T1 112010048 Full text
The Obstacles of Learning Speaking Skills for the Staff of the Children
Development Program GSJA Tuntang
Eirene Dwirosa Mulyaningtyas (112010048)
INTRODUCTION
English competence is very important in recent years especially in the education
world because English is adapted as an international language. Although English is not the
official language in Indonesia, English still becomes the popular language in this country. It
is important in a lot of areas such as companies, schools, and institutions which require a
qualification of being able to use English.
Not only children, but also many adults learn English to make themselves be
competent in English. In China, the world’s largest market for language-study programs,
approximately 165 million children and adults are studying English (Lingo Media, 2002).
Consequently, English nowadays is assumed to have an increasingly important position in a
school curriculum as well as in people’s daily lives.
On the other hand, learning a foreign language is not easy for adult learners.
Moreover, adults also have limited time since they already have their own job. They have
many responsibilities to do, such as taking care of their family, working everyday, having
their own business, and so on. There is a study that shows four consistent and powerful
barriers to further education for working adults (Silva et al.: 1998), such as the lack of time to
pursue education since they are busy with their own job and family responsibilities so they
do not want to increase any problem in their life. Some adults do not want to attend any
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additional tutorial because the schedule of the course time and place is not compatible with
their job. They are unwilling to join any additional course because of the high cost of the
course. They do not have much money to pay any tutorial class.
Based on the writer’s observation, similar barriers seemed to appear among the
staffs in the Children Development Program in GSJA Tuntang who were attending an
English course. They did not seem to enjoy their class. They have a job and they are busy
with their job. On the contrary, the chairperson of this program wanted his staff to improve
their English communication skills by assigning them to join the English course.
Therefore, the aim of this study was to describe some important obstacles of
learning speaking skills for the adult learners or staff in the Children Development Program
in Tuntang.
This study could be beneficial for adult learners who have a desire to learn a
foreign language, especially English. If they have obstacles of learning a foreign language,
the results of this study may give them some knowledge of other ways to reduce their
obstacles toward their learning. Besides, this study also could be beneficial for the English
Department students who will be an adult learner teacher. They could face the learners’
characters and they may motivate the learners to learn a foreign language.
The central research question that frames this study is: “What are the main
obstacles of the staffs of the Children Development Program in GSJA Tuntang in learning
speaking skills?”
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REVIEW OF LITERATURE
A. Learning Speaking Skills
In a foreign language teaching, there are four basic skills which are listening skills,
speaking skills, reading skills and writing skills. Unfortunately, these skills cannot develop
in the same rate. Some people think that speaking skills is still the most difficult skill to
master, which can be reflected in the weak ability to communicate orally in English even
after years of study at universities (JIN, 2011).
Moreover, speaking in the second language (L2) involves the development of a
particular type of a communication skill. Speaking is used for many different purposes, and
each purpose involves different skills. For example, when people use speaking for casual
conversation, the purpose is to make social contact with other people. On the other hand,
when people are attending the discussion, the purpose is to deal or clarify the information.
On the other hand Cheng, Myles, & Curtis (2004) as cited in Gan (2012) examined
the consistency between the language skills required for engagement with the demands of
course work at the graduate level, and the skills that non-native English speaker students
found difficult to master. The learners will accept and acquire the course if they still want to
learn for their future. However, some learners usually refuse to learn a new language
because they feel like suppressed so they will find it difficult to master the language.
Although it sounds like demanding and difficult to do, if the learners want to be capable of
using English for their future, they will commit and struggle to learn the foreign language.
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B. Motivation
A motivation to learn a foreign language is also important for the learners. Gardner
(1985) as cited in the Dornyei’s book (2008) said that there are two value aspects in the
motivation theory that are intrinsic value and extrinsic value. Intrinsic value concerns
behavior performed in order to experience pleasure and satisfaction that can be measured by
looking at the desire to learn the L2 and attitudes towards learning L2. According to
Hadriana et al. (2013), intrinsic motivation refers to the following aspects of how students
direct their learning with clear goals, students' participation in English language learning
activities, active seeking for clarification during the lessons, the excitement to perform
activities, the proper use of reading techniques, the happy feeling during the lesson, selfsatisfaction, no sense of shame in using the language, diligent in learning the language,
capable and the frequency of using the language. In short, the students who have intrinsic
motivation will satisfy and enjoy the learning process with their own pleasure.
On the other hand, extrinsic value involves performing behavior as a means to an
end, that is, to receive some extrinsic reward (e.g. good grades) or to avoid punishment.
Hadriana et al. (2013) also stated that extrinsic motivation covers the aspects of how the
external encouragement and motivation help students to understand and acquire the English
language, speaking activities, technology aids, teaching facility, special attention given by
teachers and friends, activities and campaigns organized by the school, competitions with the
English language counterparts, the influence and role of the media as well as the surrounding
community, participation in the English Language contests, teachers’ rules and the needs to
meet career demands. Huifang (1998) as cited in Li and Pan (2009) examined that internal
motivation is related to the long-termed success, while external motivation is related to the
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short-termed success. People who have intrinsic motivation will have a strong desire to learn
the foreign language. They do not fear to mistakes, they are not frightened to lose faces and
they will have chances to improve them. On the other hand, people who have extrinsic
motivation, once, if they meet difficulties, most of them choose to stop learning because they
fear to lose faces and are afraid of making mistakes. Therefore, it is quite reasonable for them
to become less successful learners (Li & Pan: 2009). Moreover, Hadriana (2013) also said
that extrinsic motivation will be a drive for students to do something beneficial. Extrinsic
motivation is grown from external stimuli in order to move the individual to be more
engaging in an activity that will bring great benefit to him, and it can be stimulated in the
form of simple praises, incentives, prizes, grades, and conducive environment and climate
which propel students to learn.
Besides, the adult learners usually also experience apprehension, worry, even
dread. When performing their lesson, sometimes the learners have difficulty of concentrating,
become forgetful, sweat, and having palpitations (Horwitz et al.: 2012). Sometimes learning
environment and classroom atmosphere also affect the learning process, for example time of
learning and size of class. Besides, according to Saar and Rosmaa (2010) the adult learners
have a busy schedule of working everyday, so they do not have time to attend English course.
They also feel lazy to go to English course to learn a new material. Moreover, the learners
usually lack of necessary qualifications to take up the studies. Many adults think that English
is not their priority to learn and they do not have any basic skills to learn English. In short,
according to Ur (1995) as cited in Aleksandrzak (2011), other problems that commonly
happen in the individual learners’ personalities and attitudes to the learning process and
learning speaking are inhibition of the adult learners such as fear of making mistakes, and
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shyness. Moreover, the adult learners also have nothing to say. In other words, the learners
have problems with finding motives to speak, formulating opinions or relevant comments. In
addition, the learners have low or uneven participation that is often caused by the tendency of
some learners to dominate in the group in less disciplined or less motivated class. Learners
find it easier or more natural to express themselves in their native language.
C. Age, Socio-cultural and Affective Factors
There are some factors that can affect the adult learners in their oral
communication according to Shumin (2008):
1. Age or Maturation Constraints
Age is one of the most commonly cited as the dominant factor of success or failure in
L2 or foreign language learning. Gordon (2007) stated that the greater learners are
before puberty and after the puberty, the ability to learn decreases. Those situations also
affect the adult learners because in their age, the ability to learn or memorize the
material is not as well as the children do when they grasp the materials. In this case,
usually adults learn English just for knowing or being familiar with a foreign language
and not for adjusting the foreign language in their daily use. The main reason of being
lack in learning English is that the adult learners feel too old to learn any materials
especially a foreign language and they are also forgetful to memorize the lesson.
2. Socio-cultural Factors
Cultural characteristic of the adult learners’ language also affects L2 or foreign
language in the learning process since they come with a couple of different social
backgrounds. It means that although adults learn a foreign language, their mother
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tongue still become their main language and impede their learning process. For
example, when the learners are asked to make a speech, they tend to speak using their
own dialect and not using the English dialect naturally.
3. Affective Factors
The affective factors here are related to the learners’ psychology such as emotions, selfesteem, empathy, anxiety, attitude and motivation. Those factors give the crucial effect
for the adult learners because when learning a foreign language, they will feel afraid to
express their language. They think that learning foreign language is difficult and
dreadful, so they feel afraid to learn English.
