelike movements reduces learner stress, he believes, and creates a
positive mood in the learner, which facilitates learning. In this study, this method
is used when the students do chanting together with the teacher and in this
situation they sometimes need to move their body while chanting.
The writer chooses SD Kanisius Demangan Baru Yogyakarta as a school
for the research. The reason of choosing this school is because the English teacher
uses a chant in every meeting in the class and the writer wants to know the

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4

response of the students. All English teachers are familiar with this method, but
not all of them use chants in every meeting like what English teacher of SD
Kanisius Demangan Baru Yogyakarta does. Besides that, the location is not far
from Universitas Sanata Dharma and also the writer’s house. It is also because
the writer has known one of English teachers in SD Kanisius Demangan Baru
Yogyakarta before, so any communication and consultation needed for the
research can be done easily and effectively. This school has been using chant as a
method to teach English for the students from the fourth grade up to the sixth
grade. Hopefully, through this research, the writer can get the clear answers of the
teacher’s implementation and the students’ responses of the use of chants in
English lesson at SD Kanisius Demangan Baru Yogyakarta.

B. Research Problem
The writer formulates and addresses the problems into two basic
questions. The questions are:
1. How does the teacher implement chants to teach English to the fourth grade of
elementary school students?
2. How is the response of students while having an English class with chants?

C. Problem Limitation
This study focuses on the discussion of students’ responses to the use of
chants to learn English at the fourth grade level in SD Kanisius Demangan Baru
Yogyakarta.

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5

D. Research Objectives
The objectives of this study are to answer and provide a clear analysis of
teacher’s implementation on teaching chants and students’ responses to the use of
chants to learn English at the fourth grade level in SD Kanisius Demangan Baru
Yogyakarta.

E. Research Benefits
In accordance to the objectives of the research, this research is expected to
give benefits for:
1.

Other writers
After finishing this research, the writer hopes that this study will be

beneficial for other writers who are interested to conduct another research about
chant and its effects for young learners. The next research, hopefully, will be more
detail about the implementation of chant for other grade of elementary school.
2.

English teachers and English teacher candidates
This study is expected to be beneficial for English teachers to help them to

find a method to teach young learners. Using chant is one of many methods that
can be used to teach young learners about vocabularies and it needs teachers’
creativities to use it in order to reach their learning goals, to help young learners
learn vocabularies in an interesting way. For English teachers, they should be
familiar with modern way of teaching, not only explaining materials all the time
in front of the class and just let students to listen and take notes. Media is freely
used to support their teaching and learning process and finding any sources about

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6

media is not a difficult task to do nowadays. Many books about teaching media
and the stuff have been published recent years to facilitate both teachers and
students to learn English as a second language easier.
Since the goals of this research are to find the teacher’s implementation on
using chant to teach English to young learners and how the responses of the
students after having a class with this method, this research hopefully can give a
good trigger for the teachers or teacher candidates to apply this method in their
classes.
Moreover, for the English teacher candidates, it is their chance to make a
difference. They shall come up with fresh and new ideas about teaching media.
They have to catch up the progress of students’ abilities in knowing any
information around the world through internet. Chants will be one of the useful
media to use in the class, but teacher candidates must renew the chants model or
approach. The writer hopes this research can encourage them to find ways to
make another research about the use of chant and its implementation in the formal
school.
3.

Elementary School Students
The major objective of this study is to provide an interesting media for

young learners to learn English as their foreign language and also the effects of
chant toward their learning improvements. By delivering this method, students are
expected to have a new spirit to learn English through chants, especially learning
new words. Moreover, the writer hopes that chants can break the boredom of oldfashioned way of teaching because it invites students to be more active in learning

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7

process. Students will do rhyming and moving their bodies while doing chants for
their vocabulary lesson and in SD Kanisius Demangan Baru, it is not a new way
of learning, so by delivering this study the writer hopes it can improve their
interests in learning English through this method, which is using chants.

F. Definition of Terms
In this section, the writer will explain some key words. In order to avoid
the different perceptions to these key words, here, some related terms are
discussed.
1.

Response
Response, according to Power (in Dunkin, 1987: 413), is any verbal or

non-verbal act designed to fulfill the expectations implicit in the questions,
commands or requests of others. In this study, student’s response refers to any
verbal or non-verbal act which is done by students towards a lesson that is given
in the class.
2.

