Overcoming Junior High School Students' Reluctance to Speak English in Class at Aces.

ABSTRACT

Saat ini, bahasa Inggris telah menjadi bahasa komunikasi
internasional. Penggunaannya sebagai bahasa utama di dunia untuk
komunikasi internasional telah jelas berkelanjutan selama beberapa
dekade. Hal itulah yang membuat para siswa, sarjana, pengusaha,
pejabat pemerintahan, dan juga tenaga pendidik perlu memiliki
kemampuan berbahasa Inggris yang kompeten. Namun, banyak dijumpai
di sekitar kita para siswa yang enggan untuk berbicara dalam bahasa
Inggris, termasuk para siswa yang kursus di ACES, tempat saya
menyelesaikan masa magang saya tahun lalu. Hal tersebut menjadi suatu
persoalan yang ingin saya temukan solusinya, agar para siswa dapat
memiliki ketrampilan berbahasa Inggris yang lebih baik dari sebelumnya.
Setiap masalah selalu memiliki sebab dan akibat. Adapun penyebabpenyebab terjadinya masalah tersebut adalah kekhawatiran para siswa
apabila mereka membuat kesalahan, kesulitan para siswa untuk berpikir
saat mereka harus berbicara bahasa Inggris, dan para siswa cenderung
untuk menggunakan bahasa Indonesia dalam proses belajar mengajar
serta dalam percakapan ringan di kelas terhadap guru bahasa Inggris
mereka. Sedangkan tiga akibat yang timbul dari masalah tersebut adalah
kemampuan berbahasa Inggris para siswa akan sulit untuk bertambah
baik, adanya komplain dari pihak orang tua yang merasa kemampuan

berbahasa Inggris anak mereka tidak meningkat, dan waktu yang para
murid habiskan untuk menterjemahkan ide mereka cukup banyak
terbuang pada saat mereka hendak berbicara dalam bahasa Inggris.
Selain beberapa sebab dan akibat tersebut, masalah yang dibahas dalam
Tugas Akhir ini juga memiliki beberapa solusi yang berpotensi untuk
diterapkan di dalam kelas. Ketiga solusi tersebut adalah saya mencoba
memberikan tugas kelompok untuk mendiskusikan sebuah topik yang
menarik dalam bahasa Inggris, saya juga memberikan tugas untuk
membuat ulasan dari sebuah film, dan saya menerapkan English
Immersisn yaitu agar para siswa hanya berbicara dalam bahasa Inggris
selama proses belajar mengajar di kelas.
Setelah melalui berbagai pertimbangan, solusi yang terpilih adalah
memberikan tugas kepada para siswa untuk membuat ulasan dari sebuah
film untuk diceritakan secara lisan di depan kelas serta menerapkan
English Immersisn selama proses belajar mengajar di kelas.

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TABLE OF CONTENTS


ABSTRACT...................................................................................................i
DECLARATION OF ORIGINALITY…………………….................................ii
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS…………………….…………...........................iii-iv
TABLE OF CONTENTS……………………………………….…....................v
CHAPTER I. INTRODUCTION.................................................................1-5
A.
B.
C.
D.
E.
F.
G.

Background of the Study
Identification of the Problem
Objectives and Benefits of the Study
Description of the Institution
Method of the Study
Limitation of the Study
Organization of the Term Paper


CHAPTER II. PROBLEM ANALYSIS.......................................................6-8
CHAPTER III. POTENTIAL SOLUTIONS..............................................9-14
CHAPTER IV. CONCLUSION..............................................................15-17
BIBLIOGRAPHY
APPENDICES:
A. FLOWCHART
B. TRANSCRIPTION OF THE INTERVIEW

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CHAPTER I
INTRODUCTION

A. Background of the Study
English becomes one of the key factors in this era of globalization. A
great number of foreign companies have made investments and expanded
their branches in various fields in Indonesia. To deal with this situation, the

young generation in our country are supposed to master both receptive
and productive English skills.
However, to realize this is not an easy job, especially for those who are
reluctant to speak in English. They are afraid of making mistakes since
English is not their mother tongue and English is rarely used in their daily
activities.
Those who are reluctant to speak English at ACES; an English course
where I did my internship program last year, are found among students
aged between 13 to 15 years old. Almost none of the students at that age
were willing to speak English, except some short phrases such as “thank
you”, “yes sir”, “no sir” and “okay sir”. If this phenomenon is ignored, their
chance to master English will be very small.