D. Vocabulary Learning Strategies
Another obstacle is the lack of vocabulary. Many people know that the language
use in foreign language is different from the first language. Speaking in foreign language is
more difficult than speaking in first language. But, there are four strategies for
communication (Cook: 2008) to reduce the difficulties of learning a foreign language. The
first one is translation from L1. Some adults use this strategy to translate the first language to
second language. The second strategy is language switch. Learners use this strategy when
they do not know the meaning in the foreign language, so they use their first language to
make the language clearer. The next strategy is cooperative strategy. When the learners get
difficulties in knowing the word in the foreign language, they tend to ask for help to other
people to get the answer. The last is non-cooperative strategy. In this strategy, the learners
look up the dictionary to solve their difficulties.
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Schmitt (1997) developed Vocabulary Learning Strategies taxonomies such as
discovery strategies and consolidation strategies. Discovery strategies are to find the meaning
of unknown words, while consolidation strategies are to remember words once their meaning
has been discovered. In this case, discovery strategies can further be divided into
determination strategies (Det) and social strategies (Soc). Determination strategies (Det)
involve finding meanings without resource such as analyzing word parts, and guessing from
context. While social strategies (Soc) involve consulting or working with others to discover
meaning. On the other hand, Consolidation strategies are divided into four parts; they are
memory strategies (Mem), cognitive strategies (Cog), social strategies (Soc), metacognitive
strategies (Metacog). In memory strategies (Mem), the learners use mnemonics such as
creating mental images, word association such as associating the word with its synonyms and
antonyms and grouping words to facilitate memory. However, the learners will use cognitive
strategies (Cog) for verbal and written repetition using word lists and flash cards. The third
strategy for learners is social strategies (Soc) such as practicing with other people, and
interacting with native speakers. For the last strategy is metacognitive strategies (Metacog)
that concerns to the management of learning for example reviewing learnt vocabulary and
selecting words for learning.
E. Adult Learners’ Characteristics
Adult learners are different from younger learners. Adult learners have their own
responsibilities (e.g., family and job) and situation (e.g., transportation, childcare, and the
need to earn some money) that can affect the learning process. Sometimes, some adults enter
the educational programs voluntarily and manage their class around their work and family
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responsibilities (Merriam and Caffarela, 1999). The problem of adult learners is their
memory will decrease with their age whereas the memory helps to form a link between old
and new information. In this period, adult learners have a short term memory or working
memory which is limited to approximately five to nine bits of new information at a time
(Clark, R: 1999).
Piaget and Erikson (1997) develop five assumptions on the adult learners’
characteristics:
1. Self-concept: adult concept moves from one of being a dependent personality toward one
of being self-directed human being. It is difficult to make the learners have self-directed
motivation if there is a dependent personality that influences the adult learners. In this
case, adults tend to be self-directed in their lives, although responsibilities with jobs,
families, and other organizations can remove a degree of their freedom to act (Kuhne:
2010).
2. Experience: adult accumulates a growing reservoir of experience that becomes an
increasing resource for learning. The adult’s experience is a key resource in the learning
effort (Kuhne: 2010). The adult learners may have bad learning experiences in their
learning process. So based on their past experiences, they want to improve their
knowledge. They may evaluate the validity of concepts or ideas on how those ideas or
concepts are solute their experience.
3.
Readiness to learn: adult readiness to learn becomes oriented increasingly to the
developmental task of their social roles.
4. Orientation to learning: adult time perspective changes from one of postponed application
of knowledge to immediacy of application, and accordingly his/her orientation toward
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learning shifts from one of subject-centeredness to one of problem-centeredness. The
adult learners tend to wait until they are able to use the foreign language. In other words,
the learners will learn a foreign language after they are capable of using the language.
5. Motivation to learn: adult motivation to learn is internal. The adult learners shall have
intrinsic motivation in learning English. If the learners do not have intrinsic motivation,
they will not have a passion to learn a foreign language and pass the learning process
without any significant changes. If the adult learners have an intrinsic motivation, they
will have a great motivation to improve the knowledge.
For some people it is common that people get obstacles when they are learning
new things. By the time, adults can reduce their difficulties toward English. Of course it
cannot work instantly for a couple of time but it still needs the process of learning.
Furthermore, the wider benefits of learning must be valued as highly as the development of
particular skills. These benefits include more self-confident individuals, with higher levels of
self-motivation and communication skills at the personal level.
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THE STUDY
A. The Context of the Study
This study was conducted in the Children Development Program in GSJA-El
Shadai. This institution is located in the one of churches in Tuntang, Semarang Regency,
Central Java. This place was selected because this institution holds an English course for
their staff to make them being able to communicate in English. In this course, the learners
learn about conversation in English. They meet for two hours in each week on every
Wednesday.
B. Participants
The participants in this study comprised 7 adult learners at Children Development
Program in Tuntang. The 7 adult learners consist of 6 women and 1 man who join the
English course. The age of the participants have range from 21-50 years old. The participants
already have their own job such as a teacher, staff, businessman, and mathematics tutor.
Moreover, they are native speakers of Indonesia and they study English as a foreign language
in an informal course. The participants joined the English course because the organization
provides it for them.
B. Data Collection Instrument
This study used a semi-structure interview to gather the qualitative data. In this
interview, the questions (see appendix) were planned and structured. They were intended to
look deeper at what the obstacles of the learners when they were learning English.
F. Data Collection Procedure
In this section, the interview was aimed to the learners who joined the English
course. The interview was done on an informal situation. The reason was that it could create
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a relax atmosphere for the interviewees. The language used in this interview was Bahasa
Indonesia to make the interviewees feel relaxed and less threatened. The interview was
recorded so that no information would be missing.
G. Data Analysis Procedure
In this study, the researcher used the interview and transcribed all of the
interviews to get the written data. After transcribing, the researcher related all of the data that
was gotten with the theories of the obstacles in the learning of speaking skills for adult
learners. Then the researcher grouped the data interview into several big themes. The
researcher used the first participant as P1, second participant as P2, and so on. After that, the
researcher provided the conclusion of the data about obstacles of learning in speaking skills
for staffs of the Children Development Program in GSJA Tuntang.
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FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION
From the interview of 7 participants, the researcher found that adult learners in
Children Development Tuntang have a clear goal that is to improve their knowledge in
English. The adult learners also said that learning English is important. However, the adult
learners have obstacles in their language learning. What the adult learners thought was
different with the reality. Therefore, the researcher would explain several kinds of obstacles
that were faced by 7 staffs (adult learners) in the Children Development Program while
learning English. Those obstacles were related to age or maturation constrains, socio-cultural
factors and affective factors. The descriptions of the learners’ obstacles were presented
below.
Age or maturation constrains
The adult learners in Children Development Program said that learning English in
their age caused several problems. They also said that learning English in their age is
difficult. Since age is a dominant factor of success or failure in L2 or foreign language
learning (Shumin: 2008), it would cause a negative effect in the learning process, especially
for adult learners. In the interview, there were four out of seven adult learners admitted that
they had difficulties because of their age factor. The difficulties were being forgetful to grasp
the materials, having many problems in their life, and feeling tired to join the English course.
From the interview, two of seven adult learners argued that they were forgetful
people. The participants were forgetful to grasp the materials in the learning process. They
also explained that they became forgetful as their age increased. Moreover, these learners
also said that their obstacle impeded them to learn English. In the interview, they told:
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“My age is almost fifty years old. My difficulty to learn English is that I am a
forgetful person”(P2)
“Sometimes I just remember 1 until 2 vocabularies, but today I remember the
material, tomorrow I will forget it”(P1)
Those adult learners had difficulties in learning English because they found it
difficult to memorize the materials. Sometimes, they remembered about what they had learnt
in the course, but after they left that course, they would forget all of the material that their
tutor gave. That explanation was also proven by Gordon (2007) that after the age of puberty,
it is so difficult for adult learners to learn a foreign language well. The adult learners would
have difficulties in learning English since their age increase. Although the learners tried to
memorize the vocabulary daily, they would forget all vocabularies that they have
remembered. According to Clark (1999) it is not easy to remember that vocabulary because
the problem of adult learners is that their memory will decrease with their age. So, learning
English in adult age will cause an obstacle since adult learners are forgetful people.