Chants
Chant is a short, simple series of syllables or words that sung on or intoned

to the same note or a limited range of notes (“The Free Dictionary”, 2009). It is
usually used in the classroom to teach new vocabularies. Chants itself is an
approach to make things in the teaching-learning process become easier for
students. It contains some movements and students need to sing it together with
the teacher, so it is not only educating but also fun. A chant that is usually used in
education is called jazz chant. In this method, students can learn not only

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8

vocabularies but also the stress and rhythm of sounds. In this study, the chants
have been prepared by the class teacher and since it is not a new thing for this
school, the materials (chants) are fixed and made by the English teacher.
3.

Elementary School Students
In Indonesia, there are six grades in an elementary school level. Every

grade has its own target of learning. In the third grade level, students are expected
to know more about languages, not only bahasa Indonesia but also English as their
foreign language. In elementary school level, English is considered as a local
content. According to Soedijarto (1993: 128), elementary school refers to the
elementary education program which has duration six years. Based on that
definition, the writer defines that elementary school students are students who join
a six-year formal education program. However, in this study, it focuses only on
the fourth grade students. The writer chooses the students of SD Kanisius
Demangan Baru Yogyakarta as the objects of the study.
4.

Vocabulary
According to Hornby (1995: 461) in the Oxford Advanced Learner’s

Dictionary of Current English, vocabulary is the total number of words that make
up a language. Vocabulary is dominated by the dictionary. It is also about word,
the definition of word. Sometimes, we doubt about how to categorize vocabulary.
Read (2000) questioned “whether vocabulary consists only of single words, or
should we be thinking in terms of larger lexical items as well. It is a wellestablished practice to classify idioms as a special category within vocabulary, but
there is currently a trend among both theoretical and applied linguists towards

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9

analyzing many other types of common phrases and sentences as lexical rather
than grammatical units.“ In this study, the vocabulary that will be learned through
chants is prepared by the English teacher of SD Kanisius Demangan Baru
Yogyakarta. The type of vocabulary is any words that commonly used in students’
daily activities, like thanking, apologizing, asking and giving instruction, and
asking and giving direction.

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CHAPTER II
REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE

This chapter presents three major discussions, which are theoretical
description, review of related studies and theoretical framework. The theoretical
description presents the theories used in this research. The review of related
studies part presents the studies that have been done related to this research. The
theoretical framework presents the summary of the previous section and illustrates
the steps to be taken in the study.

A. Theoretical Description
There are four theoretical reviews that will be discussed, which are
Theoretical Review on Chants, Theoretical Review on Response, Theoretical
Review on Young Learners, and Theoretical Review on Vocabulary.
1.

Theoretical Review on Chant

a.

Definition of Chant
Chant is a short, simple series of syllables or words that sung on or intoned

to the same note or a limited range of notes (“The Free Dictionary”, 2009). In
education context, chants can also be used as a method to teach learners,
especially young learners, about a language. In this case, chants can help teachers
to teach English as a foreign language for young learners. The activity of using
chant covers some of the Gardner’s types of intelligences, such as
musical/rhythmic, bodily/kinesthetic, and linguistic intelligences. It will be fun
10

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and educating. For example, grammar chants. Grammar chants use repetition to
engage the right side of the brain's 'musical' intelligence. The use of multiple
intelligences can go a long way to helping students speak English 'automatically'.
Brewster (2002) states that jazz chants have now become extremely popular in the
young learners classroom mainly due to the contribution of Carolyn Graham’s
work.
Just as the selection of a particular tempo and beat in jazz may convey
powerful and varied emotions, the rhythm, stress, and intonation patterns
of the spoken language are essential elements for the expression of feelings
and the intent of the speaker. Linking these two dynamic forms has produced an
innovative and exciting new approach to language learning. (Graham, 1979)