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Hence, in this term paper I have the intention to take up the topic of
overcoming junior high school students’ reluctance to speak English in
class at ACES by analyzing its causes and effects, giving some potential

solutions, and choosing the best solution.

B. Identification of the Problem
The problem which will be discussed in this term paper is stated as
follows:
1. Why were most junior high school students taking an English
course at ACES reluctant to speak English?
2. How did this problem affect the students’ English skill and their
parents’ satisfaction to the institution?
3. How should I overcome their reluctance in speaking English?

C. Objectives and Benefits of the Study
According to the problem of my term paper, the objectives of my
research are to find out why most junior high school students taking the
English course at ACES were reluctant to speak English, to find out how
this problem might affect their English skill and their parents’ satisfaction to
the institution, and to find out how I can assist junior high school students
to overcome their reluctance in speaking English.
Meanwhile, the benefit of my research for the institution is that the


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students in ACES will be more active and can reduce their reluctance to
speak English. This thing will give a positive image to the institution which
educates students outside the school. The benefit for the readers of my
term paper is if they find a similar case to my issue, they will be able to find
a potential solution to solve their problem. The last benefit is for me that I
will be able to handle students who are reluctant to use English in my
class later if I work at an English course or give some private English
tuition.

D. Description of the Institution
Based on the personal interview on 16 August 2012 with Ms. Rhimelda
as a superintendent and also the owner of ACES English course, I got
some information about the history and also the vision of the institution.
ACES is an English course located at Jln. Pandu 6A, Bandung. ACES
was established in Bandung on 1 April 2002, located at Jln. Padjadjaran
87. Because there were many enthusiasts who wanted to learn English at

ACES, this English course moved into a bigger location, which is the
recent location.
The vision of ACES is to make their students master their English well,
not only focus on daily conversation, but also understand the correct
usage of English grammar, so that their students will have above average
competence in English skills.
The meaning of ACES’s slogan, “Start with the end in mind” is that we

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have to be consistent in everything we do, from the start to the end, until
we reach our ultimate goal.

E. Method of the Study
The data and information collected in writing this term paper are
obtained from various resources, namely, library research, Internet
research, a personal interview with Ms. Rhimelda, and observation that is
recorded in my internship journal.


F. Limitation of the Study
The focus of my term paper is how to overcome junior high school
students’ reluctance to speak English in class. The scope of participants in
my research was junior high school students who studied at ACES English
course in Bandung. The data gathering in the class was from 16 July 2012
to 16 August 2012, when I did my internship there.

G. Organization of the Term Paper
This term paper starts with Abstract, which is a summary of all chapters
discussed and is written in Indonesian. The second part is Declaration of
Originality, which contains a statement that this term paper is my authentic
paper. Afterwards, the next part of this term paper is Acknowledgements,
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which states my gratitude to all parties who have given me direct support
and played a role during the writing of this term paper. The Table of
Contents contains details of the chapters and sub-chapters, as well as the

page number of each part.
The main contents of this term paper are divided into four chapters.
The first chapter is the introduction of the study, which is the definition of
topic discussed and obvious delineation of the problem. It contains
Background of the Study, Identification of the Problem, Objectives and
Benefits of the Study, Description of the Institution, Method of the Study,
Limitations of the Study, and Organization of the Term Paper.
The second chapter discusses the analysis of the problem. It analyzes
the causes and effects of the problem. This chapter analysis is supported
by printed and electronic sources as references.
The third chapter discusses the potential solutions by analyzing both
the positive and negative effects of each potential solution. The last
chapter contains the Conclusion, giving the best solution to overcome the
problem together with the effects resulted from the problem.
This term paper ends with the Bibliography, which contains information
about the publication of all sources that have been cited and the
appendices containing a flowchart and an interview transcript.