In addition, from the interview, one out of seven adult learners also had
difficulties since she was too old to learn English. This participant also argued that she
already had her own problem in her daily life. As an adult, she had a lot of concerns for her
daily needs and her concentration would decrease because this learner have to focus in
learning English and working for family. It will become another obstacle for the learner
because it is difficult to concentrate in many things. Below is the reason:
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“Because of my age, it is difficult to learn English. I also think a lot about daily
need and economic need for my family and now I am asked to learn English. It is difficult for me
to grasp the materials.”(P1)
From that reason, the adult learner said that her age could impede the learning
process. She could not understand the materials properly since she had several problems in
her mind. That participant already had responsibility in the daily need and economic need
such as to earn some money for her family life and school for her children. According to this
participant, it is difficult for her as the learner to learn English in her age since her
concentration is divided into two things which are about her job and learning English. It was
conceded by Merriam and Caffarela (1999) that the adult learners have their own
responsibilities in their family and situation in the need to earn some money. So, this case can
be one of her problems in learning English because this learner wanted to focus on earning
some money for her living only instead of learning English.
Moreover, another obstacle for adult learners was they were too tired to learn
English. Since the adult learners already had their own job, they were tired to join the course.
In the interview, the learners argued that it was difficult for them to have English course after
working. Three adult learners told that as their age increased they would feel tired easily to
have many activities. From the interview, they said:
“When I have so many works to do, I will feel tired, and then I will not
concentrate to join the English course.”(P6)
“Sometimes I am already tired after working and I must learn English”(P1)
“When there was a deadline work that coincides with the English course, it would
be difficult to grasp the materials because I feel tired”(P4)
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The adult learners argued that their age now influenced them to learn English.
When they felt tired because of their job, they would not feel comfortable to learn English.
These participants will not concentration properly in learning English if they are exhausted
after working. It was said by Horwitz et al. (2012) that the adult learners will have difficulty
of concentrating. The adult learners will not concentrate enough to grasp the materials well
when they were too tired. Moreover, Saar and Rosmaa (2010) also stated that the adult
learners who have a busy schedule of working everyday will become lazy to learn new
materials in the English course because the adult learners were already tired after working.
So, it was difficult for adult learners to learn English after working because they would feel
tired and would not concentrate enough to learn English in the course.
Socio-cultural factors
Socio-cultural factors also affect the learning process for adult learners. The adult
learners in Children Development Program have different background in learning a foreign
language. The adult learners’ background can also impede them in the learning process. So,
from that situation, the adult learners have obstacles when they are learning English. From
the interview, those obstacles are the use of the mother tongue and the environment society.
Sometimes, mother tongue also created a new problem in their learning. The
mother tongue used could impede the adult learners when they are speaking in English. Their
mother tongue could also affect the adult learners’ speaking especially in the use of dialect
and accent. From that reason, it made another crucial obstacle for adult learners. Based on the
interview, one of the seven adult learners said that she had difficulties when she was
speaking in English because her mother tongue influenced her a lot. In the interview she said:
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“In speaking, I have difficulties to speak up because I have a Javanese
dialect”(P5)
This adult learner still uses Javanese dialect to pronounce the English words. She
has difficulty when she speaks in English because her speaking is influenced by her mother
tongue. It was also difficult to change her dialect and accent in English because as the adult
learner, her mother tongue already sticks in her brain. So, it is difficult for this participant to
speak in English properly.
Moreover, there were other examples found that the adult learners had difficulty
when they were speaking in English. For the first example, when there is a word “reading”,
then the adult learner (P1) will pronounce it “redeing”. Second, when there is word “taking a
bath”, then the adult learner (P6) will pronounce it “taking a bot/bet”. From that situation, the
adult learners’ mother tongue still affects their speaking a lot. As adult learners, it is difficult
to have English dialect and accent in their age now and it may need couple of times to
improve their speaking.
Besides, the adult learners’ environment can also impede the learning process.
Since the learners have different environment, they also have different obstacles in learning
English. From that reason, the adult learners argued that their environment in learning
process could be influenced by their English teacher, their partners in the English course and
their neighbor societies.
The learners in the Children Development Program also had a dependent
personality that impeded them in learning English well. It was also admitted by Piaget and
Erikson (1997) that it is difficult for adult learners being independent learners. Two of seven
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adult learners were found to be dependent with the teacher who taught them. This dependent
character can be seen from what they said in the interview as below.
“If the teacher just asked the students to read the written text, I would get nothing. If the
teacher made fun activity and asked me to involve, I would remember that lesson”(P5)
“Like what my teacher taught, she made various activities for us and it made us curious to
learn”(P4)
From the interview, it could be seen that these two adult learners depended on
how their teacher delivered the materials to them. The adult learners could not understand
the material well if their teacher just provide theories in the learning process. On the
contrary, the learners would understand the materials more if their teacher provided
activities to learn English. So, it will be better that the teacher provides activities to help the
adult learners to understand the material well.
Furthermore, having passive partners in the English course would make the adult
learners be passive learners as well. This environment would not be beneficial for adult
learners in the learning process. They would not be motivated if their partners were not
interested in learning a foreign language. From this situation, the adult learners would have
difficulty to grasp the material well if they become passive learners. In the interview, one the
learner said:
“Sometimes, if my friends are passive, I would also be a passive person in the
course”(P2)
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This learner would not be an active learner if their friends are passive. The adult
learner had low competitiveness in learning English. She was influenced by her learning
environment. So, from this result it can be seen that the adult learners would not have a
motivation to improve her knowledge if she had a negative influence from the surrounding.
Moreover, this learning process would impede this learner to increase her knowledge because
she had a passive environment when she learned English.
In addition, it was similar to friends’ society, the adult learners’ neighborhood
society also affected them in learning English. They found it difficult to develop their ability
in English because their societies are not familiar with English. Based on the interview, two
adult learners had difficulty from their neighborhood society. They argued that not all of their
neighbors understand English. From the interview, one of two participants said:
“I live in the rural society and my neighbors are not familiar with English” (P4)
This learner cannot develop her ability in English properly since her
neighborhood societies are not familiar with English. Moreover, living in the rural area could
impede the learner to learn English well because they had difficult access to explore their
ability in the foreign language. So, from that situation, the adult learner will get difficulty to
learn English.
Interestingly, from the interview, there was one adult learner who had difficulty if
he always spoke in English with his neighbors. This participant said that his neighbors will
assume him as a show off person. Actually this participant wanted to train his ability in
speaking English with his society. From that reason, this participant would not develop their
ability in speaking well. In the interview, he said:
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Because of not all of my neighbors able to speak English, they will judge me as a
show off person if I always greet them in English” (P3)
In this result, this learner would have obstacle when he wanted to practice in
speaking English with his neighbors. This participant wanted to measure his ability through
speaking to other people. However, if his neighbors judge him as a show off person, this
learner would not speak English to his neighbors. So, it is difficult for adult learner to
practice to speak English if his neighbors impede the learner to develop his speaking ability.
Besides, underestimating or stereotyping people also affected the adult learners in
learning English. Based on the interview, there was one of seven adult learners
underestimated other people who never spoke in English (P7). She assumed that her ability
was higher than theirs. In this case, this adult learner would become lazy to learn English
because she assumed that she was cleverer than others. So, this learner did not have any
motivation to learn English more because she considered herself capable in English.
Affective factors
The last obstacle is that affective factors. Affective factors also affected the adult
learners in Children Development Program to learn a foreign language. These factors gave
the crucial effect because it was related to adult learners’ psychology when they learned a
foreign language. From the interview, there were adult learners who had obstacles because
they were afraid of making mistakes when they spoke in English, had no motivation in
learning a foreign language and had bad experience when learned a foreign language.