From this statement, it can be clear that chants take important role in language
learning. Students can learn rhythm, intonation, and also stress in English
language. The beat of jazz chants gives dynamic feelings to the children so that
they will enjoy the lesson and learning process.
b. Values of Chants
In this part, the writer discusses about the reason why a chant is important
element in English class and how to make the best use of it. Forster (2006) states
that through chants children can improve their memorization of words and
abilities to recognize English speech rhythms, intonation and pronunciation.
Music and rhythm can also be added into grammar and language activities and
allow for fun and creative classroom. In learning language, people use their Right
Hemisphere (RH) and Left Hemisphere (LH). The RH deals with broader
semantic information while the LH deals with smaller, more analytical details.
Based on this fact, the Right Hemisphere is where chants are first processed.
Furthermore, there are two different types of learning processes: the implicit and

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explicit modes of learning. Implicit learning is a more unconscious learning
process, like learning of a song or a chant or like the way children learn to speak
their native language. Explicit learning is a much more conscious and analytical
learning. Teaching chants can be classified in implicit learning at first and to be
able to make children aware of the structures and how and when to use them, it
will go from a more explicit fashion, thus pushing the LH into play. Chants are
also useful to teach long stretches of real language. In a chant, the words just seem
to fall into place along with musical pattern and that is why learning vocabulary
using this method is recommended. Later chants can be used to illustrate or
exemplify a structural or grammatical point.
There are many advantages in using chants in language learning. Chants
provide for lots of natural and enjoyable repetition, help improve all aspects of
pronunciation. Chants also can be used as the basis for a performance or show.
Chanting together is a shared social experience and helps to develop a class and
group identity. This approach is also dealing with an ability of pronouncing
words. The important features of pronunciation, such as stress and rhythm, can
also be practiced in a very natural way using chants.
Chants can be related to classroom function, daily routines, or communicative
situations that are relevant to the age of the students. Chants can also later be
used to illustrate or exemplify a structural or grammatical point. The students
will already be “using” the grammar point in question, in the context of the
song or chant, of course, and will find it easier
to
then
understand
t he
grammatical explication given by the teacher and situate it within their own
linguistic experience. (Forster, 2006)

c.

Steps of Teaching Chants
Teaching chants to students give many benefits for them. However, in

order to make the teaching process succeeded, there are some basic steps that

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really important to follow. According to Forster (2006), the first step to consider
is the age of the students and the second is the relevance of the chant. Young
learners love to do activities dealing with music or a beat so it will be useful to
use chants to teach them vocabulary items and language items. There are some
steps that are important for teachers to follow:
1) Start with oral explanation and leave the written element for later.
2) Review the previous lesson and add a bit more.
3) Revisiting learned chants to give an opportunity for review and confidence
building.
4) Expand on the chant for further grammar or vocabulary.
5) Use chants to teach speech rhythm and stress.
6) Let the students to repeat the chants by themselves.
7) Try to establish dialogues using the chants.
8) Once the chant is learned, add variations so vocabulary and grammar
structures are extended.
9) Create opportunities to use the structures learned through the chants so that
the students become incorporated into the analytical “left brain”.

2.

Theoretical Review on Response
In this study, the writer tries to find the response of students while they are

learning English with chants. Response is closely related to how people react
toward a stimulus. Dollar and Miller discuss about the relationship between
response and drive. According to Dollar and Miller drives refer to “the

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motivational basis for behavior. Like instincts, drives are states of arousal that
require some satisfaction or reduction. Response refers to any act or thought
related to the satisfaction or reduction of a drive.” (as cited in Braun, 1979,
p.426)In this study, the drive means the enthusiasm of students to learn English
with chants. There will be a measurement of how enthusiastic they are while
learning English with chants. Their responds will determine their satisfaction of
this method, whether they feel that chants help them to learn English or
demotivate them instead. Therefore, elementary school teachers give an activity to
the students related to the topic discussed and then they are tested whether they
understand or catch the information or not. This response will determine the
effectiveness of teacher’s teaching method used in the class.
Pavlov (1927) states that there are two kinds of response, which are
unconditioned response and conditioned response. Unconditioned response is the
reflex response evoked by a stimulus without any learning required. For giving
the example of this kind of stimulus, Pavlov involved salivary responses in dogs.
He attached to a dog’s salivary gland a glass funnel that directed the saliva to a
container where it could be measured. In this way, Pavlov was able to determine
that dry food required more saliva than moist food and that nonfood objects
required varying amounts of saliva, depending on how hard it was to spit them
out. He used also a bell as a neutral stimulus, since a bell was something that
wouldn’t normally elicit salivation when presented by it. He paired the bell with
meat powder, which when presented to the dogs would naturally produce a
salivation reflex. For the first time, dog did not naturally salivate to a bell, but it