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CHAPTER IV
CONCLUSION

The previous chapters have analyzed the problem in overcoming the
reluctance of junior high school students at ACES to use English in class
when I was doing my internship there. The problem was caused by their
worry of making any mistakes, their inability to think in English, and their
tendency to use their mother tongue instead of English. Besides this, the
problem brings some effects. First, the students’ speaking skill became
hard to improve. Second, the parents complained, because their children’s
speaking skill did not show any significant improvement. Third, it was time
consuming for the students when they had to translate what they wanted
to say into English.
I propose three potential solutions to overcome the problem. The first
potential solution is I will give the students a task to discuss in a small
group using English. It will increase the students’ talking time, even though
they might slip into their mother tongue during the discussion session. The
second potential solution is I will ask the students to make a short review

from an interesting movie to build their motivation and ask them to tell it in

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front of the class. The last potential solution I will apply an English
Immersion, when the students have to speak English all the time on that
day.
The solution that I choose to overcome the problem is a combination of
the second and the third potential solutions. I will give the students a task
to make a movie review and ask them to read what they have made in
front of the class, while the setting is in an English Immersion. The reason
why I choose these two potential solutions is because these two potential
solutions are the most appropriate solutions to be applied at ACES, since
the class consists of many students from different ages. I believe that
applying these solutions in the class will result in good progress in
overcoming the students’ reluctance to speak English. In addition, an
English Immersion will not make them feel intimidated, because they will
spontaneously use English in telling their movie review. Once they can
improve their self-confidence in speaking English, they will find it easier to
overcome their reluctance to speak in English.
The reason why I do not choose the first potential solution is because
the classes at ACES consist of many students from different ages, and
their topics interest will be different. But, this potential solution will work
well in school’s classroom, since the students are in the same age level.
To end this chapter, I would like to mention that teaching will never be
separated from problems, whether they come from the students or from
the teacher himself / herself. Two things to note in applying the chosen

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solutions are to get an appropriate movie and ask the students frequently
if they understand what I say or not. The movie has to be educative for the
students and has to be interesting for the students indeed, or else, they
will get bored watching that movie and the chosen solutions will not
produce a good result in the end. I also have to ask the students if they
find any unfamiliar words in my speech to make sure they are not getting
confused during the lesson.

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BIBLIOGRAPHY

Printed Sources
Crystal, David. An Encyclopedic Dictionary of Language and Languages.
London: Penguin Books. Ltd, 1994.
Deutsch, Nellie. “ESL/EFL Students Lack the Skills to Cope with Reading
Comprehension Tests.” Phoenix: CreateSpace Independent Publishing
Platform, 2011: 7-8.
Jones, Leo. The Student-Centered Classroom. New York: Cambridge
University Press, 2007.

Electronic Sources
“Advantages and Disadvantages of Subtitles.” Sciaga.pl. 2013. 25 April
2013 .
Anderson, Marc. “Tips on How to Build Up Your Confidence When
Speaking English.” TalktoCanada.com. 6 March 2013. 16 June 2013
.

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Behrman, Brittany. “How to Educate ESL Students.” eCollegeFinder.org.
2012. 15 June 2013
.
Benwell, Tara. “How to Think in English ‘Senses’.” EnglishClub.com. 2013.
ESL Magazine. Sept 2009. 4 April 2013
.
Bunyi, Angela. “Exploring the Genre of Review Writing.” Scholastic.com.
16 April 2013. 26 April 2013
.
“English Speaking DOs and DON'Ts.” Really-Learn-English.com. 2010.
Really Learn English. 3 April 2013 .
Hue, Nguyen Minh. “Encouraging Reluctant ESL/EFL Learners to Speak in
the Classroom.” The Internet TESL Journal XVI (3 March 2010). 5 April
2013 .
Linsin, Michael. “8 Things Teachers Do to Cause Boredom.”
SmartClassRoomManagement.com. 28 January 2012. 17 June 2013
.
Maruko, Mami. “Kindergartners Get Language Boost with English
Immersion Program.” The Japan Times 31 July 2012. 26 April 2013
.
“Oral Presentations.” University of Florida. Center for Instructional
Technology & Training. 7 November 2012. 21 June 2013
.
Raynaud, Marianne. “I Know Why Your Students Don’t Speak English and
What to Do About It.” QualityTime-esl.com. Quality Time-ESL. 2010. 5
April 2013 .
Sarkisian, Ellen. “Working in Groups.” isites.Harvard.edu. Derek Bok
Center. 2010. 25 April 2013
.
Slavin, R.E, and A. Cheung. “English Immersion Programs.”
sitemaker.umich.edu. University of Michigan. 2008. 26 April 2013
.
“Why Should We Teach in the Mother Tongue?.” Hong Kong. Education
Bureau. 2 Dec. 2012. 3 April 2013 .
“Writing a Movie Review.” APSU.edu. Austin Peay State University.
December 2009. 25 April 2013
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Interview
Rhimelda. Personal interview. 16 August 2012.

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