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The adult learners thought that learning a foreign language was difficult. They
also feel afraid of making any mistakes when they speak in English. Sometimes, the adult
learners also do not feel confidence to speak English and they are anxious to express their
speaking. From the interview, two out of seven adult learners argued that they also had
difficulties in speaking. In the interview, they said:
“I am not confident to speak English. I am afraid of making mistakes when I
speak English”(P7)
“Sometimes I have difficulties in speaking. I am afraid if I make mistakes”(P2)
Those adult learners were afraid to speak because they were fear to make
mistakes. They also argued that although there were words to speak, they can not say those
words. The participants also said that even they understand about what people say, they have
difficulty in formulating English sentence properly to speak up. It was also stated by Ur
(1995) cited in Aleksandrzak (2011) that other problems that commonly happen in the adult
learners are fear of making mistakes and have nothing to say. Therefore, they were not
confident enough to speak in English. They hesitated to produce sentences because they
thought that speaking in English is dreadful and difficult.
Motivation of the learners should be considered since motivation is related to the
learners’ psychology in affective factors. The result of this research shows that there is one
adult learner who does not have any motivation in learning English. The others joined it
because they had to. However, participant 6 said that if only she had a choice, she would not
join the English course. In the interview, she said:
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“If I was not a staff and I was asked to choose to learn English, I would not learn
English. However I am a staff, want it or not I must learn English … If I did not work, I
would not want to learn it” (P6)
Her explanation showed that she was forced to learn English because of her career
demand. She also said that she had no other motivation except for meeting her career
demand. From that result, this participant will have a low intention in learning a foreign
language. So, her low intention to learn a foreign language will impede the learner in
learning process. In this case, it is difficult for the participant to improve her knowledge
because she has a low motivation in learning English.
Another obstacle in learning English in the affective factors is that the adult
learner has bad experience. This bad experience in learning English hinders the learners in
learning English well (Piaget and Erikson, 1997). The learner could not learn English well
because she had bad experience with her English teacher. Below, P4 also showed the bad
experience that made her dislike English.
“The main reason is that I am disappointed. I did not like English because I hate the
teacher”(P4)
In this case, it was identified that P4 did not like learning English because of
the bad experience she had with her English teacher. This participant thought that her teacher
disappointing her on how the teacher taught and the materials that given by the teacher. This
adult learner had a negative thinking in their mind about her English teacher, so this learner
could not acquire the lesson well. The bad experience made the adult learners unwilling to
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learn English because they did not want to repeat the same bad experience. However, it is
different with Kuhne’s (2012) explanation that having past experiences can make the adult
learners improve their knowledge by evaluating the validity of concepts or ideas in their
experience. So, the adult learners’ teacher should also realize this learners’ problem.
In this section, it could be inferred that age, socio-cultural, and affective factors
impeded the adult learners to learn English. The adult learners’ age caused several problems
since the adult learners were forgetful and easier to be tired because of their works.
Moreover, they had many thought for daily needs. The adult learners also found that it was
difficult to learn speaking skills because they were influenced by their mother tongue or
Javanese dialect and their environment. Furthermore, affective factor could cause problems
when the adult learners were too afraid to speak in English. They may not learn English
properly because those obstacles could influence the adult learners in learning English.
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CONCLUSION
This study is aimed to analyze the obstacles of learning speaking skills for adult
learners in Children Development Program in GSJA Tuntang. The researcher started the
interview from March 27 until April 13, 2014. After analyzing the data, the researcher identified
four obstacles. Those obstacles were related to age or maturation constrains, socio-cultural and
affective factors. Based on the interview to the adult learners, these obstacles had negative
impacts in their learning process.
In addition, the researcher wants to give some suggestions for the adult learners’
teacher. As adult learners, they need variety in the lesson such as role play, peer learning or
simulation to enhance evocative for the adult learners. The teacher also should review the
materials that have been taught continually since the adult learners are forgetful. In this case, the
adult learners are expected to remember last materials that they got and they can grasp the
materials well. Then, since the adult learners’ society also gives impact in the learning process,
the teacher may remind the adult learners to habituate speak English to their surrounding
especially in their family or friends. The teacher can motivate the adult learners to train their
ability in English by practicing to speak English continually. The teacher can also give simple
praises for the learners who brave to speak in English and motivate the adult learners to not
afraid of making mistake in their speaking. According to Kazdin as cited in Hadriana et al.
(2013) it is good to provide frequent praises and supports especially when students begin to learn
a new task.
Moreover, the teacher may ask the adult learners to perform their speaking in front of
the class regularly or give homework to practice with their friends to reduce anxiety when the
learners speak in English. Furthermore, for adult learners who influence with their mother
Page 24
tongue, the teacher may drill the learners to pronounce or speak in English routine. It is no
problem if the learners have Javanese dialect as long as their pronunciations are understandable.
In this case, the teacher should remind the adult learners if they have a wrong pronunciation.
For the next researcher, further research about adult learners’ obstacle in other
language skills would be needed. The researcher could gather more complete data about adult’s
learners’ obstacles in learning English listening, reading, and writing skills. Then, the next
researcher could also conduct a study about the obstacles of the adult learners in learning English
in another place, not only limited in the Children Development Program in GSJA Tuntang.
This study could not be generalized into another field of study because it was
conducted only to see the obstacles of the adult learners in learning English speaking skills in the
Children Development Program in GSJA. A modified study is needed because this was a small
skill study only.
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ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
I realize that this thesis would not have been completed without the support and
help from many people. I would like to express my love and gratitude to the following
people who have assisted me in completing this thesis.
1. I would like to express my sincere gratitude to Jesus Christ as my great and beloved
father and the source of knowledge who helped and guided me to finish this thesis.
2. My special gratitude also expressed to my supervisor Mrs. Martha Nandari M.A who
abundantly helpful and offered invaluable assistance support and guidance. In addition, I
also thanked to Mr. Dian Toar Y.G Sumakul, M.A tremendously for his precious helps
to be the examiner of my thesis.
3. I would like to acknowledge my sincere thanks to the staff of the Children Development
Program in GSJA El-Shadai Tuntang who had participated in my thesis. Without their
participations, this research could not have been so successful.
4. I would also like to express my thankfulness for my family’s support – Papa Edy Tri
Ismulyanto, Mama Endah Sri Ascaryaning, Mas Luluk, Mbak Vina, Adek Yonas, Dhe
Mulyati, and my new little nephew Ico, without them, none of this could be happened.
5. Special thanks also go to my boyfriend “Ndut” Andre who always loves, accompanies,
and gives support for me. I would also like to convey special thanks to all of my best
friends ever, Mutia, Fitri “Pitpit”, Kristin, and Tiur. I would also say thanks to my
friends in boarding house Monza8 especially Dian Hanny, Rosela, Shenny, and Mega
who always accompany and make laugh every night. Last but not least, I would also say
thanks to de’ rainbow – Fiki, Maya, Elyn and Bagus who always remind me to finish
this thesis.
Page 26
REFERENCES
Aleksandrzax, M. (2011). Problems and challenges in teaching and learning speaking at
advanced level. General Problem in Teaching Speaking. Volume 37, pp. 39.
BGSU Center for Teaching and Learning. (2012). Teaching adult learners. Piaget & Erikson:
Author.
Clark, R. (1999). Building expertise cognitive methods for training and performance
improvement. Washington, DC: International Society for Performance Improvement.
Cook, V. (2008). Second Language Learning and Language Teaching. Strategies for
communicating and learning. pp. 107-108.
Dornyei, Z. (2008). Motivational Strategies in the Language Classroom: Dornyei’s 1994
framework of L2 motivation. pp. 18-19.
Gan, Z. (2012). Understanding L2 Speaking Problems: Implications for ESL Curriculum
Development in a Teacher Training Institution in Hong Kong. Australian Journal of
Teacher Education. Volume 37, No. 1 pp. 46.
Hadriana, Ismail, M. A., & Mahdum. (2013). The Relationship between Motivations and SelfLearning and the English Language Achievement in Secondary High School Students.
Asian Social Science , 38-39.
Horwitz, E. K., Horwitz, M. B., & Cope, J. (2012). Foreign Language Classroom Anxiety. The
Modern Language Journal. Volume 70, No. 2 pp. 126.
JIN, L. (2011). Constructivism-Application in Oral English Teaching to Non-English Majors.
Journal Education of Global Partners. Volume 1, No. 1 pp. 8.
Kuhne, G. (2010). 10 Characteristics of adults as learners. Introduction to Adult Education.
Penn State’s World Campus.
Li, P., & Pan, G. (2009). The Relationship between Motivation and Achievement-A Survey of
the Study Motivation of English Majors. 125.