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had been conditioned to do so. Immediately after being introduced, the neutral
stimulus is paired with a stimulus that does elicit a reflex or emotional response.
This reflex-producing stimulus is known as the unconditioned stimulus. It is
called “unconditioned” because it involves no learning. After several pairings of
the neutral stimulus (the bell) with the unconditioned response, the neutral
stimulus becomes associated with the unconditioned response, and the dog makes
the same response to the neutral stimulus as it does to the unconditioned response.
At this point, the response the dog has been continued to make is called
conditioned response. (para. as cited in Huffman, 1997, p. 166)
In this study, conditioned response can be seen when the students are
given a chant to learn English more than once and it has repeated continuously in
the class. In SD Kanisius Demangan Baru Yogyakarta, chants have been used for
long time in English class, so the teacher has many chants to give and many
strategies to deliver them. The response of students on using chants to learn
English determine how effective this method for teaching and learning process for
young learners.
In relation with young learners and English learning, response is one of the
parts of learning process which students have. Phillips (1993) states that “young
learners respond to language according to what it does or what it does or what
they can do with it, rather than treating it as an intellectual game or abstract
system.” From this statement, the writer believes that young learners only focus
on the activity in the class, and they respond what is interesting on it. Moreover,
according to Phillips (1993), “children also respond strongly to music and rhythm,

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and you will find that they are more easily able to learn a chant or a song than a
spoken text. Song and chants are also useful for teaching the stress pattern and
rhythm of English.”

3.

Theoretical Review on Young Learners
First thing to discuss is the characteristics of young learners and how they

develop their potencies. Roth (1983) says that young learners need to develop a
sense of confidence and self-esteem, to have routines that provide a sense of
security and a warm, encouraging classroom atmosphere, where they feel they
have opportunities to succeed in their learning and receiving praise. Thus it can be
concluded that young learners do need a classroom activity that is not too formal
but enjoyable for them to express their feelings and potencies. Using chants is one
of the methods which fit with their characteristics, besides singing and playing
games. (para. as cited in Asher, 1982) A language teaching method that much
related to the children is Total Physical Response (TPR). Asher states
It involves learners in listening to something and then showing their
understanding by their actions and responses. Children can also draw a picture
while listening to a description, act out a nursery rhyme, follow instructions or
make a shape or simple model while they listen to a description of it. This draws
on learning by the ear and eye and is good for those with bodily-kinesthetic
intelligence.

From that theory, the writer sees the connection between learning English
with chants and the abilities of young learners to respond the lesson. It can be seen
when they respond to the chant and the teacher can measure the students’
understandings through this. Learning English using chants is also good for those
who have bodily-kinesthetic intelligences.

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There are many advantages for children to learn English as their second
language at their level of age. Kubanek-German states “secondary students who
had started learning English in the primary school had a slight advantage in
reading, writing, and listening.” (as cited in Brewster, 2002, p. 6). Moreover,
Chomsky presents “as children become older they are able to give more abstract
and less self-oriented definitions of words. Six- to twelve-year-olds like learning
chants, poems, song lyrics and love tongue twisters or jokes.” (as cited in
Brewster, 2002, p. 15) That theory supports this study because the writer focuses
on the English learning at fourth grade level of elementary school which the
students are in the age of ten to eleven years old. And also the fact that young
learners at the age of eleven are very excited of learning through chanting and
singing is much related to what will be done in this study.
Haliwell (1992: 3) states “children are able to understand what is being
said to them even before they understand the individual words. Intonation,
gesture, facial expression, actions, and circumstances all help them what the
unknown words and phrases probably mean.”From that theory the writer thinks
that children are rather choosing a fun and game-like activity in the class, since
they like to pay attention more on the gesture, intonation, facial expression,
actions, and circumstances that be made by the teacher in order to grasp the
learning materials.
In order to teach them vocabulary, teachers need to give fun and enjoyable
activities to the students. Using chants is one of the recommended methods.