Lingo, Media. Retrieved October 30, 2002 from
http://www.lingomedia.com/products/markets.html
Page 27
Merriam, S.B., & Caffarella, R.S. (1999). Learning in adulthood (2nd ed.). San Francisco:
Jossey-Bass.
Saar, E., & Rosmaa, E. (2010). Overcoming Obstacle to Adult Learning. Barriers to Learning, 4.
Schmitt, N. (1997). Vocabulary learning strategies. In N. Schmitt & M. McCarthy (Eds.),
Vocabulary: Description, acquisition and pedagogy,199-227. Cambridge: Cambridge
University Press.
Silva, Tim, Margaret Calahan, and Natalie Lacireno-Paquet. (1998). “Adult Education
Participation Decisions and Barriers.” Review of Conceptual Frameworks an Empirical
Studies.Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education
Statistics.
Shumin, Kang. (2008). Factors to Consider: Developing adult EFL students’ speaking abilities.
In Richards, J. C., & Renandya, W. A. Methodology in Language Teaching: an
Anthology of Current Practice. 10ed, 204-20
Page 28
APPENDIX
Interview questions:
1. Faktor-faktor apa saja yang menjadi kendala Anda dalam belajar bahasa Inggris?
2. Bagaimana umur Anda saat ini mempengaruhi Anda untuk belajar bahasa Inggris?
3. Bagaimana lingkungan Anda dapat mempengaruhi proses pembelajaran bahasa Inggris?
Page 29
Development Program GSJA Tuntang
Eirene Dwirosa Mulyaningtyas (112010048)
INTRODUCTION
English competence is very important in recent years especially in the education
world because English is adapted as an international language. Although English is not the
official language in Indonesia, English still becomes the popular language in this country. It
is important in a lot of areas such as companies, schools, and institutions which require a
qualification of being able to use English.
Not only children, but also many adults learn English to make themselves be
competent in English. In China, the world’s largest market for language-study programs,
approximately 165 million children and adults are studying English (Lingo Media, 2002).
Consequently, English nowadays is assumed to have an increasingly important position in a
school curriculum as well as in people’s daily lives.
On the other hand, learning a foreign language is not easy for adult learners.
Moreover, adults also have limited time since they already have their own job. They have
many responsibilities to do, such as taking care of their family, working everyday, having
their own business, and so on. There is a study that shows four consistent and powerful
barriers to further education for working adults (Silva et al.: 1998), such as the lack of time to
pursue education since they are busy with their own job and family responsibilities so they
do not want to increase any problem in their life. Some adults do not want to attend any
Page 1
additional tutorial because the schedule of the course time and place is not compatible with
their job. They are unwilling to join any additional course because of the high cost of the
course. They do not have much money to pay any tutorial class.
Based on the writer’s observation, similar barriers seemed to appear among the
staffs in the Children Development Program in GSJA Tuntang who were attending an
English course. They did not seem to enjoy their class. They have a job and they are busy
with their job. On the contrary, the chairperson of this program wanted his staff to improve
their English communication skills by assigning them to join the English course.
Therefore, the aim of this study was to describe some important obstacles of
learning speaking skills for the adult learners or staff in the Children Development Program
in Tuntang.
This study could be beneficial for adult learners who have a desire to learn a
foreign language, especially English. If they have obstacles of learning a foreign language,
the results of this study may give them some knowledge of other ways to reduce their
obstacles toward their learning. Besides, this study also could be beneficial for the English
Department students who will be an adult learner teacher. They could face the learners’
characters and they may motivate the learners to learn a foreign language.
The central research question that frames this study is: “What are the main
obstacles of the staffs of the Children Development Program in GSJA Tuntang in learning
speaking skills?”
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REVIEW OF LITERATURE
A. Learning Speaking Skills
In a foreign language teaching, there are four basic skills which are listening skills,
speaking skills, reading skills and writing skills. Unfortunately, these skills cannot develop
in the same rate. Some people think that speaking skills is still the most difficult skill to
master, which can be reflected in the weak ability to communicate orally in English even
after years of study at universities (JIN, 2011).
Moreover, speaking in the second language (L2) involves the development of a
particular type of a communication skill. Speaking is used for many different purposes, and
each purpose involves different skills. For example, when people use speaking for casual
conversation, the purpose is to make social contact with other people. On the other hand,
when people are attending the discussion, the purpose is to deal or clarify the information.
On the other hand Cheng, Myles, & Curtis (2004) as cited in Gan (2012) examined
the consistency between the language skills required for engagement with the demands of
course work at the graduate level, and the skills that non-native English speaker students
found difficult to master. The learners will accept and acquire the course if they still want to
learn for their future. However, some learners usually refuse to learn a new language
because they feel like suppressed so they will find it difficult to master the language.
Although it sounds like demanding and difficult to do, if the learners want to be capable of
using English for their future, they will commit and struggle to learn the foreign language.
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B. Motivation
A motivation to learn a foreign language is also important for the learners. Gardner
(1985) as cited in the Dornyei’s book (2008) said that there are two value aspects in the
motivation theory that are intrinsic value and extrinsic value. Intrinsic value concerns
behavior performed in order to experience pleasure and satisfaction that can be measured by
looking at the desire to learn the L2 and attitudes towards learning L2. According to
Hadriana et al. (2013), intrinsic motivation refers to the following aspects of how students
direct their learning with clear goals, students' participation in English language learning
activities, active seeking for clarification during the lessons, the excitement to perform
activities, the proper use of reading techniques, the happy feeling during the lesson, selfsatisfaction, no sense of shame in using the language, diligent in learning the language,
capable and the frequency of using the language. In short, the students who have intrinsic
motivation will satisfy and enjoy the learning process with their own pleasure.
On the other hand, extrinsic value involves performing behavior as a means to an
end, that is, to receive some extrinsic reward (e.g. good grades) or to avoid punishment.
Hadriana et al. (2013) also stated that extrinsic motivation covers the aspects of how the
external encouragement and motivation help students to understand and acquire the English
language, speaking activities, technology aids, teaching facility, special attention given by
teachers and friends, activities and campaigns organized by the school, competitions with the
English language counterparts, the influence and role of the media as well as the surrounding
community, participation in the English Language contests, teachers’ rules and the needs to
meet career demands. Huifang (1998) as cited in Li and Pan (2009) examined that internal
motivation is related to the long-termed success, while external motivation is related to the
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short-termed success. People who have intrinsic motivation will have a strong desire to learn
the foreign language. They do not fear to mistakes, they are not frightened to lose faces and
they will have chances to improve them. On the other hand, people who have extrinsic
motivation, once, if they meet difficulties, most of them choose to stop learning because they
fear to lose faces and are afraid of making mistakes. Therefore, it is quite reasonable for them
to become less successful learners (Li & Pan: 2009). Moreover, Hadriana (2013) also said
that extrinsic motivation will be a drive for students to do something beneficial. Extrinsic
motivation is grown from external stimuli in order to move the individual to be more
engaging in an activity that will bring great benefit to him, and it can be stimulated in the
form of simple praises, incentives, prizes, grades, and conducive environment and climate
which propel students to learn.
Besides, the adult learners usually also experience apprehension, worry, even
dread. When performing their lesson, sometimes the learners have difficulty of concentrating,
become forgetful, sweat, and having palpitations (Horwitz et al.: 2012). Sometimes learning
environment and classroom atmosphere also affect the learning process, for example time of
learning and size of class. Besides, according to Saar and Rosmaa (2010) the adult learners
have a busy schedule of working everyday, so they do not have time to attend English course.
They also feel lazy to go to English course to learn a new material. Moreover, the learners
usually lack of necessary qualifications to take up the studies. Many adults think that English
is not their priority to learn and they do not have any basic skills to learn English. In short,
according to Ur (1995) as cited in Aleksandrzak (2011), other problems that commonly
happen in the individual learners’ personalities and attitudes to the learning process and
learning speaking are inhibition of the adult learners such as fear of making mistakes, and
Page 5
shyness. Moreover, the adult learners also have nothing to say. In other words, the learners
have problems with finding motives to speak, formulating opinions or relevant comments. In
addition, the learners have low or uneven participation that is often caused by the tendency of
some learners to dominate in the group in less disciplined or less motivated class. Learners
find it easier or more natural to express themselves in their native language.
C. Age, Socio-cultural and Affective Factors
There are some factors that can affect the adult learners in their oral
communication according to Shumin (2008):
1. Age or Maturation Constraints
Age is one of the most commonly cited as the dominant factor of success or failure in
L2 or foreign language learning. Gordon (2007) stated that the greater learners are
before puberty and after the puberty, the ability to learn decreases. Those situations also
affect the adult learners because in their age, the ability to learn or memorize the
material is not as well as the children do when they grasp the materials. In this case,
usually adults learn English just for knowing or being familiar with a foreign language
and not for adjusting the foreign language in their daily use. The main reason of being
lack in learning English is that the adult learners feel too old to learn any materials
especially a foreign language and they are also forgetful to memorize the lesson.
2. Socio-cultural Factors
Cultural characteristic of the adult learners’ language also affects L2 or foreign
language in the learning process since they come with a couple of different social
backgrounds. It means that although adults learn a foreign language, their mother
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tongue still become their main language and impede their learning process. For
example, when the learners are asked to make a speech, they tend to speak using their
own dialect and not using the English dialect naturally.
3. Affective Factors
The affective factors here are related to the learners’ psychology such as emotions, selfesteem, empathy, anxiety, attitude and motivation. Those factors give the crucial effect
for the adult learners because when learning a foreign language, they will feel afraid to
express their language. They think that learning foreign language is difficult and
dreadful, so they feel afraid to learn English.
D. Vocabulary Learning Strategies
Another obstacle is the lack of vocabulary. Many people know that the language
use in foreign language is different from the first language. Speaking in foreign language is
more difficult than speaking in first language. But, there are four strategies for
communication (Cook: 2008) to reduce the difficulties of learning a foreign language. The
first one is translation from L1. Some adults use this strategy to translate the first language to
second language. The second strategy is language switch. Learners use this strategy when
they do not know the meaning in the foreign language, so they use their first language to
make the language clearer. The next strategy is cooperative strategy. When the learners get
difficulties in knowing the word in the foreign language, they tend to ask for help to other
people to get the answer. The last is non-cooperative strategy. In this strategy, the learners
look up the dictionary to solve their difficulties.
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Schmitt (1997) developed Vocabulary Learning Strategies taxonomies such as
discovery strategies and consolidation strategies. Discovery strategies are to find the meaning
of unknown words, while consolidation strategies are to remember words once their meaning
has been discovered. In this case, discovery strategies can further be divided into
determination strategies (Det) and social strategies (Soc). Determination strategies (Det)
involve finding meanings without resource such as analyzing word parts, and guessing from
context. While social strategies (Soc) involve consulting or working with others to discover
meaning. On the other hand, Consolidation strategies are divided into four parts; they are
memory strategies (Mem), cognitive strategies (Cog), social strategies (Soc), metacognitive
strategies (Metacog). In memory strategies (Mem), the learners use mnemonics such as
creating mental images, word association such as associating the word with its synonyms and
antonyms and grouping words to facilitate memory. However, the learners will use cognitive
strategies (Cog) for verbal and written repetition using word lists and flash cards. The third
strategy for learners is social strategies (Soc) such as practicing with other people, and
interacting with native speakers. For the last strategy is metacognitive strategies (Metacog)
that concerns to the management of learning for example reviewing learnt vocabulary and
selecting words for learning.
E. Adult Learners’ Characteristics
Adult learners are different from younger learners. Adult learners have their own
responsibilities (e.g., family and job) and situation (e.g., transportation, childcare, and the
need to earn some money) that can affect the learning process. Sometimes, some adults enter
the educational programs voluntarily and manage their class around their work and family
Page 8
responsibilities (Merriam and Caffarela, 1999). The problem of adult learners is their
memory will decrease with their age whereas the memory helps to form a link between old
and new information. In this period, adult learners have a short term memory or working
memory which is limited to approximately five to nine bits of new information at a time
(Clark, R: 1999).
Piaget and Erikson (1997) develop five assumptions on the adult learners’
characteristics:
1. Self-concept: adult concept moves from one of being a dependent personality toward one
of being self-directed human being. It is difficult to make the learners have self-directed
motivation if there is a dependent personality that influences the adult learners. In this
case, adults tend to be self-directed in their lives, although responsibilities with jobs,
families, and other organizations can remove a degree of their freedom to act (Kuhne:
2010).
2. Experience: adult accumulates a growing reservoir of experience that becomes an
increasing resource for learning. The adult’s experience is a key resource in the learning
effort (Kuhne: 2010). The adult learners may have bad learning experiences in their
learning process. So based on their past experiences, they want to improve their
knowledge. They may evaluate the validity of concepts or ideas on how those ideas or
concepts are solute their experience.
3.
Readiness to learn: adult readiness to learn becomes oriented increasingly to the
developmental task of their social roles.
4. Orientation to learning: adult time perspective changes from one of postponed application
of knowledge to immediacy of application, and accordingly his/her orientation toward
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learning shifts from one of subject-centeredness to one of problem-centeredness. The
adult learners tend to wait until they are able to use the foreign language. In other words,
the learners will learn a foreign language after they are capable of using the language.
5. Motivation to learn: adult motivation to learn is internal. The adult learners shall have
intrinsic motivation in learning English. If the learners do not have intrinsic motivation,
they will not have a passion to learn a foreign language and pass the learning process
without any significant changes. If the adult learners have an intrinsic motivation, they
will have a great motivation to improve the knowledge.
For some people it is common that people get obstacles when they are learning
new things. By the time, adults can reduce their difficulties toward English. Of course it
cannot work instantly for a couple of time but it still needs the process of learning.
Furthermore, the wider benefits of learning must be valued as highly as the development of
particular skills. These benefits include more self-confident individuals, with higher levels of
self-motivation and communication skills at the personal level.
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THE STUDY
A. The Context of the Study
This study was conducted in the Children Development Program in GSJA-El
Shadai. This institution is located in the one of churches in Tuntang, Semarang Regency,
Central Java. This place was selected because this institution holds an English course for
their staff to make them being able to communicate in English. In this course, the learners
learn about conversation in English. They meet for two hours in each week on every
Wednesday.
B. Participants
The participants in this study comprised 7 adult learners at Children Development
Program in Tuntang. The 7 adult learners consist of 6 women and 1 man who join the
English course. The age of the participants have range from 21-50 years old. The participants
already have their own job such as a teacher, staff, businessman, and mathematics tutor.
Moreover, they are native speakers of Indonesia and they study English as a foreign language
in an informal course. The participants joined the English course because the organization
provides it for them.
B. Data Collection Instrument
This study used a semi-structure interview to gather the qualitative data. In this
interview, the questions (see appendix) were planned and structured. They were intended to
look deeper at what the obstacles of the learners when they were learning English.
F. Data Collection Procedure
In this section, the interview was aimed to the learners who joined the English
course. The interview was done on an informal situation. The reason was that it could create
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a relax atmosphere for the interviewees. The language used in this interview was Bahasa
Indonesia to make the interviewees feel relaxed and less threatened. The interview was
recorded so that no information would be missing.
G. Data Analysis Procedure
In this study, the researcher used the interview and transcribed all of the
interviews to get the written data. After transcribing, the researcher related all of the data that
was gotten with the theories of the obstacles in the learning of speaking skills for adult
learners. Then the researcher grouped the data interview into several big themes. The
researcher used the first participant as P1, second participant as P2, and so on. After that, the
researcher provided the conclusion of the data about obstacles of learning in speaking skills
for staffs of the Children Development Program in GSJA Tuntang.
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FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION
From the interview of 7 participants, the researcher found that adult learners in
Children Development Tuntang have a clear goal that is to improve their knowledge in
English. The adult learners also said that learning English is important. However, the adult
learners have obstacles in their language learning. What the adult learners thought was
different with the reality. Therefore, the researcher would explain several kinds of obstacles
that were faced by 7 staffs (adult learners) in the Children Development Program while
learning English. Those obstacles were related to age or maturation constrains, socio-cultural
factors and affective factors. The descriptions of the learners’ obstacles were presented
below.