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Students’ jobs are only listening to the chant and trying to sing it. The teacher has
to help and guide them to learn more about vocabularies from the chant.
According to Haliwell (1992: 4), “children not only have the ability to
grasp the meaning of unknown words but they also have creativity of concepts.”
That is why an interesting learning process is highly needed to make young
learners interested to learn English in the class. Using chants can help a teacher to
create an interesting atmosphere in the class.
Cole (1956: 317-321) points three important principles in teaching young
learners in elementary school to study. Those are study of environment, directions
for studying, and memorizing new words or new number facts. Study
environment is considered important in building favorable environment to the
learners’ mental effort to study (Cole, 1956: 317). It is expected for the teacher to
create a good atmosphere in the class, so that the students can fully focus on the
materials given. While directions for studying is meant to make learners know a
clear picture about what they learn in the class.
About memorizing technique in primary school, Cole (1956: 318) states
that there are at least three advantages of using this technique, which are teacher
can arrange the materials in such a way that learners can memorize them
appropriately, it can encourage learners to drill themselves, and a variety of
repetitions will be given to each item depending on the difficulty of each item.

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4.

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Theoretical Review on Teaching and Learning Vocabulary
In teaching vocabulary for young learners, categorization of words needs

to be considered. Simple and commonly used vocabularies are suggested to be
given first for young learners. The words can be gathered from things that are
familiar with children, such as animals, plants, colors, etc. As Burton (1982: 98)
said, “the larger the vocabulary mastery, the better will be one’s performance in
all aspects of language works.”
Nation (1990: 2) defines vocabulary into two kinds and also gives
examples on each of them.
There are two kinds of vocabulary learning, namely direct and indirect
vocabulary learning. In direct vocabulary learning, students do exercises which
focus their attention on the vocabulary. For example, students learn a list of
vocabulary, guess words from context, or many other activities. While indirect
vocabulary learning, the students do not focus on the vocabulary, but usually
on the message conveyed by the speaker or writer. (p.2)

In this study, the writer focuses only on indirect vocabulary learning which is
conveyed through the use of chants in the English class. By doing chanting
together with the teacher, students are expected to memorize any word in the
chant. Thus, students learn many words while they are chanting that words.

B. Review of Related Studies
The writer presents some related findings from other writers related to this
topic in order to give much clearer idea about how to conduct research on chants,
young learners and how they respond chants. Dorit Sasson (2007) on his writing
entitled How to Teach Vocabulary through Dramatic Read Aloud, states that in
order to teach vocabulary to young learners, teachers should use songs or chants

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incorporating both melody and rhythm because the learners will easily catch the
meaning and it is a nice way to start the morning lesson with chants. Sandee
McHugh-McBride and Judie Haynes (2008) defined some reasons why learning
vocabulary and chants are related each other. Since young learners seem to be
constantly in motion and have boundless energy, action-based activities will grab
their attention and keep their interest in the class. One of the activities is using
chants. It can be utilized to encourage verbal expression and language
development. Learning vocabulary needs this method.

C. Theoretical Framework
In this study, the writer used some theories related that supported the
process and the result of the study. The writer used the theory of Forster (2006)
for digging deeply about chants and how it influences teaching and learning
process. He states that through chants children can improve their memorization of
words and abilities to recognize English speech rhythms, intonation, and
pronunciation. This theory helped the writer to find a clear idea on how effective a
chant is to the teaching and learning process.
The writer also employed a theory from Phillips (1993) for knowing more
about response and moreover, about teaching strategy and the students’ responses.
In this theory, Phillips (1993) states that children also respond strongly to music
and rhythm, they will be more easily to learn a chant or a song than a spoken text.
Songs and chants are also useful for teaching stress pattern and rhythm of English.

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Then, the writer used the theory of Haliwell (1992) to know more about
young learners and their characteristics. Haliwell (1992) says that children are
able to understand what is being said to them even before they understand the
individual

words.

Intonation,

gesture,

facial

expression,

actions,

and

circumstances all help them what the unknown words and phrases probably mean.
This theory gives a good input to the writer about young learners.
This study was conducted in SD Kanisius Demangan Baru Yogyakarta.
The writer employed four research instruments, which were interview checklist
for the teacher, observation checklist, questionnaire, and class note taking.

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CHAPTER III
METHODOLOGY

This chapter presents detailed information about the me