Age or maturation constrains
The adult learners in Children Development Program said that learning English in
their age caused several problems. They also said that learning English in their age is
difficult. Since age is a dominant factor of success or failure in L2 or foreign language
learning (Shumin: 2008), it would cause a negative effect in the learning process, especially
for adult learners. In the interview, there were four out of seven adult learners admitted that
they had difficulties because of their age factor. The difficulties were being forgetful to grasp
the materials, having many problems in their life, and feeling tired to join the English course.
From the interview, two of seven adult learners argued that they were forgetful
people. The participants were forgetful to grasp the materials in the learning process. They
also explained that they became forgetful as their age increased. Moreover, these learners
also said that their obstacle impeded them to learn English. In the interview, they told:
Page 13
“My age is almost fifty years old. My difficulty to learn English is that I am a
forgetful person”(P2)
“Sometimes I just remember 1 until 2 vocabularies, but today I remember the
material, tomorrow I will forget it”(P1)
Those adult learners had difficulties in learning English because they found it
difficult to memorize the materials. Sometimes, they remembered about what they had learnt
in the course, but after they left that course, they would forget all of the material that their
tutor gave. That explanation was also proven by Gordon (2007) that after the age of puberty,
it is so difficult for adult learners to learn a foreign language well. The adult learners would
have difficulties in learning English since their age increase. Although the learners tried to
memorize the vocabulary daily, they would forget all vocabularies that they have
remembered. According to Clark (1999) it is not easy to remember that vocabulary because
the problem of adult learners is that their memory will decrease with their age. So, learning
English in adult age will cause an obstacle since adult learners are forgetful people.
In addition, from the interview, one out of seven adult learners also had
difficulties since she was too old to learn English. This participant also argued that she
already had her own problem in her daily life. As an adult, she had a lot of concerns for her
daily needs and her concentration would decrease because this learner have to focus in
learning English and working for family. It will become another obstacle for the learner
because it is difficult to concentrate in many things. Below is the reason:
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“Because of my age, it is difficult to learn English. I also think a lot about daily
need and economic need for my family and now I am asked to learn English. It is difficult for me
to grasp the materials.”(P1)
From that reason, the adult learner said that her age could impede the learning
process. She could not understand the materials properly since she had several problems in
her mind. That participant already had responsibility in the daily need and economic need
such as to earn some money for her family life and school for her children. According to this
participant, it is difficult for her as the learner to learn English in her age since her
concentration is divided into two things which are about her job and learning English. It was
conceded by Merriam and Caffarela (1999) that the adult learners have their own
responsibilities in their family and situation in the need to earn some money. So, this case can
be one of her problems in learning English because this learner wanted to focus on earning
some money for her living only instead of learning English.
Moreover, another obstacle for adult learners was they were too tired to learn
English. Since the adult learners already had their own job, they were tired to join the course.
In the interview, the learners argued that it was difficult for them to have English course after
working. Three adult learners told that as their age increased they would feel tired easily to
have many activities. From the interview, they said:
“When I have so many works to do, I will feel tired, and then I will not
concentrate to join the English course.”(P6)
“Sometimes I am already tired after working and I must learn English”(P1)
“When there was a deadline work that coincides with the English course, it would
be difficult to grasp the materials because I feel tired”(P4)
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The adult learners argued that their age now influenced them to learn English.
When they felt tired because of their job, they would not feel comfortable to learn English.
These participants will not concentration properly in learning English if they are exhausted
after working. It was said by Horwitz et al. (2012) that the adult learners will have difficulty
of concentrating. The adult learners will not concentrate enough to grasp the materials well
when they were too tired. Moreover, Saar and Rosmaa (2010) also stated that the adult
learners who have a busy schedule of working everyday will become lazy to learn new
materials in the English course because the adult learners were already tired after working.
So, it was difficult for adult learners to learn English after working because they would feel
tired and would not concentrate enough to learn English in the course.
Socio-cultural factors
Socio-cultural factors also affect the learning process for adult learners. The adult
learners in Children Development Program have different background in learning a foreign
language. The adult learners’ background can also impede them in the learning process. So,
from that situation, the adult learners have obstacles when they are learning English. From
the interview, those obstacles are the use of the mother tongue and the environment society.
Sometimes, mother tongue also created a new problem in their learning. The
mother tongue used could impede the adult learners when they are speaking in English. Their
mother tongue could also affect the adult learners’ speaking especially in the use of dialect
and accent. From that reason, it made another crucial obstacle for adult learners. Based on the
interview, one of the seven adult learners said that she had difficulties when she was
speaking in English because her mother tongue influenced her a lot. In the interview she said:
Page 16
“In speaking, I have difficulties to speak up because I have a Javanese
dialect”(P5)
This adult learner still uses Javanese dialect to pronounce the English words. She
has difficulty when she speaks in English because her speaking is influenced by her mother
tongue. It was also difficult to change her dialect and accent in English because as the adult
learner, her mother tongue already sticks in her brain. So, it is difficult for this participant to
speak in English properly.
Moreover, there were other examples found that the adult learners had difficulty
when they were speaking in English. For the first example, when there is a word “reading”,
then the adult learner (P1) will pronounce it “redeing”. Second, when there is word “taking a
bath”, then the adult learner (P6) will pronounce it “taking a bot/bet”. From that situation, the
adult learners’ mother tongue still affects their speaking a lot. As adult learners, it is difficult
to have English dialect and accent in their age now and it may need couple of times to
improve their speaking.
Besides, the adult learners’ environment can also impede the learning process.
Since the learners have different environment, they also have different obstacles in learning
English. From that reason, the adult learners argued that their environment in learning
process could be influenced by their English teacher, their partners in the English course and
their neighbor societies.
The learners in the Children Development Program also had a dependent
personality that impeded them in learning English well. It was also admitted by Piaget and
Erikson (1997) that it is difficult for adult learners being independent learners. Two of seven
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adult learners were found to be dependent with the teacher who taught them. This dependent
character can be seen from what they said in the interview as below.
“If the teacher just asked the students to read the written text, I would get nothing. If the
teacher made fun activity and asked me to involve, I would remember that lesson”(P5)
“Like what my teacher taught, she made various activities for us and it made us curious to
learn”(P4)
From the interview, it could be seen that these two adult learners depended on
how their teacher delivered the materials to them. The adult learners could not understand
the material well if their teacher just provide theories in the learning process. On the
contrary, the learners would understand the materials more if their teacher provided
activities to learn English. So, it will be better that the teacher provides activities to help the
adult learners to understand the material well.
Furthermore, having passive partners in the English course would make the adult
learners be passive learners as well. This environment would not be beneficial for adult
learners in the learning process. They would not be motivated if their partners were not
interested in learning a foreign language. From this situation, the adult learners would have
difficulty to grasp the material well if they become passive learners. In the interview, one the
learner said:
“Sometimes, if my friends are passive, I would also be a passive person in the
course”(P2)
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This learner would not be an active learner if their friends are passive. The adult
learner had low competitiveness in learning English. She was influenced by her learning
environment. So, from this result it can be seen that the adult learners would not have a
motivation to improve her knowledge if she had a negative influence from the surrounding.
Moreover, this learning process would impede this learner to increase her knowledge because
she had a passive environment when she learned English.
In addition, it was similar to friends’ society, the adult learners’ neighborhood
society also affected them in learning English. They found it difficult to develop their ability
in English because their societies are not familiar with English. Based on the interview, two
adult learners had difficulty from their neighborhood society. They argued that not all of their
neighbors understand English. From the interview, one of two participants said:
“I live in the rural society and my neighbors are not familiar with English” (P4)
This learner cannot develop her ability in English properly since her
neighborhood societies are not familiar with English. Moreover, living in the rural area could
impede the learner to learn English well because they had difficult access to explore their
ability in the foreign language. So, from that situation, the adult learner will get difficulty to
learn English.
Interestingly, from the interview, there was one adult learner who had difficulty if
he always spoke in English with his neighbors. This participant said that his neighbors will
assume him as a show off person. Actually this participant wanted to train his ability in
speaking English with his society. From that reason, this participant would not develop their
ability in speaking well. In the interview, he said:
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Because of not all of my neighbors able to speak English, they will judge me as a
show off person if I always greet them in English” (P3)
In this result, this learner would have obstacle when he wanted to practice in
speaking English with his neighbors. This participant wanted to measure his ability through
speaking to other people. However, if his neighbors judge him as a show off person, this
learner would not speak English to his neighbors. So, it is difficult for adult learner to
practice to speak English if his neighbors impede the learner to develop his speaking ability.
Besides, underestimating or stereotyping people also affected the adult learners in
learning English. Based on the interview, there was one of seven adult learners
underestimated other people who never spoke in English (P7). She assumed that her ability
was higher than theirs. In this case, this adult learner would become lazy to learn English
because she assumed that she was cleverer than others. So, this learner did not have any
motivation to learn English more because she considered herself capable in English.
Affective factors
The last obstacle is that affective factors. Affective factors also affected the adult
learners in Children Development Program to learn a foreign language. These factors gave
the crucial effect because it was related to adult learners’ psychology when they learned a
foreign language. From the interview, there were adult learners who had obstacles because
they were afraid of making mistakes when they spoke in English, had no motivation in
learning a foreign language and had bad experience when learned a foreign language.
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The adult learners thought that learning a foreign language was difficult. They
also feel afraid of making any mistakes when they speak in English. Sometimes, the adult
learners also do not feel confidence to speak English and they are anxious to express their
speaking. From the interview, two out of seven adult learners argued that they also had
difficulties in speaking. In the interview, they said:
“I am not confident to speak English. I am afraid of making mistakes when I
speak English”(P7)
“Sometimes I have difficulties in speaking. I am afraid if I make mistakes”(P2)
Those adult learners were afraid to speak because they were fear to make
mistakes. They also argued that although there were words to speak, they can not say those
words. The participants also said that even they understand about what people say, they have
difficulty in formulating English sentence properly to speak up. It was also stated by Ur
(1995) cited in Aleksandrzak (2011) that other problems that commonly happen in the adult
learners are fear of making mistakes and have nothing to say. Therefore, they were not
confident enough to speak in English. They hesitated to produce sentences because they
thought that speaking in English is dreadful and difficult.
Motivation of the learners should be considered since motivation is related to the
learners’ psychology in affective factors. The result of this research shows that there is one
adult learner who does not have any motivation in learning English. The others joined it
because they had to. However, participant 6 said that if only she had a choice, she would not
join the English course. In the interview, she said:
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“If I was not a staff and I was asked to choose to learn English, I would not learn
English. However I am a staff, want it or not I must learn English … If I did not work, I
would not want to learn it” (P6)
Her explanation showed that she was forced to learn English because of her career
demand. She also said that she had no other motivation except for meeting her career
demand. From that result, this participant will have a low intention in learning a foreign
language. So, her low intention to learn a foreign language will impede the learner in
learning process. In this case, it is difficult for the participant to improve her knowledge
because she has a low motivation in learning English.
Another obstacle in learning English in the affective factors is that the adult
learner has bad experience. This bad experience in learning English hinders the learners in
learning English well (Piaget and Erikson, 1997). The learner could not learn English well
because she had bad experience with her English teacher. Below, P4 also showed the bad
experience that made her dislike English.
“The main reason is that I am disappointed. I did not like English because I hate the
teacher”(P4)
In this case, it was identified that P4 did not like learning English because of
the bad experience she had with her English teacher. This participant thought that her teacher
disappointing her on how the teacher taught and the materials that given by the teacher. This
adult learner had a negative thinking in their mind about her English teacher, so this learner
could not acquire the lesson well. The bad experience made the adult learners unwilling to
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learn English because they did not want to repeat the same bad experience. However, it is
different with Kuhne’s (2012) explanation that having past experiences can make the adult
learners improve their knowledge by evaluating the validity of concepts or ideas in their
experience. So, the adult learners’ teacher should also realize this learners’ problem.
In this section, it could be inferred that age, socio-cultural, and affective factors
impeded the adult learners to learn English. The adult learners’ age caused several problems
since the adult learners were forgetful and easier to be tired because of their works.
Moreover, they had many thought for daily needs. The adult learners also found that it was
difficult to learn speaking skills because they were influenced by their mother tongue or
Javanese dialect and their environment. Furthermore, affective factor could cause problems
when the adult learners were too afraid to speak in English. They may not learn English
properly because those obstacles could influence the adult learners in learning English.
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CONCLUSION
This study is aimed to analyze the obstacles of learning speaking skills for adult
learners in Children Development Program in GSJA Tuntang. The researcher started the
interview from March 27 until April 13, 2014. After analyzing the data, the researcher identified
four obstacles. Those obstacles were related to age or maturation constrains, socio-cultural and
affective factors. Based on the interview to the adult learners, these obstacles had negative
impacts in their learning process.
In addition, the researcher wants to give some suggestions for the adult learners’
teacher. As adult learners, they need variety in the lesson such as role play, peer learning or
simulation to enhance evocative for the adult learners. The teacher also should review the
materials that have been taught continually since the adult learners are forgetful. In this case, the
adult learners are expected to remember last materials that they got and they can grasp the
materials well. Then, since the adult learners’ society also gives impact in the learning process,
the teacher may remind the adult learners to habituate speak English to their surrounding
especially in their family or friends. The teacher can motivate the adult learners to train their
ability in English by practicing to speak English continually. The teacher can also give simple
praises for the learners who brave to speak in English and motivate the adult learners to not
afraid of making mistake in their speaking. According to Kazdin as cited in Hadriana et al.
(2013) it is good to provide frequent praises and supports especially when students begin to learn
a new task.
Moreover, the teacher may ask the adult learners to perform their speaking in front of
the class regularly or give homework to practice with their friends to reduce anxiety when the
learners speak in English. Furthermore, for adult learners who influence with their mother
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tongue, the teacher may drill the learners to pronounce or speak in English routine. It is no
problem if the learners have Javanese dialect as long as their pronunciations are understandable.
In this case, the teacher should remind the adult learners if they have a wrong pronunciation.
For the next researcher, further research about adult learners’ obstacle in other
language skills would be needed. The researcher could gather more complete data about adult’s
learners’ obstacles in learning English listening, reading, and writing skills. Then, the next
researcher could also conduct a study about the obstacles of the adult learners in learning English
in another place, not only limited in the Children Development Program in GSJA Tuntang.
This study could not be generalized into another field of study because it was
conducted only to see the obstacles of the adult learners in learning English speaking skills in the
Children Development Program in GSJA. A modified study is needed because this was a small
skill study only.
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ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
I realize that this thesis would not have been completed without the support and
help from many people. I would like to express my love and gratitude to the following
people who have assisted me in completing this thesis.
1. I would like to express my sincere gratitude to Jesus Christ as my great and beloved
father and the source of knowledge who helped and guided me to finish this thesis.
2. My special gratitude also expressed to my supervisor Mrs. Martha Nandari M.A who
abundantly helpful and offered invaluable assistance support and guidance. In addition, I
also thanked to Mr. Dian Toar Y.G Sumakul, M.A tremendously for his precious helps
to be the examiner of my thesis.
3. I would like to acknowledge my sincere thanks to the staff of the Children Development
Program in GSJA El-Shadai Tuntang who had participated in my thesis. Without their
participations, this research could not have been so successful.
4. I would also like to express my thankfulness for my family’s support – Papa Edy Tri
Ismulyanto, Mama Endah Sri Ascaryaning, Mas Luluk, Mbak Vina, Adek Yonas, Dhe
Mulyati, and my new little nephew Ico, without them, none of this could be happened.
5. Special thanks also go to my boyfriend “Ndut” Andre who always loves, accompanies,
and gives support for me. I would also like to convey special thanks to all of my best
friends ever, Mutia, Fitri “Pitpit”, Kristin, and Tiur. I would also say thanks to my
friends in boarding house Monza8 especially Dian Hanny, Rosela, Shenny, and Mega
who always accompany and make laugh every night. Last but not least, I would also say
thanks to de’ rainbow – Fiki, Maya, Elyn and Bagus who always remind me to finish
this thesis.
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APPENDIX
Interview questions:
1. Faktor-faktor apa saja yang menjadi kendala Anda dalam belajar bahasa Inggris?
2. Bagaimana umur Anda saat ini mempengaruhi Anda untuk belajar bahasa Inggris?
3. Bagaimana lingkungan Anda dapat mempengaruhi proses pembelajaran bahasa Inggris?
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